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Metaphysical Dictionary

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Pact with the Devil: To summon an evil spirit, the magician performed certain rigidly prescribed rites. Or method was to cut a bough of wild hazel, that had not yet borne fruit, with a new knife, while the sun rose over the horizon. (See: New.) Carrying a bloodstone and two wax candles, the magician sought a secluded spot, such as ruined castle or abandoned house. A triangle was traced on the floor with the bloodstone, and the candles were set at the sides of the figure. At the base of the triangle the letters "I H S" were written, flanked by two crosses. Around the triangle a circle was circumscribed. Standing within the triangle, and holding the hazel wand, the magician summoned the spirit with an appeal containing the following conjuration: "Aglon Tetragram Vaycheon Stimulmathon Erohares Retragsammathon Clyoran Icion Esitic Existien Eryona Onera Erasyn Moyn Meffias Soter Emmanuel Saboth Adonai, I call you. Amen."

The pact involved the surrender of soul and body of the magician, at the expiration of twenty years, although, if the pact was written on virgin parchment, outside the magic circle the pact was void. Pacts were made between the magician and Satan, and written, or at least signed, in blood, the magician selling his soul and receiving from the Devil treasure, some tangible favor, or power. The formalities attending such contracts are minutely described in the Compendium Maleficarum—Witches' Manual—a seventeenth century treatise on witchcraft by Francesco Maria Guazzo.

In 1616 a witch, Stevenote de Audebert, produced in court what purported to be a contract she had made with Satan. In 1664, again, Elizabeth Style, an English witch, confessed in court to having made a pact with the Devil whereby she would have twelve years of gay and elegant life. Urbain Grandier, a magician who was executed in 1634, had made a similar pact, still preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale, in Paris. In the library in Upsala rests another contract signed by a young undergraduate, Daniel Saltherius, who sold himself to the Devil. Saltherius later in life became a Professor of Hebrew in a German university.

Cases are recorded, however, of pledges to Satan recanted and pacts annulled. St. Basil, in the fourth century A.D., managed to retrieve a Satanic pact entered into by a young man in love with a harlot. Legend narrates that a certain Theophilus, after making a pact, repented, and recovered the contract. In the thirteenth century a Portuguese student, a certain Giles, after signing, likewise repented. He entered a monastery and one night was confronted by the Demon himself, who returned the contract in disgust.

Paganism:

Palmistry: The science of divination by means of lines and marks on the human hand. It is said to have been practiced in very early times by the Brahmins of India, and to be known to Aristotle, who discovered a treatise on the subject written in letters of gold, which he presented to Alexander the Great, and which was afterwards translated into Latin by Hispanus. There is also extant a work on the subject by Melampus of Alexandria, and Hippocrates, Galen, and several Arabian commentators have also dealt with it. In the Middle Ages the science was represented by Hartlieb (circa 1448, and Cocles (circa 1054), and Fludd, Indigane, Rothmann, and many others wrote on cheiromancy. Since 1860, or thereabouts, palmistry has become very much more popular and is practiced all over the world.

Palmistry is sub-divided into three lesser arts -- cheirognomy, cheirosophy, and cheiromancy. The first is the art of recognizing the type of intelligence from the form of the hands; the second is the study of the comparative value of manual formations; and the third is the art of divination from the form of the hand and fingers, and the lines and markings thereon. The palmist first of all studies the shape and general formation of the hand asa whole, afterwards regarding its parts and details, -- the lines and markings being considered later. From cheirognomy and cheirosophy the general disposition and tendencies are ascertained, and future events are foretold from the reading of the lines and markings.

There are several types of hands: the elementary or large-palmed type; the necessary with spatulated fingers; the artistic with comical-shaped fingers; the useful, the fingers of which are square-shaped; the knotted or philosophical; the pointed, or psychic; and the mixed, in which the types are blended. The principal lines are: those which separate the hand from the forearm at the wrist, and which are known as the rascettes, or the lines of health, wealth, and happiness. The line of life stretches from the center of the palm around the base of the thumb almost to the wrist, and is joined for a considerable part of its course by the line of the head. The line of the heart runs across two-thirds of the palm, above the head line; and the line of fate between it and the line of the head, nearly at right angles extending towards the wrist. The line of fortune runs from the base of the third finger towards the wrist parallel to the line of fate. If the lines are deep, firm and of narrow width the significance is good -- excepting that a strong line of health shows constitutional weakness.

At the base of the fingers, beginning with the first, lie the mounts of Jupiter, Saturn, Apollo, and Mercury; at the base of the thumb the mount of Venus; and opposite to it, that of Luna. If well-proportioned they show certain virtues, but if exaggerated they indicate the vices which correspond to these. The first displays religion, reasonable ambition, or pride and superstition; the second wisdom and prudence, or ignorance and failure; the third when large makes for success and intelligence, when small for meanness or love of obscurity; the fourth desire for knowledge and industry, or disinterestedness and laziness. The Lunar mount indicates sensitiveness, imagination, morality or otherwise; and self-will: and the mount of Venus, charity and affection, or of exaggerated, viciousness. The phalanges of the fingers are also indicative of certain faculties. For example, the first and second of the thumb, according to the length, indicate the value of the logical faculty and of the will; those of the index finger in their order -- materialism, law, and order; of the middle finger -- humanity, energy; and of the little finger goodness, prudence, reflectiveness. There are nearly a hundred other marks and signs, by which certain qualities, influences or events can be recognized. The line of life by its length indicates the length of existence of its owner. If it is short in both hands, the life will be a short one; if broken in one hand and weak in the other, a serious illness is denoted. If broken in both hands, it means death. If it is much chained it means delicacy. If it has a second or sister line, it shows great vitality. A black spot on the line shows illness at the time marked. A cross indicates some fatality. The line of life coming out far into the palm is a sign of long life. The line of the head, if long and well-colored, denotes intelligence and power. If descending to the mount of the Moon it shows that the head is much influenced by the imagination. Islands on the line denotes mental troubles. The head line forked at the end indicates subtlety and a facility for seeing all sides of the question. A double line of the head is an indication of good fortune. The line of the heart should branch towards the mount of Jupiter. If it should pass over the mount of Jupiter to the edge of the hand and travel round the index finger, it is called "Solomon's ring" and indicates ideality and romance; it is also a sign of occult power. Points or dots in this line may show illness if black, and love affairs if white; while islands on the heart indicate disease. The line of fate, or Saturn, if it rises from the Lunar mount and ascends towards the line of the heart is a sign of a rich marriage. If it extends into the third phalange of Saturn's finger it shows the sinister influence of that planet. A double line of fate is ominous.

