COLLATION OF THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARIES

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List of Title Abbreviations (in alphabetical order)


SD INDEX "As above, so below" I 177, 542; II 29n, 699-700


TG Asakrit Samadhi (Sk.). A certain degree of ecstatic contemplation. A stage in Samadhi.


WG Asakti, disability.


SD INDEX Asam, Easam (Irish), to create II 114


TG Asana (Sk.). The third stage of Hatha Yoga, one of the prescribed postures of meditation.

FY Asana, the third stage of Hatha Yoga; the posture for meditation.

WG Asana, a posture of a devotee, the manner of sitting forming part of the eight-fold observances of ascetic; one of the eight means or stages of Yoga. (See Yoga.)

OG Asana -- (Sanskrit) A word derived from the verbal root as, signifying "to sit quietly." Asana, therefore, technically signifies one of the peculiar postures adopted by Hindu ascetics, mostly of the hatha yoga school. Five of these postures are usually enumerated, but nearly ninety have been noted by students of the subject. A great deal of quasi-magical and mystical literature may be found devoted to these various postures and collateral topics, and their supposed or actual psychological value when assumed by devotees; but, as a matter of fact, a great deal of this writing is superficial and has very little indeed to do with the actual occult and esoteric training of genuine occultists. One is instinctively reminded of other quasi-mystical practices, as, for instance, certain genuflections or postures followed in the worship of the Christian Church, to which particular values are sometimes ascribed by fanatic devotees.
Providing that the position of the body be comfortable so that the mind is least distracted, genuine meditation and spiritual and actual introspection can be readily and successfully attained by any earnest student without the slightest attention being paid to these various postures. A man sitting quietly in his armchair, or lying in his bed at night, or sitting or lying on the grass in a forest, can more readily enter the inner worlds than by adopting and following any one or more of these various asanas, which at the best are physiological aids of relatively small value. (See also Samadhi)

SKv Asana, Pranayama Asana, meaning 'posture,' is derived from the verb root as -- to sit. Asana refers to certain bodily positions taken by some Yogins during meditation. Prana-yama is 'control of the breath'; a compound of prana -- breath, and ayama -- restraint. Pranayama refers to certain exercises in breath control which tend to temporarily quiet the mind of the Yogin and thus bring about certain states of consciousness.
These two physical practices of Asana and Pranayama are fraught with much danger to body, mind, and soul, unless undergone under the direction of a spiritual teacher who first insists on purity and virtue of heart and mind. These two practices are used mostly by Hatha-Yogins, and rarely by Yogins of the higher orders, such as Raja-Yogins and Brahma-Yogins. Hatha-Yoga, which develops the body and the lower psychic powers, begins with the lower parts of man's nature, with those parts which are the results of the activity of the desire-mental parts or the Kama-Manasic principles of our being. Hence it is a very slow and often deceptive path, an inverse, indirect, and misleading method of developing the physical and certain psychic faculties. Hatha-Yoga alone will never develop spiritual powers. Raja-Yoga or Self-discipline begins with the training of oneself -- the actor within who thinks and desires; it goes at once to the causes which make for general well-being, and hence has little use for Asana and Pranayama outside of the simple rules which we all know induce health.


SD INDEX Asaradel, taught motion of Moon II 376


TG Asat (Sk.). A philosophical term meaning "non-being", or rather non-be-ness. The "incomprehensible nothingness". Sat, the immutable, eternal, ever-present, and the one real "Be-ness" (not Being) is spoken of as being "born of Asat, and Asat begotten by Sat": The unreal, or Prakriti, objective nature regarded as an illusion. Nature, or the illusive shadow of its one true essence.

FY Asat, the unreal, Prakriti.

WG Asat, non-being.

OG Asat -- (Sanskrit) A term meaning the "unreal" or the manifested universe; in contrast with sat , the real. In another and even more mystical sense, asat means even beyond or higher than sat, and therefore asat -- "not sat." In this significance, which is profoundly occult and deeply mystical, asat really signifies the unevolved or rather unmanifested nature of parabrahman -- far higher than sat, which is the reality of manifested existence.

GH Asat Not-being, non-being: applied in Hindu philosophy to the manifested universe as being illusory, unreal, false, in contradistinction to Sat -- Be-ness, Reality. In this sense Asat is "Nature, or the illusive shadow of its one true essence." (Theosophical Glossary, H. P. Blavatsky, p. 33) (Compound a, not; sat, being, be-ness. Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 119)

SD INDEX Asat (Skt)

mulaprakriti or II 597n
sat & II 449-50

SEE ALSO; SAT


TG Asathor (Scand.). The same as Thor. The god of storms and thunder, a hero who receives Miolnir, the "storm-hammer", from its fabricators, the dwarfs. With it he conquers Alwin in a "battle of words"; breaks the head of the giant Hrungir, chastises Loki for his magic; destroys the whole race of giants in Thrymheim; and, as a good and benevolent god, sets up therewith land-marks, sanctifies marriage bonds, blesses law and order, and produces every good and terrific feat with its help. A god in the Eddas, who is almost as great as Odin. (See "Miolnir" and "Thor's Hammer".)

SD INDEX Asathor (Norse), war of, w Jotuns II 386


Asato ma sad gamaya,
Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya,
Mrityor ma mritam.
From the Unreal lead me to the Real,
From Darkness lead me to Light,
From Death lead me to Immortality.
-- From the Upanishads


TG Asava Samkhaya (Pali). The "finality of the stream", one of the six "Abhijnas" (q.v.). A phenomenal knowledge of the finality of the stream of life and the series of re-births.


TG Asburj. One of the legendary peaks in the Teneriffe range. A great mountain in the traditions of Iran which corresponds in its allegorical meaning to the World-mountain, Meru. Asburj is that mount "at the foot of which the sun sets".

SD INDEX Asburj, Ashburj, Az-burj (Mt)

Sun sets at foot of II 403, 407
survived Atlantis II 408


OG Ascending Arc or Luminous Arc -- This term, as employed in theosophical occultism, signifies the passage of the life-waves or life-streams of evolving monads upwards along, on, and through the globes of the chain of any celestial body, the earth's chain included. Every celestial body (including the earth) is one member in a limited series or group of globes. These globes exist on different kosmic planes in a rising series. The life-waves or life-streams during any manvantara of such a chain circle or cycle around these globes in periodical surges or impulses. The ascent from the physical globe upwards is called the ascending arc; the descent through the more spiritual and ethereal globes downwards to the physical globe is called the descending arc. (See also Planetary Chain)

SD INDEX Ascending Arc. See Arc


SD INDEX Ascension Island, remnant of continent II 793


SD INDEX Ascetic(s). See also Daksha, Kumaras, Narada, Rudras

fruitless, & Narada II 275n
gods oppose II 78n, 174
initiated, & seventh root-race II 275


TG Asch Metzareph (Heb.). The Cleansing Fire, a Kabalistic treatise, treating of Alchemy and the relation between the metals and the planets. [W.W.W.]


SD INDEX Asch [Ush] (Skt), fire, heat II 114


SD INDEX Aschieros. See Axieros


SD INDEX Aschmogh. See Ashmogh


SD INDEX Ascidians II 119


SD INDEX Asclepiades, betyles, ophites II 342


SD INDEX Asclepias acida, soma juice fr II 498-9


SD INDEX Asclepios. See Asklepios


SD INDEX Asclepios. See Kingsford, A., Virgin of the World


TG Ases (Scand.). The creators of the Dwarfs and Elves, the Elementals below men, in the Norse lays. They are the progeny of Odin; the same as the Aesir.

MO Ase [[Norse]] (aw-seh) [as topmost roofbeam of a house] An active god. See also Aesir (pl.), Asvnja (f.), Asynjor (f. pl.)

SD INDEX Ases. See Aesir


SD INDEX Asexual

fr, to bisexual to sexual II 116, 132, 197
first, second, races II 116
primitive, forms remain II 133
science on modes of repro II 658-9


TG Asgard (Scand.). The kingdom and the habitat of the Norse gods, the Scandinavian Olympus; situated "higher than the Home of the Light-Elves", but on the same plane as Jotunheim, the home of the Jotuns, the wicked giants versed in magic, with whom the gods are at eternal war. It is evident that the gods of Asgard are the same as the Indian Suras (gods) and the Jotuns as the Asuras, both representing the conflicting powers of nature -- beneficent and maleficent. They are the prototypes also of the Greek gods and the Titans.

