Metaphysical Dictionary

The Michael Teachings

Sacred Science: The epithet given to the occult sciences in general, and by the Rosicrucians to the Cabala, and especially to the Hermetic philosophy.

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Sage: From the Michael teachings, one of the seven essence roles. Its positive pole is expression; its negative pole is oration. Sages seek insight.
This is the story-doer type, who likes to act out and dramatize his thoughts through art, music, teaching, salesmanship, entertainment, or whatever. He enjoys playing to an audience. 

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Saint-German, Count: Born probably about 1710, one of the most celebrated mystic adventurers of modem times. Like Cagliostro and others of his kind almost  nothing is known concerning his origin, but there is reason to believe that he was a Portuguese Jew. There are, however, hints that he was of royal birth, but these have never been substantiated. One thing is fairly certain, and that is he was an accomplished spy, for he resided at many European Courts, spoke several languages fluently, and was even sent upon diplomatic missions by Louis XV. He had always abundance of funds at his command, and is alluded to by Grimm as the most capable and able man he had ever known. He pretended to have lived for centuries, to have known Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and many other persons of antiquity; but although obviously a charlatan, the accomplishments upon which he based his reputation were in many ways real and considerable. Especially was this the case as regards chemistry, a science in which he was certainly an adept, and he pretended to have a secret for removing the flaws from diamonds, and to be able to transmute metals, and of course he possessed the secret of the elixir of life. He is mentioned by Horace Walpole as being in London about 1743, and as being arrested as a Jacobite spy, who was later released.   

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Salamanders: In Alchemical tradition, are the elemental spirits of fire. The salamander is not a literal salamander, but simply the form in which the elemental appears. The salamander was first proposed by alchemical philosopher Paracelsus.

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Salem Witch Trial: Although not strictly Puritan, the character of Salem was not essentially different from that of the other Massachusetts towns. The witchcraft delusion of 1692 centered about Salem Village, now in the township of Danvers, but then a part of Salem. Ten girls, aged nine to seventeen years, two of them house servants, met during the winter of 1691-1692 in the home of Samuel Parris, pastor of the Salem Village church, and after learning palmistry and various "magic" tricks from Parris's West Indian slave, Tituba, and influenced doubtless by current talk about witches, accused Tituba and two old women of bewitching them. The excitement spread rapidly, many more were accused, and, within four months, hundreds were arrested, and many were tried before commissioners  (including Samuel Sewall, of Boston, and three inhabitants of Salem, one being Jonathan Corwin); nineteen were hanged, and one was pressed to death in September for refusing to plead when he was accused. All these trials were conducted in accordance with the English law of the time; there had been an execution for witchcraft at Charlestown in 1648; there was a case in Boston in 1655; in 1680 a woman of Newbury was condemned to death for witchcraft but was reprieved by Governor Simon Bradstreet; in England and Scotland there were many executions long after the Salem delusion died out. The reaction came suddenly in Salem, and in May 1693 Governor William Phips ordered "There is nothing but tradition to identify the place of execution with what is now called Gallows Hill, between Salem and Peabody."

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Samadhi: The name in India for spiritual ecstasy. It is a state of complete trance, induced by means of mystic concentration. 

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Samkhara: One of the five Buddhist Skandhas or attributes. (See Skandhas.) "Tendencies of mind." 

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Samma-Sambuddha: The sudden remembrance of all one's past incarnations, a phenomenon of memory obtained through Yoga. A Buddhist mystic term. 

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Samothrace: An island in the Grecian Archipelago, famous in days of old for the mysteries celebrated in its temples. These mysteries were world-renowned. 

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Sanyojanas: are in the Theosophical scheme the obstacles which the traveler along the Path must surmount. The number of them is ten and they are:

1. Belief in the Ego as unchangeable. 
2. Lack of faith in higher effort. 
3. Reliance on ritual. 
4. Lust.
5. Ill-will. 
6. Love of the world. 
7. Egotistic longing for a future life. 
8. Pride. 
9. Self-righteousness.
10. Nescience. 

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Sapphire: It is understood to make the melancholy cheerful and maintain the power or manly vigor of the body. The high priest of Egypt wore a sapphire upon his shoulder, and Aelian says that it was called truth. The Buddhists still ascribe a sacred magical power to it, and hold that it reconciles man to God. It is a good amulet against fear, promotes the flow of the animal spirits.

