|
NEW WORLD |
| ||||||||||||||
| HOME | |
INDEX | |
GUIDANCE & THERAPY | |
SUPPORT GROUPS | |
INSTITUTIONS & ORGANIZATIONS | |
CONTACT | |
NEW AGE DICTIONARY | ||
New Age Directory
B
Baalzebub/Beelzebub: Baalzebub probably means 'Lord of the High House' and refers to the Syrian Baal.This title could only properly apply to Solomon in his temple,so the Jews changed the name to Beelzebub,which translates as 'Lord of Flies'.Beelzebub came to be regarded as the leading representative of the fallen gods, in Matthew 12:24 - he is mentioned as 'Prince of the Devils' and this appellation has stuck even though Milton has him next in rank to satan (Paradise Lost I,79) Babaji (Himalayan - Deity): Also known as Mahavatar Babahum Shri Babaji.Made famus by Paramahansa yogananda's book 'Autobriography of a Yogi', Babaji is known as 'the deathless avatar' because he overcame physical limitations regarding the human life span.It is said that he did not die, but ascended with his physical body.Many accounts of him appearing physically to spiritual seekers have been written.However, he usually comes to those who invoke him on the Spiritual Plane, and they 'hear' Babaji through thoughts, feelings and visions.Babaji's mission is to bring humanity closer to God an to follow God's will.He encourages people to follow their own Spiritual Path, and says that all religions lead to God.He encourages Yogananda to bring Kriya Yoga (which involves 18 yoga postures) also known as asanas or mudras) to the West.Kriya is known as a tool of Enlightenment and my have helped spark the current popularity in Yoga.He helps with Addictions and cravings, overcoming or reducing,Breathwork, Clear communications with God,Manifesttion,Materiality-detaching from,Protection from religious persecutiom,Simplifying your life,Spiritual growth & Yoga practice Bacchus: In mythology the name of the Greek god of wine,associated with untrammelled pleasure and licentiousness, in esoteric circles (under his Grecian names of Dionysus/Atys he is regarded as a solar resurrectional god who atones for sin Bach,Dr.Edward: Edward Bach was born in 1886 in the Warwickshire village of Moseley,some three miles outside Birmingham. He left school at the age 16 and went to work for 3 years in his farther's brass foundary, but went on to qualify in medicine in 1912.He became increasingly dissatisfied with orthodox medicine,particularly its persistent failure in the face of chronic ailments and in 1919 took a post in London Homeopathic Hospital where he studied homoeopathy for the first time and soon began to relate the discipline to his work on vaccination and immunology.Later he added reseach on the curative porperties of herbs to his other interests. Nine years later, while attending a banquet,Bach was struck by the inspiration which was to help create a whole new branch of alternative medicine.He noted how various people at the dinner resembled one another even though there was no family relationship between them.It occured to him that people in the same similarity grouping might well react in the same way to disease By 1930 he was still amplifying and extending this fundamental idea when he was taken by a sudden impulse to visit Wales. He returned to London with supplies of Impatients and Mimulus which he had found growing near a mountian stream. As an experiment,he 'potentised' the plants in accordane with with homoeopathic practise and began to prescribe them his patients,based on the particular similarity grouping to which they belonged. Results were encouraging. In May of the same year,he was taking an early morning walk,when the thought occured to him that the dew,under the infulence of sunlight,must extract some of the essence of theplant on which it trested.On the basis of this insight - he developed a range of Bach Flower Remedies which soon became his exclusive method of treatment. Bach died in November 1936 Bach's lifelong ambition was to develop a natural curative system of such safety and simplicity that it could be used in the home without the necessity of a prescribing physician.He believed he had found such a system in the Flower Remedies which were,he felt,particualrly effective for chronic illnesses and ailments which did not lend themselves to ready diagnosis. *see Bach,Dr.Edward above* Bacheldor,Kenneth: In September 1966 The Journal of the Society for Psychical Research published an article entitled 'Report on a case of Table Levitation and Associated Phenomena' which despite its modest title, contained allegations as startiling as any published by the society in its lengthy history.The author of the report was a professional psychologist named Kenneth Bacheldor. He experienced a series of 200 experimental sittings in which a group he headed up - attemted to duplicate a paranormal phenomenon which had virtually ceased to be investigated since the heyday of its popularity in Victorian times - a table -turing.Of the sittings 120 