Nag Hammadi Gospels: In 1945 on the west bank of the Nile, a jar was found containing 13 leather-bound papyrus codices.These comprised 52 Coptic documents of the 4th Century, almost all Gnostic in character.The Gospels include the Gospel of Thomas

Nagarjuna: The second-century Buddhist sage, who first propounded the Doctrine of the Middle Path followers by devotees of Mahayana Buddhism.Curiosly, Nagarjuna's expression of 'sunyata' or 'void' has much in common with the picture of the Universe held by modern Astrophysicists

Names: Names are a form of concealment as well as an expresion of identity.In Kabbalistic lore the mighty Angel Metatron - has more than seventy other names. Some of them express particular aspects or functions, but others may simply be decoys.The true ADEPTt would know the false or ill-taught one by the incorrects use of names in such cases.Also certain Spirits were of such power that to use their names, incautiously might be likened to touching a bare electric wire

Names of Power: In magical theory the real name of a Spirit contains the essence of its being, and simply to call out its name is to have access to its power.In the ancient world, there was a mystical belief that one name of dreadful power was the key to everything in the Universe.To utter it would mean the instant end of everything. In Jewish tradition this was The Name of God.For this reason, God was referred to by circumlocutory words like El (a God), Elohim (the Divine Spirit of Spirits), Adonai (Lord), Shaddai (almighty) and Sabaoath (Lord of hosts)

The Tetragrammaton came closer to the true name, but did not spell it out.The longest name of God is called the - Shemhamphorash and is the name of seventy-two syllables that Moses used to part the Red Sea. Numerological tradition underlies many names. Metraton - an Angel, is interchangeable with Shaddai, because both add up to 314.Other names to conjure with include Agla, from the Hebrew Aieth Gadol Leolam Adonai, ''thou art mighty, o Lord' Schemes Amathia, 'Sun be silent' On, a name for Egyptian city of Heliopolis, the centre of the Sun cult

Nature Spirits: Various types of beings to exist in nature.Belief in the existence of nature spirits is common to all cultures throughout history.They are usually attached to a specific place, such as a tree, river, plant or mountian. They come in a variety of shapes and temperaments.Some are described as human of form, others are like animals or are half-human, half animal some are helpful, others deceitful or malevolent.They are normally invisible to humans, except to those with the gift of Clairvoyance.Elementals are a sub-class of nature spirits that are a part of the life force of all things in nature. They are ruled by Archangels and are generally regarded as benevolent

The Neo-Platonic Greeks catergorised elementals according to the 4 elements : Earth elements are Gnomes, Air elementals are Sylphs, Water elements are Undines, Fire elementals ar Salamanders. In the Middle Ages interest in these main groups was revived and alchemists and magicians sought to control and manipulate the forces of nature and the Universe.Other elementals include Elves, who live in the woods, and household spirits such as brownies, goblins and bogles.Fairies are also sometimes included in this category

Naturopathy: An holistic system of medicine which emphasizes the need to assit the body in resisting disease rather than attempting directly to attack the disease itself.Such assistance relies on what Hippocrates referred to as 'the healing power of nature' advocating a wide rane of non-toxic and non-suppressive methods like Exercise, Massage, Fasting and Unprocessed wholefoods, Osteopathy and Psychological Counselling

Near Death Experiences (NDE): Near Death Experiences.Form of Out of body experiences (OOBE).Experiences of life after death.Maureen Cowan died on the operating table of a northern Irish hospital in 1959.She remained dead so far as all clinical signs were concerned for two-and-a-half minutes before the medical team revived her.Thereafter she made a complete recovery.Journalists hearing of the incident interviewed Mrs Cowan and found she had a very clear memory of what it was like to die

She had passed through a tunnel to emerge in a pleasant sunny parkland with shadowy figures in the background.But what seized her attention was a far from shadowy figure waiting to meet her, a tall, handsome, bearded man wearing sandals and long white robe.He exuded an Aura of kindness and peace and she knew at once he must be Jesus Christ.She badly wanted to go to him, but a strong pull drew her back after a short time into the tunnel.She blacked out briefly and awoke to find herself in the recovery room

On the face of it, the experience appeared a fairly predictable example of wish fulfilment.As a good Christian, Mrs Cowan confidently expected to meet Christ in Heaven and thus, on the point of death, hallucinated doing just that.The only problem with the theory was that Mrs Cowan, was not a good Christian, but she was Jewish

