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Metaphysical Dictionary

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Macrobiotics: A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a pescetarian diet (sometimes vegetarian or vegan) fixed on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism.

Magi: Priests of ancient Persia and cultivators of the wisdom of Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) (possibly 1500 B.C.E.). They were instituted by Cyrus when he founded the new Persian empire and are supposed to have been of the Median race.

The German scholar K. W. F. von Schlegel stated in his Lectures on the Philosophy of History (2 vols., 1829): "They were not so much a hereditary sacerdotal caste as an order or association, divided into various and successive ranks and grades, such as existed in the mysteries—the grade of apprenticeship—that of mastership—that of perfect mastership." In short, they were a theosophical college; and either its professors were indifferently "magi," or magicians, and "wise men" or they were distinguished into two classes by those names.

Their name, pronounced "Mogh" by later Persians, and "Magh" by the ancients, signified "wise," which was the interpretation of it given by the Greek and Roman writers. Stobaeus expressly called the science of the magi, the "service of the gods," as did Plato. According to Joseph Ennemoser in his book The History of Magic (1847), "Magiusiah, Madschusie" signified the office and knowledge of the priest, who was called "Mag, Magius, Magiusi," and afterward magi and "Magician." The philosopher J. J. Brucker maintained that the primitive meaning of the word was "fire worshiper" and "worship of the light," an erroneous opinion. In modern Persian, the word is "Mog"; "Mogbed" signifies high priest. The high priest of the Parsees at Surat was called "Mobed." Others derive the word from "Megh," "Meh-ab" signifying something that is great and noble; Zoroaster's disciples were called "Meghestom."

Eusèbe Salverte, author of Des sciences occulte (1829), stated that these Mobeds were named in the Pehivi dialect "Magoi." They were divided into three classes: those who abstained from all animal food; those who never ate of the flesh of any tame animals; and those who made no scruple to eat any kind of meat. A belief in the transmigration of the soul was the foundation of this abstinence.

They professed the science of divination and for that purpose met together and consulted in their temples. They professed to make truth the great object of their study, for that alone, they said, can make man like God "whose body resembles light, as his soul or spirit resembles truth."

They condemned all images and those who said that the gods were male and female; they had neither temples nor altars, but worshiped the sky, as a representative of the deity, on the tops of mountains; they also sacrificed to the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and winds, said Herodotus, meaning no doubt that they adored the heavenly bodies and the elements. This was probably before the time of Zoroaster, when the religion of Persia seems to have resembled that of ancient India. Their hymns in praise of the Most High exceeded (according to Dio Chrysostom) the sublimity of anything in Homer or Hesiod. They exposed their dead bodies to wild beasts.

Schlegel maintained that it was an open question "whether the old Persian doctrine and wisdom or tradition of light did not undergo material alterations in the hand of its Median restorer, Zoroaster, or whether this doctrine was preserved in all its purity by the order of the magi." He then remarked that on them devolved the important trust of the monarch's education, which must necessarily have given them great weight and influence in the state. They were in high credit at the "Persian gates" (the Oriental name given to the capital of the empire, and the abode of the prince) and they took the most active part in all the factions that encompassed the throne, or that were formed in the vicinity of the court.

In Greece, and even in Egypt, the sacerdotal fraternities and associations of the initiated, formed by the mysteries, had in general an indirect, although not unimportant, influence on affairs of state, but in the Persian monarchy they acquired a complete political ascendency. Religion, philosophy, and the sciences were all in their hands. They were the universal physicians who healed the sick in body and in spirit, and, in strict consistency with that character, ministered to the state, which is only the individual in a larger sense. The three grades of the magi alluded to were called the "disciples," the "professed," and the "masters."

They were originally from Bactria, where they governed a little state by laws of their own choice, and by their incorporation in the Persian empire, they greatly promoted the consolidation of the conquests of Cyrus.

Their decline dates from the reign of Darius Hystaspes, about 500 B.C.E. , by whom they were fiercely persecuted. This produced an emigration that extended from Cappadocia to India, but they were still of so much consideration at a later period as to provoke the jealousy of Alexander the Great.

Magic: The earliest traces of magical practice are found in the European caves of the middle Paleolithic Age. These belong to the last interglacial period of the Pleistocene period, which has been named the Aurignacian, after the cave-dwellers of Aurignac, whose skeletons, artifacts and drawings link them with the Bushmen of South Africa. In the cave of Gargas, near Bagneres de Luchon, occur, in addition to spirited and realistic drawings of animals, numerous imprints of human hands in various stages of mutilation. Some hands had been first smeared with a sticky substance and then pressed on the rock; others had been held in position to be dusted round with red ochre, or black pigment. Most of the imprinted hands have mutilated fingers; in some cases the first and second joints of one or more fingers are wanting; in others the stumps only of all fingers remain. A close study of the hand imprints makes it evident that they are not to be regarded as those of lepers. There can be little doubt that the joints were removed for a specific purpose, and on this point there is general agreement among anthropologists. A clue to the mystery is obtained by the magical custom among the Bushmen of similarly removing finger joints. Mr. G. W. Stow in his The Native Races of South Africa makes reference to this strange form of sacrifice. He once came into contact with a number of Bushmen who "had all lost the first joint of the little finger" which had been removed with a " stone knife" with purpose to ensure a safe journey to the spirit world. Another writer tells of an old Bushman woman whose little fingers of both hands had been mutilated, three joints in all having been removed. She explained that each joint had been sacrificed as a daughter died to express her sorrow. No doubt, however, there was a deeper meaning in the custom than she cared to confess, F. Boas in his Report on the N.W. Tribes of Canada gives evidence of the custom among these peoples. When frequent deaths resulted from disease, the Canadian Indians were wont to sacrifice the joints of their little fingers so as, they explained, " to cut off the deaths." Among the Indian Madigas (Telugu Pariahs) the evil eye-is averted by sacrificers who dip their hands in the blood of goats or sheep and impress them on either side of a house door. This custom is not unknown even to Brahmans.

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Magic, White: or "Beneficent Magic," so called, is divine magic, devoid of selfishness, love of power, of ambition or material gain, and bent only on doing good to the world in general and one's neighbor in particular. The smallest attempt to use one's abnormal powers for the gratification of self makes of these powers sorcery or Black Magic.

Magical Diagrams: These were geometrical designs, representing the mysteries of deity and creation, therefore supposed to be of special virtue in rites of evocation and conjuration.

The chief of these were the Triangle, the Double Triangle, forming a six-pointed star and known as the Sign or Seal of Solomon; the Tetragram a four-pointed star formed by the interlacement of two pillars; and the Pentagram, a five-pointed star.

These signs were traced on paper or parchment, or engraved on metals and glass and consecrated to their various uses by special rites.

The Triangle was based on the idea of trinity as found in all things, in deity, time and creation. The triangle was generally traced on the ground with the magic sword or rod, as in circles of evocation where the triangle was drawn within it and according to the position of the magician at its point or base so the spirits were conjured from heaven or hell.