In such an article as this it would be out of place to mention the very numerous lesser lines and marks which the hand contains, especially when so many excellent books of reference on the subject have been published. It but remains to say that practitioners of the science of palmistry are exceedingly numerous. Some of these work on strictly scientific lines, while others pick it up in a merely empirical way, and their forecasts of events to come are only so much "patter."

Panaenus: A Platonic philosopher in the Alexandrian school of the Philaletheians.

Pandora: In Greek Mythology, the first woman on earth, created by Vulcan out of clay to punish Prometheus and counteract his gift to mortals. Each God having made her a present of some virtue, she was made to carry them in a box to Prometheus, who, however, being endowed with foresight, sent her away, changing the gifts into evils. Thus, when his brother Epimetheus saw and married her, when he opened the box, all the evils now afflicting humanity issued from it, and have remained since then in the world.

Pantheist: One who identifies God with nature and vice versa. If we have to regard Deity as an infinite and omnipresent Principle, this can hardly be otherwise; nature being thus simply the physical aspect of Deity, or its body.

Parabrahm: (Sans.) A Vedantin term meaning "beyond Brahmâ ." The Supreme and the absolute Principle, impersonal and nameless. In the Vedas it is referred to as That. It's a deity without form. The two indestructible principles from which all creation springs. (See Kabbala)

Paracelsus: In the history of alchemy there is not a more striking or picturesque figure than Aurcelus Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim, the illustrious physician and exponent of the hermetic philosophy who has chosen to go down to fame under the name of Paracelsus. He was born at Einsideln, near Zurich, in the year 1493. His father, the natural son of a prince, himself practiced the "art of medicine," and was desirous that his only son should follow the same profession. To the fulfillment of that desire was directed the early training of Paracelsus—a training which fostered his imaginative rather than his practical tendencies, and which first cast his mind into the "alchemical mould. It did not take him long to discover that the medical traditions of the time were bat empty husks from which all substance had long since dried away." I considered with myself," he says, "that if there were no teacher of medicine in the world, how would I set about to learn the art? No otherwise than in the great open book of nature, written with the finger of God." Having thus freed himself from the constraining bonds of an outworn medical orthodoxy, whose chief resources were bleeding, purging, and emetics, he set about evolving a new system to replace the old, and in order that he might study the book of nature to better advantage he traveled extensively from 1513 to 1524, visiting almost every part of the known world, studying metallurgy, chemistry, and medicine, and consorting with vagabonds of every description. He was brought before the Cham of Tartary, conversed with the magicians of Egypt and Arabia, and is said to have even reached India. At length his protracted wanderings came to a close, and in 1524 he settled in Basle, then a favorite resort of scholars and physicians, where he was appointed to fill the chair of medicine at the University. Never had Basle witnessed a more brilliant, erratic professor. His inflated language, his eccentric behavior, the splendor of his conceptions flashing through a fog of obscurity, at once attracted and repelled, and gained for him friends and enemies.

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Paranirvana: (Sans.) In the Vedantic philosophy the highest form of Nirvana-beyond the latter.

Parapsychology: Study of the paranormal.

Parsis or Parsees: The present Persian followers of Zoroaster, now settled in India, especially in Bombay and Guzerat; sun and fire worshipers. One of the most intelligent and esteemed communities in the country, generally occupied with commercial pursuits. There are between 50,000 and 60,000 now left in India where they settled some 1,000 years ago.

Past Life Regression:

Past Lives:

Path, The: Is a term which represents an important theosophical teaching, and it is used in different senses to denote not only the Path itself but also the Probationary Path along which a man must journey before he can enter on the former. Impelled by profound longing for the highest, for service of God and his fellows, man first begins the journey and he must devote himself wholeheartedly to this service. At his entrance on the Probationary Path, he becomes the chela or disciple of one of the Masters or Perfected men who have all finished the great journey, and he devotes himself to the acquiring of four qualifications which are (1) knowledge of what only is real; (2) rejection of what is unreal; (3) the six mental attributes of control over thought, control over outward action, tolerance, endurance, faith and balance, these attributes, necessary in some degree, but not being necessary in perfect degree; and (4) the desire to be one with God. During the period of his efforts to acquire these qualifications, the chela advances in many ways, for his master imparts to him wise counsel; he is taught by meditation to attain divine heights unthought-of by ordinary man; he constantly works for the betterment of his fellows, usually in the hours of sleep, and striving thus and in similar directions, he fits himself for the first initiation at the entrance to the Path proper, but it may be mentioned that he has the opportunity either during his probation or afterwards to forego the heavenly life which is his due and so to allow the world to benefit by the powers which he has gained, and which in ordinary course, he would utilize in the heavenly life. In this case, he remains in the astral world, from whence he makes frequent returns to the physical world. Of initiations there are four, each at the beginning of a new sage on the Path, manifesting the knowledge of that stage. On the first stage there are three obstacles or, as they are commonly termed, fetters which must be cast aside and these are the illusions of self which must be realized to be only an illusion; doubt which must be cleared away by knowledge; and superstition which must be cleared away by the discovery of what in truth is real. This stage traversed, the second initiation follows, and after this comes the consciousness that earthly life will now be short, that only once again will physical death be experienced, and the man begins more and more to function in his mental body. After the third initiation, the man has two other fetters to unloose -- desire and aversion; and now is knowledge becomes keen and piercing and he can gaze deep into the heart of things. After the fourth initiation, he enters on the last stage and finally frees himself of what fetters remain -- the desire for life whether bodily or not, and the sense of individual differences from his fellows. He has now reached the end of his journey, and is no longer trammeled with sin or with anything that can hinder him from entering the state of supreme bliss where he is reunited with the divine consciousness.