MO Asgard [[Norse]] (aws-gawrd) [as god + gard court] Home of the Aesir

SD INDEX Asgard (Norse) II 97

SD INDEX Asgard and the Gods. See Wagner, W.


TG Ash (Heb.). Fire, whether physical or symbolical fire; also found written in English as As, Aish and Esch.

SD INDEX Ash. See Ash Tree

SD INDEX `Ash (Heb), Arcturus I 647-8


SD INDEX Asha [eshsha] (Aram) fire II 114


FY Ashab and Langhan, ceremonies for casting out evil spirits, so called among the Kolarian tribes.


SD INDEX Ashburj. See Asburj


TG Ashen and Langhan (Kolarian). Certain ceremonies for casting out evil spirits, akin to those of exorcism with the Christians, in use with the Kolarian tribes in India.


SD INDEX Asher. See Ehyeh asher Ehyeh


SD INDEX Asher [Asher] (Heb) [son of Jacob], Libra, the "balance" & I 651


TG Asherah (Heb.). A word, which occurs in the Old Testament, and is commonly translated "groves" referring to idolatrous worship, but it is probable that it really referred to ceremonies of sexual depravity; it is a feminine noun. [W.W.W.]


SD INDEX Ashes, are passion (Anugita) II 567


TG Ashmog (Zend.). The Dragon or Serpent, a monster with a camel's neck in the Avesta; a kind of allegorical Satan, who after the Fall, "lost its nature and its name". Called in the old Hebrew (Kabbalistic) texts the "flying camel"; evidently a reminiscence or tradition in both cases of the prehistoric or antediluvian monsters, half bird, half reptile.

SD INDEX Ashmogh [Ashemaogha] (Zor), serpent w camel's neck II 205


SD INDEX Ashnagor (in Afghanistan), Isaguri, Issachar or II 200n


TG Ashtadisa (Sk.). The eight-faced space. An imaginary division of space represented as an octagon and at other times as a dodecahedron.

SD INDEX Ashtadisa (Skt), eight faces bounding space II 576-7


TG Ashtar Vidya (Sk.). The most ancient of the Hindu works on Magic. Though there is a claim that the entire work is in the hands of some Occultists, yet the Orientalists deem it lost. A very few fragments of it are now extant, and even these are very much disfigured.

SD INDEX Ashtar Vidya (Skt). See also Agneyastra

extensive works on, lost II 427n
vibratory force (vril) in I 563
white & black forces used II 427


TG Ashta Siddhis (Sk.). The eight consummations in the practice of Hatha Yoga.

FY Ashta Siddhis, the eight consummations of Hatha Yoga.


SD INDEX Ashtoreth (Sem)

female aspect, Moon I 396; II 462
Ishtar, Moon or II 145
Queen of Heaven I 397n


SD INDEX Ash Tree, Ash-Wood

Jupiter made Bronze-age men fr II 772
Melia or II 519-20
third race created fr, (Hesiod) II 97, 181n, 520 &n
Yggdrasil II 520


WGa Ashwattha, same as asvatha.

SEE ALSO; ASVATTHA


TG Ash Yggdrasil (Scand.). The "Mundane Tree", the Symbol of the World with the old Norsemen, the "tree of the universe, of time and of life". It is ever green, for the Norns of Fate sprinkle it daily with the water of life from the fountain of Urd, which flows in Midgard. The dragon Nidhogg gnaws its roots incessantly, the dragon of Evil and Sin; but the Ash Yggdrasil cannot wither, until the Last Battle (the Seventh Race in the Seventh Round) is fought, when life, time, and the world will all vanish and disappear.

SEE ALSO; YGGDRASIL


SD INDEX Asia. See also Central Asia, Lob-nor

America & Northeast, once united II 322n
ancient civilization in I xxxii
astronomy in I 658
Chenresi protector of II 178
cut off fr root continent II 401
inland sea sacred island I 209; II 220
Khamism fr Western I 115n
Lemuria & II 327, 769n
man originated in, (Darwin) II 679-80
Neolithic man fr II 716n
northern, as old as second race II 401
northern, "perpetual land" II 776
Prometheus son of II 768
refugees fr Atlantis in II 743
rose after destruction of Atlantis II 606n
Saturnine Sea north of II 777n
Sons of Light in I xliii
South, not man's origin (Haeckel) II 789
trilithic & raised stones in II 346n


SD INDEX Asia (Gk), Prometheus son of II 768


SD INDEX Asia(tic World) [`Asiyyah] (Kab) II 111, 604


SD INDEX Asia Minor

Accadians & II 203
America, Europe coeval w II 8
initiates of II 558
priests of, knew of Atlantis II 371
third Aryan subrace born in II 753


SD INDEX Asiatic Researches. See also Jones, Sir William; Wilford, Col F.

extravagant speculations in I 654
Jones on
:
Hindu trinity I xxxi
Narada II 48
Wilford on:
Brahmadicas II 142
divisions of Atlantis II 406n, 409
Great War I 369n
Hindu chronology I 654-5
Kai-caus II 403
King I'T II 406
kumaras I 236; II 319
Meru & Atlas II 401n, 404
Nila, Nile II 405 &n
White Devil II 147, 403
White Island II 402-3, 402n
Yudhishthira I 369-70


TG Asiras (Sk.). Elementals without heads; lit., "headless"; used also of the first two human races.


TG Asita (Sk.). A proper name; a son of Bharata; a Rishi and a Sage.

GH Asita One of the Vedic Rishis, a descendant of Kasyapa, closely associated with Devala (q.v.). (Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 72)

SD INDEX Asita (Skt), Saturn called II 29


TG Ask (Scand.) or Ash tree. The "tree of Knowledge". Together with the Embla (alder) the Ask was the tree from which the gods of Asgard created the first man.

SD INDEX Ask (Norse), Askr (Icel). See Ash Tree


TG Aski-kataski-haix-tetrax-damnameneus-aision. These mystic words, which Athanasius Kircher tells us meant "Darkness, Light, Earth, Sun, and Truth", were, says Hesychius, engraved upon the zone or belt of the Diana of Ephesus. Plutarch says that the priests used to recite these words over persons who were possessed by devils. [W.W.W.]


SD INDEX Asklepios (Gk). See also Ptah

embryonic stages known to II 259
generic name, demi-god II 364
Helius, Pythius, or II 106
Hellenic Maitreya I 285-6
"incorporeal corporealities" I 566
Mercury is I 353; II 208, 211
Roman Church makes, a devil II 208
serpent & II 26n, 209
son of Apollo II 106, 211, 770
supernal gods of I 601
various names for I 353

SEE ALSO; AESCULAPIUS


MO Askungen [[Norse]] (ask-ung-en) [ask ash + unge child] Ash child, Cinderella


MO Asmegir [[Norse]] (aws-may-gir) [godmaker] Potential god: the human soul


WG Asmita, egoism.


TG Asmodeus. The Persian Aeshma-dev, the Esham-dev of the Parsis, "the evil Spirit of Concupiscence", according to Breal, whom the Jews appropriated under the name of Ashmedai, "the Destroyer", the Talmud identifying the creature with Beelzebub and Azrael (Angel of Death), and calling him the "King of the Devils".


TG Asmoneans. Priest-kings of Israel whose dynasty reigned over the Jews for 126 years. They promulgated the Canon of the Mosaic Testament in contradistinction to the "Apocrypha" (q.v.) or Secret Books of the Alexandrian Jews, the Kabbalists, and maintained the dead-letter meaning of the former. Till the time of John Hyrcanus, they were Ascedeans (Chasidim) and Pharisees; but later they became Sadducees or Zadokites, asserters of Sacerdotal rule as contradistinguished from Rabbinical.