Investigaton of Near Death Experiences (NDE), which first began to gain momentum in the late 1960's - has produced a number of puzzles of this type.Doctors prepared to correlate the reported subjective perceptions of individuals who died briefly, then revived, or simply passed close to death through accident or illnes, have discovered striking similarities in the experience

Common denominators seem to be the sensation of passing through a tunnel, an OOBE (Out of Body Experience), a perception of light and meeting with Spiritual or Biblical fugures and/or dead friends and relatives.Individuals tend to interpret the experiece in the light of their own cultural background.In this the Mrs Cowan case was unusual in that Jews meeting with bearded white-robed figure during NDE are more likely to assume they have met with one of the Biblical patriarchs than with Jesus Christ

Interestinly near death reports garnered across a spectrum of cultures are not only internally consistent, but seem to agree remarkably well with the essential features of the post mortem state as described in the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead'.There is also a marked similarity to the reported inner 'Journeys' of Shamanism and certain Astral Projections

Necromancy: Divination by raising the spirits of the dead, one of the claimed Black Arts practised by witches and magicians.The classic case of Necromancy is the Witch of Endor,described in the Bible (1 Samuel 28), who summonded the spirit of Samuel in the presence of Saul.This biblical episode was widely accepted as irrefutable evidence for the existence of witchcraft

The idea bedind necromany was that the dead could see the future and could be conjured into describing it.It is unlike other forms of divination in that its tools are not part of the world around us.It goes back to legends of descents to the Underworld and visits from the dead, such as are recorded in Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet' , but in its trappings and rituals it is more a branch of Black Magic than of regular divination, which relies on the person of the diviner being in tune with the phenomena he or she is assessing.

Nei Ching: The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine - or Nei Ching, is the world's oldest existing medical textbook and one full of suprises.Even conservative estimates place its composition at 1000 BC and it may well date from 2700 BC or even earlier. Yet the book makes it clear that ancient Chinese doctors were aware of blood circulation, differentiated between arteries and veins, accurately described the position, composition and function of every major internal organ and were quite capable of differential diagnosis of many diseases which baffled Western medicine for centuries.The Nei Ching itself lays the foundation for the systems of Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion and describes a variety of techniques like pulse diagnosis still in common use today

Neopaganism: A return to pre-Christian ideals and religious practices characteristic of several branches of New Age thought,notabley in the development of modern witchcraft and aspects of the burgeoning movement of women's spirituality which tends to regard Judaeo-Christianity as patriarchal, hence anti-feminist

Neoplatonism: The philosophy developed from the 3rd century onwards by Plotinus, Iamblichus and Porphyry, which holds that all manifestion, material and spritual, emanates from a single Transcendent Godhead through the action of Divine will. An amalgamation of Platonic Philosophy and Eastern Mysticism, it is not surprising to find echoes of Neoplatonism in the Qabalah an other esoteric systems. The philosophy was banned in 529 by the Emperor Justinian I, but enjoyed a considerable revival amongst Renaissance mystics

Nemetona (England - Deity): Also known as She of the Sacred Grove.Nemetona is the Celtic goddess of power, places, sacred grounds and circles, labyrinths, and medicine wheels.A shrine to Nemetona stands at the ancient healing spa, Bath in England.In ancient times, Celts never held sacred ceremonies indoors - they were always held in open-air settings.Nemetona watched over these gatherings in the way that an angel or master would watch over a church or temple today.She helps with infusing ceremonies with guidance, overseeing wisdom and protection,Space clearing in your home's back and front yard

Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP): NLP began in the early 1970's.The originators were John Grinder, then as Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, and Richard Bandler, a mathematician, computing student and Gestalt therapist.They studied three exceptional therapists, both in person and on videotape: Fritz Perls, the originator of Gestalt Therapy, Virginia Satir, the very successful family therapist and Milton Erickson, the well-known hypnotherapist.The object of their studies was to identify the patterns used by outstanding therapists and pass them on to others. They found that there were indeed similar underlying patterns, then went on to refine them, building a model which can be used for effective communication, personal change, accelerated learning and greater enjoyment of life.Gregory Bateson described NLP as the first systematic aproach towards learning to learn

NLP therapeutic techniques include mirroring and matching,reframing, pacing,anchoring and tend to be used and taught in a group setting.NPL is now one of the fastest-growing developments in Applied Psychology and has practical applications in personal development, counselling, education and business

New Age: A term that became popular in the 1980's and is used to describe a nebulous, quasi-religious set of beliefs encompassing a wide array of notions, such as Spiritualism, Astrology, Mysticism, the occult, Reincarnation, Parapsychology, Ecology and Planetary awareness, as well as a commitment to complimentary medicine and the pseudo-scientific applications of the 'healing powers' of crystals and pyramids

