Grimoire

While the term grimoire is originally European and many Europeans throughout history, particularly ceremonial magicians and cunning folk, have made use of grimoires, the historian Owen Davies noted that similar books can be found all across the world, ranging from Jamaica to Sumatra,[3] and he also noted that the first grimoires could be found not in Europe but in the Ancient Near East.[4] Etymology[edit] History[edit] Ancient period[edit] "Many of those [in Ephesus] who believed [in Christianity] now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. Notwithstanding the accounts of Biblical figures like Moses, Enoch and Solomon being associated with magical practices, when Christianity became the dominant faith of the Roman Empire, the early Church frowned upon the propagation of books on magic, connecting it with paganism, and burned books of magic. Medieval period[edit] Early modern period[edit]

Spirit guide "Spirit guide" is a term used by the Western tradition of Spiritualist Churches, mediums, and psychics to describe an entity that remains a disincarnate spirit in order to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated human being. Traditionally, within the spiritualist churches, spirit guides were often stereotyped ethnically, with Native Americans, Chinese or Egyptians being popular for their perceived ancient wisdom. Other popular types of guides were saints or other enlightened individuals. Description[edit] According to theosophical doctrine, spirit guides are not always of human descent. Some early modern Spiritualists did not favor the idea of spirit guides. Firsthand Accounts[edit] Many well-known psychics have publicly described their guides. See also[edit] References[edit]

Sigil (magic) In medieval ceremonial magic, the term sigil was commonly used to refer to occult signs which represented various angels and demons which the magician might summon. The magical training books called grimoires often listed pages of such sigils. A particularly well-known list is in The Lesser Key of Solomon, in which the sigils of the 72 princes of the hierarchy of hell are given for the magician's use. Such sigils were considered to be the equivalent of the true name of the spirit and thus granted the magician a measure of control over the beings. The use of symbols for magical or cultic purposes has been widespread since at least the Neolithic era. In modern uses, the concept was mostly popularized by Austin Osman Spare, who published a method by which the words of a statement of intent are reduced into an abstract design; the sigil is then charged with the will of the creator.

Shamanism The earliest known depiction of a Siberian shaman, produced by the Dutch explorer Nicolaes Witsen, who authored an account of his travels among Samoyedic- and Tungusic-speaking peoples in 1692. Witsen labelled the illustration as a "Priest of the Devil" and gave this figure clawed feet to highlight what Witsen perceived as demonic qualities.[1] Shamanism (/ˈʃɑːmən/ SHAH-mən or /ˈʃeɪmən/ SHAY-mən) is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world.[2] A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing.[3] The term "shamanism" was first applied to the ancient religion of the Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighboring Tungusic and Samoyedic-speaking peoples. Terminology[edit]

Twilit Grotto -- Esoteric Archives Emerald Tablet An imaginative 17th century depiction of the Emerald Tablet from the work of Heinrich Khunrath, 1606. The Emerald Tablet, also known as the Smaragdine Table, or Tabula Smaragdina, is a compact and cryptic piece of Hermetica reputed to contain the secret of the prima materia and its transmutation. It was highly regarded by European alchemists as the foundation of their art and its Hermetic tradition. The original source of the Emerald Tablet is unknown. Although Hermes Trismegistus is the author named in the text, its first known appearance is in a book written in Arabic between the sixth and eighth centuries. Textual history[edit] The tablet text[edit] Newton's translation[edit] A translation by Isaac Newton is found among his alchemical papers that are currently housed in King's College Library, Cambridge University.[8] Theatrum Chemicum translation[edit] Another translation can be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Volume IV (1613), in Georg Beatus' Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum:[9][10] C.G.