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Sardius: This gem resembles the cornelian, and is an antidote to the onyx. It prevents unpleasant dreams, makes its possessor wealthy, and sharpens the wit.

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Satan: Lucifer or the Devil. 

(See The Devil)

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Satanism:

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Scandinavia, (Occultism in): For the early history of occultism in Scandinavia (see article Teutons.)

Witchcraft.—In mediaeval times Scandinavian examples : witchcraft are rare, but in 1669 and 1670 a great outbreak of fanaticism against it commenced in Sweden in the district of Elfdale.

The villages of Mohra and Elfdale are situated in the dales of the mountainous districts of the central parts of Sweden. In the first of the years above mentioned, a strange report went abroad that the children of the neighborhood were carried away nightly to a place they called Blockula, where they were received by Satan in person. 

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Schucman, (Helen): [See Course in Miracles]

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Scientology:

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Scorpio: The eighth sign of the zodiac.

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Scotland (Occultism in): (For early matter see the article Celts.)
Witchcraft.—Witchcraft and sorcery appear to have been practiced in the earliest historical and traditional times. It is related that during the reign of Natholocus in the second century there dwelt in lona a witch of great renown, and so celebrated for her marvelous power that the king sent one of his captains to consult her regarding the issue of a rebellion then troubling his kingdom. The witch declared that within a short period the king would be murdered, not by his open enemies but by one of his most favoured friends, in whom he had most especial trust. The messenger enquired the assassin's name. " Even by thine own hands as shall be well-known within these few dayes," replied the witch. So troubled was the captain on hearing these words that he railed bitterly against her.

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Scrying: is a form of divination which involves prolonged gazing into a crystal, a pool of water, a black mirror, or similar surface, in order to obtain visions. The famous prognistor Nostradamus was said to have favored this method, using ink as a medium. Also known as crystal gazing, mirror gazing.

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Séance: A sitting held for the purpose of communicating with the dead, an essential requirement being that at least one member of the company be possessed of mediumistic powers. (See Medium.) Antiquity furnishes many examples of what may be called "séances"—e.g., Saul's consultation with the Witch of Eador—but the term is generally used only in connection with modern spiritualism. When, in 1848, the Fox family at Hydesville called in their neighbors to listen to the mysterious sounds which have since become famous as the " Rochester Rappings," the gathering was too informal to be called a séance, though all the necessary elements were present; but within the next two or three years the contagion spread throughout a large part of the eastern states, many "circles" were formed, and the phenomena which was in the first instance apparently spontaneous was now deliberately induced. In the early stages of the movement these séances were conducted by private mediums, who took no fee for their performances, but later professional mediums arose whose séances were open to the public on the payment of a fee. Both public and private séances continued, and still continue, to be an indispensable feature of spiritualism.

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Sea Serpent:

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Second Sight: supernormal perception at a distance in time and space; a traditional psychic faculty in certain families in certain countries, especially in Scotland. 

The faculty of foreseeing future events which is supposed to belong to certain individuals in the Scottish Highlands. The belief in second sight dates back to a very early period in the history of these regions, and is Still very far from being extinct, even in the more accessible parts. Saying the name, there is but little in second sight that is peculiar to the Celts of Scotland, for it is allied to the clairvoyance, prophetic vision, soothsaying, and so on, which have existed from time immemorial in practically every part of the world. Yet the second sight has certain distinctive features of its own. It may, for instance, be either congenital or acquired. In the former case it generally falls to the seventh son of a seventh son, by reason, probably, of the potency of the mystic number seven. Sometimes a Highlander may find himself suddenly endowed with the mysterious faculty. A person gifted with second sight is said to be " fey." Generally there is no apparent departure from the normal consciousness during the vision, though sometimes a seer may complain, of a feeling of disquiet or uneasiness. A vision may be communicated from one person to another, usually by contact, but the secondary vision is dimmer than that of the original seer. A frequent vision is that of a funeral, indicating that a death will shortly take place in the community. This is an instance of the second sight taking a symbolical turn, and perhaps this is its usual form.

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Secret of Secrets: (See Kabala.)

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Secret Traditions: It has long been an article of faith with students of occultism that the secret tenets of the various sciences embraced within it have been preserved to modern times by a series of adepts, who have handed them down from generation to generation in their entirety. There is no reason to doubt this belief, but that the adepts in question existed in one unbroken line, and that they all professed similar principles is somewhat improbable. But one thing is fairly certain, and that is, that proficiency in any one of the occult sciences requires tuition from a master of that branch. All serious writers on the subject are at one as regards this. 