produced no worthwhile results.In the remaining 80,the table moved Since these early experiments,Bacheldor has become Britain's leading New Age investigator of psychokinesis (PK) and associated levitation and poltergeist phenomena.His sessions,often carefuly monitored by infra-red photography,audio and video recordings and sensitive touch pads,have produced violent movements of heavy tables,rappings and even brief total levitations One of his most interesting theories involves the importance of 'artifacts' by which he means the use of lossely-controlled procedures producing natural,but unusaul phenomena which then encourage their paranormal counerparts Bacon,Roger: (c.1214-1292) An English philosopher & alchemist, born in Somerser who studied at Oxford & Paris,and was celebrated for his unorthodox experiments.His contemporaries gave him the name Doctor Mirabilis, 'marvelous doctor'.He became a Franciscan monk,but was hounded and imprisoned by the Order,which disapproved of his enquiring and scientific approach Bailey,Alice: Author of several books presenting a comprehensive Esoteric Cosmology as revealed to her by an Entity she refers to as 'The Tibetan' - Djwhal Khul.This took place over a period of 30 years. Alice Bailey was born in 1880 and durng her lifetime believed herself in contact with serveal Inner Planes beings, including Koot Hoomi, one of Helen Blavatsky's Hidden Masters.She produced an enormous body of work and managed to bring up a family on a shoestring and run an interntional correspondence school as well as carrying out public lecture work and other activities.To further her received teachings,she founded the Arcane School. Alice Bailey died in 1949 Baker-Eddy,Mary: The woman who was to become the founder of Christian Science, was born Mary Baker in New Hampshire in 1821 , the youngest of six children. For much of her early life,Mary Baker suffered a chronic illness which left her semi-invalid. In 1862, she presented herself for treatment at the hands of Phineas P. Quimby, a highly unorthodox healer influenced by Mesmer.While she became increasingly reticent to admit it,there seems little doubt that Quimby's ideas profoundly influenced Mary Baker's own view on the healing process. iIn 1875, two years after her divorce from her second husband, she published her first Christian Science textbook, Science and Health.Two years later she married one of her own students, Asa G. ddy.It was an unusual example of harmony between teacher and pupil, for mary Baker's early relationships wiht her students were marked by difficulties and quarrels.Only when she moved to Boston and ceased to have so much direct contact with her folowers did Christain Science begin to achieve its real potential as a movement.Mary Baker-Eddy died in 1910 Balneum Mariae: Medieval Latin for 'Mary's bath',in French Bain Marie,the name given to a kind of double cooker used by alchemists in Alchemy.The inner pan is gently warmed by the water in the outer pan,which is the only part in direct contact with the flames.It is said that the name is derived from the gentleness of the heat,but it is more likely that the term is derived from the image of a source of spiritual heat (that is Jesus) being nourished by water (Mary) Banshee: One of the household spirits of certain Scottish Highland or Irish families.The creature is said to wail at the death of a family member.The word is sometimes used to denote a sort of demon,but in Nordic folklore the banshee is always benevolent.The word is supposed to be derived from the Old Irish,ben sidhe, 'woman of the fairy folk'
Basilisk: The mythical king of the reptiles ( from Greek basileus - a king) sometimes called a COCKATRICE,said to be hatched from a cock's egg by a serpent.It was supposed to kill merely by its glance
Bath-Kol: A heavenly or divine voice announcing the will of God.Also the name of what was probably a method of Divination among the ancient Jews.It is said that the first words uttered after the appeal to Bath-kol were taken as being oracular: the words in Hebrew means approximately ' daughters of the voice' Bell,Book & Candle: After ceremonial excommunication in the Catholic Church, the officiating ecclesiastic closes the book,throws the candle to the ground (thus extinguishing it in earth) and has the bell tolled as though for one who has died.It is said that the book symbolises the Book of Life,the candle symbolises the 'lost' soul and the bell - is technically the Passing Bell,representative in this case of the Spiritual death Bell-Man: A form of gargoyle - found on country churches, a semi-human figure with a bell in each hand.This was a talisman against witches,since witches were said to be unable to practise their arts when church bells were ringing in the vicinity Beelzebub / Baalzebub: Baalzebub probably means 'Lord of the High House' and refers to the Syrian Baal.This title could only properly apply to Solomon in his temple,so the Jews changed the