New Age beliefs and practices are largely confined to the industrialised West, and the origins of the movement can be traced to the social and political unrest in the 1960's, dissatisfaction with obsessive materialism, the influence of Eastern Religions, experimentation with psychedelic drugs, the development of humanistic psychology and increased eco-consciousness.Despite hostility from the popular media and the establishment., New Age ideas now permeate many areas of mainstream culture, notably in the areas of behavioural medicine, physics, psychology and even business

Nichirenism: Nichiren Buddhism, unlike its better-known counterpart Zen, which was imported from China, is a purely Japanese development.Named for tis 13th-cdntury founder, the militant prophet and saint Nichiren, it reamained a minor sect until the end of the Second World War when it increased dramatically in popularity and influence and began to spread abroad.It is now reputedly one of the fastest-growing schools of Buddhism in the West.Nichirenism is characterized by simple practices, a clearcut philosophy which avoids subtlety and paradox and a success-orientated ethic

Nine Worlds of Creation: In Nordic lore, the Nine Worlds form the Cosmos.They are all placed on the Web of Wyrd, spun between roots and branches of the Cosmic Tree Yggdrasil, They are Midgard, the middle ground, on Earth, Nilheim the land of ice and fog, Jotunheim the land of giants, Muspellsheim, the land of fire, Vanaheim, the land of the fertility spirits, Svartalfheim the land of the elf-smiths, Ljossalfheim the world of the star elves, space, Helheim the Underworld where the spinning goddess Urdr, who weaves the web lives, and Asgard, the land of the gods

Nirvana: The blissful state of union with supreme Godhead wich is the characteristic goal of Hindu Buddhists and Yoga practice. Achievement of Nirvana obliterates ego and slf, discharges all Karmic debt and removes the need to Reincarnate

Nostradamus, Michael (1503-1566): French Physician and Astrologer, born in Provence, whose predictions of the future have fascinated people for centuries. Nostradamus was taught medicine at the University of Montpellier and acquired fame as a doctor by treating victims of the plague, but he eventually turned more to Astrology and Metaphysics. He travelled widely through Europe.In 1555 he completed the 'Centuries', a book of more than 900 predictions about the fate of France, the world and celebrated persons of his time.He became a celebrity, admired and reviled in equal measure.By his own calculation, his prophecies extended to the year 3797.The title of the book refers to the fact that the contents are arranged in sections of 100 verses each.An expanded version was published in 1558.His prophecies are written as four-lined rhymed verses (quatrains) in vague,often cryptic language.His fondness for Astrology, anagrams and his penchant for sprinkling his verses with Hebrew, Latin and Portuguese words further complicate interpretation of his predictions.Some interpreters say the verses can be applied to anything or nothing ,wheras others claim that various verses foretold such occurances as the Great Fire of London in 1666,the deaths of several monarchs, details of the French Revolutions, the rise of Napoleon and Hitler and World War II, including air battles and tank battles.Because Nostradmus included very few dates in his prophecies and because, additionally, he did not organise them into a chronological order, the verses have been constantly re-interpreted since their publication.'The Centuries' remains a classic of occult literature and hundreds of studies of it have been published

In a secluded backroom of a house in the French town of Salon de Craux on a day in 1550, Nostradamus began the first time a very curious magical ceremony, the ultimate results of which were to echo down through the centuries to our present New Age.Like most magicians, Nostradamus believed in s Spiritual borderland, peopled by its own inhabitants.He also believed that somewhere in the Northern wilderness there were areas where the two worlds overlapped and beings from one could meet and communicate with beings from the other.But no-one had yet found the exact location of the overlap, it did not matter, for there were age-old magical techniques which allowed communication almost anywhere.Nostradamus was about to use one of them now

He carried a special divining wand of laurel.Set up before him was a tripod brazier on which was a vessel filled with water.It seems probable he used on e of the ponderous Judaeo-Christian rituals preserved in the 'grimoires' of his day, now resting in our museums.It is known, however that at the climax of his evocation, he struck the brazier with his wand, then dipped first the fringe of his robe, then one foot in the water At this point, the form of a Spirit appeared in the vapour above the bowl.Nostradamus convulsed violently and his body shook under the impact of the experience.It seemed to him the Spirit dictated a four-line verse and Nostradamus carefully wrote it down.It was the first of a thousand he was to write down and they were to make him famous for centuries. With the New Age, revival of interest in the works of Nostadamus, considerable credence has been given to the belief that he set the end of the world in 1999.In fact, Nostradamus' prophecies continue for some thousands of years after the date

