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Metaphysical Dictionary

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Ka: The Egyptian conception of one of the seven parts of man; a spiritual double or astral body. Not only did mankind possess a Ka, but animals and inanimate objects as -well. Every mortal received a Ka at birth. When he died his Ka left him, but was supposed to hover near the body and occasionally to reanimate it. For this purpose statues were placed near the mummy in which the Ka might find a temporary shelter. The Ka was provided with food by the friends of the deceased who left provisions, in the tomb for its use. (See Egypt and Vampire.)

Kabala, The: A Hebrew and Jewish system of theosophy. The word signifies ''doctrines received from tradition." In ancient Hebrew literature the name was used to denote the entire body of religious writings, the Pentateuch excepted. It is only in the early middle ages that the system of theosophy known as Kabalism was designated by that name. We will first consider the Kabala as a literary production before proceeding to examine it in the light of a hand-book of Hebrew occultism. The main sources which went to the making of the Kabala are the Sepher Yesirah or Book of Creation, which is a combination of mediaeval mysticism and science. The date of origin of this work has been matter of great argument, but it is perhaps safest to say that it seems to be earlier than the ninth century A.D. The Bahir or brilliant is first quoted by Nahmanides, and is usually attributed to his teacher, Ezra. It owes much to the Sepher Yesirah, and to a great extent foreshadows the Zohar, which is a commentary on the Pentateuch, including eleven dissertations on that book,— the most important of which are the Book of Secrets, the Secret of Secrets, the Mysteries of the Pentateuch, and the Hidden Interpretation. It pretends to the authorship of Simon ben Yohai in the second century, and it is alleged that he drew his sources from traditional dialogues between God and Adam in Paradise. It is further stated that it was
discovered in a cavern in Galilee where it had been hidden for one thousand years. It has been proved almost beyond doubt, however, that it was written in the thirteenth century, and the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders is alluded to.

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Kabotermannekens: According to the Flemish peasants, little spirits which play tricks on the women of the country, particularly on those who work in the dairy.

Kamarupa: (Sans.) Metaphysically and in our esoteric philosophy it is the subjective form created through the mental and physical desires and thoughts in connection with things of matter, by all sentient beings: a form which survives the death of its body. After that death, three of the seven principles-or, let us say, planes of the senses and consciousness on which the human instincts and ideation act in turn-viz., the body, its astral prototype, and physical vitality, being of no further use, remain on earth; the three higher principles, grouped into one, merge into a state of Devachan, in which state the Higher Ego will remain until the hour for a new reincarnation arrives, and the eidolon of the ex-personality is left alone in its new abode. Here the pale copy of the man that was, vegetates for a period of time, the duration of which is variable according to the element of materiality which is left in it, and which is determined by the past life of the defunct. Bereft as it is of its higher mind, spirit, and physical senses, if left alone to its own senseless devices, it will gradually fade out and disintegrate. But if forcibly drawn back into the terrestrial sphere, whether by the passionate desires and appeals of the surviving friends or by regular necromantic practices-one of the most pernicious of which is mediumship-the "spook" may prevail for a period greatly exceeding the span of the natural life of its body. Once the Kamarupa has learnt the way back to living human bodies, it becomes a vampire feeding on the vitality of those who are so anxious for its company. In India these Eidolons are called Pisachas-and are much dreaded.

Kapilavastu: (Sans.) The birthplace of the Lord Buddha, called the "yellow dwelling," the capital of the monarch who was the father of Gautama Buddha.

Kardec, Allan: (1804-1869), the Father of Spiritism in France. His real name was Hypolyte Leon Denizard Rivail. Le Livre des Esprits (The Spirits' Book), which expounded a new theory of human life and destiny, was published in 1856. In 1864 he published Le Livre des Mediums. In it the unpublished portion of the earlier scripts are said to have been liberally used. His next books were: The Gospel as Explained by Spirits, 1864, Heaven and Hell, 1865, Genesis, 1867, Experimental Spiritism and Spiritualist Philosophy. See

Karma: A major violation of another person that limits his choices, resulting in a compelling debt. Karma is a doctrine common to Brahmanism, Buddhism and Theosophy, though theosophists have not adopted it wholly as it is taught in the two religions mentioned.

The word karma itself means " action," but it may be useful to remember that generally the doctrine teaches that everything done is done for eternity, that, in short, " thou shalt reap as thou didst sow." Action is not homogeneous but on the contrary, contains three elements, the thought which conceives it, the will which finds the means of accomplishment, and the union of thought and will which brings the action to pass. It is plain, therefore, that thought is very potent for good or evil, for as the thought is, so will the action be.

The miser, thinking of avarice, is avaricious, the libertine, thinking of vice, is vicious, and on the contrary, those of virtuous thoughts show virtue in their actions. Arising naturally from such teaching is the attention devoted to thought-power. Taking the analogy of the physical body which may be developed by regimen and training, based on natural scientific laws, theosophists teach that character may, in exactly the same way, be scientifically built up. Physical weakness can be eradicated and an opposite state of affairs brought about by special exercise of the weak part, and by a similar method, weakness of character may be converted into strength Every vice is considered to evidence the lack of a corresponding virtue, avarice for instance showing the absence of generosity.

Instead, however, of allowing matters to rest at this, under the plea—arising from ignorance—that the man was naturally avaricious, theosophists, on the lines of scientific knowledge, teach that constant thought directed to generosity will in time change the man's nature in this respect. This result cannot, of course, be brought about in a day, and the length of time necessary depends on at least two factors, the strength of thought and the strength of the vice, for the latter may be the sum of the indulgence of many ages and hence correspondingly difficult to eradicate The doctrine of karma must, however, be considered not in its relation to one life only, but in the light of the theosophic teaching of re-incarnation.
Reincarnation is carried on under the law of karma as well as of evolution.