The Double Triangle, the Sign of Solomon, symbolic of the Macrocosm, was formed by the interlacement of two triangles, thus its points constituted the perfect number six. The magicians wore it, bound on their brows and breasts during the ceremonies and it was engraved on the silver reservoir of the magic lamp.

The Tetragram was symbolic of the four elements and used in the conjuration of the elementary spirits—sylphs of the air, undines of the water, the fire salamanders and gnomes of the earth. In alchemy it represented the magical elements, salt, sulphur, mercury and azoth; in mystic philosophy the ideas Spirit, Matter, Motion and Rest; in hieroglyphs the man, eagle, lion and bull.

The Pentagram, the sign of the Microcosm, was held to be the most powerful means of conjuration in any rite. It may represent evil as well as good, for while with one point in the ascendant it was the sign of Christ, with two points in the ascendant it was the sign of Satan. By the use of the pentagram in these positions the powers of light or darkness were evoked. The pentagram was said to be the star which led the Magi to the manger where the infant Christ was laid.

The preparation and consecration of this sign for use in magical rites is prescribed with great detail- It might be composed of seven metals, the ideal form for its expression ; or traced in pure gold upon white marble, never before used for any purpose. It might also be drawn with vermilion upon lambskin without a blemish prepared under the auspices of the Sun. The sign was next consecrated with the four elements ; breathed on five times ; dried by the smoke of five perfumes, incense, myrrh, aloes, sulphur and camphor. The names of five genii were breathed above it, and then the sign was placed successively at the north, south, east and west and centre of the astronomical cross pronouncing the letters of the sacred tetragram and various Kabalistic names.

It was believed to be of great efficacy in terrifying phantoms it engraved upon glass, and the magicians traced it on their doorsteps to prevent evil spirits from entering and the good from departing.

This symbol has been used by all secret and occult societies, by the Rosicrucians, the Illuminati, down to the Freemasons of today. Modern Occultists translate the meaning of the pentagram as symbolic of the human soul and its relation to God.

The symbol is placed with one point in the ascendant. That point represents tbe Great Spirit, God. A line drawn from there to the left-hand angle at base is the descent of spirit into matter in its lowest form, whence it ascends to right-hand angle typifying matter in its highest form, the brain of man. From here a line is drawn across the figure to left angle representing man's development in intellect, and progress in material civilization, the point of danger, from which all nations have fallen into moral corruption, signified by the descent of the line to right angle at base. But the soul of man being derived from God cannot remain at this point, but must struggle upward, as is symbolized by the line reaching again to the apex, God, whence it issued.

Magical Instruments and Accessories: In magical rites these were considered of the utmost importance. Indispensable to the efficacy of the ceremonies were the altar, the chalice, the tripod, the censer; the lamp, rod, sword, and magic fork or trident; the sacred fire and consecrated oils; the incense and the candles.

The altar might be of wood or stone, but if of the latter, then of stone that has never been worked or hewn or even touched by the hammer.

The chalice might be of different metals, symbolic of the object of the rites. Where the purpose was evil, a black chalice was used as in the profane misses of sorcerers and witches. In some talismans the chalice is engraved as a symbol of the moon.

The tripod and its triangular stand was also made in symbolic metals.

The censer might be of bronze, but preferably of silver.

In the construction of the lamp, gold, silver, brass and iron must be used, iron for the pedestal, brass for the mirror, silver for the reservoir and at the apex a golden triangle. Various symbols were traced upon it, including an androgynous figure about the pedestal, a serpent devouring its own tail, and the Sign of Solomon.

The rod must be specially fashioned of certain woods and then consecrated to its magical uses. A perfectly straight branch of almond or hazel was to be chosen. This was cut before the tree blossomed, and cut with a golden sickle in the early dawn. Throughout its length must be run a long needle of magnetized iron; at one end there should be affixed a triangular, prism, to the other, one of black resin, and rings of copper and zinc bound about it. At the new moon it must be consecrated by a magician who already possesses a consecrated rod.

The secret of the construction and consecration of magical rods was jealously guarded by all magicians and the rod itself was displayed as little as possible, being usually concealed in the flowing sleeve of the magician's robe.

The sword must be wrought of unalloyed steel, with copper handle in the form of a crucifix. Mystical signs were engraved on guard and blade and its consecration took place on a Sunday in full rays of the sun, when the sword was thrust into a sacred fire of cypress and laurel, then moistened with the blood of a snake, polished, and next, together with branches of vervain, swathed in silk. The sword was generally used in the service of Black Magic.

The magic fork or trident used in necromancy was also fashioned of hazel or almond, cut from the tree at ""one blow with an unused knife, from whose blade must be fashioned the three prongs. Witches and sorceresses are usually depicted using the trident in their infernal rites.

The fire was lit with charcoal on-which were cast branches of trees, symbolic of the end desired. In Black Magic these generally consisted of cypress, alderwood, broken crucifixes and desecrated hosts.

The oil for anointing was compounded of myrrh, cinnamon, galingale and purest oil of Olive. Unguents were used by sorcerers and witches, who smeared their brows, breasts and wrists with a mixture composed of human fat and blood of corpses, combined with aconite, belladonna and poisonous fungi, thinking thereby to make themselves invisible.

Incense might be of any odoriferous woods and herbs, such as cedar, rose, citron, aloes, cinnamon, sandal, reduced to a fine powder, together with incense and storax. In Black Magic, alum, sulphur and assafoetida were used as incense.

The candles, belonging solely to practices of Black Magic were molded from human fat and set in candlesticks of ebony carved in the form of a crescent.

Bowls also were used in these ceremonies, fashioned of different metals, their shape symbolic of the heavens. In necromantic rites skulls of criminals were used, generally to hold the blood of some victim or sacrifice.

Magical Numbers: Certain numbers and their combinations were traditionally held to be of magical power, by virtue of their representation of divine and creative mysteries. The doctrines of Pythagoras (see Greece) furnished the basis for much of this belief. According to his theory, numbers contained the elements of all things, of the natural and spiritual worlds and of the sciences. The real numerals of the universe were the primaries one to ten, and in their combination the reason of all else might be found.

To the Pythagoreans, one represented unity, therefore God; two was duality, the Devil; four was sacred and holy, the number on which they swore their most solemn oaths; five was their symbol of marriage. They also attributed certain numbers to the gods, planets and elements; one represented the Sun, two the Moon; while five was fire, six the Earth, eight the air, and twelve water. (See also magic square)

Cornelius Agrippa, in his work Occult Philosophy first published in Latin (1531-33), discourses upon numbers as those characters by whose proportion all things are formed. He enumerates the virtues of numerals as displayed in nature, instancing the herb cinquefoil, which by the power of the number five exorcises devils, reduces fever, and forms an antidote to poisons. He also points to the virtue of seven, as in the power of the seventh son to cure the king's evil.