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Secret Words: Certain words relating to the Eucharist were communicated by Christ to Joseph of Arimathea and were committed orally from keeper to keeper of the Graal. In Robert de Borron's metrical romance, material power is added to their spiritual efficacy and whoever could acquire and retain them, had a mysterious power over all around him, could not suffer by evil judgments, could not suffer deprivation of his own rights, need not fear the result of battle, provided his cause were good. The words were the secret of the Graal and were either incommunicable in writing or were written only in the Book of the Graal which, de Borron implies, was itself written by Joseph of Arimathea. These words are the chief mystery of the Lesser Holy Graal, as the prose version of de Borron's poem is called. They were most probably a form of eucharistic consecration, and there is evidence that the Celtic church, following the example of the Eastern Church used them in addition to the usual consecration as practiced in the Latin Church, which is merely a repetition of the New Testament account of the Lord's Supper. The separate clause they are supposed to have formed is called Epiclesis and consisted of an invocation of the Holy Ghost.

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Semites: This article on the Semites applies to the more ancient divisions of the race, such as the Babylonians and Assyrians, and the Hebrews in Biblical times., For later Semitic occultism see Kabala, Arabs, etc. In ancient Babylon, and Chaldea, magic was of course a department of priestly activity, and in Mesopotamia we find a sect of priests, the Asipu, set apart for the practice of magic, which in their case probably consisted of hypnotism, the casting out of demons, the banning of troublesome spirits and so forth. 

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Sensitive: One who is in any degree susceptible to the influence of spiritual beings. A medium is occasionally, and, according to some authorities, more correctly, termed a sensitive.

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Seth: (See Jane Roberts)

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Seth Material: the name given to the twenty-four books by Jane Roberts that were dictated by a transpersonal source named Seth and transcribed and edited by husband Robert F. Butts. Conventionally called a channeled body of information, Jane, Seth, and Rob all felt that this term was too narrow to capture the deep psychological connections involved.

In addition to the Seth-dictated books are fifteen books of fiction, poetry, and Aspect Psychology written by Jane Roberts that explore the implications and depth of the concepts offered by the Seth personality.

Jane Roberts lived from 1929-1984 and spent most of her life in Elmira, New York. She began channeling the Seth personality in December 1963 and continued until her passing in September of 1984. Taken as a whole, their life-long collaboration forms a contemporary expression of the perennial philosophy of unparalleled depth and richness in the Western postmodern world. It is consistently referred to as one of the top sources of metaphysical information by numerous scholars (Klimo, Hastings) and lay folk alike.

The Seth material is the second most visited collection and the only metaphysical body of work to be archived in Yale University’s Sterling Memorial Library in New Haven, Connecticut.

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Seven Wonders of the World: the name conferred on a select group of ancient works of art which had obtained pre-eminence among the sight-seers of the Alexandrian era. The earliest extant list, doubtless compiled from the numerous guide books then current in the Greek world,, is that of the epigrammatist Antipater of Sidon (2nd century B.C.). A second and slightly divergent list from the hand of a Byzantine rhetorician has been incorporated in the works of Philo of Byzantium. The monuments are as follows: (I) the pyramids of Egypt, (2) the gardens of Semiramis at Babylon, (3) the statue of Zeus at Olympia (see PHEIDIAS), (4) the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, (5) the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (see MAUSOLEUM), (6) the Colossus at Rhodes, (7) the Pharos (lighthouse) of Alexandria, or the Walls of Babylon.

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Shaman: The word ‘shaman’, borrowed from the Siberian Tungus tribe culture, refers to one who works only part time as a spiritual guide and healer (he hunts and gathers like everyone else the rest of the time); is independent of organized religions; travels in non-ordinary reality to find what is missing in everyday life, traveling in her dreaming body.

Some shamans are medicine shamans, with a main focus on healing. Other warrior shamans see the key to power and liberation.