Pendulum:

Pentacle: A five-pointed figure used in the Middle Ages as a door sign to ward off witchcraft. In illustrations of magic apparatus in grimoires and other occult treatises, the pentacle is a design, containing magic symbols, used in divination and conjuration of spirits.

Pentagram: A five-pointed geometric figure, called the Shield of Solomon, that was used in exorcising spirits. Used symbolically in ancient Greece and Babylonia, the Pentagram has magical associations, and many people who practice pagan faiths wear them. Christians once commonly used the pentagram to represent the five wounds of Jesus, but its more modern associations are with Neopagans, Wiccans and Satanists. Although Satanists use an inverted Pentagram.

Perispirit: Allan Kardec's term for the spirit body, astral body, fluidic body.

Phallic Worship or Sex Worship; reverence and adoration shown to those gods and goddesses which, like Shiva and Durga in India, symbolize respectively the two sexes.

Philadelphia Experiment: An alleged military experiment that sent a US water ship through hyperspace to instantly appear in another place. As the story goes, when experimenting with an 'engine' reconstructed from the Roswell UFO in the 1940's, people 'disappeared'. When the engine was turned off, they reappeared. Most people went insane after this experience, but some told of a place which just like earth, but somehow different.

The Philadelphia Experiment is now thought to be fictitious, but the myth continues.

Philosopher's Stone: A substance which enabled adepts in alchemy to compass the transmutation of metals. (See Alchemy.) It was imagined by the alchemists that some one definite substance was essential to the success of the transmutation of metals. By the application or admixture of this substance all metals might be transmuted into gold or silver. It was often designated the Powder of Projection. Zosimus, who lived, at the commencement of the fifth century is one of the first who alludes to it. He says that the stone is a powder or liquor formed of diverse metals, infusioned under a favorable constellation. The Philosopher's Stone was supposed to contain the secret not only of transmutation, but of health and life, for through its agency could be distilled the Elixir of Life. It was the touchstone of existence.

Philosopher's Stone: A substance which enabled adepts in alchemy to compass the transmutation of metals. It was imagined by the alchemists that some one definite substance was essential to the success of the transmutation of metals. By the application or admixture of this substance all metals might be transmuted into gold or silver. It was often designated the Powder of Projection. Zosimus, who lived, at the commencement of the fifth century is one of the first who alludes to it. He says that the stone is a powder or liquor formed of diverse metals,, infusioned under a favorable constellation. The Philosopher's Stone was supposed to contain the secret not only of transmutation, but of health and life, for through its agency could be distilled the Elixir of Life. It was the touchstone of existence.

The author of a Treatise on Philosophical and Hermetic Chemistry, published in Paris in 1725 says: "Modern philosophers have extracted from the interior of mercury a fiery spirit, mineral, vegetable and multiplicative, in a humid concavity in which is found the primitive mercury or the universal quintessence. In the midst of this spirit resides the spiritual fluid. .... This is the mercury of the philosophers, which is not solid like a metal, nor soft like quicksilver, but between the two. They have retained for a long time this secret, which is the commencement, the middle, and the end of their work. It is necessary then to proceed first to purge the mercury with salt and with ordinary salad vinegar, to sublime it with vitriol and saltpetre, to dissolve it in aqua-fortis, to sublime it again, to calcine it and fix it, to put away part of it in salad oil, to distill this liquor for the purpose of separating the spiritual water, air, and fire, to fix the mercurial body in the spiritual water or to distill the spirit of liquid mercury found in it, to putrefy all, and then to raise and exalt the spirit with non-odorous white sulphur that is to say, sal-ammoniac—to dissolve this sal-ammoniac in the spirit of liquid mercury which when distilled becomes the liquor known as the Vinegar of the Sages, to make it pass from gold to antimony three times and afterwards to reduce it by heat, lastly to steep this warm gold in very harsh vinegar and allow it to putrefy. On the surface of the vinegar it will raise itself in the form of fiery earth of the color of oriental pearls.

This is the first operation in the grand work. For the second operation; take in the name of God one part of gold and two parts of the spiritual water, charged with the sal-ammoniac, mix this noble confection in a vase of crystal of the shape of an egg: warm over a soft but continuous fire, and the fiery water will dissolve little by little the gold; this forms a liquor which is called by the sages "chaos" containing the elementary qualities—cold, dryness, heat and humidity. Allow this composition to putrefy until it becomes black; this blackness is known as the 'crow's head' and the ' darkness of the sages," and makes known to the artist that he is on the right track. It was also known as the 'black earth.' It must be boiled once more in a vase as white as snow; this stage of the work is called the 'swan,' and from it arises the white liquor, which is divided into two parts—one white for the manufacture of silver, the other red for the manufacture of gold. Now you have accomplished the work, and you possess the Philosopher's Stone." In these diverse operations, one finds many byproducts; among these is the 'green lion' which is called also 'azoph,' and which draws gold from the more ignoble elements; the 'red lion' which converts the metal into gold; the 'head of the crow,' called also the 'black veil of the ship of Theseus,' which appearing forty days before the end of the operation predicts its success; the white powder which transmutes the white metals to fine silver; the red elixir with which gold is made; the white elixir which also makes silver, and which procures long life—it is also called the 'white daughter of the philosophers.'"