TG Asoka (Sk.). A celebrated Indian king of the Morya dynasty which reigned at Magadha. There were two Asokas in reality, according to the chronicles of Northern Buddhism, though the first Asoka -- the grandfather of the second, named by Prof. Max Muller the "Constantine of India", was better known by his name of Chandragupta. It is the former who was called, Piadasi (Pali) "the beautiful", and Devanam-piya "the beloved of the gods", and also Kalasoka; while the name of his grandson was Dharmasoka -- the Asoka of the good law -- on account of his devotion to Buddhism. Moreover, according to the same source, the second Asoka had never followed the Brahmanical faith, but was a Buddhist born. It was his grandsire who had been first converted to the new faith, after which he had a number of edicts inscribed on pillars and rocks, a custom followed also by his grandson. But it was the second Asoka who was the most zealous supporter of Buddhism; he, who maintained in his palace from 60 to 70,000 monks and priests, who erected 84,000 topes and stupas throughout India, reigned 36 years, and sent missions to Ceylon, and throughout the world. The inscriptions of various edicts published by him display most noble ethical sentiments, especially the edict at Allahabad, on the so-called "Asoka's column", in the Fort. The sentiments are lofty and poetical, breathing tenderness for animals as well as men, and a lofty view of a king's mission with regard to his people, that might be followed with great success in the present age of cruel wars and barbarous vivisection.

FY Asoka (King), a celebrated conqueror, monarch of a large portion of India, who is called "the Constantine of Buddhism," temp. circa 250 B.C.

SD INDEX Asoka (Buddhist emperor)

grandson of Chandragupta II 550n
inscription of (Piyadasi) II 50
no rock temples before II 220n


TG Asomatous (Gr.). Lit., without a material body, incorporeal; used of celestial Beings and Angels.


KT Aspect. The form (rupa) under which any principle in septenary man or nature manifests is called an aspect of that principle in Theosophy.


SD INDEX Asphujit (Skt), adopted Earth II 32


SD INDEX Asr (Egy), Osiris, aish & II 114


TG Asrama (Sk.). A sacred building, a monastery or hermitage for ascetic purposes. Every sect in India has its Ashrams.

OG Asrama -- (Sanskrit) A word derived from the root sram, signifying "to make efforts," "to strive"; with the particle a, which in this case gives force to the verbal root sram. Asrama has at least two main significations. The first is that of a college or school or a hermitage, an abode of ascetics, etc.; whereas the second meaning signifies a period of effort or striving in the religious life or career of a Brahmana of olden days. These periods of life in ancient times in Hindustan were four in number: the first, that of the student or brahmacharin; second, the period of life called that of the grihastha or householder -- the period of married existence when the Brahmana took his due part in the affairs of men, etc.; third, the vanaprastha, or period of monastic seclusion, usually passed in a vana, or wood or forest, for purposes of inner recollection and spiritual meditation; and fourth, that of the bhikshu or religious mendicant, meaning one who has completely renounced the distractions of worldly life and has turned his attention wholly to spiritual affairs.

Brahmasrama. In modern esoteric or occult literature, the compound term Brahmasrama is occasionally used to signify an initiation chamber or secret room or adytum where the initiant or neophyte is striving or making efforts to attain union with Brahman or the inner god.

SKf Asrama, Brahmasrama An Asrama is a hermitage or sacred and secluded abode for ascetics and sages; derived from the verb-root asram -- to counsel or consult in private or to commune with the Self within. Brahmasrama (a compound of Brahman -- the Universal Divinity, and Asrama) is a holy temple or an 'Esoteric Seat' or an 'Initiation Chamber' wherein the sacred mystery-truths are revealed.

SP Asrama -- a hermitage, or one of the four stages of Hindu religious life.


SD INDEX As Regards Protoplasm. See Stirling, J. H.


SD INDEX Ass II 287


SD INDEX Assam, Lemuria & II 324


TG Assassins. A masonic and mystic order founded by Hassan Sabah in Persia, in the eleventh century. The word is a European perversion of "Hassan", which forms the chief part of the name. They were simply Sufis and addicted, according to the tradition, to hascheesh-eating, in order to bring about celestial visions. As shown by our late brother, Kenneth Mackenzie, "they were teachers of the secret doctrines of Islamism; they encouraged mathematics and philosophy, and produced many valuable works. The chief of the Order was called Sheik-el-Jebel, translated the 'Old Man of the Mountains', and, as their Grand Master, he possessed power of life and death."


SD INDEX Assessors, Forty, lipikas or I 104-5


TG Assorus (Chald.). The third group of progeny (Kissan and Assorus) from the Babylonian Duad, Tauthe and Apason, according to the Theogonies of Damascius. From this last emanated three others, of which series the last, Aus, begat Belus -- "the fabricator of the World, the Demiurgus".


TG Assur (Chald.). A city in Assyria; the ancient seat of a library from which George Smith excavated the earliest known tablets, to which he assigns a date about 1500 B.C., called Assur Kileh Shergat.

SD INDEX Assur, Wilford sees, in Isvara I 654


TG Assurbanipal (Chald.). The Sardanapalus of the Greeks, "the greatest of the Assyrian Sovereigns, far more memorable on account of his magnificent patronage of learning than of the greatness of his empire", writes the late G. Smith, and adds: "Assurbanipal added more to the Assyrian royal library than all the kings who had gone before him". As the distinguished Assyriologist tells us in another place of his "Babylonian and Assyrian Literature" (Chald. Account of Genesis) that "the majority of the texts preserved belong to the earlier period previous to B.C. 1600", and yet asserts that "it is to tablets written in his (Assurbanipal's) reign (B.C. 673) that we owe almost all our knowledge of the Babylonian early history", one is well justified in asking, "How do you know?"


TG Assyrian Holy Scriptures. Orientalists show seven such books: the Books of Mamit, of Worship, of Interpretations, of Going to Hades; two Prayer Books (Kanmagarri and Kanmikri: Talbot) and the Kantolite, the lost Assyrian Psalter.

TG Assyrian Tree of Life "Asherah" (q.v.). It is translated in the Bible by "grove" and occurs 30 times. It is called an "idol"; and Maachah, the grandmother of Asa, King of Jerusalem, is accused of having made for herself such an idol, which was a lingham. For centuries this was a religious rite in Judaea. But the original Asherah was a pillar with seven branches on each side surmounted by a globular flower with three projecting rays, and no phallic stone, as the Jews made of it, but a metaphysical symbol. "Merciful One, who dead to life raises!" was the prayer uttered before the Asherah, on the banks of the Euphrates. The "Merciful One", was neither the personal god of the Jews who brought the "grove" from their captivity, nor any extra-cosmic god, but the higher triad in man symbolized by the globular flower with its three rays.

SD INDEX Assyria(ns)

Ad, Ak-Ad in II 42 &n, 43
antiquity of II 334
armies called trees II 496
bulls & cherubs of Jews II 115n
chronology of, scholars on II 691
evil spirits symbolized chaos II 386 &n
initiate called cedar of Lebanon II 494
invasion of Egypt I 311
King Sargon's story I 319-20 &n
Mysteries of, (Chwolsohn) II 452
Nebo adored by II 456
Perseus "son of, demon" II 345n
priests took names of gods II 380
recorded twenty-seven myriads of years I 409, 650
seven Adams or mankinds II 4, 102
sevens in II 4, 35
Shemites or II 203
swastika found among II 586


SD INDEX Assyrian Cylinders, Tablets, Tiles I 269, 305, 390; II 226, 439, 477

Babylonian creation in II 61
Garden of Eden in II 202
Moses' life on II 428
twelve cantos of, & zodiac II 353


SD INDEX Assyrian Discoveries. See Smith, George


SD INDEX Assyriologists

ignorance of II 4, 62, 104, 354
say Nipoor center of black magic II 139n


TG Asta-dasha (Sk.). Perfect, Supreme Wisdom; a title of Deity.


SD INDEX Astaphoi, Astaphai(os) (Gnos)

genius of Mercury I 577; II 538n
stellar spirit I 449


SD INDEX Astaroth. See Ashtoreth


SD INDEX Astarte (Phoen)

Ad-argat or, consort of Ad-on II 42n, 43
goddess of generative powers II 461
Hiram built temple to II 541
Phoenician sailors prayed to I 468
Venus-, & the Kadeshim II 460
wife, mother & sister I 396


SD INDEX Asteria

Apollo born on II 383, 773-4
climate of, once a paradise II 773-4
Hindu Hiranyapura II 383
Nordenskiold's discoveries & II 773 &n
nymph, hides under ocean II 771n


SD INDEX Asterism(s)

cyclic progress of II 253
"fables" refer to II 585
lunar, seven rishis & kali-yuga I 378; II 550-1


SD INDEX Asterius, Pausanias saw tomb of II 278


SD INDEX Asteroids, influence of Earth on II 700


SD INDEX Asterope (Gk) or Sterope, a Pleiad, daughter of Atlas II 768


TG Aster't (Heb.). Astarte, the Syrian goddess, the consort of Adon, or Adonai.