(Read a quick outline of shamanism)

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Shamanism: (see Shaman)

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Shapeshifting:

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Ship of the Dead: Akin to the superstitious idea of the death coach is the belief that at times a phantom barque carries away the souls of men. In the form of a cloud-ship, or wrapped in a driving mist, it sails over mountains and moors, and at sea in despite of wind and tide. A story is told of a certain pirate, at whose death a spectral ship approached in a cloud. As it sailed over the roof te house was filled with a sound as of a stormy sea, and when the ship had passed by the soul of the pirate accompanied it. 

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Shroud of Turin:

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Silver Cord:

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Sirens:

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Sitchen, Zecharia: believes there is a 12th planet orbiting our sun named Nibiru. The planet allegedly has an orbital period of 3600 years.

Sitchen believes that giants (called Annunaki) came from Nibiru and once visited the Earth. He claims it was documented in ancient Sumerian legends and that the Annunaki intend to visit again when Nibiru orbits near the Earth.  Sitchen wrote the following books about the subject: "The Twelfth Planet" (1976), "When time began" (1993). 

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Sixth Sense: A term used to denote the faculty of spiritual perception, which is distinct from, and higher than, the five physical senses. It is the possession of the medium, the psychic or sensitive, and in some measure of all hypnotic subjects. It is not properly a separate sense at all, but is compounded from the spiritual correlates of the physical senses. 

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Skandhas: The attributes of every personality, which after death form the basis, so to say, for a new Karmic reincarnation. They are five in the popular or exoteric system of the Buddhists: i.e., Rupa, form or body, which leaves behind it its magnetic atoms and occult affinities; Vedana , sensations, which do likewise; Sanjna , or abstract ideas, which are the creative powers at work from one incarnation to another; Samkhara, tendencies of mind; and Vijñana, mental powers. 

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Skyclad: In traditional Gardnerian Wicca, is a poetic way to refer to nudity ("clad" means "dressed."). Some Gardnerian and related traditions carry on many or all of their magical operations skyclad. Some believe this allows magical anergy to 'flow' unrestricted by clothing. Often it is believed a more honest way to appear before the Gods, or to provide a psychological demarcation between ordinary and magical consciousness, which is also accomplished with robes and ritual dress in other traditions. 

While the term itself was probably devised for the practice by Gardner (the term itself predates him but was unrelated to witchcraft), the idea of witches performing rituals in the nude stems from ancient popular superstition and may have some historical basis.

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Sneezing: It is said that the custom of blessing one who sneezes originated in Italy in the time of Gregory the Great, during a pestilence which proved mortal to those who sneezed. A still older date is given to this custom by some writers, who state that sneezing was fatal from the time of Adam to that of Jacob, when the latter begged that its fatal effects might be removed. On his bequest being granted, the people gratefully instituted the custom of saluting the sneezer. In some diseases sneezing was  bad omen, and in others it was good. Sneezing to the right was lucky, and sneezing to the left, unlucky; from noon to midnight, good, from night to noon, bad. 

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Solar System: Theosophists have special doctrines as to the formation of the solar system. They start by postulating the existence of all pervading ether, or, as it is termed in occult chemistry (q.v.) holion, an ether which is quite imperceptible to ordinary senses and indeed even to clairvoyants except the most highly-developed. It is, despite its diffusion, of extreme density. The Deity intending to create a universe invests this ether with his divine force, whereupon it becomes the constituent of matter in the shape of minute drops or bubbles, and of this the universe with its solar systems is formed.  to be finished.....

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Solomon, Mirror of:  The method of making the Mirror of Solomon, which is used for purposes of divination, is as follows: Take a shining and well-polished plate of fine steel, slightly concave, and with the blood of a white pigeon inscribed at the four corners the names -- Jehovah, Eloym, Metatron, Adonay. Place the mirror in a clean and white cloth, and when you behold a new moon during the first hour after sunset, repeat a prayer that the angel Anaël may command and ordain his companions to act as instructed; that is, to assist the operator in divining from the mirror. Then cast upon burning coals a suitable perfume, at the same time uttering a prayer. Repeat this thrice, then breathe upon the mirror and evoke the angel Anaël. The sign of the cross is then made upon the operator and upon the mirror for forty-five days in succession -- at the end of which period Anaël appears in the form of a beautiful child to accomplish the operator's wishes. Sometimes he appears on the fourteenth day, according to the devotion and fervor of the operator. The perfume used in evoking him is saffron.  