In the lives of the various alchemists we find many notices of the Powder of Projection in connection with those adepts who were supposed to have arrived at the solution of the grand Arcanum. Thus in the Life of Alexander Seton (q.v.), a Scotsman who came from Port Seton, near Edinburgh, we find that on his various travels on the continent he employed in his alchemical experiments a blackish powder, the application of which turned any metal given him into gold. Numerous instances are on record of Seton's projections, the majority of which are verified with great thoroughness. On one occasion whilst in Holland, he went with some friends from the bouse at which he was residing to undertake an alchemical experiment at another house near by. On the way thither a quantity of ordinary zinc was purchased, and this Seton succeeded in projecting into pure gold by the application of his powder. A like phenomenon was undertaken by him at Cologne, and elsewhere throughout Germany, and the extremist torture could not wring from him the secret of the quintessence he possessed. His pupil or assistant, Sendivogius, made great efforts to obtain the secret from him before he died, but all to no purpose. However, out of gratitude Seton bequeathed him what remained of his marvelous powder, which was employed by his Polish successor with the same results as had been achieved in his own case. The wretched Sendivogius fared badly, however, when the powder at last came to an end. He had used it chiefly in liquid form, and into this he had dipped silver coins which immediately had become the purest gold. Indeed it is on record that one coin, of which he had only immersed the half, remained for many years as a signal instance of the claims of alchemy in a museum or collection somewhere in South Germany. The half of this doubloon was gold, while the undipped portion had remained silver; but the notice concerning it is scarcely of a satisfactory nature. When the powder gave out, Sendivogius was driven to the desperate expedient of gilding the coins, which, report says, he had heretofore transmuted by legitimate means, and this very naturally brought upon him the wrath of those who had trusted him. (See Seton.)

In the Tale of the Anonymous Adept we also find a powder in use, and indeed the powder seems to have been the favored form of the transmuting agency. The term Philosopher's Stone probably arose from some Eastern talismanic legend. Yet we find in Egyptian alchemy— the oldest—the idea of the black powder—the detritus or oxide of all the metals mingled. (See Egypt.)

The Philosopher's Stone had a spiritual as well as a material conception attached to it, and indeed spiritual alchemy is practically identified with it; but we do not find the first alchemists, nor those of mediaeval times, possessed of any spiritual ideas; their hope was to manufacture real gold, and it is only in later times that we find the altruistic idea creeping in, to the detriment of the physical one. Symbolic language was largely used by both schools, however, and we must not imagine that because an alchemical writer employs symbolical figures of speech that he is of the transcendental school, as his desire was merely to be understanded of his brother adepts, and to conserve his secret from the vulgar.

Philtre: A magic potion intended to produce emotional, usually erotic, effects on the drinker. Love-philtres were well known in ancient times, and are mentioned by the Greek historian Plutarch in his Marriage Precepts. Among the ingredients used in potions were: briony, betel nut, frog bones, tobacco, mandrake, powdered heart of roast humming bird, sparrow liver, hare kidney, swallow womb, human blood, entrails, fingers, the heart, the genitals, excrement, the brain, flesh, hair, urine, marrow, ambergris.

In Oriental magic, love-philtres were made of the brains of a hoopee pounded into a cake, or of magic lamp wicks inscribed with invocations and then burned. A painting by Goya depicts a witch concocting a philtre.

Phreno-Mesmerism (or Phrenopathy): An application of the principles of Mesmerism to the science of phrenology. Mesmerism and phrenology had for some time been regarded by the English mesmerists as related sciences when it was discovered that a somnambule whose "bumps" were touched by the fingers of the operator would respond to the stimulus by exhibiting every symptom of the mental trait corresponding to the organ touched. .Thus signs of joy, grief, destructiveness, combativeness, and friendship might be exhibited in rapid succession by the entranced patient. Among those who claimed to have discovered the new science were Dr. Collyer, a pupil of Dr. Elliotson's; and the Rev. Laroy Sunderland, though the former afterwards repudiated it. As time went on enterprising phreno-mesmerists discovered many new cerebral organs as many as a hundred and fifty being found beside those already mapped out by Spurzheim and Gall. Among its supporters phreno-mesmerism numbered the distinguished hypnotist Braid, who expressed himself fully satisfied of its reality. He has recorded a number of cases in which the patient correctly indicated by his actions the organs touched, though demonstrably ignorant of phrenological laws, and inaccessible to outside information. Braid himself offers but a very halting and inadequate physiological explanation, and since he may be supposed to have been fully alive to the factors of suggestion and hyper-aesthesia, it would seem advisable to admit the possibility of mental suggestion, or telepathy, by means of which the expectation of the operator, reproducing itself in the mind of the patient, would give rise to the corresponding reactions.

Phrygian Cap: Hargrave Jennings, in his Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries, says that the Phrygian Cap, the classic Mithraic Cap, sacrificial Cap, and mitre all derive from one common ancestor. The Mithraic or Phrygian Cap is the origin of the priestly mitre in all faiths. It was worn by the priest in sacrifice. When worn by a male, it had its crest, comb, or point, set jutting forward; when worn by a female, it bore the same prominent part of the cap in reverse, or on the nape of the neck, as in the instance of the Amazon's helmet, displayed in all old sculptures, or that of Pallas-Athene, as exhibited in the figures of Minerva.

Phyllorhodomancy: Divination by rose-leaves. The Greeks clapped a rose-leaf on the hand, and judged from the resulting sound the success or otherwise of their desires.

Physical World: Formerly known as the Sthula Plane -- is in the theosophic scheme of things the lowest of the seven worlds, te world which ordinary man moves and is conscious under normal conditions. It is limit of the ego's descent into matter, and the matter which composes the approximate physical body, is th densest of any of these worlds. Physical matter has seven divisions of solid, liquid, gas, ether, super-ether, sub-atom, and atom, in common with the matter of the other worlds. Besides the physical body, familiar to ordinary vision, there is a finer body, the etheric double, which plays a very important part in collecting vitality from the sun for the use of the denser physical body, and reference is made to the articles on the Etheric Body, and the Chaksams. At death, the physical body and the etheric double are cast aside and slowly resolve into their components.

Piper, Mrs.: A famous trance medium, whose discourses and writings present the best evidence extant for the actuality of spirit communication. A native of America, it was there that Mrs. Piper first became entranced, while consulting a professional clairvoyant in 1884. Numerous spirits purported to control her in these early days—Mrs. Siddons, Longfellow, Bach, to mention only the most celebrated— but in 1885, when she came under the observation of the Society for Psychical Research, her principal control was Dr. Phinuit. From that time forward her trance utterances and writings—for after 1890 the communications were generally meriting—were carefully recorded and analyzed by members of the S.P.R., chiefly under the direction of Dr. Hodgson. In 1889-90 Mrs. Piper visited this country and gave many séances, most of which seemed to display supernormal powers in the medium. It is impossible in a limited space to detail her remarkable trance impersonations. On his death in 1905 Dr. Hodgson became one of her controls; Mr. Myers and Mr. Gurney also controlled her. But perhaps the most life-like and convincing impersonation or spirit-manifestation—whichever it may have been—was that of George Pelham, a young American author and a friend of Dr. Hodgson, who had died suddenly in 1892. (See Trance Personalities.) The information given by this control, his recognition of friends, and so on, were so accurate as to convince many that it was indeed "G.P." who spoke.