SD INDEX Aster't. See Astarte


SKf Astika, Nastika An Astika in exoteric and orthodox Hindu religions is one who believes in the existence of an anthropomorphic god or gods, who require propitiation and worship. Astika is derived from the verb-form asti meaning 'there exists' or 'there is'; in other words, 'One or God exists.' Nastika, a compound of na -- astika or 'not an Astika,' is therefore one who does not believe in the orthodox God or Gods. Theosophists as well as Occultists of every religion are Nastikas in this sense. Though they do believe in greater beings than man in ever higher ranges, they do not make idols of them and endow them with power over man's destiny, for a student of true religion knows too well that man is the builder of his own destiny.


SD INDEX Astoreth. See Ashtoreth


SD INDEX Astra (Skt) missile weapon II 629n. See also Agneyastra, Ashtar Vidya


TG Astraea (Gr.). The ancient goddess of justice, whom the wickedness of men drove away from earth to heaven, wherein she now dwells as the constellation Virgo.

SD INDEX Astraea (Gk), goddess of justice II 785-6


SD INDEX Astoreth. See Ashtoreth


SD INDEX Astra (Skt) missile weapon II 629n. See also Agneyastra, Ashtar Vidya


SD INDEX Astraea (Gk), goddess of justice II 785-6


SD INDEX Astrakhan (River), Io crosses II 416


SD INDEX Astral

ancestors & primordial Adam II 46
constitution cannot be excavated II 720
devas inhabit, plane II 90
Earth, in early ages II 250-1
evolution merges into physical II 257
fire & occult phenomena I 82n
forms stored in Earth's aura II 684
fourth state of matter II 737
influences I 538
man often evil genius I 639
man 300 million years old II 251
physical &, planes II 157 &n
pineal gland & II 301
pralayas &, "photographs" I 18n; II 660
primeval, man II 688-9
progenitors of early mammals II 684
prototypes:
become physical II 736, 738
created I 282; II 68n, 186, 660
shed by man II 684
in space I 18n; II 660n
fr third round II 256-7
records & lipikas I 104-5
relics of third round II 712
sex first on, plane II 84
shadows II 46, 105, 110, 164, 186


TG Astral Body, or Astral "Double". The ethereal counterpart or shadow of man or animal. The Linga Sharira, the "Doppelganger". The reader must not confuse it with the ASTRAL SOUL, another name for the lower Manas, or Kama-Manas so-called, the reflection of the HIGHER EGO.

KT Astral Body. The ethereal counterpart or double of any physical body -- Doppelganger.

WG Astral Body (Eng.), a term very loosely used in Theosophical literature to cover every kind of phantasmal or ethereal appearance of the human form. Its principal meanings are as follows: (1.) The term is used as the English equivalent of the Sanskrit linga-sarira, and then means the ethereal or subtle form round which the physical body is built up, a form which serves as the vehicle of prana or life, and constitutes the mould into and from which the atoms of gross matter are continually passing. The linga-sarira or astral body in this sense can exude or ooze out from the physical body and become perceptible to the physical senses. This frequently occurs in the case of spiritualistic mediums, many of whose phenomena, especially the so-called materializations, are produced through the agency of this astral body. But the linga-sarira can never go far from the physical body and disintegrates, as a rule, shortly after the death of the latter. (2.) The term "astral body" is also used to mean the mayavi-rupa or thought-form, or illusionary form. As its name implies, the latter is a form or body created by the power of thought, and it is this mayavi-rupa which is seen in cases of the apparitions of living persons at a distance from the physical body. (3.) The term "astral body" is also sometimes used in regard to the kama-rupa or body of desires, which remains in the astral world after the death of the physical body, and the disintegration of the linga-sarira proper, when it slowly fades out as the energy that it has derived from the true ego, the manas-buddhi, is dissipated.

OG Astral Body -- This is the popular term for the model-body, the linga-sarira. It is but slightly less material than is the physical body, and is in fact the model or framework around which the physical body is builded, and from which, in a sense, the physical body flows or develops as growth proceeds. It is the vehicle of prana or life-energy, and is, therefore, the container of all the energies descending from the higher parts of the human constitution by means of the pranic stream. The astral body precedes in time the physical body, and is the pattern around which the physical body is slavishly molded, atom by atom. In one sense the physical body may be called the deposit or dregs or lees of the astral body; the astral body likewise in its turn is but a deposit from the auric egg.

SD INDEX Astral Body (ies). See also Body, Chhaya, Linga-Sarira, Nephesh, Shadows, Shells

adepts live in II 499, 531
agnishvattas have no, to project II 78
barhishads & II 79
beasts have an II 196n
becomes covered w flesh I 183-4; II 121
body of kosmos I 167, 624n
born before physical II 1
breathed out II 86
consolidation of II 653
in diagram, table I 153, 157n, 242-3; II 596, 632-3
among Egyptians I 232n, 674n
esoteric & profane sciences & II 149
external form fr I 175
first race had no II 121
kabbalists on I 234, 242-4
mayavic body II 241
"missing link" in the II 720
progenitors merged w their II 138
sound & I 555
Uraeus devours I 227, 674n

SD INDEX Astral Double(s). See also Bhutas, Chhayas

became first human race I 183
high adept can use II 771
lunar pitris oozed out I 180, 248
projection of I 234

SEE ALSO; DOPPLEGANGER, LINGA-SARIRA


SD INDEX Astral Fire or Fluid I 81, 82n, 93, 338n, 340-1, 524n; II 188


TG Astral Light (Occult.). The invisible region that surrounds our globe, as it does every other, and corresponding as the second Principle of Kosmos (the third being Life, of which it is the vehicle) to the Linga Sharira or the Astral Double in man. A subtle Essence visible only to a clairvoyant eye, and the lowest but one (viz., the earth), of the Seven Akasic or Kosmic Principles. Eliphas Levi calls it the great Serpent and the Dragon from which radiates on Humanity every evil influence. This is so; but why not add that the Astral Light gives out nothing but what it has received; that it is the great terrestrial crucible, in which the vile emanations of the earth (moral and physical) upon which the Astral Light is fed, are all converted into their subtlest essence, and radiated back intensified, thus becoming epidemics -- moral, psychic and physical. Finally, the Astral Light is the same as the Sidereal Light of Paracelsus and other Hermetic philosophers. "Physically, it is the ether of modern science. Metaphysically, and in its spiritual, or occult sense, ether is a great deal more than is often imagined. In occult physics, and alchemy, it is well demonstrated to enclose within its shoreless waves not only Mr. Tyndall's 'promise and potency of every quality of life', but also the realization of the potency of every quality of spirit. Alchemists and Hermetists believe that their astral, or sidereal ether, besides the above properties of sulphur, and white and red magnesia, or magnes, is the anima mundi, the workshop of Nature and of all the Kosmos, spiritually, as well as physically. The 'grand magisterium' asserts itself in the phenomenon of mesmerism, in the 'levitation' of human and inert objects; and may be called the ether from its spiritual aspect. The designation astral is ancient, and was used by some of the Neo-platonists, although it is claimed by some that the word was coined by the Martinists. Porphyry describes the celestial body which is always joined with the soul as 'immortal, luminous, and star-like'. The root of this word may be found, perhaps, in the Scythic Aist-aer -- which means star, or the Assyrian Istar, which, according to Burnouf has the same sense." (Isis Unveiled.)