name to Beelzebub,which translates as 'Lord of Flies'.Beelzebub came to be regarded as the leading representative of the fallen gods, in Matthew 12:24 - he is mentioned as 'Prince of the Devils' and this appellation has stuck even though Milton has him next in rank to satan (Paradise Lost I,79) Belomancy: Divination using feathered arrows.Labels are attached to the arrows and the advice or oracle tied to the one which travels farthest is taken as valid Beltane: The Celtic may festival, to celebrate the arrival of summer - from Old Gaelic words meaning the blaze-kindling.In Druidic tiems,two fires were lit, and the tribe's cattle driven between them, in a purifactory rite.In later times young men would leap ove the fires in tests or displays of energy and virility Bennett,J.G: English pupil & Biographer of G.I.Gurdjieff,noted among other things for his definition of Gurdijieff's work as evolving from the single question 'What is the sense and significance of life on Earth in general and of human life in particular?' Bennett produced a large body of work and founded the Institute for the Comparative Study of History,Philosophy and the Science to popularize Gurdjieff's work and offer training based on the Gurdjieff methods
Numerous planes & ships have vanished there without a trace,often in good weather or near a landing site or port.Just before disappearing,crews have made radio contact indicating that nothing was amiss.In rare instances missing ships have been found,but without their crew or passengers.It was name in 1945 - after the disappearance of 6 Navy planes and their crew on 5 December, a suny,calm day with ideal flying conditions.Prior to that scores of ships of all sizes reportedly had vanished in the area.Strange phenomena have been reported ever since Christopher Columbus' voyage to America in 1492 Other phenomena witnessed in the area include bright lights or balls of fire, sudden explosive red flares in the sky and UFO activities.Aeroplane crew members have reported sudden power failures,instrument failures and their inability to maintain altitude.In the lore of fisherman,the Bermuda Triangle is inhabited by monsters that kidnap ships Theories as to what the causes are includes -Atmospheric disturbances / unusual weather conditions / other theories propose that phenomena are casued by alignments of the planets / time warps that trap ships and planes / /or cosmic tractor beams sent from UFO's to kidnap ships and people Some investigators have linked the area with the Lost Atlantis,notably based on the version of Atlantis depicted in the readings of the well-known American psychic Edgar Cayce (the sleeping prophet) - that a high-tech civilization based on the use of crystal energy. According to these theorists,planes and ships have been influenced by submarine crystal generators still operative following the Atlantis sinking Since little or no wrechage has been found following some ofthe accidents in the area, other speculators postulate that the Triangel contains a gateway into an alien dimension - type of intergalactical stargate Sceptics claim misleading information and sensationalist reporting have created a false mystery,adding that most disappearances can be attributed to bad weather,abandonment or explainable accidents.They say that incidents that occur in the Triangle are automatically considered mysteries because of the legends Besant, Annie (1847 - 1933): English social reformer and theosophist,nee Wood.She married Frank Besant,an Anglican clergyman in 1867 but seperatd from him 5 years later because of doctrinal differences.She joined the National Secular Society and with the atheist journalist Charles Bradlaugh,crusaded for free thought,birth control and women's rights.Besant went to India,where she spent the rest of her life.She founded the Central Hindu College at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and was politically active.She campaigned many years for Indian home rule.She also travelled extensively in Great Britain and the United States with Krishnamurti,her adopted son ,whom she presented as a new messiah,a claim he later renounced.Besant wrote widely on theosophy and was president of the Theosophical Society from 1907 until her death Bhagavad Gita: Many scholars consider the Bhagavad Gita to be the most important mystical treatise ever written .It is certainly the best known,loved and widest-read of all the Hindu scriptures.Yet paradoxically, it forms no part of the vedas, the Hindu sacred canon.Instead it is a fragrant - albeit lengthy - of an enormous epic poem, the Mahabharata - which descrives a long and fratricidal war between two branches of the Kuru Family and contains according to some occultists, descriptions of atomic and laser weapons The Gita's mystical elements arise from the fact that the principal ally of one side in the war is the god Krishna.When Arjuna, the leader of the faction, decides he will not fight, Krishna