From that time until 1896 the séances were especially productive, but in the latter year the medium underwent an operation. Phinuit, who often acted as a go-between for other controls and the sitter, now took his departure, and a band of other spirits, led by the " Imperator " of Stainton Moses, took control of Mrs. Piper's organism. The trance writings and utterances became fewer, and the spirits recommended that the number of sittings be cut down on account of the medium's health. Nevertheless some excellent tests were subsequently got with the Piper-Hodgson, Piper-Myers, and Piper-Gurney controls. Mrs. Piper was also one of those who took part in the " cross-correspondences " sittings held in 1906 and onwards, the other mediums being Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Verrall, Miss Verrall, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Forbes, etc. (See Spiritualism, and Cross-Correspondences.) It seems clear that in Mrs. Piper's trance phenomena there are evidences of some supernormal faculty, at the best, of telepathy, though to the writer even that hypothesis seems to be inadequate. It would, for example, be a very complicated form of telepathy, that would enable some of these automatic "cross correspondence" scripts to be written, in which, say, two scripts contain allusions unintelligible to the writers, and requiring a key provided by a third script to make them plain. Such a case inevitably suggests that one and the same intelligence directs all three mediums. 'Mrs. Piper's impersonation of George Pelham, again, calls for some explanation, since it would seem that all the information could hardly have been culled from the sitter's minds. (See Spiritualism.)

Pisces: The twelfth sign of the zodiac.

Planchette: An instrument designed for the purpose of communication with spirits. It consists of a thin-heart-shaped piece of wood, mounted on two small wheel-castors and carrying a pencil, point downwards, for the third support. The hand is placed on the wood and the pencil writes automatically, or presumably by spirit control operating through the psychic force of the medium.

In 1853, a well-known French spiritualist, M. Planchette, invented this instrument to which he gave his name. For quite fifteen years it was used exclusively by French spiritualists. Then in the year 1868 a firm of toy-makers in America took up the idea and flooded the booksellers' shops with great numbers of planchettes. It became a popular mania, and the instrument sold in thousands there and in Great Britain. It was, and is, largely used simply as a toy and any results obtained that may be arresting and seemingly inexplicable are explained by Animal Magnetism or traced to the power of subconscious thought.

Amongst spiritualists it has been used for spirit communication. Automatic writing has often been developed by use of the planchette, some mediums publishing books which, they claimed, were written wholly by their spirit-controls through the use of planchettes. Dr. Ashburnes, in his Spiritualism Chemically Explained says that the human body is a condensation of gases, which constantly exude from the skin in invisible vapour—otherwise electricity; that the fingers coming in contact with the planchette transmit to it an "odic force," and thus set it in motion. He goes on to say that some people have phosphorous in excess in their system and the vapour " thus exuded forms a positively living, thinking, acting body, capable of directing a pencil." There are variations on the planchette form such as the dial-planchette which consists of a foundation of thick cardboard nine inches square on the face of which the alphabet is printed and also the numerals one to ten.

There are the words "Yes," "No," "Goodbye" and "Don't know." These letters, words, and numerals are printed on the outer edge of a circle, the diameter of which is about seven inches. In the centre of this circle, and firmly affixed to the cardboard, is a block of wood three inches square. The upper surface of this block has a circular channel in it and in this run balls. Over the balls is placed a circular piece of hard wood, five inches in diameter, and attached to the outer edge of this a pointer. The upper piece of wood is attached to the lower by an ordinary screw, upon which the upper plate revolves when used for communication. Another form is the Quija board on which in a convenient order the letters of the alphabet are printed and over which a pointer easily moves under the direction of the hand of the person or persons acting as mediums. It is stated that a form of this "mystic toy" was in use in the days of Pythagoras, about 540 B.C. In a French history of Pythagoras, the author describing his celebrated school of philosophy, asserts that the brotherhood held frequent seances Oi circles at which a mystic table, moving on wheels, moved towards signs inscribed on the surface of a stone slab on which the moving-table worked. The author states that probably Pythagoras, in his travels among the Eastern nations, observed some such apparatus in use amongst them and adapted his idea from them. Another trace of some such "communicating mechanism" is found in the legend told by the Scandinavian Blomsturvalla how the people of Jomsvikingia in the twelfth century had a high priest, one Volsunga, whose predictions were renowned for their accuracy throughout the length and breadth of the land. He had in his possession a little ivory doll that drew with "a pointed instrument" on parchment or "other substance," certain signs to which the priest had the key. The communications were in every case prophetic utterances, and it is said in every case came true. The writer who recounts the legend thought it probable that the priest had procured the doll in China. In the National Museum at Stockholm there is a doll of this description which is worked by mechanism, and when wound up walks round and round in circles and occasionally uses its right arm to make curious signs with a pointed instrument like a stylo which is held in the hand. Its origin and use have been connected with the legend recounted above.

Planes of Creation: From the Michael teachings, physical, astral, causal, akashic, mental, messianic, and buddhaic. Just as there are seven colors in the rainbow and seven tones in a musical scale, each with a different vibratory rate, there are seven levels of being on the spectrum of creation. The slowest speed of vibration occurs on the physical plane; the highest, on the buddhaic plane. From the buddhaic plane, energy returns to its source, the Tao.

Planetary Logos: or Ruler of Seven Chains, is, in the theosophic scheme, one of the grades in the hierarchy which assists in the work of creation and guidance. It is the supreme Logos who initiates this work, but in it he is helped by the "seven." They receive from him the inspiration and straightaway each in his own Planetary Chain carries on the work, directed by him no doubt, yet in an individual fashion, though all the successive stages which go to compose a Scheme of Evolution. (See Logos, Chains)

Planetary Spirits: In the theosophical scheme the number of these spirits is seven. They are emanations from the Absolute, and are the agents by which the Absolute effects all his change in the Universe.