IU Astral Light. -- The same as the sidereal light of Paracelsus and other Hermetic philosophers. Physically, it is the ether of modern science. Metaphysically, and in its spiritual, or occult sense, ether is a great deal more than is often imagined. In occult physics, and alchemy, it is well demonstrated to enclose within its shoreless waves not only Mr. Tyndall's "promise and potency of every quality of life," but also the realization of the potency of every quality of spirit. Alchemists and Hermetists believe that their astral, or sidereal ether, besides the above properties of sulphur, and white and red magnesia, or magnes, is the anima mundi, the workshop of Nature and of all the cosmos, spiritually, as well as physically. The "grand magisterium" asserts itself in the phenomenon of mesmerism, in the "levitation" of human and inert objects; and may be called the ether from its spiritual aspect.
The designation astral is ancient, and was used by some of the Neo-platonists. Porphyry describes the celestial body which is always joined with the soul as "immortal, luminous, and star-like." The root of this word may be found, perhaps, in the Scythic aist-aer -- which means star, or the Assyrian Ishtar, which, according to Burnouf has the same sense. As the Rosicrucians regarded the real, as the direct opposite of the apparent, and taught that what seems light to matter, is darkness to spirit, they searched for the latter in the astral ocean of invisible fire which encompasses the world; and claim to have traced the equally invisible divine spirit, which overshadows every man and is erroneously called soul, to the very throne of the Invisible and Unknown God. As the great cause must always remain invisible and imponderable, they could prove their assertions merely by demonstration of its effects in this world of matter, by calling them forth from the unknowable down into the knowable universe of effects. That this astral light permeates the whole cosmos, lurking in its latent state even in the minutest particle of rock, they demonstrate by the phenomenon of the spark from flint and from every other stone, whose spirit when forcibly disturbed springs to sight spark-like, and immediately disappears in the realms of the unknowable.
Paracelsus named it the sidereal light, taking the term from the Latin. He regarded the starry host (our earth included) as the condensed portions of the astral light which "fell down into generation and matter," but whose magnetic or spiritual emanations kept constantly a never-ceasing intercommunication between themselves and the parent-fount of all -- the astral light. "The stars attract from us to themselves, and we again from them to us," he says. The body is wood and the life is fire, which comes like the light from the stars and from heaven. "Magic is the philosophy of alchemy," he says again. ["De Ente Spirituali, lib. iv.; "de Ente Astrorum, book. i.; and opera omnia, vol. i., pp. 634 and 699.] Everything pertaining to the spiritual world must come to us through the stars, and if we are in friendship with them, we may attain the greatest magical effects.
"As fire passes through an iron stove, so do the stars pass through man with all their properties and go into him as the rain into the earth, which gives fruit out of that same rain. Now observe that the stars surround the whole earth, as a shell does the egg; through the shell comes the air, and penetrates to the centre of the world." The human body is subjected as well as the earth, and planets, and stars, to a double law; it attracts and repels, for it is saturated through with double magnetism, the influx of the astral light. Everything is double in nature; magnetism is positive and negative, active and passive, male and female. Night rests humanity from the day's activity, and restores the equilibrium of human as well as of cosmic nature. When the mesmerizer will have learned the grand secret of polarizing the action and endowing his fluid with a bisexual force he will have become the greatest magician living. Thus the astral light is androgyne, for equilibrium is the resultant of two opposing forces eternally reacting upon each other. The result of this is LIFE. When the two forces are expanded and remain so long inactive, as to equal one another and so come to a complete rest, the condition is DEATH. A human being can blow either cold or hot air. Every child knows how to regulate the temperature of his breath; but how to protect one's self from either hot or cold air, no physiologist has yet learned with certainty. The astral light alone, as the chief agent in magic, can discover to us all secrets of nature. The astral light is identical with the Hindu akasa, a word which we will now explain. [[See Akasa.]]

FY Astral Light, subtle form of existence forming the basis of our material universe.

WG Astral Light (Eng.), the light derived from the stars; the lowest principle of akasa. This term has been so indiscriminately used as to be now synonymous with akasa and ether. Although called "light," it is such as can only be perceived psychically. A tenuous medium, or ether, interpenetrating all space, and which cannot be properly understood unless the doctrine is fully admitted that the apparently solid world and material objects are all illusions or space made visible. (See Akasa.)

OG Astral Light -- The astral light corresponds in the case of our globe, and analogically in the case of our solar system, to what the linga-sarira is in the case of an individual man. Just as in man the linga-sarira or astral body is the vehicle or carrier of prana or life-energy, so is the astral light the carrier of the cosmic jiva or cosmic life-energy. To us humans it is an invisible region surrounding our earth, as H. P. Blavatsky expresses it, as indeed it surrounds every other physical globe; and among the seven kosmic principles it is the most material excepting one, our physical universe.
The astral light therefore is, on the one hand, the storehouse or repository of all the energies of the kosmos on their way downwards to manifest in the material spheres -- of our solar system in general as well as of our globe in particular; and, on the other hand, it is the receptacle or magazine of whatever passes out of the physical sphere on its upward way.
Thirdly, it is a kosmic "picture-gallery" or indelible record of whatever takes place on the astral and physical planes; however, this last phase of the functions of the astral light is the least in importance and real interest.
The astral light of our own globe, and analogically of any other physical globe, is the region of the kama-loka, at least as concerns the intermediate and lower parts of the kama-loka; and all entities that die pass through the astral light on their way upwards, and in the astral light throw off or shed the kama-rupa at the time of the second death.
The solar system has its own astral light in general, just as every globe in the universal solar system has its astral light in particular, in each of these last cases being a thickening or materializing or concreting around the globe of the general astral substance forming the astral light of the solar system. The astral light, strictly speaking, is simply the lees or dregs of akasa and exists in steps or stages of increasing ethereality. The more closely it surrounds any globe, the grosser and more material it is. It is the receptacle of all the vile and horrible emanations from earth and earth beings, and is therefore in parts filled with earthly pollutions. There is a constant interchange, unceasing throughout the solar manvantara, between the astral light on the one hand, and our globe earth on the other, each giving and returning to the other.
Finally, the astral light is with regard to the material realms of the solar system the copy or reflection of what the akasa is in the spiritual realms. The astral light is the mother of the physical, just as the spirit is the mother of the akasa; or, inversely, the physical is merely the concretion of the astral, just as the akasa is the veil or concretion of the highest spiritual. Indeed, the astral and physical are one, just as the akasic and the spiritual are one.

VS In it [[the Astral region]] thy Soul will find the blossoms of life, but under every flower a serpent coiled (I 18) [[p. 6]] The astral region, the Psychic World of supersensuous perceptions and of deceptive sights the world of Mediums. It is the great "Astral Serpent" of Eliphas Levi. No blossom plucked in those regions has ever yet been brought down on earth without its serpent coiled around the stem. It is the world of the Great Illusion.

SD INDEX Astral Light. See also Aether, Akasa, Anima Mundi, Ether

above lowest prakriti I 255
akasa & I 197n, 253-9, 296n, 326; II 511-12
Ana, Anna, Chaldean heaven I 91
anima mundi & I 59-60, 194-7, 365n, 461
aspect of Archaeus I 338n
bodies charged w I 526
church turned, into Satan II 511
cosmic soul II 113
cosmic substance or matter I 326
decrees of fate in II 236
destiny of every man in I 104, 105
divine, or One Element I 140
dragon, serpent or I 73, 74n, 75; II 356
entities in I 331n
ether I 74n, 76 &n, 197, 326, 331n, 343, 524n
evil on our plane I 73-4
feminine w Gnostics I 194-5
God & Devil II 512-13
grand beings move in I 527n
great deceiver of man I 60
honey-dew or I 344-5
Isis Unveiled on I 194-7, 338n, 340-1
of kabbalists I 343
karma of humanity II 513
Levi re I 196, 253-5, 254n, 259 &n; II 74, 485, 511
life-principle of all I 196
limbus or I 353
lower ether I 331n
lowest of the seven planes I 257
luminous zone (Zohar) II 409
Magic Head is, (Zohar) I 424
Nahbkoon [neheb-kau] or I 472
name coined by Martinists I 348
Nebelheim [Niflheim] I 367
not aether or ether I 296n
picture gallery, lipikas I 104-5
prince of the air & II 485
prototypes impressed in I 59, 63
shadow of aether I 341
sidereal light of Paracelsus I 255
soul of, divine & body infernal I 423-4
various names for I 140, 365n; II 511
vibratory motion of I 348
weird secrets of I 296-7

SEE ALSO; AKASA, AURA, MEGACOSM


SD INDEX Astral Selves, Souls

astral light furnishes I 196-7
build physical tabernacle II 110


TG Astrolatry (Gr.). Worship of the Stars.