attempts to persuade him in a long philosophical and mystical discussion which eventually extends to embrace such subjects as Reincarnation, the essence of the self, the practice of Yoga, the road to Enlightenment and the nature of the Universe With this discussion ,the Gita added love and devotion to the ancient virtues of Hinduism and for the first time, insisted salvation was open to all, regardless of caste or sex.It taught that the self's realization of its own changeless and indestructable nature, acquired in meditation, should be supplemented by the love of a personal god.Many elements of the book make it as important to Buddhism as it to the Hindu faith Bilocation: The appearance of a person in two distant places at once.The double may appear in solid or ghostly form and usually acts strangely or mechanically and does not respond when spoken to.Bilaocation is said to have been practised by many mistics,monks and other holy figures though the ages,including famous Christian saints such as St Anthony of Padua,St Ambrose of Milan and Padre Pio of Italy
The technique has shown considerable promise in the field of medicine,where it is now used quite widely.Patients trained to create a temperature differential between hands and forehead can,eg.g. halt migraine attacks.Substantial strides have been made in pain control, particularly where the problem is of muscular origin and conditions like high blood-pressure can also be normailized via biofeedback training
At the beginning of the twentieth century,Dr Hermann Swoboda, a professor of Psychology, made the discovery that there were specific 23 & 28 day rhythms which influenced the mental processes of humanity - ideas would repeat in the mind at priodic intervals, as would dream patterns and so on.The rhythms he concluded began at birth and could consequently be calculated for anyone whose birth date was known.He published several books on his theory and even invented a slide rule to calculate the basic rhythms At much the same time as Professor Swoboda was investigating periodic recurrence in the realm of psychology, the Berlin physician, Dr Wilhelm Fliess, was accumulating substantial research material which seemed to point towards the same 23 & 28 day rhythms in the field of human biology.These, he thought, influenced such things as an individual's immunity to disease. The pioneering work on what was later to be called biorhythms was taken up by other scientists and during the 1920's a teacher of engineering, Dr Alfred Teltscher added a third (33-day) cycle to the original two, based on his observations of student performance. The New Age though has stimulated renewed interest in the subject of biorhythms Birds of Omen: Augurs classified birds as either good or bad,owls,crows and reavens were generally considerd birds of ill omen.In Celtic occult lore,the sight of three ravens on the ground,especially from behind,was an indication of some disaster aheqd.Magpies are also associated with witchcraft and omens of death.Among birds whose appearnace is lucky are swallows and strokes Birth Stones: Occult literature links a number of precious stones with each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac.These associations are used in talismanic magic (talismans) and in the production of Amulets.The stone were said to transmit a specific hedden power when used to make seals.They were also sometimes worn unsealed as magnetic centres to attract their corresponding powers of the stars.The stones now identified with the sighns are Aries-bloodstone,Taurus-sapphire,Gemini-chrysoprase,Cancer-emerald,Leo-aquamarine,Saggittarius-topaz,Capricorn-ruby,Aquarius-garnet,Pisces-amethyst Black Magic: The conscious exercise of evil, the perversion of white magic.In occult lore,white magic is concerned with expanding consciousness and improving the common good.Black magic is the selfish and squalid perversion of magical arts to achieve power insome form,destroy others, or for personal gain Black Elk: Black Elk was a warrior and medicine man of the Oglala Sioux. A remarkable document entitled 'Black Elk Speaks' was written down by John Neihardt in the early 1930's from his extended conversations with him. It tells of a spontaneous numinous vison which came to Black Elk as a 9 year old boy.This vision was of great power but he was afraid to tell anyone of it. He became consumed with fear, and ill and it was not until 6years later that he finaly told an old medicine man, Black Road. The medicine man understood that the vision was not just for Black Elk alone,What was necessary was for it to be performed and the fear would then deaprt. A public enactment of Black Elk's great vision then took place accompanied by celebrations and healing Black Madonnas: Some of the most famous statues of the Madonna in Western Europe are black - Chartres, Le Puy, Rocamadour, Montserrat, Einsiedeln, for example. According to Robert Graves, they derive from an ancient