Number of the Beast: The numver 666 is so called from a reference in the Book of Revelations, which apparently refers to a particular man possibly the Emperor Nero, whom the Christians had good reason to consider their arch-enemy, although other early emperors who persecuted Christians have also been suggested. Depending on whether it is written in Greek or Hebrew, it can be taken as a prophetic indication of some figure who has yet to come.The reason for 666 being given this unwelcome distincion is not clear, although it may be that since the number 7 was taken as a number of perfection, this was seen as the opposite

Numbers: Numbers are of great significance in occultism because they readily form an Esoteric Code and at the same time they conform to a system that cannot be altered.This point also means that occultists often see numbers as the key to understanding the Universe - seeing them as something that exists beyond human invention and manipulation.There are innumerable languages, but there is ony one set of numbers.Words can be tampered with, their meaning can change, but numbers have an eternal permanency.They have another virtue.There are basically only nine of them, even although their combinations are infinite.For this reason, occultists have evolved systems of reducing the endless variety of names into the more classifiable taxonomy of numbers

To convert any name into its defining number, there is a simple grid. First write down the numbers 1-9.Then under the numbers write down the 26 letters of the alphabet, in three rows of 9 an one row of 8.Write down your name,, as you normally use it, together with the number of equivalents for each letter.Add the numbers. If the addition comes to two figures or more, add these together and repeat the process until you reach a single figure.This, the 'digital root' is the corresponding number to your name.Occultists believe that this number is of great significance in a person's life, and if known, can give a very good indication of the individual's nature.In a further process, you can add the vowels only to establish what is known as your ' heart numer' - which is said to reveal you hidden inner nature, or the consonants only, to real your external nature - this is a distinction that goes back to written Egyptian and Hebrew, where the consonants only were written down.Numerologists also establish the 'Birth number', found by adding the number values of the letters in the birth month to the actual date, so that 5 November 1980 comes out as 5+11+1+9+8+0=34=3+4=7. Your birth number and your number may not harmonise with each other, and such a conflict will be expressed in your own nature.The number values, briefly expressed, are as folows ONE=positive,single-minded, ambitious,inventive,selfcentered TWO=Even-tempered,tactful,modest,indecisive THREE=bold, witty, versatile,charming,lightweight FOUR=solid,practical,efficient,rather dull,melancholic FIVE=restless,speculative, adventuorous,unconventional SIX=harmonious,domestic,reliable,loyal SEVEN=scholarly,mystically inclined,withdrawn,dreamy EIGHT=strong-willed,struggling,drudging,veering from success to failure NINE=idealistic,visionary,passionate,impulsive,unorthodox,naive

Serious students of numbers make use of their own numbers in various ways, making use of numbers that happens to correspond, checking the numbers of potential friends or business partenrs,doing certain things on dates that contain their numbers and so on.They do not regard the number as the product of sheer chance, but as part of the harmonious working process of the entire Universe

Numerology: Is to analyse the hidden meaning of a word by adding and subtracting the numerical counterparts of letters.It is a curiosity of Hebrew and several other ancient alphabets, that its letters have numerical counterparts.This meant that words could be expressed as numbers and led to the development of Qabalistic gematrica - a system whereby hidden correspondences between unrelated things and events sought out through anaylysis of the numbers produced by the spelling of their names

Essentially the same thinking lies behind the occult art of Numerology which, in any recognizable modern expression, seems to draw on the speculations of Pythagoras for its inspiration.Since the English alphabet has no numerical equivalents, these are assigned to it. In its simplest form, the assignments are A=1/ B=2 / C=3 / D=4 / E=5 / F=6 / G=7 / H=8 / I=9 after which the sequence is repeated with J=1 / K=2 / L=3 /M=4 /N=5 /O= 6/P=7/ Q= 8/R= 9/S= 1/T=2 /U=3 /V=4 / W=5 /X=6 /Y=7 /Z=8

To analyse the hidden meaning of a word, its assigned numbers are added together - then 'reduced' (by adding together the individaul digits of any number larger than 9) so that a single figure number is eventually obtained.This figure is then interpreted according to traditional associations.Unfortunately there are many different assignments of figures to letters, not all of them stopping at 9.Futhermore the traditional interpretations of the reduced numbers can often vary widely, with the result that Numerology is not always taken seriously by most occultists

Nymph: A nature spirit. A minor goddess of spirit of nature in Mythology -inhabiting areas of natural beauty

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