One was the origin and common measure of all things. It is indivisible, not to be multiplied. In the universe there is one God; one supreme intelligence in the intellectual world, man; in the sidereal world, one Sun; one potent instrument and agency in the elementary world, the philosophers' stone; one chief member in the human world, the heart; and one sovereign prince in the nether world, Lucifer.

Two was the number of marriage, charity, and social communion. It was also regarded sometimes as an unclean number; in the Bible, beasts of the field went into Noah's Ark by twos.

Three had a mysterious value as shown in time's trinity— past, present and future; in that of space—length, breadth, and thickness; in the three heavenly virtues—faith, hope, and charity; in the three worlds of man—brain (the intellectual), heart (the celestial), and body (elemental).

Four signifies solidity and foundation. There are four seasons, four elements, four cardinal points, four evangelists.

Five, as it divides ten, the sum of all numbers, is also the number of justice. There are five senses; the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, were five; the name of the Deity, the Pentagram, is composed of five letters; it also is a protection against beasts of prey.

Six is the sign of creation, because the world was completed in six days. It is the perfect number, because it alone by addition of its half, its third and its sixth reforms itself. It also represents servitude by reason of the Divine injunction, "Six days shalt thou labour."

Seven is a miraculous number, consisting of one, unity, and six, the sign of perfection. It represents life because it contains body, consisting of four elements, spirit, flesh, bone, and humor (the ancient concept of bodily fluids affecting the mind); and soul, made up of three elements, passion, desire, and reason. The seventh day was that on which God rested from his work of creation.

Eight represents justice and fullness. Divided, its halves are equal; twice divided, it is still even. In the Beatitudes, eight is the number of those mentioned—peacemakers, those who strive after righteousness, the meek, the persecuted, the pure, the merciful, the poor in spirit, and those that mourn.

Nine is the number of the muses and of the moving spheres. Ten is completeness, because one cannot count beyond it except by combinations formed with other numbers. In the ancient mysteries, ten days of initiation were prescribed. In ten is found evident signs of a divine principle.

Eleven is the number of the commandments, while twelve is the number of signs in the Zodiac, of the apostles, of the tribes of Israel, of the gates of Jerusalem.

This theory of numbers Agrippa applied to the casting of horoscopes. Divination by numbers was one of the favorite methods employed in the Middle Ages.

In magical rites, numbers played a great part. The power of the number three is found in the magic triangle, in the three prongs of the trident and fork, and in the three-fold repetition of names in conjurations. Seven was also of great influence, the seven days of the week each representing the period most suitable for certain evocations, and these corresponding to the seven magical works: (1) works of light and riches; (2) works of divination and mystery; (3) works of skill, science, and eloquence; (4) works of wrath and chastisement; (5) works of love;(6) works of ambition and intrigue; and (7) works of malediction and death.

Magnus, Alberto: No fewer than twenty-one folio volumes are attributed to this alchemist, and though it is-highly improbable that all of them are really his, the ascription in several cases resting on but slender evidence, those others which are incontestably from his pen, are sufficiently numerous to constitute him a surprisingly voluminous writer. It is noteworthy, moreover, that according to tradition, he was the inventor of the pistol and the cannon ; but, while it is unlikely that the credit is due to him for this, the mere fact that he was thus acknowledged indicates that his scientific skill was recognized by a few, if only a few, of the men of his own time.

Albertus was born at Larvingen, on the Danube, in the year 1205, and the term Magnus, which is usually applied to him, is not the result of his reputation, but is the Latin equivalent of his family name, de Groot. Like many another man destined to become famous, he was distinctly stupid as a boy, but from the outset he showed a predilection for religion, and so it came about that one night the blessed Virgin appeared to him, whereupon his intellect suddenly became metamorphosed, acquiring extraordinary vitality. Albertus therefore decided that he must show his gratitude to the Madonna by espousing holy orders, and eventually he won eminence in the clerical profession, and was made Bishop of Ratisbon; but he held this office for only a little while, resigning it that he might give his entire time to scientific researches. Thenceforth, until his death, the exact date whereof is uncertain, he lived chiefly at a pleasant retreat in Cologne; and it is reported that here his mental vigor gradually forsook him, being, replaced by the dullness which characterized him as a youth.

Albertus was repeatedly charged by some of his unfriendly contemporaries with holding communications with the devil, and practicing the craft of magic; while apropos of his reputed leanings in this particular, a curious story is recounted in an early history of the University of Paris. The alchemist, it seems, had invited some friends to his house at Cologne, among them being William, Count of Holland, and when the guests arrived they were amazed to find that, though the season was mid-winter and the ground was covered with snow, they were expected to partake of a repast outside in the garden. Great chagrin was manifested by everybody, while some even declared themselves insulted ; but their host bade them be seated, assuring them that all would be well. They continued to be dubious withal, yet they took their places, and hardly had they began to eat and drink ere their annoyance vanished, for lo! the snow around them melted away, the sun shone brightly, the birds sang, and summer appeared to be reigning indeed.

Michael Maier, the author of Museum Chimicum and numerous other alchemistic works, declares that Alberlus succeeded in evolving the philosopher's stone, and that ere his death he handed it over to his distinguished pupil, St. Thomas Aquinas, who subsequently destroyed the precious article, suspecting it to be a contrivance of the devil. The alleged discoverer himself says nothing on this subject, but, in his De Rebus Melallicis et Mineralibus, he tells how he had personally tested some gold which had been manufactured by an alchemist, and which resisted many searching fusions. And, be this story true or not, Albertus was certainly an able scientist, while it is clear that his learning ultimately gained wide recognition, for a collected edition of his vast writings was issued at Leydcn so late as 1653.

Mahatma: (Sans.) Lit., "Great Soul." An adept of the highest order. An exalted being, who having attained to the mastery over his lower principles, is therefore living unimpeded by the "man of flesh." Mahatmas are in possession of knowledge and power commensurate with the stage they have reached in their spiritual evolution. Called in Pali Rahats and Arahats.

Mandala:

Mantras: (Sans.) Verses from the Vedic works, used as incantations and charms. By Mantras are meant all those portions of the Vedas which are distinct from the Brâhmanas, or their interpretation.

Manu: is a grade in the theosophical hierarchy below the Planetary Logoi or Rulers of the Seven Chain. The charge given to manus is that of forming the different races of humanity and guiding its evolution. Each race has its own Manu who represents the racial type.