tradition of Wisdom as Blackness. It is likely that the images represent a continuation of pagan goddess-worship.In his book 'The Cult of the Black Virgin' - (Arkans 1985), Ean Begg explores the history and meaning of the Black Madonnas Blake, William: Perhaps the most extraordinary visionary Britain has ever perduced and a man who believed in his own words that ' the world of imagination is the world of Eternity'. Blake, who lived from 1757-1827,was primarily a creator of myths. In his verse and paintings he produced a potent pantheon based on the four 'Zoas', Urizen, Luvah, Urthona and Tharmas, manifesting as reason, feeling intuition and sense. Each Zoa has a negative counterpart, sons, daughters and an emanation. As a Christian, Blake accepted such religious absolutes as the Fall, the ddversary satan and the Divinity of Christ, but interpreted them in a highly unorthodox manner and one which has sympathetic resonances in the New Age thought. He believed that the Fall was an entirely inward affair, that satan equated with 'the Selfhood' and that Christ should be more properly seen as the 'Jesus of the Imagination' Blake said that all deities reside in the human breast. He insisted that all religions were one and that perceived differences arose from each nation's differing reception of the Spirit of Prophecy It seems quite evident that Blake spent much of his time in states of consciousness others experiences only in the briefest glimpses.The nature of his perceptions in these states is caught in the immense power of his paintings, most dealing with religious themes.Perhaps his best known, 'The Ancient of Days' shows Urizen, a bearded godlike figure,reaching down from his own sphere to create the material world with the aid of callipers .Much of Blake's poetry was, on his own admission, 'dictated' that is to say, it arose from inward, unconscious sources.His works frequently lack struckture and artistry,but never power Blavatsky,Helena Petrovna (1831-1891): Russian-born American mystic and co-founder of Theosophical Society.Born in Ekaterinoslav,she was married briefly in her teens to a Russion general.After leaving him, she travelled widely in the East,including Tibet.She supposedly exhibited psychic powers from an early age ,and throughout her career claimed to perform feats of mediumship,levitation,telepathy and clairvoyance.She went to American in 1873 and in 1875 with Conel Henry Steel Olcott,founded the Theosophical Society in New York and later carried her work to India.Her psychic powers were widely acclaimed and attracted many converts to Theosophy,including Anne Besant,whose home became the headquaters of the Theosophical Society in London.In 1885 the Society for Physical Research published a damning report alleging fraud and trickery by Blavatsky and her associates.Her writings include Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1888)
Bodhisattva: The term Bodhisattva is used in one of two ways.to Buddhists, it simply means one who aspires to be like Buddha, but who has not yet achieved Nirvana. To Theosophists,however,it refers to an individual who will definitely achieve the status of Buddha in his/her next incarnation and has develped an awareness of his own divintiy even in this life
Boehme, Jacob: Jacob Boehme was born in Silesia in 1575 ang grew up to become a master cobbler,married with four children.At the age of 25 he was struck by a mystical experience which was like the resurrection on the dead.It was the first of several and influenced the course of this entiee life.His first book 'Aurora', which described his mystical experiences,so disturbed the town coulcil of Gorlitz,where he lived,that he was forbidden to write any more.Fortunately he ignored the instruction by his death in 1624 had produced some 300 books and pamphlets History has judged him as 'by far the greatest and most original of Protestant mystics' but he was familiar with alchemy and astrology and had studied the arcane symbolism of the Qabalah.One of his dearest wishes was to reform Christianity and bring about a reunion between Protestants and Roman Catholics.The notion did not prove popular and the Gorliz council were not the only ones to attack him bitterly.Later generations proved more sympathetic and there are clear indications of his influence in the works of Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and even William Blake Bogy: The name given to a hobgoblin,probably derived from the Scottish word 'bogle' or from 'boggart' Bohm, David: New Age physicist whose book 'Wholeness and Implicate Order - Ark Publications ,1983) went a long way towards underwriting the ancient mystical insight of essential unity in the universe.To some extent this is not altogether surprising since he has,over the years,been profoundly influenced by Krishnamurti, whom he considers his spiritual mentor. In formulating his more recent theories, Bohm tookl the notion of wholeness as his starting point