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Metaphysical Dictionary

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Obeah (or Obi): A magic cult prevalent in the West Indies, particularly in Jamaica. It is similar to Voodoo and has elements of ophiolatry in its rites and practices. The use of corpses is one of the features of Obeah, which thus associates it with Satanic sorcery.

Obeah Stick: In Jamaica, a staff adorned with entwined serpents, or a carving of a human head. Used by Obeah men in magic operations.

Occultist: One who practices Occultism, an adept in the Secret Sciences, but very often applied to a mere student.

Oeonisticy: Divination by the flight of birds.

Oinomancy: Divination by means of wine.

Olcott, Colonel Henry Steel: The founder, together with Madame Blavatsky, of the movement known as Theosophy, and the original president of the Theosophical Society. Before he identified himself with the movement he was a well-known authority on matters connected with agriculture. In 1856 he founded in America an agricultural school on the Swiss model, was offered by the American government the Chief Commisionership of Agriculture and by the Greek government the Professorship of Agriculture at Athens. He was for a time agricultural editor of Horace Greeley's New York Tribune, and published three works on agriculture. When the Civil War broke out he joined the Northerners, saw active service, and was invalided home. The government then made him Special Commisioner of the War Department. On the cessation of the war he retired into private life, and from 1875 till his death in 1906 taught the doctrines of Theosophy and neo-Buddhism. On the death of Madame Blavatsky he associated himself with Annie Besant as the leader of Theosophy in India.

"Old Scratch": One of the appellations given to the Evil One. It is supposed to have been derived from Skrati, an old Teutonic faun or Satyr, half-man and half-goat, and possessed of horns.

Old soul: From the Michael teachings, someone in the fifth of the five main physical-plane soul ages, which emphasizes lessons about perspective. On deep inner levels, Old Souls perceive the interrelatedness existing among all people. Intuitively they sense they are part of an integral whole. [Read about the Old Soul]

Ololygmancy: Divination by the howling of dogs.

Olympiodorus: The last Neo-platonist of fame and celebrity in the school of Alexandria. He lived in the sixth century under the Emperor Justinian. There were several writers and philosophers of this name in pre-Christian as in post-Christian periods. One of these was the teacher of Proclus, another a historian in the eighth century, and so on.

Om: A Sanskrit word of peculiar sanctity in the Hindu religion. It is pronounced at the beginning and end of every lesson in the Veda, and is also the introductory word of the Puranas. It is said in the Katha-Upanishad: "Whoever knows this syllable obtains whatever he wishes." Various accounts are given of its origin; one that it is the term of assent used by the gods, and probably an old contracted form of the Sanskrit word evam meaning <: thus." The laws of the Manu say that the word was formed by Brahma himself, who extracted the letters aunt from the Vedas, one from each; and they thus explain its mysterious power and sanctity. Om is also the name given by the Hindus to the spiritual sun, as opposed to "Sooruj" the natural sun.

Omen: Signs and portents that prognosticated the future. Such omens, read and interpreted according to a magic code, involved bodily conditions, natural phenomena, animal life, casting lots, scrutiny of the hand or face, the reading of the Bible, interpretation of the shape of a drop of melted wax or of oil, or gazing into a polished surface, a mirror, water, or a crystal.

The taking of omens may be said to be a part of all systems of divination, in which the future is predicted by means of indications of one sort or another; and tradition has thus gathered round many subjects, events, actions, colors, numbers, which are considered ominous, an adjective which generally connotes ill-fortune.

Omen Sticks: Sticks that, by their position on falling to the ground, aided the Druids in divination.

Omphalomancy: Divination by the navel.

Oneiroscopy: The interpretation of dreams. The magicians-of ancient Egypt were skilled in inducing dreams prognosticative of the future.

Onion: The Onion was regarded as a symbol of the universe among the ancient Egyptians, and many curious beliefs were associated with it. It was believed by them that it attracted and absorbed infectious matters, and was usually hung up in rooms to prevent maladies. This belief in the absorptive virtue of the onion is prevalent even at the present day. "When a youth," says Napier, "I remember the following story being told, and implicitly believed by all. There was once a certain king or nobleman who was in want of a physician, and two celebrated doctors applied. As both could not obtain the situation, they agreed among themselves that the one was to try to poison the other, and he who succeeded in overcoming the poison would thus be left free to fill the situation. They drew lots as to who should first take the poison. The first dose given was a stewed toad, but the party who took it immediately applied a poultice of peeled onions over his stomach, and thus abstracted all the poison of the toad. Two days after, the other doctor was given the onions to eat. He ate them, and died. It was generally believed that the poultice of peeled onions laid on the stomach, or underneath the armpits, would cure anyone who had taken poison."

Onomancy: it has been properly said more correctly signifies divination by a donkey, than by a name; and the latter science ought to be termed Onomamancy, or Onomatomancy. The notion that an analogy existed between men's names and their fortunes is supposed to have originated with the Pythagoreans; it furnished some reveries to Plato, and has been the source of small wit in Ausonius, which it may amuse the classical scholar to collate from his epigrams.

Tow leading rules in the science of Onomancy were first, that an even number of vowels in a man's name signifies something amiss in his left side; an uneven number a similar affection on the right; so that, between the two, perfect sanity was little to be expected. Secondly, of two competitors, that one would prove successful the numeral letters in whose name was summed up exceeded the amount of those in the name of his rival; and this was one of the reasons which enabled Achilles to triumph over Hector.

Onychomancy: Divination by the finger-nails. It is practiced by watching the reflection of the sun in the nails of a boy, and judging the future by the shape of the figures which show themselves on their surface.