Malleus Maleficarum: A large volume published in Germany at the end of the fifteenth century, written by two inquisitors under the papal bull against witchcraft of 1484,— Jacob Sprenger and Henricus Institor. First published in 1487, the book is notorious for its use in the witchhunt craze of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Says Wright concerning it: "In this celebrated work, the doctrine of witchcraft was first reduced to a regular system, and it was the model and groundwork of all that was written on the subject long after the date which saw its first appearance. Its writers enter largely into the much-disputed question of the nature of demons; set forth the causes which lead them to seduce men in 'this manner; and show why women are most prone to listen to their proposals, by reasons which prox'e that the inquisitors had but a mean estimate of the softer sex. The inquisitors show the most extraordinary skill in explaining all the difficulties which seemed to beset the subject; they even prove to their entire satisfaction that persons who have become witches may easily change themselves into beasts, particularly into-wolves and cats ; and after the exhibition of such a mass of learning, few would venture any longer to entertain a doubt. They investigate not only the methods employed to effect various kinds of mischief, but also the counter-charms and exorcisms that may be used against them. They likewise tell, from their own experience, the dangers to which the inquisitors were exposed, and exult in the 'fact that they were a class of men against whom sorcery-had no power. These writers actually tell us, that the demon had tried to frighten them by day and by night in the forms of apes, dogs, goats, etc.; and that they frequently found large pins stuck in their night-caps, which they doubted not came there by witchcraft. When we hear these inquisitors asserting that the crime of which the witches were accused, deserved a more extreme punishment than all the vilest actions of which humanity is capable, we can understand in some degree the complacency with which they relate how, by their means, forty persons had been burnt in one place, and fifty in another, and a still greater number in a third. From the time of the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, the continental press during two or three generations teemed with publications on the all-absorbing subject of sorcery.

"One of the points on which opinion had differed most was, whether the sorcerers were carried bodily through the air to the place of meeting, or whether it was an imaginary journey, suggested to their minds by the agency of the evil one. The authors of the Malleus decide at once in favor of the bodily transmission. One of them was personally acquainted with a priest of the diocese of Frisingen, who declared that he had in his younger days been carried through the air by a demon to a place at a very great distance from the spot whence he had been taken. Another priest, his friend, declared that he had seen him, carried away, and that he appeared to him to be borne up on a kind of cloud. At Baldshut, on the Rhine, in the diocese of Constance, a witch confessed, that 'offended at not having been invited to the wedding of an acquaintance, she had caused herself to be carried through the air in open daylight to the top of a neighboring mountain, and there, having made a hole with her hands and filled it with water, she had, by stirring the water with certain incantations,, caused a heavy storm to burst forth on the heads of the wedding-party; and there were witnesses at the trial who-swore they had seen her carried through the air. The inquisitors, however, confess that the witches were sometimes carried away, as they term it, in the spirit; and they give the instance of one woman who was watched by her husband; she appeared as if asleep, and was insensible, but he perceived a kind of cloudy vapor arise out of her mouth, and vanish from the room in which she lay—this after a time returned, and she then awoke, and gave an account of her adventures, as though she had been carried bodily to the assembly.

"The witches of the Malleus Maleficarum appear to have been more injurious to horses and cattle than to mankind. A witch at Ravenspurg confessed that she had killed twenty-three horses by sorcery. We are led to wonder most at the ease with which people are brought to bear witness to things utterly beyond the limits of belief. A man of the name of Stauff in the territory of Berne, declared that when pursued by the agents of justice, he escaped by taking the form of a mouse; and persons were found to testify that they had seen him perform this transmutation.

"The latter part of the work of the two inquisitors gives minute directions for the mode in which the prisoners are to be treated, the means to be used to force them to a confession, the degree of evidence required for conviction of those who would not confess, and the whole process of the trials. These show sufficiently that the unfortunate wretch who was once brought before the inquisitors of the holy see on the suspicion of sorcery, however slight might be the grounds of the charge, had very small chance of escaping out of their claws.

"The Malleus contains no distinct allusion to the proceedings at the Sabbath. The witches of this period differ little from those who had fallen into the hands of the earlier inquisitors at the Council of Constance. We see plainly how, in most countries, the mysteriously indefinite crime of sorcery had first been seized on to ruin the cause of great political offenders, until the fictitious importance thus given to it brought forward into a prominent position, which they would, perhaps, never otherwise have held, the miserable class who were supposed to be more especially engaged in it. It was the judicial prosecutions and the sanguinary executions which followed, that stamped the character of reality on charges of which it required two or three centuries to convince mankind of the emptiness and vanity. One of the chief instruments in fixing the belief in sorcery, and in giving it that terrible hold on society which it exhibited in the following century, was the compilation of Jacob Sprenger and his fellow inquisitor. In this book sorcery was reduced to a system but it was not yet perfect; and we must look forward, some half a century before we find it clothed with all the horrors which cast so much terror into every class of society."

Malphas: Grand president of the infernal regions, where he appears under the shape of a crow. When he appears in human form he has a very raucous voice. He builds impregnable citadels and towers, overthrows the ramparts of his enemies, finds good workmen, gives familiar spirits, receives sacrifices, and deceives the sacrificers. Forty legions are under his command.

Mandragoras: Familiar demons who appear in the figures of little men without beards.

Margaritomancy: Divination by pearls. A pearl was covered with a vase, and placed near the fire, and the names of suspected persons pronounced. When the name of the guilty one was uttered the pearl was supposed to bound upwards and pierce the bottom of the vase.

Mars, Face on:

Masieh: The angel whom the Jews believed ruled the Zodiac.

Maier, Michael: German alchemist, born at Rensburg in Holstein. He was one of the principal figures in the seventeenth-century Rosicrucian controversy in Germany and the greatest adept of his time. He diligently pursued the study of medicine in his youth, then practiced at Rostock with such success that Emperor Rudolph II appointed him as his physician.

Some adepts eventually succeeded in luring him from the practical work he followed into the complex and tortuous paths of alchemy. In order to confer with those who he believed possessed the transcendent mysteries, he traveled all over Germany. The Biographie Universelle states that in pursuit of these "ruinous absurdities" he sacrificed his health, fortune, and time. On a visit to England he became acquainted with Robert Fludd, the Kentish mystic.

In the controversy that convulsed Germany on the appearance of his Rosicrucian manifestos in the early 1600s, he took a vigorous and enthusiastic share and wrote several works in defense of the mysterious society. He is alleged to have traveled in order to seek members of the "College of Teutonic Philosophers R.C.," and, failing to find them, formed a brotherhood of his own, based on the form of the Fama Fraternibus. There is no adequate authority to support the opinion held by some that toward the end of his life he was initiated into the genuine order (there being serious doubt that any such genuine order ever existed).

A posthumous pamphlet of Maier's called Ulysses was published by one of his personal friends in 1624. There was added to the same volume the substance of two pamphlets already published in German but which, in view of their importance, were translated into Latin for the benefit of the European literati.

The first pamphlet was entitled Colloquium Rhodostauroticum trium personarium per Famem et Confessionem quodamodo revelatam de Fraternitate Rosoe Crucis.The second was an Echo Colloquii by Hilarion on behalf of the Rosicrucian Fraternity. From these pamphlets it appears that Maier considered himself a member of the mystical order.

He became the most profuse writer on alchemy of his time. Most of his works, many of which are adorned with curious plates, are obscure with the exception of his Rosicrucian Apologies.

