SUFIS –The term Sufi is used to describe a wide-range of Muslim mystics –although some hold that Sufism is pre-Muslim or extra-Muslim, a subject of some controversy in the Islamic world both currently and historically. While all Muslims believe that they will be close to Deity in the afterworld paradise, Sufis seek to have union with Deity during this life. The Sufi seeks this unity with Deity through surrender to the Divine and transcendence of ego and worldly attachments. The famous “Whirling Dervishes” who practice ritual dance to induce ecstatic trance, are a kind of Sufi. The term Sufi comes from “Suf”, the undyed wool used for penitential garments. Sufism is also called Tasawwuf. Other terms for Sufis include Dervish and Fakir, both of which terms denote an abstention from worldly goods.
MANDALA –A Mandala is a symbol which, when focused upon in meditation, helps one to achieve trance or serves to open the consciousness to particular information. A Mandala can be energetically encoded with information which will be opened when the symbol is concentrated upon. A Mandala can also be used as a Key to particular energy. Such symbols can be used in many ways –the healing symbols used in Reiki are an example of this practice.
SCARAB BEETLE –The Scarabaeus Sacer, or Dung Beetle, is the sacred Scarab of ancient Egypt. The Egyptian name for the Scarab Beetle is “Kheper” which means “To Become”. The Scarab was the symbol of the God Khepera, Who was the God of creation, manifestation, and transformation. Khepera was also associated with the dawn, and the idea of transformation from darkness to light. The Scarab Beetle lays its eggs in a ball of dung, which nourishes the young Beetles after they are born. The Scarab creates this ball of dung by rolling. It is often said that the Scarab was considered sacred because the Egyptians likened this dung ball rolling to a great Beetle rolling the Sun across the sky. And while this may be true, the greater reason the Egyptians considered the Scarab sacred was because they did not grasp that the ball contained eggs –they thought that the young Scarabs were spontaneously generated from the ball of dung, “Self Begotten”. It is this quality, the ability to create oneself, that the Egyptians saw in Khepera, and that s why the Scarab is so sacred.
KHEPERA –Khepera is the ancient Egyptian God of creation and manifestation. Khepera was considered to have created Himself from nothingness, and to create all things by His will. Khepera was associated with the rising Sun and with the dawn –when light comes from darkness. He was also associated with the afterlife when the Soul experiences a second dawn, so to speak. Kheper was represented by the Scarab Beetle (Scarabaeus Sacer), which is among the most sacred of all Egyptian symbols. One reason for this is the idea that physical form is like a Scarabs carapace –a hard physical exterior created from the inside out by a more fluid spiritual interior.
EXOSKELETON –The Exoskeleton is the hard outer structure of creatures such as insects and crustaceans. This rigid exterior structure supports and protects the soft inside of the creature which produces it. The Exoskeleton is built up from the inside by layers. Some creatures which have Exoskeletons have to shed their old Exoskeleton periodically in order to grow larger.
EMMANUEL SWEDENBORG –Baron Emmanuel Swedenborg was a distinguished Swedish civil servant, scientist, and philosopher, whose works advanced many fields. Born in Stockholm in 1288 Pisces (1688 AD), Swedenborg was the son of prominent Clergyman Jesper Swedenborg who later became the Bishop of Skara. Swedenborg’s distinguished civil career included over fifty years in the House of Nobles of the Swedish Riksdag. His scientific researches were wide ranging and included significant advances in metallurgy and biology –Swedenborg’s research on the brain and the nervous system produced the first accurate understanding of the role of the cerebral cortex. A prolific writer, Swedenborg wrote scores of books on many subjects including anatomy, astronomy, chemistry, geology, mathematics, and physics, as well as spirituality. In 1345 Pisces (1745 AD) Baron Swedenborg had a vision in which he claimed Deity called him to bring a new revelation to the world –after that time his writings were primarily spiritual, and focused on the nature of the Soul in the world. Swedenborg’s many books on spirituality did a great deal to reinterpret Christian doctrines in a rational, Theistic way. Although he tried to keep his authorship of these spiritual works anonymous, he was unable to do so and was plunged into controversy by them. Swedenborg was also a clairvoyant and spoke to the spirits. His most famous client in this regard was Queen Lovisa Ulrika, who asked him to contact her dead brother William Augustus, and pronounced herself convinced by the results. In 1369 Pisces (1769 AD) the then eighty year old Baron Swedenborg was charged with heresy, a charge which might have claimed his life a century earlier but in the tolerant Age of Enlightenment caused him little problem. Swedenborg is said to have predicted the exact date of his death, 29 March 1372 Pisces (1772 AD). Although he wrote many books on spirituality Baron Swedenborg did not found any spiritual movements during his life –however groups based upon his ideas began almost immediately after his death.
MAGIC SQUARE –A Magic Square is a pattern of numbers arranged in a square with an equal quantity of numbers going across, up and down, and on the main diagonals. These numbers are arranged in such a way that when the numbers in each row are added up they produce the same sum whether added vertically, horizontally, of diagonally. Popular today in mathematics, the Magic Square has a long history as a magical amulet. As an amulet it is usually made with the 9 principle numbers of Pythagorean numerology, laid out in one of several specific patterns which fit the criteria. Interestingly the number these add up to is 15 –the number sacred to the Goddess Ishtar in ancient Mesopotamia numerology. 15 in turn reduces to 6, the Pythagorean number of Venus.