with the aim of exploring wht he believes to be the order inherent in relationships at a non-manifest level.He refers to this as implicate order, in the sense that it is so to speak,'enfolded' in matter Book of Changes: Also known as I Ching, the name of a sacred book,which forms the basis for an ancient Chines divinatory system.The I Ching is one of the central texts of Confucianism and one of the earliest workds of Chinese Literature It consitsts of sixty-four hexagrams,each of which is made up of six divided or undivided lones. A hexagram is decidedd by the results of tossing three coins three times or by tossing fifty yarrow stalks.The solid lines represent the Yang, or male active energy, the broken lines represent Yin,or female receptive energy.Yin and Yang have other attributes,they can be construed as light and dark or positive and negative.This is not the same opposition as good and evil, but rather that of the Sun and the Moon.The diviner can provide guidance on specific questions by interpreting the figures,but it is also possible to refer to a sequence of texts relating to each of the hexagrams in the text of the I Ching itself The foundation of the I Ching dates back to thousands of years ago in Chinese history and consists of a main text, possibly originating in the second millennium BC,with additions possibly dating from the first millennium BC and a treatise on the text,the Ten Wings,credited to Confucius and written at the end of the first millennium BC.Although rejected by the emphasised by Westeners interested in Eastern mysticism.The work was translated in the nineteenth century by James Legge and Richard Wilhelm.Wilhelm's translation included a forward by the psychoanalyst Carl Jung,who saw the text as a means of accessing the subconscious through meditation upon the symbols Book of Dyzan: As Eastern occult text - used by Madame Helena P. Blavatsky as the basis for the commentaries which form the first book of her Secret Doctrine (1888).The text gives by means of esoteric symbolism, the history of cosmic evolution Book of the Dead: A collection of ancient Egyptian religious and magical texts concerned with the ensuring the safe passage of the soul through Amenti (the Egyptian Hell) Book of the Way: Tao Te Ching. The Book of the Way, a collection of 81 poems penned by the Chinese sage and mystic Lao Tzu, which is now the fundamental scriptue of Taoism, and is studied with great interest by the New Age thinkers concerned with spiritual develpment.That the Tao Te Ching speaks directly to the modern age is clearly shown by the following lines which mount a potent attack on traditional Western values 'Tho Book of Troth: The Book of Troth - is a traditional name for Tarot Cards. It is also the Greek name for the Egyptian god of learning,wisdom and magic.In late Egyptian mythology he was the creative and orderer of the Universe and the inventor of Writing, Arithmetic and Astronomy . Troth was depicted as an ibis-headedd man carrying a pen and ink holder or as a dog-headed baboon.In the Hellenistic period he was identified with the Greek god Hermes and in later European lore, with Hermes Trismegistus, patron of magicians Borley Rectory: The rectory at Borley,Suffolk, was said to be the most haunted house in England.Although much of the evidence of spirits and poltergeist was manufactured by the fake psychic Harry Price, it is still believed by many - that the house which burned mysteriously in 1939) - was genuinely haunted, likewise the church close by,where the ghost of a nun has been seen Boyeson,Gerda: The originator of bodywork technique - Biodynamic massage - is Gerda Boyeson, the Norwegian psychologist and physiotherapist.Going on from Wilhelm Reich's work,Gerda Boyeson discovered that energy that is blocked builds up in the forms of fluids, which get trapped between muscles and nerves. With massage, this fluid is dispersed and the intestine is activated in a spontaneous pe rstaltic movement,releasing emotion.In additin to massage and touch stimuli,deep breathing and relaxation techniques are employed Brahan Seer: The name given to Coinneach Odhar, who was born on the Isle of Lewis and lived in the Brahan area of Ross and Cromarty,Scotland, in the 17th century.Gifted with 'second sight' - (the psychic abilityof seeing things,future of distant) he also had the aid of a magic stone.He is said to have forecast the railway tain,the building of the Caledonian Canal and many other events.Most famously,he incurred the enmity of the Countess of Seaforth by reporting the scandalous doings of her absent husband. She had him burned alive in a tar barrel - but not before he had prophesied the decline and fall of the Seaforths Brazen Head: A common theme of occult/psychic writings is that of the artificial head which can speak and which has supernatural knowledge.The English alchemist Roger Bacon is said to have made one.While Bacon slept,it spoke three times to his