The new-born man bears within him the seeds of what he formerly was. His character is the same as it was. It is as he made it in past existences and accordingly as he made it, so does it continue unless he himself change it as he had the power to do. Each succeeding existence finds that character more definite in one direction or another and if it be evil, the effort to change it becomes increasingly difficult, indeed a complete change may not be possible until many existences of effort have passed. In such cases as these, the promptings of evil may be too strong to be resisted, yet the man who has an intelligent knowledge of the workings of Karma, though he must eventually yield, does so only after the most desperate struggle of which his nature is capable, and thus, instead of yielding weakly and increasing the power of the evil, he has helped to destroy its potency. Only in the most rare cases can he free himself with one effort. (See also Theosophy and Evolution.)

Katie King: A spirit. (See Materialization and Spiritualism.)

Kephalonomancy: A method of divination which is practiced by making divers signs on the baked head of an ass. It was familiar to the Germans and the Lombards substituted for it the head of a goat. The ancients placed lighted carbon on an ass's head, and pronounced the names of those who were suspected of any crime. If a cracking coincided with the utterances of a name, the latter was taken as being that of the guilty person.

Kether: The Kabbalistic name for the number one, and meaning "Reason" -- the Crown, the equilibrating power. Also a Hebrew occult name for one of the three essentials of God -- Reason.

King: From the Michael teachings, one of the seven essence roles. Kings seek mastery, which is its positive pole; its negative pole is tyranny.

King Arthur: The character of Arthur is strongly identified with the occult. Not only do we find his Court a veritable centre of happenings more or less supernatural, but his mysterious origin and the subsequent events of his career have in them matter of considerable interest from an occult standpoint. This is not the place to dispute regarding his reality, but merely to deal with the romances which cluster around him, and their contents from the supernatural point of view. We find him first of all connected with one of the greatest magical names of early times—that of Merlin the Enchanter. The possibilities are that Merlin was originally a British deity, who in later times degenerated from his high position in the popular imagination. We possess many accounts concerning him, one of which states that he was the direct offspring of Satan himself, but that a zealous priest succeeded in baptizing him before his infernal parent could carry him off. From Merlin, Arthur received much good advice both magical and rational. He was present when the King was gifted with his magic sword Excalibur, which endowed him with practical invulnerability, and all through his career was deep in his counsels. His tragic imprisonment by the Lady Viviana, who shut him up eternally in a rock through the agency of one of his own spells, removed him from his sphere of activity at the Arthurian Court, and from that time the shadows may be seen to gather swiftly around Arthur's head. Innumerable are the tales concerning the Knights of his Court who met with magical adventures, and as the stories grew older in the popular mind, additions to these naturally became the rule. Notably is this the case in that off-shoot of the Arthurian epic, which is known as the Holy Grail, in which we find the knights who go in quest of it constantly encountered by every description of sorcery for the purpose of retarding their progress.

Arthur's end is as strange as his origin, for we find him wafted away by faery hands, or at least by invisible agency, to the Isle of Avfrlion, which probably is one and the same place with the Celtic other-world across the ocean. As a legend and a tradition, that of Arthur is undoubtedly the most powerful and persistent in the British imagination. It has employed the pens and enhanced the dreams of many of the giants in English literature from the time of Geoffrey of Monmouth, to the present day; and with the echoes of the poetry of Tennyson and Swinburne still ringing in their ears, the present generation is quite as justified in regarding the history of Arthur as a living reality as were the Britons of the twelfth century.

(See Grail Legends)

Kirlian Photography: is a diagnostic technique that makes use of a high-voltage, high-frequency electric field. This electric field interacts with an object (for example, a part of the human body) that is "photographed." The photographic plate, may be used to make a diagnosis. The technique was developed by a Russian couple based on the theories of Rudolf Steiner.

In modern times, Kirlian photography can produce a colored image, which is believed by some to reflect a person's aura.

Kirlian photography is also known as coronal discharge photography, gas discharge visualization (GDV), aura photography or spark electrography. This technique is not commonly practiced.

Kischuph: In the Kabbala, the higher magical influence. It is divided ino two branches, an elementary and a spiritual, andincludes exorcism. Sometimes Kuschuph exhibits a striking resemblance to the witchcraft of medieval times. Sorcerers were said to change themselves into animals, and go long distance in a very short time. They may also induce pain and disease and death in men and animals. Still further allied to witches are the "women who make a contract with the Schedim, and meet them at certain imes, dance with them, and visit these spirits who appear to them in the shape of goats. In many countries such women are killed." This form of Kischuph is true sorcery, consisting of disturbing influences on the natural elements produced by exciting false "rapports" in various substances.

Knight, (J.Z.): The trance channel of Ramtha.

Kollon: is the name applied to the ether by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbetter in their book on organic chemistry. (See Ether, Theosophy)

Krishna: (Sans.) The most celebrated Avatara of Vishnu, the "Savior" of the Hindus and the most popular god. He is the eighth Avatara, the son of Devaki , and the nephew of Kansa, the Indian Herod, who while seeking for him among the shepherds and cowherds who concealed him, slew thousands of their newly-born babes. The story of Krishna's conception, birth, and childhood are the exact prototype of the New Testament story. The missionaries, of course, try to show that the Hindus stole the story of the Nativity from the early Christians who came to India.

Kundalini: in Hinduism is a form of divine energy believed to be located at the base of the spine.