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Solstices: Either of two points on the ecliptic at which the Sun reaches its farthest point north (0 degrees Cancer) or south (0 degrees Capricorn) of the equator. The longest day of the year occurs at summer solstice (the first day of summer, about June 21) as the Sun moves at its slowest rate; the winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year (about December 21) as the Sun reaches its fastest rate of travel.

The points in the Ecliptic at which the Sun is at its greatest distance north or south of the Equator, so-called because the Sun then appears to stand still. The Summer Solstice occurs when the Sun is at 0° Cancer, about June 21; the Winter Solstice, at 0° Capricorn, about December 21.

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Somnambulism: a state of sleep, or half-waking trance, spontaneously or artificially induced in which subconscious faculties take the place of normal consciousness and direct the body in the performance of erratic (sleep walking) or highly intellectual actions (solving problems). The personality , itself, in some cases, seems very wise and exhibits supernormal powers. See SOMNAMBULISM.

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Sorcery: one who practices divination by lots. The use of supposed supernatural power by agent of evil spirits called forth by spells by a witch or black magician.

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Sortilege:

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Soul: the term is used in two senses: it indicates the ego and the spirit-body. In ancient writings man is described as a triune being: body, soul and spirit. According to this the soul is just as much an envelope, animated by the spirit, as the physical body is an envelope for the soul. At death the soul withdraws and continues to function in the spiritual world. Astral body and soul are almost equivalent terms. Occult teachings, however, speak of five bodies of differing degrees of refinement which will be cast away in time just as the physical body is left behind. 

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Soul age: From the Michael teachings, the soul's stage of development relative to the physical plane. The five main physical-plane soul ages are infant, baby, young, mature, and old. (See also Transcendental soul and "Infinite soul.") Each soul age is divided into seven levels. (See "Soul Age.")

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Soul age level: From the Michael teachings, one of seven subdivisions of soul age, e.g., a person might be described as being "fifth-level young."

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Speal Bone, Divination By: A form of divination used in Scotland. A speal bone, or blade bone of a shoulder of mutton is used, but details of the method are wanting. A common soldier, accompanying Lord Loudonon his retreat to Skye, told the issue of the battle of Culloden at the very moment it was decided, pretending to have seen the event by looking through the bone.

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Spells: Spells, incantations, a written or spoken formula of words supposed to be capable of magical effects. The conception of spells appears to have arisen in the idea that there is some natural and intimate connection between words and the things signified by them. Thus if one repeats the name of a supernatural being the effect will be analogous to that produced by the being itself. It is assumed that all things are in sympathy, and act and react upon one another, things that have once been in contact continue to act on each other even after the contact has been removed. 

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Sphinx:

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Spiegelsehrift: Writing written backwards, from right to left, so as to be read in a mirror. Automatic writing is frequently done in this way, and it is said that the ability to produce spiegelschrift is often found where there is a natural tendency to automatism.

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Spider: As an amulet. This arachnid, baked, was sometimes worn round the neck as a charm. Spiders and their webs were often recommended as a cure for various maladies. 

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Spirit:  variously defined as the inmost principle, the divine particle, the vital essence, the inherent actuating element in life. it manifests through association with protoplasm and dwells in the astral body, also called the soul, which in turn is the connecting link between the spirit and the physical body. At death the connection is severed and the spirit will find no ordinary means of manifestation.

In Theosophy, is the monad after he has manifested himself in the Spiritual, Intuitional, and Mental worlds, but the term is often used to denote the monad in the aspect of Will only. See Monad and also the various articles on these worlds.

From the Michael teachings, the spirit is the soul, or "higher" self, in distinction to the outer personality, or "lower" self. It generally refers to all nonphysical levels of self, including the astral and causal selves, as well as those that resonate with the three highest planes, although it can be used to refer only to the latter. 

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Spirit guide: Nonphysical souls who support our growth, help us complete our life tasks, and in general provide the spiritual assistance we need. Often we are spirit guides to others when we are not incarnate.

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Spirit Intervention: to find lost wills, other papers, objects of importance or to track down murderers has been often recorded. 

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Spirit Photography: The production of photographs on which alleged spirit-forms are visible. When the photograph is developed there appears, in addition to the likeness of the sitter, a shape resembling more or less distinctly the human form, which at the moment of exposure was imperceptible to the normal vision.