Massage: ("muh-SAHJ") therapists manipulate muscle and connective tissue to enhance function of those tissues and promote relaxation and well-being.

Masters:

Mastiphal: The name given to the prince of demons in an apocryphal book entitled Little Genesis, which is quoted by Cedrenus.

Materialization: A term denoting the formation by a spirit of a temporary physical organisation, visible and palpable, by means of which it can come into touch with material objects. Materialization is the most important of the physical phenomena of spiritualism, and in its earlier stages was confined to the materialising of heads and hands, or vague luminous figures. In common with much of the physical phenomena, it had its origin in America, where it was known at a comparatively early period in the history of the movement. So early as 1860 séances were held with the Fox sisters by Robert Dale Owen and others, at which veiled and luminous figures were witnessed. One sitter, Mr. Livermore, saw and recognized the spirit of his dead wife many times during a series of séances with Kate Fox, extending over some six years. In this case, however, there were no other sitters, and the séances were held in the dark, the whole atmosphere being peculiarly favorable to fraud.

Mather, Cotton, and Increase: Father and son, two eminent divines of Boston, notorious for their crusade against persons suspected of witchcraft. (See America, U.S. of.)

Mature Soul: From the Michael teachings, someone in the fourth of the five main physical-plane soul ages, which emphasizes lessons about relationships, emotions, and the inner world. By the end of the Young Soul phase, an uneasiness arises that something is amiss. All the wealth, power and acclaim aren't quite enough; profits and winning no longer have transcendental value. Thus begins the search of the Mature Soul period. The questions "Who am I? Why am I here?" are asked with frequency in these lives.

Maya: (Sans.) Illusion; the cosmic power which renders phenomenal existence and the perceptions thereof possible. In Hindu philosophy that alone which is changeless and eternal is called reality: all that which is subject to change through decay and differentiation, and which has, therefore, a beginning and an end, is regarded as Maya -illusion.

Mayavi-rupa: is the invisible part of the physical body. Its appearance is exactly similar to that of the physical body. (See Seven Principles, Rupa, Theosophy)

Medea: An enchantress, daughter of the king of Colchis, who fell in love with Jason when he came to that country, and enabled him to slay the sleepless dragon that guarded the golden fleece. She fled from Colchis with Jason who made her his wife, and from whom she exacted a pledge never to love another woman. Her young brother, having been found on board the ship they sailed in, she tore him in pieces and flung him into the sea. She accompanied Jason to Greece, where she was looked on as a barbarian, but having conciliated King Peleus who was now a very old man, she induced him to try to regain youth by bathing in a magic cauldron of which she was to prepare the contents. So great was his faith in her powers, that the old man unhesitatingly plunged into her cauldron and was boiled alive. Her reason for this frightful act of cruelty was to hasten the succession to the throne of Jason, who in due course would have succeeded Peleus; but now the Greeks would have none of either him or Medea, and he was forced to leave lolcos. Growing tired of the formidable enchantress to whom he had bound himself, Jason sought to contract an alliance with Glauce, a young princess. Dissembling her real intentions, Medea feigned friendship with the bride-elect and sent her as a wedding present a garment, which as soon as Glauce put it on, caused her to die in the greatest agony. She—Medea— parted from Jason; having murdered her two children by him, she fled from Corinth in her car drawn by dragons, to Athens, where she married Argeus, by whom she had a son, Medus. But the discovery of an attempt on the life of Theseus, forced her to leave Athens. Accompanied by her son, she returned to Colchis, and restored her father to the throne, of which he had been deprived by his own brother Perses. A great amount of literature has been written around Medea : Euripides, Ennius, Aeschylus, and later, Thomas Corneille having made her the theme of tragedies. (See Greece.)

Medieval Magic: In the belief of the medieval professors of the science of magic, it conferred upon the adept power over angels, demons, elementary spirits and the souls of the dead, the possession of esoteric wisdom, and actual knowledge of the discovery and use of the latent forces and undeveloped energies resident in man. This was supposed to be accomplished by a combination of will and aspiration, which by sheer force germinate a new intellectual faculty of psychological perception, enabling the adept to view the wonders of a new world and communicate with its inhabitants. To accomplish this the ordinary faculties were almost invariably heightened by artificial means. The grandeur of the magical ritual overwhelmed the neophyte, and wondrously quickened his senses.

Meditation: Meditation can generally be defined as the self-regulation of attention to suspend the normal stream of consciousness. A common goal of meditation is to reach a state of "thoughtless awareness," during which a person is passively aware of sensations at the present moment. It is this goal that distinguishes meditation from relaxation. Various types of meditation may use different techniques. Techniques that include constant repetition of sounds or images without striving for a state of thoughtless awareness are sometimes called "quasi-meditative."

Mindfulness — This involves focusing on a physical sensation. When thoughts intrude, the meditating individual returns to the focus.
Breath mediation — This involves focusing on the process of breathing. Breathing exercises taught in childbirth classes are based on this technique.
Visualization — This involves focusing on specific places or situations.
Analytical meditation — This involves an attempt to comprehend the deeper meaning of an object of focus.
Walking meditation — This Zen Buddhist form of meditation called kinhin involves focusing on the sensation of the feet against the ground.
Transcendental meditation — This involves focusing on a mantra (a sound, word or phrase that is repeated over and over, either aloud, as a chant or silently). Maharishi Mahesh Yogi introduced transcendental medication to the West in the late 1950s, and this practice was well publicized because of its famous followers such as the Beatles. A goal of transcendental meditation is to reach a state of relaxed awareness. Intruding thoughts may be noticed passively before returning to the mantra. The claimed health benefits are controversial, such as improved IQ and reduced violent tendencies. It has been debated as to whether transcendental meditation should be classified as a religion, because some people assert that transcendental meditation constitutes a cult or a religious sect.

Meditation is usually practiced in a quiet environment and in a comfortable position. Sessions vary in length and frequency. It is often recommended that meditation be practiced at the same time each day.

Medium: A person supposed to be qualified in some special manner to form a link between the dead and the living. Mediumship, like all the central doctrines of spiritualism, dates back to very early times.

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Megalith:

Men in Black:

Mental World: Formerly known as the Manas Plane -- is in the theosophic scheme of things, the third lowest of the seven worlds. It is the world of thought into which man passes on the death of the astral body and it is composed of the seven divisions of matter in common with the other worlds. It is observed that the mental world is the world of thought, but it is necessary to realize that it is the world of good thoughts only, for the base have all been purged away during the soul's stay in the astral world. According as these thoughts are, is the power to perceive the mental world. Perfected man would be free of the whole of it, but the ordinary man has in his past imperfect experience. gathered only a comparatively small amount of thought and he is, therefore, unable to perceive more than a small part of the surroundings. It follows from this that though his bliss is inconceivably great, his sphere of action is very limited -- this limitation, however, becoming less and less with his abode there after each fresh incarnation. In the Heaven world-division into which he awakes dying in the astral world, he finds vast, unthought-of means of pursuing what has seemed to him good art, science, philosophy, and so forth. Here, all these com to a glorious fruition of which we can have no conception, and at last te time arrives when he casts aide his mental body and awakens in his causal body to the still greater bliss of the higher division of the mental world. At this stage he has done with the bodies which form his mortal personality, and which form his home in successive incarnations, and he is now truly himself, a spirit, immortal and unchangeable except for increasing development and evolution. Into his casual body is worked all that he has experienced in his physical, astral, and mental bodies, and when he still finds that experience insufficient for his needs, he descends again into grosser matter in order that he may learn yet more and more.