Planet X:

Plotinus: A distinguished Platonic philosopher of the third century, a great practical mystic, renowned for his virtues and learning. He taught a doctrine identical with that of the Vedantins, namely, that the spirit soul emanating from the One Deific Principle was after its pilgrimage on earth reunited to it.

Poltergeist: The name given to the supposed supernatural causes of outbreaks of rappings, inexplicable noises, and similar disturbances, which from time to time have mystified men of science as well as the general public. The term poltergeist (i.e., Palter Geist, rattling ghost) is sufficiently indicative of the character of these beings, whose manifestations are, at the best, puerile and purposeless tricks, and not infrequently display an openly mischievous and destructive tendency. The poltergeist is by no means indigenous to any one country, nor has he confined his attentions to any particular period. Lang mentions several cases belonging to the Middle Ages, and one at least which dates so far back as 856 B.C. In both savage and civilized countries this peculiar form of haunting is well known, and it is a curious fact that the phenomena are almost identical in every case. The disturbances are always observed to be particularly active in the neighborhood of one person, generally a child or a young woman, and preferably an epileptic or hysterical subject. According to the theory advanced by spiritualists, this centre of the disturbances is a natural medium, through whom the spirits desire to communicate with the world of living beings. In earlier times such a person was regarded as a witch, or the victim of a witch, whichever supposition was best fitted to the circumstances. The poltergeist is represented as a development from witchcraft, and the direct forerunner of modern spiritualism, and is, in fact, a link between the two.

Praagh, (James Van): Best selling author, who describes himself as a medium with the ability to communicate with spirits of the dead. Van Praagh has written several books dealing with the subject of parapsychology. From 2002 to 2003, he hosted a syndicated daytime talk show entitled "Beyond With James Van Praagh." He subsequently partnered with CBS to produce several tv-movies and mini-series based on his books, including "Living With The Dead" and "The Dead Will Tell." He is currently the co-Executive Producer of the television series Ghost Whisperer on CBS.

Prana: (Sans.) Life Principle, the breath of life, Nephesh.

Prayer: Prayer may be defined as the act of asking for something while aiming to connect with God or another object of worship. Praying for the sick or dying has been a common practice throughout history. Individuals or groups may practice prayer with or without the framework of an organized religion.

People may pray for themselves or for others. "Intercessory prayer" refers to prayers said on behalf of people who are ill or in need. Intercessors may have specific objectives or may wish for general well-being or improved health. The person being prayed for may be aware or unaware of the process. In some cases, prayers involve direct content using the hands. Intercessory prayer may also be performed from a distance.

Clergy, chaplains and pastoral counselors are trained by their respective institutions to address the spiritual and emotional needs of physically and mentally ill patients, their families and loved ones.

Precipitation of Matter: One of the phenomena of spiritualism known as the "passing of solids through solids." The statement of the hypothetical fourth dimension of space is an attempt at a solution of the problem; so also is the theory of "precipitation of matter." The latter suggests that before one solid body passes through another it is resolved into its component atoms, to be precipitated in its original form when the passage is accomplished. M. Camille Flammarion found a parallel to this process in the passage of a piece of ice -- a solid -- through a napkin. The ice passes through the napkin in the form of water, and may afterwards be re-frozen. This is matter passing through matter, a solid passing through a solid, after it has undergone a change of condition. And we are only carrying out M. Flammarion's inference in suggesting that it is something analogous to this process which occurs in all cases of solids passing through solids.

Precognition:

Premonition: An impressional warning of a future event. Premonitions may range from vague feelings of disquiet, suggestive of impending disaster, to actual hallucinations, whether visual or auditory. Dreams are frequent vehicles of premonitions, either direct or symbolical, and there are countless instances of veridical dreams. In such cases it is hard to say whether the warning may come from an external source, as spiritualists aver, or whether the portended catastrophe may have resulted, in part, at least, from auto-suggestion. The latter is plainly the explanation of another form of premonitions -- i.e., the predictions made by patients in the magnetic or mediumistic trance with regard to their maladies. The magnetic subject who prophesied that his malady would reach a crisis on a certain date several weeks ahead, probably himself attended subconsciously to the fulfilling of his prophecy. Might not the same thing happen in "veridical" dreams and hallucinations? We know that a subject obeying a post-hypnotic suggestion will weave his action quite naturally into the surrounding circumstances, though the very moment of its performance may have been fixed months before. That the dreamer and hallucinated subject also might suggest and fulfill their premonitions, either directly or by telepathic communication of the suggestion to another agent, does not seem very far-fetched or improbable. Then there is, of course, coincidence. It is impossible but that a certain proportion of verified premonitions should be the result of coincidence. Possibly, also, such impressions, whether they remain forebodings or are embodied in dreams or otherwise, must at times be subconscious inferences drawn from an actual, if obscure, perception of existing facts. Yet very frequently premonitions prove to be entirely groundless, even the most impressive ones, where the warning is emphasized but a ghostly visitant.

Prenestine Lots, The: A method of divination by lots, in vogue in Italy. The letters of the alphabet were placed in an urn which was shaken, and the letters then turned out on the floor; the words thus formed were received as omens. In the East this method of divination is still common.

Pretu (a departed ghost): The form which the Hindus believe the soul takes after death. This ghost inhabits a body of the size of a man's thumb, and remains in the keeping of Yumu, the judge of the dead. Punishment is inflicted on the Pretu, whose body is enlarged for this purpose and is strengthened to endure sorrow. At the end of a year the soul is delivered from this state by the performance of the Shraddhu, and is translated to the heaven of the Pitrees, where it is rewarded for its good deeds. Afterwards, in a different body, the soul enters its final abode. The performance of the Shraddhu is abos-lutely necessary to escape from the Pretu condition.

Priest: From the Michael teachings, one of the seven essence roles. Its positive pole is compassion; its negative pole is zeal. Priests seek the higher good.