SD INDEX Astrolatry II 456

astrology & II 23
Chaldean II 622-3n
exoteric Judaism, Christianity & II 41
Gnostic, Zoroastrian, Christian I 402, 448


TG Astrology (Gr.). The Science which defines the action of celestial bodies upon mundane affairs, and claims to foretell future events from the position of the stars. Its antiquity is such as to place it among the very earliest records of human learning. It remained for long ages a secret science in the East, and its final expression remains so to this day, its exoteric application having been brought to any degree of perfection in the West only during the period of time since Varaha Muhira wrote his book on Astrology some 1400 years ago. Claudius Ptolemy, the famous geographer and mathematician, wrote his treatise Tetrabiblos about 135 A.D., which is still the basis of modern astrology. The science of Horoscopy is studied now chiefly under four heads: viz., (1) Mundane, in its application to meteorology, seismology, husbandry, etc. (2) State or civic, in regard to the fate of nations, kings and rulers. (3) Horary, in reference to the solving of doubts arising in the mind upon any subject. (4) Genethliacal, in its application to the fate of individuals from the moment of their birth to their death. The Egyptians and the Chaldees were among the most ancient votaries of Astrology, though their modes of reading the stars and the modern practices differ considerably. The former claimed that Belus, the Bel or Elu of the Chaldees, a scion of the divine Dynasty, or the Dynasty of the king-gods, had belonged to the land of Chemi, and had left it, to found a colony from Egypt on the banks of the Euphrates, where a temple ministered by priests in the service of the "lords of the stars" was built, the said priests adopting the name of Chaldees. Two things are known: (a) that Thebes (in Egypt) claimed the honour of the invention of Astrology; and (b) that it was the Chaldees who taught that science to the other nations. Now Thebes antedated considerably not only "Ur of the Chaldees", but also Nipur, where Bel was first worshipped -- Sin, his son (the moon), being the presiding deity of Ur, the land of the nativity of Terah, the Sabean and Astrolatrer, and of Abram, his son, the great Astrologer of biblical tradition. All tends, therefore, to corroborate the Egyptian claim. If later on the name of Astrologer fell into disrepute in Rome and elsewhere, it was owing to the fraud of those who wanted to make money by means of that which was part and parcel of the sacred Science of the Mysteries, and, ignorant of the latter, evolved a system based entirely upon mathematics, instead of on transcendental metaphysics and having the physical celestial bodies as its upadhi or material basis. Yet, all persecutions notwithstanding, the number of the adherents of Astrology among the most intellectual and scientific minds was always very great. If Cardan and Kepler were among its ardent supporters, then its later votaries have nothing to blush for, even in its now imperfect and distorted form. As said in Isis Unveiled (I. 259): "Astrology is to exact astronomy what psychology is to exact physiology. In astrology and psychology one has to step beyond the visible world of matter, and enter into the domain of transcendent spirit." (See "Astronomos.")

KT Astrology. The science which defines the action of celestial bodies upon mundane affairs, and claims to foretell future events from the positions of the stars. Its antiquity is such as to place it among the very earliest records of human learning. It remained for long ages a secret science in the East, and its final expression remains so to this day, its esoteric application only having been brought to any degree of perfection in the West during the lapse of time since Varaha Mihira wrote his book on Astrology, some 1400 years ago. Claudius Ptolemy, the famous geographer and mathematician who founded the system of Astronomy known under his name, wrote his Tetrabiblos, which is still the basis of modern Astrology, 135 A.D. The science of Horoscopy is studied now chiefly under four heads, viz.: (1). Mundane, in its application to meteorology, seismology, husbandry. (2). State or Civic, in regard to the future of nations, Kings, and rulers. (3). Horary, in reference to the solving of doubts arising in the mind upon any subject. (4). Genethliacal, in connection with the future of individuals from birth unto death. The Egyptians and the Chaldees were among the most ancient votaries of Astrology, though their modes of reading the stars and the modern methods differ considerably. The former claimed that Belus, the Bel or Elu of the Chaldees, a scion of the Divine Dynasty, or the dynasty of the King-gods, had belonged to the land of Chemi, and had left it to found a colony from Egypt on the banks of the Euphrates, where a temple, ministered by priests in the service of the "lords of the stars," was built. As to the origin of the science, it is known on the one hand that Thebes claimed the honour of the invention of Astrology; whereas, on the other hand, all are agreed that it was the Chaldees who taught that science to the other nations. Now Thebes antedated considerably, not only "Ur of the Chaldees," but also Nipur, where Bel was first worshipped -- Sin, his son (the moon), being the presiding deity of Ur, the land of the nativity of Terah, the Sabean and Astrolater, and of Abram, his son, the great Astrologer of Biblical tradition. All tends, therefore, to corroborate the Egyptian claim. If later on the name of Astrologer fell into disrepute in Rome and elsewhere, it was owing to the frauds of those who wanted to make money of that which was part and parcel of the Sacred Science of the Mysteries, and who, ignorant of the latter, evolved a system based entirely on mathematics, instead of transcendental metaphysics with the physical celestial bodies as its upadhi or material basis. Yet, all persecutions notwithstanding, the number of adherents to Astrology among the most intellectual and scientific minds was always very great. If Cardan and Kepler were among its ardent supporters, then later votaries have nothing to blush for, even in its now imperfect and distorted form. As said in Isis Unveiled (I., 259), "Astrology is to exact astronomy, what psychology is to exact physiology. In astrology and psychology one has to step beyond the visible world of matter and enter into the domain of transcendent spirit."

OG Astrology -- The astrology of the ancients was indeed a great and noble science. It is a term which means the "science of the celestial bodies." Modern astrology is but the tattered and rejected outer coating of real, ancient astrology; for that truly sublime science was the doctrine of the origin, of the nature, of the being, and of the destiny of the solar bodies, of the planetary bodies, and of the beings who dwell on them. It also taught the science of the relations of the parts of kosmic nature among themselves, and more particularly as applied to man and his destiny as forecast by the celestial orbs. From that great and noble science sprang up an exoteric pseudo-science, derived from the Mediterranean and Asian practice, eventuating in the modern scheme called astrology -- a tattered remnant of ancient wisdom.
In actual fact, genuine archaic astrology was one of the branches of the ancient Mysteries, and was studied to perfection in the ancient Mystery schools. It had throughout all ancient time the unqualified approval and devotion of the noblest men and of the greatest sages. Instead of limiting itself as modern so-called astrology does to a system based practically entirely upon certain branches of mathematics, in archaic days the main body of doctrine which astrology then contained was transcendental metaphysics, dealing with the greatest and most abstruse problems concerning the universe and man. The celestial bodies of the physical universe were considered in the archaic astrology to be not merely time markers, or to have vague relations of a psychomagnetic quality as among themselves -- although indeed this is true -- but to be the vehicles of starry spirits, bright and living gods, whose very existence and characteristics, individually as well as collectively, made them the governors and expositors of destiny.

SD INDEX Astrology (er, ical). See also Horoscopy, Zodiac

ancient mythology includes I 389n
angel Barkayal taught II 376
aspects of constellations II 179
Brahman's life regulated by II 411n
Chaldean II 622-3n
college of, on Euphrates II 203
conception, birth & I 228-9n
definition of II 500n
judicial I 575n, 647
limitations I 642
Makara in Hindu I 219
Mercury in II 28
origin of II 23
Persian magic shield II 394
on physical not spiritual plane II 631n
prophecies I 646-7
pyramid illustrates I 317n
rationale of I 105, 532
Scorpio & reproductive organs II 129
sign of Venus II 29-30
soul of astronomy I 645-7
star deals w personality I 572-3
Tritheim greatest, of his day II 512n


SD INDEX Astro-Magians of India II 612n


SD INDEX Astronomer(s). See also Asuramaya, Bailly

adept, knew of Mars, Venus races II 699
Garga oldest, of India II 49n
modern, on Great Pyramid II 432
record cyclic events I 646
should be geologists (Faye) I 496
two antediluvian II 47-51


SD INDEX Astronomiae. See Brahe, Tycho


SD INDEX Astronomical(ly)

allegories II 45, 94 &n, 353, 380
ancient, calculations II 620-1
aspect of Vedic verse II 191n
character of Genesis II 143
influence of, phenomena II 73-4
kalpa II 307n
keys to theogony II 23
key to symbolism I 363
key to War in Heaven II 63
Mackey on, dates of Atlantis II 407-8
male gods become Sun-gods II 43
occultism &, theories II 71
phenomena & sexual religion II 274
planets, many more in secret bks I 152n
racial &, cycles II 49, 70, 330-1
records began in Atlantis II 353
Sun cosmic &, emblem II 208
Surya Siddhanta oldest, work II 326
symbols II 391n
tables, ancient & modern I 658-9, 666
Taraka-maya full of, truths II 45
truth concealed in legend II 93-4n
Tyndaridae, symb of twin brothers II 122


SD INDEX Astronomie. See Francoeur, L. B.