Messages From Michael: An extraordinary book by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro that laid the foundation for the channeled philosophy known as the Michael teachings.

Metagnomy:, knowledge acquired through cryptesthesia, i.e., without the use of our five senses.

Metaphysics: From the Greek meta, beyond, and physica, the things of the external material world. It is to forget the spirit and hold to the dead letter, to translate it beyond nature or supernatural, as it is rather beyond the natural, visible, or concrete. Metaphysics, in ontology and philosophy is the term to designate that science which treats of the real and permanent being as contrasted with the unreal, illusionary, or phenomenal being.

Metratton: According to Jewish rabbinical legend, Metratton, the angel, is one of the agents by whom God the Father works. He receives the pure and simple essence of the divinity and bestows the gift of life upon all. He d-.vells in one of the angelic hierarchies.

Mexico & Central America (Occult in): Occult science among the ancient Mexicans may be said to have been in that stage between the savage simplicities of medicine-men and the more sophisticated magical practices of the mediaeval sorcerer. The sources which inform us regarding it are unfortunately of a most scanty description and are chiefly gleaned from the works of the early missionaries to the country, and from the legends and myths of the people themselves. Writing upon the sorcerers of Mexico, Sahagan, an early Spanish priest, states that the naualli or magician among the Mexicans is one who enchants men and sucks the blood of infants during the night. This would seem as if the writer had confounded the sorcerer with the vampire,—a mistake occasionally made by continental writers on magic. He proceeds to say that among the Mexicans this class is ignorant of nothing which appertains to sorcery, and possesses great craft and natural address ; that they hire themselves out to people to work evil upon their enemies, and to cause madness and maladies. " The necromancer," he says, "is a person who has made pact with a demon, and who is capable of transforming himself into various animal shapes. Such people appear to be tired of life and await death with complaisance. The astrologer practices among the people as a diviner, and has a thorough knowledge of the various signs of the calendar, from which he is able to prognosticate the fortunes of those who employ him. This he accomplishes by weighing the power of one planet against that of another, and thus discovering the resultant applies it to the case in point. These men were called into consultation at births and deaths, as well as upon public occasions, and would dispute with much nicety on their art." The astrological system of the Mexicans was like that of their calendar of the most involved description possible, and no mere summary of it could convey anything but a hazy notion of the system, for which the reader is referred to the author's Civilization of Ancient Mexico, Sahagun's Historia, and Bulletin 28 of the United States Bureau of Ethnology. In connection with the astrological science of the Aztecs, however, it is worthy of note that the seventh calendric sign, was that under which necromancers, sorcerers and evil-doers were usually born. Says Sahagun: "These work their enchantments in obscurity for four nights running, when they choose a certain evil sign. They then betake themselves in the night to the houses where they desire to work their evil deeds and sorceries. For the rest these sorcerers never know contentment, for all their days they live evilly and know no peace."

The myths of the Mexicans give us a good working idea of the status of the enchanter or sorcerer in Aztec society. For example we find that the Toltec god, Quetzalcoatl, who in early times was regarded as a description of culture-hero, was bewitched by the god of the incoming and rival race, Tezcatlipoca, who disguised himself as a physician and prescribed for an illness of his enemy's an enchanted draught, which made him long for the country of his origin—that is, the home of the rains. From this we may judge that potions or philtres were in vogue amongst Mexican sorcerers. In their efforts to rid themselves of the entire Toltec race, the traditional aborigines of Mexico, Tezcatlipoca is pictured as performing upon a magical drum in such a manner as to cause frenzy amongst the Toltecs, who leaped by thousands into a deep ravine hard by their city; and similar instances of the kind are occasionally to be met with. Wonderful stories are told of the feats of the Huaxteca, a people of Maya race, dwelling on the Gulf of Mexico. Sahagun relates that they could produce from space a spring with fishes, burn and restore a hut, and dismember and resurrect themselves. The Ocuiltec of the Toluca Valley also possessed a widespread reputation as enchanters and magicians.

Divination and Augury.—As has been said, divination was practiced among the Aztecs by means of astrology; but there were other and less-intricate methods in use. There was in existence a College of Augurs corresponding in purpose to the Auspices of Ancient Rome, the members of which occupied themselves with observing the flight and listening to the songs of birds, from which they drew their conclusions, and pretended to interpret the speech of all winged creatures. The Calmecac, or training college of the priests, had a department where divination was taught in all its branches. A typical example of augury from birds may be found in the account of the manner in which the Mexicans fixed upon the spot for the foundation of their city. Halting after years of wandering in the vicinity of the Lake of Tezcuco, they observed a great eagle with wings outspread perched on the stump of a cactus, and holding in its talons a live serpent. Their augurs interpreted this as a good omen as it had been previously announced by an oracle, and upon the spot where the bird had alighted, they drove the first piles upon which they afterwards built the city of Mexico,—the legend of the foundation of which is still commemorated in the arms of modern Mexico. Dreams and visions played a great part in Mexican divination, and a special caste of augurs called Teopixqui, or Teoiecithlti (masters or guardians of divine things) were set apart for the purpose of interpreting dreams and of divining through dreams and visions, which was regarded as the chief route between man and the supernatural. The senses were even quickened and sharpened by the use of drugs and the ecstatic condition was induced by want of sleep, and pertinacious fixing of the mind upon one subject, the swallowing or inhalation of cerebral intoxicants such as tobacco, the maguey, coca, the snake-plant or ololiuhqui, and similar substances. As among some tribes of the American-Indians, it was probably believed that visions came to the prophet or seer pictorially, or that acts were performed before him as in a play. They also held that the soul traveled through space and was able to visit those places of which it desired to have knowledge. It is also possible that they hypnotized themselves by gazing at certain small highly-polished pieces of sandstone, or that they employed these for the same purpose as crystal-gazers employ the globe. The goddess Tozi was the patron of those who used grains of maize or red beans in divination.

Charms and Amulets.—The amulet was regarded in Mexico as a personal fetish. The Tepitoton, or diminutive household deities of the Mexicans were also fetishistic. It is probable that most of the Mexican amulets were modeled on the various ornaments of the gods. Thus the traveler's staff carved in the shape of a serpent like that of Quetzalcoatl was undoubtedly of this nature, and was even occasionally sacrificed to, The frog was a favorite model for an amulet. As elsewhere, the thunderbolts thrown by the gods were supposed to be flint stones, and were cherished as amulets of much virtue, and as symbols of the fecundating rains.