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Spiritism: The name bestowed upon the French form of spiritualism, which was in the main founded on the doctrines of " Allan Kardec " (M. Rivail), (q.v.) Spiritism differed from spiritualism as expounded in Britain, America and elsewhere, chiefly in that it included among its "tenets the doctrine of reincarnation. Allan Kardec, who prior to his adoption of spiritualistic creeds, about 1862 had been an exponent of animal magnetism and phrenology, based his new teachings on spirit revelations received through clairvoyants, and so popular were these teachings that they rapidly spread over the Continent. In Britain, however, spiritism obtained but little hold, its only exponent being Miss Anna Blackwell, who endeavored without much success to establish the doctrine of reincarnation in that country. Spiritism and Spiritualism must not be confused, since the adherents of each section were opposed to the tenets of the other, and even in France, where Spiritism initially obtained the most footing, there was a distinct spiritualistic party who looked askance at the doctrine to one who seeks only the physical phenomena, and neglects the religious and philosophical aspect of spiritualism. 

Today Spiritism has found a new life in the country of Brazil, where it's tenets have flourished. 

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Spiritual path: A way of living that emphasizes the growth of conscious awareness, particularly relative to the expression of agape, or unconditional love. (See also "Agape.")

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Spiritualism: Spiritualism in its modern aspect has for its Basic principles the belief in the continuance of life after death, and the possibility of communication between the dead and the living, through the agency of a medium or psychic, a person qualified in some unknown manner to be the mouthpiece of supernatural beings. On this foundation has been raised the belief known as spiritualism, variously regarded as a religion or a philosophy. Besides the speaking (or writing, drawing, etc) indirectly through the agency of the medium, there are also physical manifestations, such as the materialisation of spirit forms, and " apports," (q.v.) the so-called " direct " writing, moving of inanimate objects without contact, and other phenomena of a like nature.  

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Spodomancy: Divination by means of the cinders from sacrificial fires. 

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Spontaneous Human Combustion:

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Spunkie, The: A goblin of the same nature as the Scottish " Kelpie." He is popularly believed to be an agent of Satan, and travelers who have lost their way are his especial prey. He attracts his unfortunate victim by means of a light, which looks as if it were a reflection on a window, and is apparently not far away; but as the man proceeds towards it, like the rainbow it recedes. However, he still follows its gleam, until the Spunkie has successfully lured him over a precipice or into a morass.

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Squinting: In ancient times it was considered an ill-omen. 

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Starseeds: People who started their reincarnational cycle as alien beings from another planet, star system, or galaxy. 

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Stigmata: are wounds that were, according to the Bible, inflicted on Jesus during his crucifixion. There have been many reports of other individuals who display similar wounds, the causes of which have been subject to considerable debate. Some contend that stigmata are miraculous, others argue they are hoaxes or can be explained medically.

There have been over 500 reported stigmatics who have displayed wounds similar to those supposedly inflicted upon Jesus. The first recorded case of these wounds was in the year 1222, by a man named Stephen Langton of England. Saint Francis of Assisi first suffered the wounds in La Verna, Italy, in 1224.

Other famous stigmatists include Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint John of God, and Saint Marie of the Incarnation. The most famous stigmatist of the twentieth century was Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968). Stigmata was more recently experienced by Brother Roque (1968-1996); a novice in the order of Los Hijos de Los Hijos de La Madre de Dios (roughly: The Sons of the Sons of the Mother of God) in Villavicencio, Colombia; and Canadian Lilian Bernas who began exhibiting stigmata in 1992.

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Stoicheomancy: A method of divination which is practiced by opening the works of Homer or Virgil, and reading as oracular statement the verse which presents itself. It is a branch of rhapsodomancy. 

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Stolisomancy: Divination from the manner in which a person dresses himself. Augustus believed that a military revolt was predicted on the morning of its occurence by the fact that his valet had buckled his right sandal to his left foot. 

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Stroking Stones and Images: It is related by Cotton Mather that an Irish-American witch produced pain and disease in others by merely wetting her finger with saliva, and stroking small images, or sometimes a long slender stone. 

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Sthula-Sharira: The Sanskrit name for the human physical body, in Occultism and Vedanta philosophy. 