SD INDEX Astronomie Ancienne. See Bailly, J. S.


SD INDEX Astronomie du Moyen Age. See Delambre, J.


TG Astronomos (Gr.). The title given to the Initiate in the Seventh Degree of the reception of the Mysteries. In days of old, Astronomy was synonymous with Astrology; and the great Astrological Initiation took place in Egypt at Thebes, where the priests perfected, if they did not wholly invent the science. Having passed through the degrees of Pastophoros, Neocoros, Melanophoros, Kistophoros, and Balahala (the degree of Chemistry of the Stars), the neophyte was taught the mystic signs of the Zodiac, in a circle dance representing the course of the planets (the dance of Krishna and the Gopis, celebrated to this day in Rajputana); after which he received a cross, the Tau (or Tat), becoming an Astronomos and a Healer. (See Isis Unveiled. Vol. II. 365) Astronomy and Chemistry were inseparable in these studies. "Hippocrates had so lively a faith in the influence of the stars on animated beings, and on their diseases, that he expressly recommends not to trust to physicians who are ignorant of astronomy." (Arago.) Unfortunately the key to the final door of Astrology or Astronomy is lost by the modern Astrologer; and without it, how can he ever be able to answer the pertinent remark made by the author of Mazzaroth, who writes: "people are said to be born under one sign, while in reality they are born under another, because the sun is now seen among different stars in the equinox"? Nevertheless, even the few truths he does know brought to his science such eminent and scientific believers as Sir Isaac Newton, Bishops Jeremy and Hall, Archbishop Usher, Dryden, Flamstead, Ashmole, John Rilton, Steele, and a host of noted Rosicrucians.


SD INDEX Astronomy. See also Constellations, Nebular Theory, Planets, Precession, Stars

all in scriptures based on II 77
ancients knew, well I 650, 659-68; II 534-5
archaic, & modern science I 203
astrolatry confirmed by II 41
astrology soul of I 645-7
Aztecs' knowledge of I 322
dead planets in occult I 149n
divine kings gave early races II 29, 49, 317, 366, 765-6
Egyptian II 332, 435, 620, 631
exoteric now II 124
generation, conception & I 312
geology & II 71-2
has returned to Anaxagoras I 586
Hebrew, regulated by Moon II 75
Hindu I 658-68; II 253, 332, 551
inherited fr Atlantis II 426, 431
legendary teachers of II 765-6
light received by Venus II 29n
Moon, Earth II 64
mythology includes I 387, 389 &n
older, younger planets & II 251
Osiris-Isis taught, (Basnage) II 366
phenomena of, cyclic II 73-4
Puranic, a science II 253
pyramid & principles of I 317-18n
Sesha teacher of II 49n
taught man by gods II 366
theology &, connected I 320
unknown planets, globes I 163, 203, 576


SD INDEX Astronomy of the Ancients. See Lewis, G. C.


SD INDEX Astron. Poetique. See Hyginus, G. J.


SD INDEX Astro-Theosophic Chart. See Jennings


WG Asu, vital spirit, vigorous life; the breath; spiritual life.

SD INDEX Asu (Skt) breath II 59, 500


SD INDEX Asura Devatas (Skt) II 248


TG Asuramaya (Sk.). Known also as Mayasura. An Atlantean astronomer, considered as a great magician and sorcerer, well-known in Sanskrit works.

FY Asuramaya, an Atlantean astronomer, well known in Sanskrit writings.

WG Asura-maya, name of a great Atlantean magician, who is said to have been a great astronomer.

SD INDEX Asuramaya

Atlantean astronomer II 47, 49-51, 67-8, 70, 326, 436
based figures on Pesh-Hun II 49
Egyptians & Hindus have zodiac of II 436
giant sorcerer II 70
not derived fr Turamaya II 50
reincarnated in Ptolemy (Weber) II 326
Romaka-pura home of II 67
Tamil calendar based on II 67
used Narada's records II 49


TG Asura Mazda (Sk.). In the Zend, Ahura Mazda. The same as Ormuzd or Mazdeo; the god of Zoroaster and the Parsis.

SD INDEX Asura-Mazdha (Zor). See Ahura-Mazda

SEE ALSO; AHURA MAZDA


SD INDEX Asura-Medha. See Ahura-Mazdao


TG Asuras (Sk.). Exoterically, elementals and evil gods -- considered maleficent; demons, and no gods. But esoterically -- the reverse. For in the most ancient portions of the Rig Veda, the term is used for the Supreme Spirit, and therefore the Asuras are spiritual and divine. It is only in the last book of the Rig Veda, its latest part, and in the Atharva Veda, and the Brahmans, that the epithet, which had been given to Agni, the greatest Vedic Deity, to Indra and Varuna, has come to signify the reverse of gods. Asu means breath, and it is with his breath that Prajapati (Brahma) creates the Asuras. When ritualism and dogma got the better of the Wisdom religion, the initial letter a was adopted as a negative prefix, and the term ended by signifying "not a god", and Sura only a deity. But in the Vedas the Suras have ever been connected with Surya, the sun, and regarded as inferior deities, devas.

FY Asuras, a class of elementals considered maleficent; demons.

WG Asura, a spiritual, divine being; (derived from asu, breath;) an evil spirit, a demon of the highest order in perpetual hostility with the gods; (incorrectly derived from a, not, and sura, god: a non-god, a demon.)

GH Asura Originally the word stood for the supreme spirit (being so used in the Rig-Veda), and equivalent to the Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda; then it became applied to deities, such as Indra, Agni and Varuna; later still it denoted a class of elemental beings evil in nature, and consequently Asuras are termed demons. The Taittiriya-Brahmana represents the Asuras as being created from the breath of Brahma-Prajapati likewise the Laws of Manu, but the Puranas indicate that they sprang from his thigh. "Esoterically, the Asuras, transformed subsequently into evil Spirits and lower gods, who are eternally at war with the great deities -- are the gods of the Secret Wisdom. . . . They are the sons of the primeval Creative Breath at the beginning of every new Mahakalpa, or Manvantara; . . . Evidently they have been degraded in Space and Time into opposing powers or demons by the ceremonialists," (Secret Doctrine, II, pp. 500-1). (The following word is derived from the verbal root:) as, to breathe. Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 65)

SKv Asura Asura has two renderings: an ancient and esoteric one, and a later and exoteric one. The oldest meaning of Asura as used in the Rig-Veda is 'a divine spirit,' derived from asu -- breath. The word Asura was also applied to those classes of beings now spoken of as Kumaras, Agnishwattas, and Manasaputras, those fallen angels, the fathers of our higher natures, who thus imbodied themselves in order to attain greater wisdom and a fuller awareness of their divine natures. Later when the keys to the mystery-teachings were lost and theological dogma arose among the Brahmanical sects, the Asuras, within or without man, who opposed the empty ritualism and sacrificial ceremonial of the time, were then called 'elemental-gods' or 'demons' by these followers of false gods and of exoteric form, and the derivation of the word was changed to a -- not, and sura -- god; and hence Asura soon became synonymous with 'demon,' and in most of the later literature of India Asuras are 'demons,' those who oppose the works of the gods.

IN Asura(s) (Skt) A "not-god" in post-Vedic period, demons or evil spirits hostile to the suras (gods); in the most ancient portions of the Rig Veda, divine beings, supreme spirit (possibly fr asu, "breath"); in theosophy, intellectual deities.