Vampirism.—As has been seen, Sahagun confounds the Mexican necromancer with the vampire, and it is interesting to note that this folk-belief must have originated in America independently of any European connection. But we find another instance of what would seem something like vampirism in Mexico. This is found in connection with the ciupipiltin or ghosts of women who have died in childbirth. These haunt the cross-roads, crying and wailing for the little ones they have left behind them. But as in many other countries, notably in Burma, they are malevolent—their evil tendencies probably being caused by jealousy of the happiness of the living. Lest they should enter their houses and injure their children, the Mexicans at certain times of the year stopped up every possible hole and crevice. The appearance of these ghosts (Sahagun describes them as "goddesses") at cross-roads is highly significant, for we know that the burial of criminals at such junctions was merely a survival of a similar disposal of the corpse of the vampire, whose head was cut off and laid at his side, and who was entombed at cross-roads for the purpose of confusing him as to his whereabouts.

Nagualism.—Both in Mexico and Central America a religio-magical system called Nagualism obtained, the purpose of which was to bring occult influence against the whites for their destruction. The rites of this strange cult usually took place in caverns and other deserted localities, and were naturally derived to a large extent from those of the suppressed native religion. Each native worshipper possessed a magical or animal spirit-guide, with which he was endowed early in life. This system certainly flourished as lately as half a century ago, and there is good reason to believe that it is not yet extinct.

Central America.—Notices upon magic and sorcery amongst the Maya, Kiche, and other Central American peoples are even rarer than those which relate to Mexico, and we have to fall back almost solely upon the native legends to glean anything concerning the subject at all. The great storehouse of Central American legend is the Popot Vuh, for an account of which the reader is referred to the author's Popol Vuh, London, 1909. We find in this interesting native mytho-history, that some of the elder gods are regarded as magicians, and the hero-twins, Xblan-que and Hun-ahpu, whom they sent to earth to rid it of the Titan Vukub-cakix, are undoubtedly possessed of magical powers. As boys we find them equipped with magic tools, which enable them to get through an enormous amount of wo:k in a single day, and when they descend into Xibalba, the Kiche Hades, for the purpose of avenging their father and uncle, they take full advantage of their magical propensities in combating the natives of that drear abode. Xibalba itself possesses sorcerers, for we find two within its borders, Xulu and Pacaw, who assist the hero-gods in many of their necromantic practices.

As regards divination, we find that the Maya possessed a caste of augurs, called Cocomes or the Listeners; and prophecy appears to have been periodically practised by their priests. la the so-called books of Chilan Balam which are native compilations of events occurring in Central America previous to the Spanish Conquest, we find certain prophecies regarding, amongst other things, the coming of the Spaniards. These appear to have been given forth by a priest who bore the title, not the name, of" Chilan Balam," whose offices were those of divination and astrology but these pronouncements seem to have been colored at a later date by Christian thought, and hardly to be of a genuine aboriginal character. There are certain astrological receips in the books, all of which are simply borrowed from European almanacs of the century between 1550 and 1650. Amulets were in great vogue amongst the Maya, and they had the same fear of the last five days of the year as had the Mexicans, who regarded them as nemontemi or unlucky, and did no work of any description upon them. These days the Maya called uyayayab, and they considered that a demon entered their towns and villages at the beginning of this period. To avert this, they carried an image of him through the village in the hopes that he might afterwards avoid it.

Michael: A group of 1050 souls who individually completed a series of lifetimes on the physical plane and who now work together and teach from the causal plane, partly through channels. Not to be confused with the Archangel Michael.

Michael Teachings, The: A channeled philosophy of the mid-causal plane entity Michael (not the Archangel Michael), that was popularized in the book, "Messages from Michael" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

The Michael teachings provide a set of tools that help chart the spiritual progress of the soul as it moves from first incarnation to last. Diligent application of the overleaves system teaches how to validate the overall development occurring in the reincarnational cycle. It shows where the soul is on it's spiritual path, what lessons it will encounter, why it is here, and what is yet to come. It also reveals the unique qualities each soul brings to the world, and why people and societies are the way they are.

[See The Michael Teachings.]

The Microcosm: Or the pentagram, a little world -- a five pointed star, which represents man and the summation of the occult forces. It was believed by Paracelsus that this sign had a marvelous magical power over spirits; and that all magic figures and kabbalistic signs could be reduced to two -- The Microcosm and the Macrocosm.

The Microprosopus: One of the four magical elements in the Kabbala; and probably representing one of the four simple elements -- air, water, earth, or fire. The word means "creator of the little world."

Mid-day Demons: The ancients frequently made mention of certain demons who became visible especially towards mid-day to those with whom they had a pact. They appeared in the form of men or of beasts, and let themselves be enclosed in a character, a figure, a vial, or in the interior of a hollow ring.

Mind Reading: see Telepathy.

Monad: is a theosophical term which literally means a unit. The Monad is frequently described as a "Divine Spark," and this impression is particularly apt, for it is a part of the Logos, the Divine Fire. The Logos has three aspects, Will, Wisdom, and Activity, and, since the Monad is part of the Logos, it also has these three aspects. It abides continually in its appropriate world, the monadic, but, that the divine evolutionary purposes may be carried out, its ray is born downwards through the various spheres of matter when the outpouring of the third life wave takes place. It first passes into the Spiritual Sphere by clothing itself with an atom of spiritual matter and thus manifests itself in anatomic body, as a spirit possessing three aspects. When it passes into the next sphere, the Intuitional, it leaves its aspect of Will behind and in the Intuitional Sphere, appears in an Intuitional body as a sprit possessing the aspects of Wisdom and Activity. On passing in turn, from this sphere to the next the higher mental, it leaves the aspect of Wisdom behind and appears in a casual body as a spirit possessing the aspect of activity. To put this somewhat abstruse doctrine in another form, the Monad has, at this stage, manifested itself in three spheres. In the spiritual it has transfused spirit with Will, in the Intuitional it has transfused spirit with Wisdom. and in the higher Mental it has transfused spirit with Activity or Intellect. and it is now a human ego, corresponding approximately to the common term "soul," an ego which, despite all changes, remains the same until eventually the evolutionary purpose is fulfilled and it is received back again into the Logos. From the higher mental sphere the Monad descends to the lower mental sphere and appears in a mental body as possessing mind, then betakes itself to the astral sphere and appears in the astral body as possessing emotions, and finally to the physical sphere and appears in a physical body as possessing vitality. These three lower bodies, the mental, the astral, and the physical, constitute the human personality which dies at death and is renewed when the Monad, in fulfillment of the process of reincarnation, again manifests itself in these bodies. (See Theosophy, Evolution, Sphere, Life Waves, Logos)

Monen: A Kabbalist term covering that branch of magic which deals with the reading of the future by the computation of time and observance of the heavenly bodies. It thus includes astrology.