Ooseopy and Oomantia: Two methods of divination by eggs. Was often as simple as putting eggs on a fire and observing how they broke.

An example under the former name is related by Suetonius, who says, that Livia, when slie was anxious to know whether she should be the mother of a boy or girl, kept an egg in her bosom at the proper temperature, until a chick with a beautiful cockscomb came forth. The latter name denotes a method of divining the signs or characters appearing in eggs. The custom of pasche or paste eggs, which are stained with various colors, and given away at Easter, is well known, and is described at considerable length by Brand. The custom is most religiously observed in Russia, where it is derived from the Greek Church. Gilded or colored eggs are mutually exchanged both by men and women, who kiss one another, and if any coolness existed previously become good friends again on these occasions.

Ophiomancy: Divination by observation of serpents.

Ophites : This gnostic sect seems to have dated from the second century. A full system of initiation was in vogue among the members, and they possessed symbols to represent purity, life, spirit and fire. The whole appears to have been of Egyptian origin. (See Gnostics.)

Oracles: Shrines where a god speaks to human beings through the mouths of priests or priestesses. The concept of the god become vocal in this manner was by no means confined to Greece or Egypt. Our object here is to deal with the most celebrated oracles of all nations as well as those of antiquity. Probably all the primitive godsó those, that is to say, of the fetish class, now under considerationówere consulted as oracles; it is certain that they derived this character in a state of animism and that they transmitted it to gods of the most advanced type.

[Read Complete Article]

Orbs:

Ornias: A vampire-demon in the cycle of Solomonic legend. In female form, it copulates with human males.

Ornithomancy: is the Greek word for augury, the method of divination by the flight or the song of birds, which, with the Romans, became a part of their national religion, and had a distinct priesthood. For this reason it is treated in a separate article.

Osteopathy: Andrew Taylor Still, who was originally trained as a doctor of medicine, founded the discipline of osteopathy in 1874. Dr. Still started the first college of osteopathy in 1892 in Kirksville, Missouri. He sought an holistic approach to treating illness and promoting health by enhancing the body's natural healing powers. His approach emphasized the relationship between body structure and function, and it aimed to focus on the whole patient (mind, body and soul), rather than on symptoms.

Today, osteopathy in the United States combines conventional medical practices with osteopathic manipulation, physical therapy and education about healthful posture and body positioning. With osteopathic manipulation, osteopaths, or doctors of osteopathy (D.O.s), use their hands to diagnose injury and illness and to administer manual treatments. Osteopaths receive similar training as medical doctors (M.D.s), with additional training in osteopathic and holistic medicine. Osteopathic doctors perform all aspects of medicine, surgery and emergency medicine, and they can prescribe drugs. Many osteopaths belong to the American Medical Association, as well as to the American Osteopathic Association. Osteopathy is sometimes confused with chiropractic, as both use spinal manipulation to treat patients.

Osteopaths often focus on the neuromusculoskeletal system and perform manipulations to treat a wide range of problems. Doctors of osteopathy are trained to evaluate the body by taking a patient's health history, focusing not only on health problems but on lifestyle issues as well. The practice of osteopathic medicine may involve massage, mobilization and spinal manipulation. Osteopaths traditionally believe that the primary role of the health care provider is to facilitate the body's inherent ability to heal itself, that the structure and function of the body are closely related and that problems in one organ affect other parts of the body. The traditional osteopathic view is that perfect alignment of the musculoskeletal system eliminates obstructions in blood and lymphatic flow, which in turn maximizes health. To ensure perfect alignment, a range of manipulative techniques have been developed. Examples include high-velocity thrusts, myofascial (muscle tissue) release, muscle energy techniques, counter strain, craniosacral therapies and lymphatic drainage stimulation.

Osteopathic Medicine: is a form of conventional medicine that, in part, emphasizes diseases arising in the musculoskeletal system. There is an underlying belief that all of the body's systems work together, and disturbances in one system may affect function elsewhere in the body. Some osteopathic physicians practice osteopathic manipulation, a full-body system of hands-on techniques to alleviate pain, restore function, and promote health and well-being.

Ouanga: In Voodoo, a fetish, which may be a bone, needle, animal skin, feather.

Ouija Board: (from the French oui and the German ja: yes), a wooden tripod on rollers which, under the hand of the medium, moves over a polished board and spells -out messages by pointing out letters with its apex. As an invention it is very old. It was in use in the days of Pythagoras, about 540 B.C. According to a French historical account of the philosopher's life, his sect held frequent seances or circles at which "a mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs, which the philosopher and his pupil, Philolaus, interpreted to the audience as being revelations supposedly from the unseen world."

An improvement of the original Ouija board is the finger-like pointer at the narrow end, and a simplification is the replacement of the wooden board by a piece of alphabetical cardboard. If the pointer and the roll at the apex is replaced by a pencil thrust through a bored hole so as to form the third leg the Ouija board is transformed into a planchette. As a rule the Ouija board as a method of communication is slow and laborious. But it frequently works with those who fail to get automatic writing with a pencil. Modern boards have the letters of the alphabet, numerals and Yes/No.

Oupnekhat: A Sanskrit book on magic ritual, translated into Persian and, in 1802, into Latin.

Out of Body: Weeeeeeeeee!!!

Overleaves: From the Michael teachings, personality traits that "overlay" the essence. They are usually chosen before a lifetime begins in order to facilitate the purposes of that lifetime, and operate for that lifetime only. They include the goal, mode, attitude, center, and chief feature.