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| S |
|
| Sacred Alphabet |
Kabbalists believed that the written word of God was a direct result of His inspiration and as a consequence Scripture contained within itself the fundamental nature of His
being. By the same token they believed that since God is hidden, so too was there a hidden meaning beneath the divine words of Scripture
with the truth waiting to be discovered. See
The Sacred Alphabet. |
| Sagittarius |
 Sagittarius, the Archer, is a fire sign and the ninth
sign of the zodiac. Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter. |
| Sahasrara |
The seventh
chakra, the thousand-petalled spiritual energy centre at the crown of the head
(the cranial chamber of the soul body), where one experiences the highest states of consciousness.
|
| Salamanders |
In
Alchemical tradition, these are the elemental spirits of
Fire. |
| Samadhi |
In Buddhism, samadhi is traditionally developed by contemplating one of forty different objects, such as mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati) and loving kindness (metta). Upon development of samadhi, one's mind becomes purified of defilements, calm, tranquil, and luminous. Once the person meditating achieves a strong and powerful concentration, his mind is ready to penetrate and see into the ultimate nature of reality, eventually obtaining release from all suffering. |
| Samekh |
The fifteenth letter of the Sacred Alphabet. It literally means prop, has the phonetic value of S, and has a numerical value of 60. It is further attributed to the Zodiacal sign of Sagittarius and the Tarot Trump Temperance. |
| Sammasati |
A Buddhist term for ‘magical memory’ involving training the mind to ‘think backwards’ to discover the purpose of one’s life, or studying the present to determine what caused it to be as it was. In effect, becoming aware of one’s True Will. |
| Satan |
From the Hebrew word for adversary,
Satan is a fallen angel, demon, or minor god in many religions, playing various roles in the Koran, the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha and the New
Testament, a personification of the powers of evil. Alternative names for Satan include the Devil, Lucifer, Bilial, Beelzebub, the Prince of
Darkness and the Serpent. |
| Saturn |
 The second largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter,
and the sixth from the sun. It was named after the Roman god Saturn, the counterpart of Cronus in Greek mythology.
Astrologically, Saturn rules Capricorn. |
| Scarlet Woman (The) |
See Babalon. |
| Scorpio |
 Scorpio, the Scorpion, is a water sign and the eighth
sign of the zodiac. Scorpio is ruled by the 'planet' Pluto. |
| Sefer Yetzirah |
The speculative branch of
Kabbalah had its origins in Babylonia, but what really set it in motion was the Sefer
Yetzirah (Book of Creation). It was probably written in the third century AD, and develops the doctrine of the Sephiroth (the powers which
emanate from God through which the universe is created and its order sustained), supposedly delivered by Abraham, using the
primordial numbers of the later Pythagoreans in a system of numerical interpretation. |
| Sefer Zohar |
The Sefer Zohar consists of mystical commentaries and
homilies on the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). It was written by Moses de Leon (thirteenth century AD) but attributed by him to
Simon ben Yohai, the great scholar of the second century AD. See also
Torah. |
| Sephirah |
In the doctrine of the Kabbalah, a Sephirah, or sphere,
is a divine emanation of God. There are ten
Sephiroth (plural of Sephirah), each with its own unique
properties. Divine Energy travels through these ten Sephiroth, from Kether, the crown, to Malkuth, the kingdom, resulting
in the manifestation of the material plane. These emanations form the
Tree of Life, and symbolise the image of the body of God in
Adam Kadmon. |
| Sephiroth |
Plural form of Sephirah. |
| Set / Seth |
Set is an ancient god,
originally the god of the desert, and was associated with sandstorms, and caravans. Due to the developments in the Egyptian language over the 3,000
years during which Set was worshiped, by the time of the Greek period, the t in Set was pronounced so indistinguishably from th that the Greeks
spelled it as Seth. Set/Seth is the Egyptian god of chaos, evil, drought,
thunder and storm, and destruction, embodying the principle of hostility, even outright evil. Seth tore himself from his mother's womb in
his hurry to be born, and is associated with the murder of his brother, Osiris. |
| Shekhinah |
Shekhinah, being a feminine word in Hebrew, is held by
many (particularly exponents of Lurianic Kabbalah)
to represent the feminine attributes of the presence of God, based especially on readings of the
Talmud. |
| Shem ha-meforash |
The 72-fold Name of God derived from the Biblical verses Exodus 14:19-21. 72 names of three letters each, totalling 216 letters. These 72 names are attributed to the 72 quinances, or phase of five degrees, of the Zodiac. The names of the 72 Shem Angels are formed by adding either the suffix of "el" or "yah" to each of these names of God. See also
Tetragrammaton.
|
| Shin |
 The twenty-first letter of the Sacred Alphabet. It literally means tooth, has the phonetic value of Sh or S, and has a numerical value of 300. It is further attributed to the Element of Fire and the Tarot Trump Judgement. |
| Siddhi |
A Sanskrit word meaning ‘perfection’, ‘accomplishment’, ‘attainment’ or ‘success’. It is an extraordinary human power or psychic ability, often arising spontaneously as higher stages of consciousness are reached. |
| Stèle of Revealing |
The Stèle of Revealing (sometimes called Stèle 666) refers to an ancient Egyptian funerary artifact of
Ankh-af-na-khonsu, which played a key role in the creation of the philosophy and religion known as Thelema. The stèle came from Thebes, around the time of the XXVI Dynasty. According to Crowley, his wife Rose had already reported a revelation from the god Horus, through his messenger Aiwass. Crowley took her to the Boulaq Museum in Cairo, Egypt to see if Rose could recognise Horus, which she did as an image on a painted stèle which bore the catalogue number 666. After receiving the Book of the Law, Crowley arranged for a copy of the stèle to be made, which accompanied him wherever he went. |
| Summum Bonum |
This term originates from the Latin of the
Alchemists and relates to the completion of the alchemical process.
Its meaning is highest good in which all moral
values are included or from which they are derived. God is the first cause of everything, and the final goal, thus the end for which all things
were created is the glory of God. See also
Great Work.
|
| Sun |
 A sun is a star at the centre of a solar system. Our sun is usually referred to as the 'Sun', but occasionally referred to as 'Sol' to distinguish it from others. Earth orbits the Sun, as do countless other bodies including other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and dust. Astrologically, the Sun rules
Leo. |
| Supernal |
A term used to describe that which is celestial or heavenly. It refers to the three sephiroth highest on the Tree of Life or in Atziluth, and is often referred to as the Supernal Triad. |
| Sword |
 A magical weapon is any instrument used to bring about
intentional change. In practice, magical weapons are usually specific, consecrated items used within ceremonial ritual. There is no
hard and fast rule for what constitutes or does not constitute a magical weapon. If a magician considers it to be a weapon, then a weapon
it is. However, there does exist a set of magical weapons with particular uses and symbolic meanings. Some such common
weapons/tools include the sword/dagger, wand/baton, cup/chalice, pentacle/disk, holy oil, lamp and bell. See
Magical Weapons. |
| Sylphs |
In
Alchemical tradition, these are the elemental spirits of
Air. |
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