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Succubus: A demon who takes the shape of a woman. It is mentioned in certain writings that Adam was visited during a hundred and thirty years by female demons, and had intercourse with demons, spirits, spectres, lemurs, and phantoms. In another story, under the reign of Roger, king of Sicily, a young man, bathing by the moonlight with several others, thought he saw someone drowning, and hastened to the rescue. Having drawn from the water a beautiful woman, he became enamored of her, married her, and had by her a child. Afterwards she disappeared mysteriously with her child, which made everyone believe that she was a succubus. Hector Boece, in his history of Scotland, relates that a very handsome young man was pursued by a female demon, who would pass through his closed door, and offer to marry him. He complained to his bishop, who enjoined him to fast, pray, and confess himself, when the infernal visitor ceased to trouble him. Delancre says that in Egypt, an honest marechal-ferrant being- occupied in forging during the night there appeared to him a demon under the shape of a beautiful woman. He threw a hot iron in the face of the demon, which at once took to flight. [Editor's note: Hardly surprising.] 

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Sufism:

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Suggestion: The sensitiveness to suggestion of the entranced subject is the characteristic and invariable accompaniment of the hypnotic state, and is also a distinctive feature of hysteria. Indeed, many modern scientists give to hypnotism the name " Suggestion." An abnormal suggestibility implies some measure of cerebral dissociation. (See Hypnotism.) In this state every suggestion advanced by the operator, whether conveyed by word, gesture, or even unconscious glance, operates with abnormal force in the brain of the subject, as being relieved from the counter-excitement of other ideas. The outbreaks of religious frenzy or ecstasy which swept Europe in the Middle Ages were examples of the results of mass-suggestion—i.e., suggestion made by a crowd, and much more potent than that made by an individual. Cases of so-called collective hallucination may be referred to the same cause. Suggestion is doubtless responsible to some extent for clairvoyant and mediumistic faculties, and on the whole enters largely into the study of psychic science.

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Summerland:

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Summons by the Dying: It was formerly maintained by the theologians that if anyone who was unjustly accused or persecuted should summon, with his dying breath, his oppressor to appear before the supreme tribunal, a miracle would take place, and the person thus summoned would die on the day fixed by his innocent victim.

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Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688-1772: One of the greatest mystics of all time, was born at Stockholm in Sweden am the agth January. His father was a professor of theology at Upsala, and afterwards Bishop of Scara, and in his time was charged with possessing heterodox opinions. Swedenborg completed his education at the university of Upsala in 1710, after which he visited England, Holland, France and Germany. Five years later he returned to h» native town, and devoted much time to the study of natural science and engineering, editing a paper entitled Daedalus hyperboreus which dealt chiefly with mechanical inventions. About 1716, Charles XII. appointed him to the Swedish Board of Mines. He appears at this time to have had many activities. He published various mathematical and mechanical works, and even took part in the siege of Friederickshall in an engineering capacity. Originally known as Swedberg, he was elevated to the-rank of the nobility by Queen Ulrica and changed his name to Swedenborg. Sitting in the House of Nobles, his political utterances had great weight, but his tendencies were distinctly democratic. He busied himself privately in scientific gropings for the explanation of the universe, and published at least two works dealing with the origin of things which are of no great account, unless as foreshadowing many scientific facts and ventures of the future. Thus his theories regarding light, cosmic atoms, geology and physics, were distinctly in advance of his time, and had they been suitably disseminated could not but have influenced scientific Europe. He even sketched a flying-machine, and felt confident that although it was unsuitable to aerial navigation, if men of science applied themselves to the problem, it would speedily be solved.  

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Switzerland (Occultism in): (For ancient matter see Teutons.)
Spiritualism.—Two cases of spiritual visitation occurred in the Swiss Cantons during last century, of so startling a nature, as to attract the eyes of ail Europe. The following brief summary of the Morzine epidemic is collated from the pages of the Cornhitt Magazine, two or three of the London daily journals, the Reveu Spirite, and Mr. William Howitt's magazine article entitled, "The Devils of Morzine." The period of the occurrence was about 1860; the scene, the parish of Morzine, a beautiful valley of the Savoy, not more than half a day's journey from the Lake of Geneva. The place is quite, remote, and had been seldom visited by tourists before the period named above. 

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Sybil: An oracle or prophetess; mysterious. 

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Sycomancy: Divination by the leaves of the fig tree. Questions or propositions on which one wished to be enlightened were written on the leaves. If the leaf dried quickly after the appeal to the diviner, it was an evil omen; but a good augury if the leaf dried slowly.

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Symbolism:

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Sympathetic Magic:

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Synchronicity:

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THANKS FOR VISITING!

The Metaphysical Encyclopedia

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