assistant,one Miles,at half-hourly intervals 'time is,time was' and finally 'time is past',whereupon it broke into pieces Brigit (Irelan,Spain France & Wales - Deity): Also known as Brid,Brighid, St.Brigid,Brigantia,Mary of the Gaels,Bride,Brigid.She is a warrior goddess who has struck a perfect balance of femininity and no-apologies power.Depending upon whomyou ask, her name either means 'the bright one or the bright arrow or the powerful one' All of these names describe Brigit perfectly.Originally a highly respected Celtic goddess afforded much acclaim in ancient Ireland, Brigit had a shrine erected in her honor in the town of Kilare, where women tended to a flame that burned continually.In the 5th Century, Brigit was adopted by the Catholic Churc and was redeemed 'Saint Brigit' Brigit is the female equivalent of Archangel Michael, fiercely protecting and lovingly clearing those who call upon her.Like Michael, Brigit also inspires Divine guidance and prophetic information.She's the half-sister of the Celtic Love god, Aengus, sharing the same mother with him Brigit is known as a triple goddess of the flame who uses her flames to help purify us, and increase fertility, creativity, and promote healing.'Triple goddess'; means that Brigit has three different personas or aspects, as if she's three different people, each with distinct duties and specialties.Brigit is a sun goddess, associated with fire.When she is in your presence, you may feel hot and actually begin to perspire.Brigitis celebrated each February 1, during an event originally known as 'Imbolc' - the rite to usher in springtime and welcome the birth of new livestock.She reminds one of a combination of Mother Mary with her graceful feminine love, and Archangel Michael, with his no-nonsense commitment to purpose and protection.She's 'super mother' - one who's simultaneiously accessible and loving, yet fiercely protective without fail.She helps with Courage-increasing,especially for women,Life purpose and finding direction,Protection,Warms-in relationships,body & environment Brocken: This peak in the German Harz mountains has many associations with magic and witchcraft.The Brocken Spectre is a ghostlike looming figure that is seen by walkers on misty days. On the summit of the hill is the Hexentanzplatz or site of the witches - dancing ground. On Saint Walpurgis Night, witches are said to assemble here for a night of festivity and wild dancing *also see Grey Man* Brothers of the Shadow: Sometimes also called the Dark Brothers or the Grey Brothers, tems used in occultism to denote those men & women who consciously choose to follow the practices and ethos of Black Magic, in what is called the Left-hand Path or the Path of Shadows.Their work is contrary to the work of white magicians,sometimes called 'Sons of light', who are claimed to follow the pathway of evulvion,self-perfection and self-sacrifice Bruno, Giordano: Bruno was born in 1548 , near Naples and entered a Dominican monastery at the age of 17 and took up an enthusiastic study of Astronomy. He aslo seems to have studied magic, including the occult memory system of Ramon Lull.This worked so well for him that he was actually summoned to Rome by Pope Pius V to discuss memory training Bruno's ideas about the workings of the universe proved too revolutionary for the religious establishment of his day and he began a wandering life peppered by constant disputes with those with whom he came in contact He seems to have been a less that likeable man,certainly he was less than diplomatic.On one occasion he took pains to point out 20 mistakes he claimed to have been made in a single lecture by one of the most popular local professors.Many of his ideas were well ahead of his time.He believed that the sun to be the centre of the Cosmos at a time when a geocentric univese was accepted doctrine and was the first to postualte the notion that the universe itself was infinite.By 1592, Bruno's doctrines proved too much for the Roman Church.He was imprisoned by teh Inquisition and burned at the stake in 16000 Brunton, Dr Paul: English author, traveller, occultist an Yogi, perhaps noted not only as a spiritual teacher,but also as one of the last men to obtain permission,int he 1930's to spend a night in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza.The stay triggered a mystical experience in which the chamber was filled with light, Brunton heard spectral voices and eventually left his body in as Astral Projection (OOBE). These experiences were descrived in 'A Search in Secret Egypt'. He also travelled widely in India and met the great sage Ramana Maharshi. His spiritual quest in India is described in 'A Search in Secret India'.In all he wrote some 28 books about the Spiritual life
