Alembic
(Alchemy) In alchemy, the top part of a still. Often used to refer to a complete still. An instrument used for distillation.
Archigenitor
(Gnostic) The “first begetter”. A Greek reference to Yaldabaoth.
Cenobite
(Ecclesiastic) A member of a religious order choosing to dwell within a convent, monastery or a community, as opposed to a hermit, who lives in solitude.
Evocation
(Magick, [...]
Earlier, I said that every single modern, western magician is responding, in one way or another, to Plato. We are all either Neoplatonists, or reacting against Neoplatonism. The strange thing is, in most of our daily lives, we are not Neoplatonists at all — in fact, in most other contemporary intellectual fields, Neoplatonism [...]
In my last column, I suggested that the western magical tradition can be seen as a response to Plato’s theory of Ideas. If we imagine that magic interacts with a world of more primary forms than our physical senses can detect, we are Neoplatonic. If we argue the opposite, that there is no [...]
Akashic Record
(Yoga, Theosophy) A term invented and popularized by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The idea is that the Akasha is a thought substance which can be imprinted by experience, making it possible to retrieve otherwise inaccessible information from the past, such as a person’s past life. This is remarkably close idea to the concept of Jung’s [...]
Tags: alchemy, columns, dictionary, experimental magick, gerald del campo, gnosticism, mythology, philosophy, qabalah, science, thelema, yule
I’m pleased to offer myself as a regular columnist on these august though entirely electronic pages. As those who have read my books or know me personally know, I’m an academic through and through, and so my conversations have a tendency to turn to lectures, and my dinner parties often become seminars. This column therefore [...]
The study of magic is, by and large, the study of paradigms. The Witch — by whatever title she or he may adopt — steps beyond the default worldview presupposed by the surrounding society, and instead cultivates a unique paradigm which resonates with her or his deepest intuitions. This line of inquiry constitutes an ever [...]
The teacher heaved himself from his stone seat. “Enough sitting. My knees are aching. Let’s walk and talk together,” he said to his few disciples. Other teachers had more — some as many as thirty students — but Aristotle took his pleasure in selecting the six or seven students who could [...]
June 5, 2009 by Gerald del Campo
Filed under alchemy, astrology, columns, divination, gerald del campo's dictionary, magick, mysticism, philosophy, qabalah, religion and spirituality, thelema
Air
(Alchemy) One of the Four Elements of alchemy believed to carry the archetypal properties of spirit into the visible world. It is linked to the process of Separation and corresponds to the metal Iron.
Cassock
(Ecclesiastic) A full-length gown with sleeves and collar worn priests, bishops and helpers.
Nephesh
(Qabalah) Hebrew The animal soul that corresponds to animal/ vegetable [...]
Tags: astrology, columns, dictionary, divination, gerald del campo, magick, midsummer, philosophy, qabalah, religion and spirituality, science, thelema
Ain Sof
(Qabalah) Hebrew “Without end.” A reference to God, who is everywhere and in all things. If Ain is the number 0, then Ain Sof is the number 1 and represents creation as it is about to manifest. Because Ain Sof represents a pre-existent state and is infinite, it can have no attributes. Ain Sof [...]
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