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other gods and goddesses, as also of Jesus.
Mundakya Upanishad (Sans.) Lit., the "Mundaka esoteric doctrine." A work of
high antiquity; it has been translated by Raja Ram Mohun Roy.
Mysteries, Sacred They were enacted in the ancient temples by the initiated
Hierophants for the benefit and instruction of candidates. The most solemn
and occult were certainly those which were performed in Egypt by "the band
of secret-keepers," as Mr. Bonwick calls the Hierophants. Maurice describes
their nature very graphically in a few lines. Speaking of the Mysteries
performed in Philae (the Nile-island), he says:
It was in these gloomy caverns that the grand mystic arcana of the goddess
(Isis) were unfolded to the adoring aspirant, while the solemn hymn of
initiation resounded through the long extent of these stony recesses.
The word mystery is derived from the Greek mu , "to close the mouth," and
every symbol connected with them had a hidden meaning. As Plato and many of
the other sages of antiquity affirm, these mysteries were highly religious,
moral, and beneficent as a school of ethics. The Grecian Mysteries, those of
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Ceres and Bacchus, were only imitations of the Egyptian, and the author of
Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought informs us that our own word "chapel or
capella is said to be the caph-el or college of El, the solar divinity." The
well-known Cabiri are associated with the mysteries.
In short, the Mysteries were in every country a series of dramatic
performances, in which the mysteries of Cosmogony and nature in general were
personified by the priests and neophytes, who enacted the parts of various
gods and goddesses, repeating supposed scenes (allegories) from their
respective lives. These were explained in their hidden meaning to the
candidates for initiation and incorporated into philosophical doctrines.
Mystery Language The sacerdotal secret "jargon" used by the initiated
priests, and employed only when discussing sacred things. Every nation had
its own "mystery" tongue, unknown to all save those admitted to the
Mysteries.
Mystic From the Greek word mysticos. In antiquity, one belonging to those
admitted to the ancient mysteries; in our own times, one who practices
mysticism, holds mystic, transcendental views, etc.
Mysticism Any doctrine involved in mystery and metaphysics, and dealing more
with the ideal worlds than with our matter-of-fact, actual universe.
Nazarene Codex The Scriptures of the Nazarenes and of the Nabotheans also.
According to sundry Church Fathers, Jerome and Epiphanius especially, they
were heretical teachings, but are in fact one of the numerous Gnostic
readings of cosmogony and theogony, which produced a distinct sect.
Necromancy The raising of the images of the dead, considered in antiquity
and by modern occultists as a practice of Black Magic. Iamblichus, Porphyry,
and other theurgists deprecated the practice no less than Moses, who
condemned the "witches" of his day to death, the said witches being often
only mediums, e.g., the case of the Witch of Endor and Samuel.
Neo-Platonists A school of philosophy which arose between the second and
third century of our era, and was founded by Ammonius Saccas, of Alexandria.
The same as the Philaletheians, and the Analogeticists; they were also
called Theurgists and by various other names. They were the Theosophists of
the early centuries. Neo-Platonism is Platonic philosophy plus ecstasy,
divine R®ja-Yoga.
Nephesh (Heb.)
Breath of Life, Anima, Mens Vitae, appetites. The term is used very loosely
in the Bible. It generally means Prana, "life"; in the Cabala it is the
animal passions and the animal soul. Therefore, as maintained in
theosophical teachings, Nephesh is the Prana-Kama Principle, or the vital
animal soul in man.
Nirmanakaya (Sans.) Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy from
the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the
Orientalists. Some call the Nirmanakaya body "Nirvana with remains"
(Schlagintweit), on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of Nirvanic
condition during which consciousness and form are retained. Others say that
it is one of the Trikaya (three bodies) with "the power of assuming any form [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]