Montgomery, (Ruth):

Moses, (William Stainton): (1839-92) remarkable English medium, religious teacher and author. He was ordained as a Minister of the Church of England by Bishop Wilberforce. Moses was one of the best known mediums connected with 19th century spiritualism, and probably, after Home, one of the most successful. He was born in 1839, at Donington, in Lincolnshire, the son of a schoolmaster, and was educated at Bedford Grammar School and Exeter College, Oxford. He made good progress at the University, but before his final examination his health broke down, and he was forced to go abroad. On his return he graduated Master of Arts, and in 1863 was ordained. From that time until 1870 he was a curate, first in the Isle of Man and afterwards in Dorsetshire. Again his health gave way, and he was obliged to abandon parish work, and seek a change of occupation. In 1870 he became tutor to the son of Dr. and Mrs. Stanhope Speer, with whom he resided, and who were henceforth among his staunchest supporters. A year or two later he was appointed English master in University College School, but increasing ill-health compelled him to retire" in 1899. Towards the close of his life Mr. Moses suffered greatly from depression and kindred nervous disorders. His life as a clergyman and as a schoolmaster was beyond reproach, and his duties were discharged in a way that won respect alike for his intelligence and efficiency.

His attention was first directed to spiritualism by the reading of R. Dale Owen's book on The Debatable Land, in 1872. He attended numerous seances, held by such mediums as Home, and soon afterwards he himself developed powerful mediumistic tendencies, and gave seances to the Speers and a few select friends.

Moss-Woman The: The Moss or Wood Folk, dwelt in the forests of Southern Germany. Their stature was small and their form strange and uncouth, bearing a strong resemblance to certain trees with which they flourished and decayed. They were a simple, timid, and inoffensive-race, and had little intercourse with mankind; approaching only at rare intervals the lonely cabin of the wood-man or forester, to borrow some article of domestic use, or to beg a little of the food which the good wife was preparing for the family meal. They would also for similar purposes appear to labourers in the fields which lay on the outskirts of the forests. A loan or gift to the Moss-people was always repaid manifold. But the most highly-prized and eagerly-coveted of all mortal gifts was a draught from the maternal breast to their own little ones ; for this they held to be a sovereign remedy for all the ills to which their natures were subject. Yet was it only in the extremity of danger that they could so overcome their natural diffidence and timidity as to ask this boon—for they knew that mortal mothers turned from such nurslings with disgust and fear. It would appear that the Moss or Wood folk also lived in some parts of Scandinavia. Thus we are told that in the churchyard of Store Hedding, in Zealand, there are the-remains of an oak wood which were trees by day and warriors by night.

Mothman: Where??

Mu: Just another lost continent.

Mummy:

Mutable Signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces. Mutable signs denote harmony - vibration, rhythm, and symmetry; they give plasticity and adaptability, and some instability. The mutable quality corresponds to the body, the vehicle of the spirit and soul, or the plastic medium upon which the spirit exerts its power of transmutation.

Myers, Frederic William Henry (1843-1901): Poet, essayist, and student of psychic science, was born at Keswick, Cumberland, and educated at Cheltenham and Cambridge. In 1865 he became classical lecturer there, but in 1872 abandoned this post for that of school inspector. He published several volumes of poems and essays, some of the former of considerable beauty, though it is chiefly as an essayist that he is known. He has done excellent work in the region of psychic science, being one of the original group who founded the Society for Psychical Research in 1882, and remaining to the end of his life one of its most useful members. Though he did not belong to the sceptical school of which Mr. F. Podmore is the chief representative, Mr. Myers' .view-point was decidedly not that of the average spiritualist. The evidence for the survival of the soul after death he found not in the somewhat puerile "spirit" manifestations, but in the subliminal Consciousness, that wide region that lies beneath the threshold of man's ordinary consciousness, wherein Mr. Myers believed to discern traces of unused faculties, clairvoyance, retro-cognition, precognition, telekinesia, and so on. All the phenomena of trance, hypnotism, automatism, and spiritualism he grouped together as phenomena of the subliminal consciousness. The results of his researches were embodied in a posthumous work entitled Human Personality and Us Survival of Bodily Death (1903). He also wrote the introduction to Gurney's Phantasms of the Living. He died at Rome in 1901. and was buried at Keswick.

Mysteries: From the Greek work muein, to shut the mouth, and mustes an initiate: a term for what is secret or concealed. Although certain mysteries were undoubtedly part of the initiatory ceremony of the priests of ancient Egypt, we are ignorant of their exact trend, and the term is usually used in connection with certain semi-religious ceremonies held by various cults in. ancient Greece. The mysteries were indeed secret cults, to which only certain initiated people were admitted after a period of preliminary preparation. After this initial period of purification came-the mystic communication or exhortation, then the revelation to the neophyte of certain holy things, the crowning with the garlands, and lastly the communion with the deity. But the mysteries appear to have circled round the semi-dramatic representation or mystery-play of the life of a deity.

Mysticism: The attempt of man to attain to the ultimate reality of things and enjoy communion with the Highest. Mysticism maintains the possibility of communication with God, not by means of revelation, or the ordinary religious channels, but by dint of introspection, culminating in the feeling that the individual partakes of the divine nature. Mysticism has been identified with pantheism by some authorities; but it differs from pantheism in that its motive is religious. But mysticism is greatly more speculative than ordinary religion and instead of commencing its flights of thought from the human side, starts from the divine nature rather than from man. The name mysticism cannot be applied to any particular system. Whereas religion teaches submission of the will and the ethical harmonies of life, mysticism strains after the realization of a union with God Himself. The mystic desires to be as close to God as .possible, if not indeed part of the Divine Essence Itself; whereas the ordinary devotee of most religious systems merely desires to walk in God's way and obey His will.

Mysticism may be said to have originated in the East, where it probably evolved from kindred philosophic concepts. The unreality of things is taught by most Asiatic religions, especially by Brahminism and Buddhism, and the sense of the worth of human personality in these is small (See India). The Sufis of Persia may be said to be a link between the more austere Indian mystics and those of Europe. We find Sufism first arising in the ninth century among the Persian Mahommedans, probably as a protest against the severe monotheism of their religion; but in all likelihood more ancient springs contribute to its revival. In the Persia of Hafiz and Saadi, pantheism abounded, and their magnificent poetry is read by Mahommedans as having a deep mystical significance, although for the most part it deals with love and intoxication. In all probability more is read into these poems than exists beneath the surface, but at the same time it is certain that many of them exhibit the fervor of souls searching for communion with the highest. The rise of Alexandrian Neoplatonism was the signal for the introduction of mysticism to a waiting Europe, and as this stage of mysticism has been fully reviewed in a special article on the Siibjecc, there is no necessity to follow it here. It may be mentioned, however, that Neoplatonism made a definite mark upon early Christianity, and we find it mirrored in many of the patristic writings of the sixteenth century. (See full article about mysticism)