SD INDEX Asura(s) (Skt) I 571. See also Agnishvattas, Amshaspends, Angels, Dhyanis, Pitris, Sons of Brahma, Suras, Vedhas

adversaries of gods II 45, 162, 164, 230, 500
Ahura same as II 59, 61, 92, 608
fr asu (breath) II 59, 500
Atlanteans & II 227n, 323
became, fr the Fall II 283
became inferior gods II 60
Brahmans distort meaning of II 92, 487
created fr "body of night" II 163
degraded into demons II 45, 500-1, 516
elohim identical w II 487
esoterically & exoterically II 174, 227n, 230, 232, 237 &n, 246-8, 283, 516
fallen angels II 500, 516, 525n
fire of I 521; II 57n, 106
first gods before "no-gods" II 248, 500
flames or, incarnate in third race II 247-8
four maharajas or I 126
four preceding manus & II 318n
gods of the secret wisdom II 500
highest dhyani-chohans II 585
hurled to Earth II 93, 246-7
incarnated by implacable law II 487
incarnated in man II 164
Indra & I 202; II 378
kumaras, pitris & II 89, 106
nagas &, used in creation I 348
origin of II 59, 490-2, 500-1, 571; II 59
rakshasas identified w II 163, 323
real jnanadevas (Gnana-devas in tx) II 90
rebellious or fallen gods II 162, 232
seven classes of I 218-19n; II 89-95, 164, 318n, 489, 585
Sons of Light (Darkness) II 489
suras become I 412, 418, 422-3; II 57n, 59, 92-3, 237, 500, 516
tempting demons II 174-5
three classes of I 218-19n; II 91-2
Titans II 525 &n
various names for I 92; II 92, 490, 500
Venus degraded into II 45
war of, (Taraka-maya) I 418-23; II 45, 63, 384n, 390, 497-501


SD INDEX Asura Visvavedas II 92


SD INDEX Asurendra, a great asura II 487


TG Aswamedha (Sk.). The Horse-sacrifice; an ancient Brahmanical ceremony.

WG Asvamedha, the horse-sacrifice, a ceremony of Vedic times.

SD INDEX Asvamedha (Skt) Sacrifice, & Kapila II 570


TG Aswattha (Sk.). The Bo-tree, the tree of knowledge, ficus religiosa.

WG Asvatha, the holy fig tree, symbolizing the universe.

GH Asvattha The pippala, the sacred Indian fig-tree, ficus religiosa. In Buddhism called the Bodhi-tree -- the tree under which the Buddha received full illumination. Mystically, the 'Tree of Life,' the great World Tree, symbolic both of the vital structure of the universe and of the cosmic hierarchies in all their various interrelations. The roots of the Asvattha "represent the Supreme Being, or First Cause, the Logos; but one has to go beyond those roots to unite oneself with Krishna, . . . Its boughs are . . . the highest Dhyan Chohans or Devas. The Vedas are its leaves. He only who goes beyond the roots shall never return, i.e., shall reincarnate no more during this 'age' of Brahma." (Secret Doctrine, I, pp. 406-7) (See Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 105.) (Meaning of the word itself: 'under which horses stand': asva, a horse; ttha from stha, to stand. Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 74)

OG Asvattha -- (Sanskrit) The mystical tree of knowledge, the mystical tree of kosmical life and being, represented as growing in a reversed position: the branches extending downwards and the roots upwards. The branches typify the visible kosmical universe, the roots the invisible world of spirit.
The universe among the ancients of many nations was portrayed or figurated under the symbol of a tree, of which the roots sprang from the divine heart of things, and the trunk and the branches and the branchlets and the leaves were the various planes and worlds and spheres of the kosmos. The fruit of this kosmic tree contained the seeds of future "trees," being the entities which had attained through evolution the end of their evolutionary journey, such as men and the gods -- themselves universes in the small, and destined in the future to become kosmic entities when the cycling wheel of time shall have turned through long aeons on its majestic round. In fact, every living thing, and so-called inanimate things also, are trees of life, with their roots above in the spiritual realms, with their trunks passing through the intermediate spheres, and their branches manifesting in the physical realms.

SKs Aswattha The Mystic Tree of Life, described in Hindu writings as the "symbol of life and its illusive joys and pleasures."

It is described by them as growing in a reversed position, the branches extending downward and the roots upward; the former typifying the external world of sense, i.e., the visible cosmical universe, and the latter the invisible world of spirit, because the roots have their genesis in the heavenly regions where, from the world's creation, humanity has placed its invisible deity. -- Isis Unveiled, I, 153

In order to attain immortality, and thus free oneself from the endless rounds of life and death on this planet, one must destroy this tree of illusion with the 'Sword of Knowledge.' One must "go beyond those roots to unite oneself with Krishna . . . the indestructible. . ." (op cit., I, 406) It was under this Aswattha tree, sometimes called the Bodhi-tree, that the Buddha conquered illusion. He delved within, and passing beyond the roots of the tree, attained enlightenment and visioned Reality.

SP Asvattha [aswattha] -- the sacred fig tree. Symbolically, the Tree of Life.

SD INDEX Asvattha (Skt). See also Tree of Life, Yggdrasil

Bo-tree of wisdom I 523
caduceus & I 549
forms new trunks, branches II 589
man's emancipation & I 536
symbol of life's illusions II 639
Tree of Life I 406-7; II 97
Tretagni fires made fr I 523


GH Asvatthaman The son of Drona and Kripa (sister of Kripa, q.v.): one of the generals in the army of the Kauravas. He was one of the three surviving warriors at the end of the war, and was then made commander. (Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 3)


GH Asvins (or more correctly Asvinau, the word itself meaning 'the two horsemen'). Two Vedic deities represented as twin horsemen, harbingers of Ushas, the dawn. They appear in the sky in a chariot drawn by golden horses, or again by birds. Their attributes pertain to youth and beauty. They are regarded as the physicians of the gods, and avert from mankind sickness and misfortune; hence many Vedic hymns are addressed to them. Yaska, the celebrated commentator of the Vedas, referring to the 'twin horsemen' as precursors of light and the dawn, held that they represent the transition from darkness to light, and the intermingling of both produces that inseparable duality which is expressed by the twin nature of the Asvinau. H. P. Blavatsky remarks: " . . . these twins are, in the esoteric philosophy, the Kumara-Egos, the reincarnating 'Principles' in this Manvantara." (Theosophical Glossary, H. P. Blavatsky, p. 41) (Bhagavad-Gita, W. Q. Judge, p. 78)

SD INDEX Asvins (Skt, Aswins in tx)

pitris, angirasas, sadhyas II 605
two, of Vedic tridasa I 71n


FY Aswini, the divine charioteers; mystically they correspond to Hermes, who is looked upon as his equal. They represent the internal organ by which knowledge is conveyed from the soul to the body.

TG Aswins (Sk.), or Aswinau, dual; or again, Aswini-Kumarau, are the most mysterious and occult deities of all; who have "puzzled the oldest commentators". Literally, they are the "Horsemen", the "divine charioteers", as they ride in a golden car drawn by horses or birds or animals, and "are possessed of many forms". They are two Vedic deities, the twin sons of the sun and the sky, which becomes the nymph Aswini. In mythological symbolism they are "the bright harbingers of Ushas, the dawn", who are "ever young and handsome, bright, agile, swift as falcons", who "prepare the way for the brilliant dawn to those who have patiently awaited through the night". They are also called the "physicians of Swarga" (or Devachan), inasmuch as they heal every pain and suffering, and cure all diseases. Astronomically, they are asterisms. They were enthusiastically worshipped, as their epithets show. They are the "Ocean-born" (i.e., space born) or Abdhijau, "crowned with lotuses" or Pushkara-srajam, etc., etc. Yaska, the commentator in the Nirukta, thinks that "the Aswins represent the transition from darkness to light" -- cosmically, and we may add, metaphysically, also. But Muir and Goldstucker are inclined to see in them ancient "horsemen of great renown", because, forsooth, of the legend "that the gods refused the Aswins admittance to a sacrifice on the ground that they had been on too familiar terms with men". Just so, because as explained by the same Yaska "they are identified with heaven and earth", only for quite a different reason. Truly they are like the Ribhus, "originally renowned mortals (but also non-renowned occasionally) who in the course of time are translated into the companionship of gods"; and they show a negative character, "the result of the alliance of light with darkness", simply because these twins are, in the esoteric philosophy, the Kumara-Egos, the reincarnating "Principles" in this Manvantara.


MO Asynja [[Norse]] (aw-sin-ya) [goddess, f. of Ase] Active deity


MO Asynjor [[Norse]] (aw-sin-yore) [pl. of Asynja, f. of Aesir] Goddesses