Buddha: Also known as Siddhartha Buddha, Buddha Goutama, Lord Goutama.Although Westeners tend to think of the Buddha as the single founder of a specific religion rather like Jesus or Mohammed - Oriental esoteric thought postulates a series of Buddhas - meaning 'Enlightened One' - who have incarnated at intervals throughout history, in order to assist humanity towards a valid perception of spiritual reality. The individual generally referred to as 'the Buddha' is only the most recent of the line Historically, he was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal about 536 BC - the son of a Sakya clan chieftan.Legend has it that his coming was announced to his mother Queen Maya, by the appearance of an elephant. As a child he was closeted from the ills of the world but one day while out hunting, happened to see a diseased beggar on the side of the road and realized he had been living in a fool's paradise.He left home and became a wandering holy man, desperately seeking answers to the age-old spiritual questions. He gathered a small group of followers, but lost them when he concluded that the traditional religious discipline of fasting has brought him no nearer understadning and began to eat again. Eventually after years of effort,he achieved 'Enlightenment' while meditating under a bodhi -tree. His followers believe that having reached the 'blissful state of non-being' referred to as nirvana , he was freed from the necessity of physical incarnation,but voluntarily renounced his ectasy in order to guide others towards the same goal
The Middle Way comprised the Noble Eightfold Path of Right Views,Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood , Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, & Right Concentration.The Path was based on 4 Truths - that all life is suffering, that the cause of suffering is desire, that the cause of suffering is desire, that suffering will cease when desire ceases and that the Noble Eightfold Path will lead to the cessation of desire Any practise of Buddhism is inextricable linked with the doctrine of Reincarnation and the concept of Karma. They also believe that all of humanity is caught on an eternal wheel of reincarnation after reincarnation,driven by karma, and the only way to break fee is to achieve 'enlightenment' - expressed in the ecstatic state of Niravana . This is reached by following the Noble Eightfold Path and engaging in the Three Trainings - morality, concentration and wisdom. The Trainings go beyond the expression of pious platitudes into the realms of Yoga, making Buddhism perhaps the most esoteric of all teh Great Oriental Religions It recognizes that Meditation, is likely to produce Siddhis or Psychic Powers, usually broken down into 6 categories of which the first five are: : Make powers such as Levitation, walking on water, shape-shifting or projecting a mind-made body,Clairaudience-the ability to hear the voice of Spirits,Telepathy-the ability to read minds,Far Memory-the ability to recall past lives,Clairvoyance-the ability to obtain information at a distance without the intermediatery or mind-to-mind contact These 5 curious abilities are believed to be the natural outgrowth of trained concentration.The 6th, a type of suspended animation, in which all major physical functions come to a halt, is thought to come only from insight.All 6 are dismissed as distractions which should be ignored in order to achieve the central goal of Nirvana.But the dismissal is a relatively recent phenomenon.There seems little doubt that early Buddhism including the life of the Buddha himself, had strong elements of Shamanism with powers of the type listed exercised frequently in order to gain merit Budge, E.A.Wallis: Former keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum - best noted for his translation of 'The Egyptian Book of the Dead' and several other works on Egyptian language and magical practice Bulwer-Lytton,Sir Edward (1803-1873): A prolific writer of the Victorian Era,with a great interest in matters occult. He wrote a life of PARACELSUS and a stury of ROSICRUCIANISM. In his prophetic book The Coming Race, he introduced the concept of VRIL Butler, W.E. : An adept in both Eastern & Western Esoteric Traditions. He achieved public prominence with the publication in 1952 of his book 'Magic its Ritual,Power & Purpose', which was responsible for genergating an interest in occult sbujects in an entire generation. He followed with perhaps his most important book. 'The Magician, His Training and work - Aquarian Press 1959' - which described plainly for the first time the elements of Esoteric Training. A former initiate of the Society of the Inner Light, he had throughout much of his life a contact with a Hidden Master, who encouraged him to form the Servant of the Ligth - which he headed till ill health forced him to pass on both the organization and his contact to Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, shortly before his death in 1978
Main info sources The Aquarian Guide To The New Age-Eileen Campbell & J.H.Brennan Dictionary Of The Occult-Geddes & Grosset Archangels & Ascended Masters -Doreen Virtue,Ph.D
|
,