Akashic records Background[edit] Akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "aether", and it entered the language of theosophy through H. P. Blavatsky, who characterized it as a sort of life force; she also referred to "indestructible tablets of the astral light" recording both the past and future of human thought and action, but she did not explicitly identify these as "akashic" in nature.[1] The notion of an akashic record is attributed to Alfred Percy Sinnett, who, in his book Esoteric Buddhism (1884), wrote of a Buddhist belief in "a permanency of records in the Akasa" and "the potential capacity of man to read the same."[2][1] By C. Accounts of purported akashic access[edit] Readings of the akashic record were central to theosophist writings, but also appear in writings of other related figures. Alice A. "The akashic record is like an immense photographic film, registering all the desires and earth experiences of our planet. Levi H. See also[edit] References[edit]

Thelema The word thelema is the English transliteration of the Koine Greek noun θέλημα (pronounced [θélima]) "will", from the verb θέλω "to will, wish, purpose." As Crowley developed the religion, he wrote widely on the topic, producing what are collectively termed the Holy Books of Thelema. He also included ideas from occultism, Yoga and both Eastern and Western mysticism, especially the Qabalah.[8] Historical precedents[edit] The word θέλημα (thelema) is rare in classical Greek, where it "signifies the appetitive will: desire, sometimes even sexual",[9] but it is frequent in the Septuagint.[9] Early Christian writings occasionally use the word to refer to the human will,[10] and even the will of God's opponent, the Devil,[11] but it usually refers to the will of God.[12] One well-known example is in the "Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:10), “Your kingdom come. François Rabelais[edit] François Rabelais was a Franciscan and later a Benedictine monk of the 16th century. Aleister Crowley[edit]

Cosmic consciousness Cosmic consciousness is a book published by Richard Maurice Bucke in 1901, in which he explores the phenomenon of Cosmic Consciousness, "a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man", a consciousness of "the life and order of the universe". History[edit] In 1901 Canadian psychiatrist Richard Maurice Bucke published Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind, in which he explores the phenomenon of Cosmic Consciousness, "a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man", a consciousness of "the life and order of the universe". Bucke discerns three forms or grades of consciousness: Simple consciousness, possessed by both animals and mankind;Self-consciousness, possessed by mankind, encompassing thought, reason, and imagination;Cosmic consciousness, a consciousness of "the life and order of the universe", possessed by few man, but a next step of human evolution, to be reached by all in the future. According to Juan A.

Orion correlation theory Representation of the central tenet of the Orion Correlation Theory - the outline of the Giza pyramids superimposed over a photograph of the stars in Orion's Belt. The validity of this match has been called into question by Hancock's critics, as noted in the text. History[edit] ...we have demonstrated with a substantial body of evidence that the pattern of stars that is "frozen" on the ground at Giza in the form of the three pyramids and the Sphinx represents the disposition of the constellations of Orion and Leo as they looked at the moment of sunrise on the spring equinox during the astronomical "Age of Leo" (i.e., the epoch in which the Sun was "housed" by Leo on the spring equinox.) Criticisms[edit] The claims made by Hancock, Bauval, and others (such as Adrian Gilbert and Anthony West) concerning the significance of these proposed correlations have been examined by several scientists, who have published detailed criticism and rebuttal of these ideas. Leo and the Sphinx[edit]

Time slip Cases[edit] Ghosts of Versailles[edit] One of the best-known, and earliest, examples of a time slip was reported by two English women, Charlotte Anne Moberly (16 September 1846 - 7 May 1937) and Eleanor Jourdain (1863–1924), the principal and vice-principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, who claimed they slipped back in time in the gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles from the summer of 1901 to the period of the French Revolution. The Vanishing Hotel[edit] Other cases[edit] Characteristics[edit] Feeling of unreality[edit] Many time slip witnesses report that, at the start of their experience of the phenomena, their immediate surroundings take on an oddly flat, underlit and lifeless appearance, and normal sounds seem muffled. Moberly's account[5] of her experience at Versailles records: We walked briskly forward, talking as before, but from the moment we left the lane an extraordinary depression had come over me, which, in spite of every effort to shake off, steadily deepened. Notes[edit]