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Occult & Historical Encyclopedia
The encyclopedia of Alchemy Gothic
Agla: Quabbalistic term, and talismanic symbol, (a cross crosslet over a circle), derived from the Hebrew Atha gibor leolam Adonai ~ 'Thou art mighty forever, O Lord'. Said to invoke good luck and bring great wealth.
Alfred: The Saxon king, Alfred the Great of Wessex, reined from 871 aged 23, fighting off relentless Viking invasions until finally capturing London in 886 and becoming King of all England. Revered as both a warrior and a wise scholar, he ruled until his death in 899. Noted for his revival of schools and monasteries, he was fluent in Latin, Old English and Saxon Futhark Runic, and wrote and translated many great works by his own hand.
Amzer: The First Prophet, from earliest Sumerian canons and the Apocryphal writings. The illegitimate and only male offspring of Adam and his first spouse Lilith, outcast by both and adopted by Yhaweh, The Creator, (later to be known as God). Anointed Amzer, (a precursor of 'Mamzer', Hebrew for bastard), and appointed the covert messiah, he was then charged for eternity with The Mission.
Ankh: Ancient Egyptian symbol for life and immortality (or afterlife), and the key of wisdom and secret knowledge. The ankh's form represents the sun over the horizon, with the Nile flowing out below, or alternatively, the combined fertility symbols of the female over the male genitals.
Arachnid: A type of arthropod of the class Arachnida, including spiders, possessing only two main body regions and having eight legs.
Araneum: (Latin); Spider's web.
Bathory, Countess Elizabeth: (1560-1614). Noblewoman and 'vampire' from the powerful Hungarian Bathory family of Castle Csejthe. Known as the 'Bloody Countess', from her obsession with blood and its occult powers, and her infamous and horrific multiple murders. Over a period of years, hundreds of young girls were taken into service and forced into orgies, then manacled by her henchmen and sadistically bled to death. Bathory drank, showered and bathed in their fresh blood, believing it to prolong her own vain life indefinitely. When she was finally arrested, tried and found guilty, she was spared execution due to her noble status. However, she was interred in her own bedroom, where she survived death for four years behind her bricked-up door.
Byzantine: Of Byzantium or the Eastern Roman Empire. The highly decorated style of art and architecture developed in the Eastern or Greek Empire during the period AD330 to 1453, from which much of the European gothic style derived.
'Caput Mortem': (Latin); 'Deaths head'.
Cartouche: An oval shaped frame containing Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Celtic: Of a group of western European peoples emerging about 500 BC, probably from the Rhine region of Europe, and including the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain and Gaul and their descendants, esp. in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man. Known especially for their distinctive art styles, including spirals, key patterns, knot work forms and animal patterns. Originally pagan and spiritually led by the powerful Druids, the Celts began to be converted to Christianity by around the 1st Century AD. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, they broke away from the Roman Church to form their native Celtic Church.
Chi-rho: (Greek); An acronym, also a monogram of chi (K) and rho (R) as the first two letters of Khristos (Christ), widely used in Christian symbolism and iconography in ancient times.
'Deus et Natura': (Latin); Deus et Natura no faciunt frustra ~ 'God and Nature do not work together in vain'.
Fleury: a heraldic term meaning decorated with fleurs-de-lis. (Middle English from Old French flo(u)ré)
Grim Reaper: from medieval European folklore, the generic name given to the personification of death, the arbitrary collector of mortal lives. Also known as 'Death' and the 'Grim Sage', and often confused with 'Old Father Time'. The 'Reaper' is generally depicted as a priest-robed skeletal being, carrying a scythe, needed for his eternal work of the harvesting of souls. The word grim, meaning severe, cruel, harsh is Old English, derived from ancient Germanic.
Hex: A magic spell; a curse; a charm; magic sign; an enchantment; something which affects luck; a witch; a wizard; to bewitch; cast a spell on.
Induction Principle, the: Advanced scientific technique for cognitive transfer, first developed in the mid C.18th, by harnessing astrological powers and natural forces to transfer life and intelligence to the torpor of the deceased. Attributed to Dr von Rosenstein of Vienna, tutor to Frankenstein, who abused his privileged knowledge and in attempting to reanimate a corpse, created an unholy monster, thus bringing von Rosenstein's name into disrepute and permanently rendering all such research an anathema.
Mission The: The theosophic mission charged to Amzer, after the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, to assist in the triumph of the power of good over that of evil, and to establish and protect a divine lineage of sacred and just leaders, who would one day, save the souls of all mankind, and lead humanity to a life of tolerance, fairness, peace and respect.