Probiotics: Probiotics are live microorganisms (in most cases, bacteria) that are similar to beneficial microorganisms found in the human gut. They are also called "friendly bacteria" or "good bacteria." Probiotics are available to consumers mainly in the form of dietary supplements and foods. They can be used as complementary and alternative medicine

Project Bluebook: A secret US military program that studied UFOs.

Prophecy: Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. The etymology of the word is ultimately Greek, from pro- "before" plus the root of phanai "speak", i. e. "speaking before" or "foretelling", but prophecy often implies the involvement of supernatural phenomena, whether it is communication with a deity, the reading of magical signs, or astrology. It is also used as a general term for the revelation of divine will.

In an early state of society, the prophet and shaman were probably one and the same, as is still the case among primitive peoples. It is difficult to say whether the offices of the prophet are more truly religious or magical. He is usually a priest, but the ability to look into the future and read its portents can scarcely be called a religious attribute. In many instances prophecy is merely utterances in the ecstatic condition. We know that the pythonesses attached to, the oracles of ancient Greece uttered prophetic words under the influences of natural gases or drugs ; and when the medicine-men of most savage tribes attempt to peer into the future, they usually attain a condition of ecstasy by taking some drug, the action of which is well known to them. But this was not always the case; the shaman often summoned a spirit to his aid to discover what portents and truths lie in the future; but this cannot be called prophecy. Neither is divination prophecy in the true sense of the term, as artificial aids are employed, and it is merely by the appearance of certain objects that the augur can pretend to predict future events. We often find prophecy disassociated from the ecstatic condition, as for example among the prophets of Israel, who occupied themselves in great measure with the calm statement of future political events, or those priests of the 1 Maya Indians of Central America known as Chilan Balam, who at stated intervals in the year made certain statements regarding the period which lay immediately before them. Is prophecy then to be regarded as a direct utterance of the deity, taking man as his mouthpiece, or the statement of one who seeks inspiration from the fountain of wisdom ? Technically, both are true of prophecy, for we find it stated in scripture that when the deity desired to communicate with man he chose certain persons as his mouthpieces. Again individuals (often the same as those chosen by God) applied to the deity for inspiration in critical moments. Prophecy then may be the utterances of God by the medium of the practically unconscious shaman or seer, or the inspired utterance of that person after inspiration has been sought from the deity.

In ancient Assyria the prophetic class were called nabu, meaning "to call" or "announce,"—a name probably adopted from that of the god, Na-bi-u, the speaker or proclaimer of destiny, the tablets of which he inscribed. Among the ancient Hebrews the prophet was called nabhiaf a borrowed title probably adopted from the Canaanites. That is not to say, however, that the Hebrew nabhiim were indebted to the surrounding peoples for their prophetic system, which appears to have been of a much loftier type than that of the Canaanite peoples.

Prophets appear to have swarmed in Palestine in biblical times, and we are told that four hundred prophets of Baal sat at Jezebel's table. The fact that they were prophets of this deity would almost go to prove that they were also priests. We find that the most celebrated prophets of Israel belonged to the northern portion of that country, which was more subject to the influence of the Canaanites. Later, distinct prophetic societies were formed,—the chief reason for whose existence appears to have been the preservation of nationality; and this class appears to have absorbed the older castes of seers and magicians, and to some extent to have taken over their offices. Some of the later prophets,— Micah, for example—appear to have regarded some of these lesser seers as mere diviners, who were in reality not unlike the prophets of Baal. With Amos may be said to have commenced a new school of prophecy—the canonical prophets, who were also authors and historians, and who disclaimed all connection with mere professional prophets. The general idea in Hebrew Palestine was that Yahveh, or God, was in the closest possible touch with the prophets,, and that he would do nothing without revealing it to them. The greatest importance was given to their utterances,, which more than once determined the fate of the nation. Indeed no people has lent so close an ear to the utterance of their prophetic class as did the Jews of old times.

In ancient Greece, the prophetic class were generally found attached to the oracles, and in Rome were represented by the augurs. In Egypt the priests of Ra at Memphis acted as prophets, as, perhaps, did those of Hekt. Among the ancient Celts and Teutons, prophecy was frequent, the prophetic agent usually placing him or herself in the ecstatic condition. The Druids were famous practitioners of the prophetic art, and some of their utterances may be still extant in the so-called Prophecies of Merlin. In America, as has been stated, prophetic utterance took practically the same forms as in Europe and Asia. Captain Jonathan Carver, an early traveler in North America, cites a peculiar instance where the seers of a certain tribe stated that a famine would be ended by assistance being sent from another tribe at a certain hour on the following day. At the very moment mentioned by them a canoe rounded a headland, bringing news of relief. A strange story was told in the Atlantic Monthly some years ago by a traveler among the Plains tribes, who stated that an Indian medicine-man had prophesied the coming of himself and his companions to his tribe two days before their arrival among them.

Prophet: In the times of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) a person, almost always male, who was a religious reformer. They claimed to speak for God.

Protean Soul: A name for Mayavi-Rupa or thought-body, the higher astral form which assumes all forms and every form at the will of an adept's thought.

Pseudoscience:

Psi:

Psyche: Greek for soul.

Psychic: A sensitive, one susceptible to psychic influences. A psychic is not necessarily a medium, unless he is sufficiently sensitive to be controlled by disembodied spirits. The term psychic includes the somnambule, the magnetic or mesmeric subject, anyone who is in any degree sensitive. According to one view, all men are in some measure susceptible to spiritual influences, and to that extent deserve the name of psychic.

Psychic Body: A spiritualistic term variously applied to an impalpable body which clothes the soul on the "great dissolution," or to the soul itself. Sergeant Cox in his Mechanism of Man declares that the soul—quite distinct from mind, or intelligence, which is only a function of the brain—is composed of attenuated matter, and has the same form as the physical body, which it permeates in every part. From the soul radiates the psychic force, by means of which all the wonders of spiritualism are performed. Through its agency man becomes endowed with telekinetic and clairvoyant powers, and with its aid he can affect such natural forces as gravitation. When free of the body, the soul can travel at a lightning speed, nor is it hindered by such material objects as stone walls or closed doors. The psychic body is also regarded as an intermediary between the physical body and the soul, a sort of envelope, more material than the soul itself, which encloses it at death. It is this envelope, the psychic body or nervengeist, which becomes visible at a materialization by attracting to itself other and still more material particles. In time the psychic body decays just as did the physical, and leaves the soul free. During the trance the soul leaves the body, but the vital functions are continued by the psychic body.