Mourning: The act of expressing grief; the dress or other tokens of mourning; the period during which one is mourning a death.
Necromancer: (Middle English via Old French nigromancie from medieval Latin nigromantia, changed from Late Latin 'necromantia', from Greek 'nekromanteia' (as necro-, -mancy), meaning 'black' and 'divination by'): a sorcerer: a practitioner of witchcraft involving the reanimation of the dead: a magician who can predict the future by communication with the dead.
Noir: (French); Black, dark.
Ossa: From the Latin, 'Os' and 'Ossis'; bone, the very soul. Also, the name of the mountain in Thessaly, Greece, or Roman Macedonia, where the Viking Varangian Guards believed their god to live.
Ossa Ravenhead: Viking cult warrior god of wisdom and strength. Adopted as the principle guiding spirit by many elite Scandinavian explorers and warriors, including the famous Varangians, pioneers of Byzantium and Russia.
Pauper's Grave: In former times, peasants and poor common people would consider themselves very lucky to be able to be buried in a rude wooden casket, as most would go straight into the dust or mud of a shallow grave.
Pentagram (also pentacle and pentangle): One of the oldest and most powerful images in religious, occult and hermetic symbology. The five-pointed star, an outstretched figure of a man, represents the microcosm, mankind as the universe in miniature. Its unbroken, continuous configuration, represents perfection, and is capable of binding evil powers. The fife points also represent the alchemical elements of fire, water, earth, air and spirit, and in Christianity, they stand for the fife wounds of Christ. Pointing upwards the pentagram invokes the forces of Heaven, but inverted, it can depict the Devil's Goat, and a soul resigned to the underworld.
Plantagenet: The English royal house from 1154-1399, beginning with Henry II and ending with the abdication of Richard II. The family then became bitterly divided and branched into the houses of Lancaster and York, culminating in the Wars of the Roses, and the death of Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in 1485. The Plantagenets sponsored the development of the great English gothic architectural tradition.
Pugin: Augustus.W.N 1812-1852; English scholar, architect and designer, largely responsible for the Gothic Revival of the Victorian era. Pugin, together with Charles Barry, built the Neo-Gothic Houses of Parliament at Westminster, between 1840-60.
Reliquary: A specially made receptacle, from a ring or pendant, to a chest or a display case, to protect or display a holy relic.
Sacratum: (Latin); a hallowed or sacrosanct thing.
Scarab: A beetle revered in ancient Egypt as sacred, under the name Kephri, and a symbol of self-generation and new life.
Seven Angels: According to the revered medieval magical work, The Arbatel of Magic, the heavens were divided into provinces that were ruled by seven planetary angels. Each angel possessed a magical seal, which alchemists and magicians used extensively in the making of amulets and spells. The angels each had attributed to them, power over the planet, day of the week and metal, corresponding to their planet.
Soligram: from Latin solus (solo), and Greek gramma (that that is written or drawn), as in a solitary magical pentagram.
'Tempus Mori': (Latin); 'Time for death'.
Theosophic Mission: A righteous objective, inspired or directed by The Creator, usually charged to one imbued with divine wisdom and a special gift for abnormal control over natural forces. Principally, the original 'Theosophic Mission', commonly known as 'The Mission', was that given by God to Amzer on his anointment.
Threepenny Hex: A 'threepenny bit' or 'threepence', was until 1971 when Britain adopted the decimal currency system, a distinctive small chunky eight sided brass coloured coin, worth three old pennies. (see also 'Hex').
Theurgy: A beneficial magical science practiced by the early Egyptian Neoplatonists. A system of white magic, or a supernatural or divine agency of good spirits, especially in human affairs.
von Rosenstein, Dr Felix Maximilion: C.1710-1790. Mysterious, reclusive Viennese pioneer in advanced scientific techniques, including the unprecedented Induction Principle. Known by his advocates as the 'Father of the Art of Science'.
Wyverex: Winged, legless dragon of immense power and ferocity, from medieval European lore. Feared by evildoers as a righteous and relentless defender of good. Believed in the medieval period by many alchemists to be their patron guardian, arbiter and Recording Angel.
Yhaweh: Earliest post-Jewish Mesopotamian form of Jehovah, later to become known as God. Originally spelt in Hebrew form without vowels; 'YHWH', the name was sacred, and was not to be spoken. Yhaweh also evolved in Gnostic lore, to become Abraxas, the 'supreme being', which was eventually corrupted and became known as a demonic creature.
*Bibliography Notes: Licensed for RavenBlackwood.com's use by Alchemy Gothic of England, December 13, 2005. Information available online: http://alchemygothic.com/alchemygothic_alchepaedia.html
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