Psychical Research: A scientific inquiry into the facts and causes of mediumistic phenomena. The precursor to paranormal studies.

Its first concern is to establish the occurrence of the claimed facts. If they are not due to fraud, observational error, the laws of chancel i.e., if they are found to occur, the next stage of the inquiry is to establish the reason of their occurrence, whether the known natural laws are sufficient to explain them or whether there is reason to suppose the action of unknown forces. The nature of this unknown force, the mode of its manifestation, has to be experimentally investigated. If it is not a blind force but operated by intelligence it has to be examined whether this intelligence is mundane. Not until every other explanation fails can the claim of a supermundane source be tested.

Psychical research performs the pioneering work for official silence. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that it lays the foundations of the coming science. According to Geley it is the most complex of all sciences. Sir William Crookes considered it "a science which, though still in a purely nascent stage, seems to me at least as important as any other science whatever." The nascent stage has since been left far behind. The societies for psychical research and individual investigators have built up an impressive edifice of facts. Many of the first skeptical investigators, like Sir Oliver Lodge, Professor William Barrett, F. W. H. Myers and Professor Hyslop, have become firm believers in demonstrated survival. Many others remained hesitative, like Edmund Gurney, Prof. William James, Prof. Hans Driesch, Prof. E. C. S. Schiller, Prof. William MacDougall, Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, Camille Flammarion, Professor Richet, Dr. Gustave Geley, Hereward Carrington, Dr. Walter Franklin Prince, J. Malcolm Bird and Harry Price but very few could preserve the extreme skepticism which Frank Podmore evidenced. As a working theory the spirit hypothesis is now accepted by many psychical researchers. If the opposition of orthodox science is not yet yielding the reason is probably to be found in the observation of Mr. Stanley de Brath: "History shows that even in the case of normal and verifiable physical facts involving a departure from habitual modes of thought, a period of two generations usually elapses between the first verification and the general acceptance."

The history of psychical research officially dates from the establishment of the S.P.R. in 1882. But the foundations were laid much before by such pioneers as Prof. de Morgan, Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace and William Crookes in England, Prof. Hare and Prof. Mapes in America. About twenty-five years before the S.P.R. was founded a few of the younger Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, started a Ghost Society very much on the lines of the S.P.R. The original document of the Cambridge Ghost Club is in the archives of the S.P.R. It is dated 1851, and the purpose is stated as "a serious and earnest inquiry into the nature of the phenomena vaguely called supernatural."

In 1875 Serjeant Cox founded the Psychological Society of Great Britain for the same purpose. A volume of Proceedings of the Society's work was published in 1878. Stainton Moses, C. C. Massey and Walter H. Coffin were among the members. When Serjeant Cox died in 1879 the society came to an end.

In 1878 the British National Association appointed a research council which carried on significant research work with well-known mediums of the day under strict test conditions.

It was after such a beginning that the Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882. The American S.P.R., founded in 1885, and the Boston S.P.R., founded in 1925, are representative bodies of the same standing. The National Laboratory of Psychical Research was established in 1925.

Parapsychology

While most of the early SPR research had an anecdotal flavor, where experiments involved testing the abilities of specific mediums and other "gifted individuals" with claimed psychic abilities, there were some probabilistic experiments involving card guessing and dice throwing. But it was not until the development of statistical tools by R. A. Fischer and others about the 1920s that modern experimental parapsychology came into its own, with the efforts of J. B. Rhine and his colleagues. It was during this time that the term 'parapsychology' largely replaced the term 'psychic research'.

The "Rhine revolution" had three aims: First to provide parapsychology with a systematic, progressive program of sound experimentation, progressive in the sense of trying to characterize the conditions and extent of psi phenomena rather than merely trying to prove their existence; Second, to gain academic status and scientific recognition. Rhine helped form the first long-term university laboratory devoted to parapsychology in the Duke University Laboratory, later to become the independent Rhine Research Center; And third, to show that psychic ability was not restricted to a few gifted individuals, but was widespread, and perhaps latent in everyone. While not wholly successful in any of these aims, Rhine did much to move the field in these directions. By the end of his era, now the modern era, we find that much if not most experimental psychology today is geared toward "ordinary people" as subjects rather than mediums or "gifted psychics". Rhine also helped found the Journal of Parapsychology in 1937, which remains one of the most respected journals in the field today, and the Parapsychological Association in 1957, the foremost professional body of parapsychologists today, that was accepted into the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1969. Rhine also popularized the term "Extra-sensory perception" (ESP).

Psychic Surgery:

Psychomancy: Divination by spirits or the art of evoking the dead. See Necromancy.

Purânas: (Sans.) Lit., "the ancient," referring to Hindu writings or Scriptures, of which there is a considerable number.

Pursel, (Jack):

Pyramid Power: The concept that objects in the shape of the Egyptian pyramids can concentrate power, preserve materials or heal.

Pyramids: gggg

Pyromancy: or divining by fire, has been alluded to in Extispicy. The presage was good when the flame was vigorous and quickly consumed the sacrifice; when it was clear of all smoke, transparent, neither red nor dark in color; when it did not crackle, but burnt silently in a pyramidal form. If it as slow to consume the victim, the presage was evil. Besides the sacrificial fire, the ancients divined by observing the flames of torches, and even by throwing powdered pitch into a fire; if it caught quickly the omen was good.

Pythagoras: The most famous mystic philosopher, born at Samos about 586 bc, who taught the heliocentric system and reincarnation, the highest mathematics and the highest metaphysics, and who had a school famous throughout the world. (See Greece) Pythagoras was said to have been the first man to call himself a philosopher; in fact, the world is indebted to him for the word philosopher. Before that time the wise men had called themselves sages, which was interpreted to mean those who know. Pythagoras was more modest. He coined the word philosopher, which he defined as one who is attempting to find out. See Pythagoras