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New Age Dictionary
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- Sabbat
- One of the eight celebrations
of Paganism and Wicca.
The witches' Sabbat was supposed to
be a weekly quarter moon) midnight convention of
witches. . The central feature of the Sabbat was
always the lighting of the fire and a feast.
See wicca.
- Sabbatarianism:
- Generally the view that the Old Testament Sabbath
commandment is to be observed unchanged by the church.
Sabbatarianism refers to an extreme form of the belief in
which membership in the true church, or even salvation, is
conditional upon keeping the Sabbath law. In most cases, the
Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) must be observed by refraining
from work, sports, and travel from sundown Friday evening to
sundown Saturday evening. The belief is often
accompanied by the observance of Jewish dietary laws and/or
other Old Testament feasts.
- Sabbath::
- The Jewish day of rest. Curently celebrated from
sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.
- Sabellianism:
- lternative name for Modalism.
- Sacerdotalism:
- The
teaching that ordination imparts special abilities/powers
necessary for the operation of the ministry. Also, the
teaching that grace is administered through the one so
ordained. A doctrine of the Roman Catholic and Mormon
religions.
- Sacrament:
- A
sacred ritual, esp. Communion. Also the communion
elements.
- Sacred Name movement:
- This is a modern movement that claims that God must be
addressed by a form of the Divine Name in the Old Testament
(Yahweh, Jehovah, Yah, Yahvah, or some other preferred
form). Whichever one true name is chosen, all other
terms or names for God are considered incorrect or
references to false deities. Salvation, it is believed,
depends on referring to God by his correct name. Most Sacred
Name groups also teach Sabbatarianism
and observe Old Testament dietary laws and feasts.
- Sadducee:
- A member of one of the Jewish sects that
existed during the first century AD. Named
after Zadok, a disciple of Antigonus of
Socho who received the Law from Simon the
Just. Their membership was primarily among
the aristocratic class. They believed
in following the Law as it was written in
the Torah and gave no consideration to any
of the traditions that had arisen
since. They did not believe in life
after death.
- Sadesati:
- Saturn's transit of the lunar
12th ,1st, and 2nd houses. It lasts about 7 1/2 years and is
regarded as problematic for the Native by some Jyotishi. If
the sarvaashhTakavarga of the signs in 12th, 1st and 2nd
from the Moon have more than 30 points this relieves a lot
of the above malefic side-effects. One should also judge the
whole chart and see whether there is real malevolence to
this transit
- Sadhu:
- A fakir.
- Sahansha:
- In Vedic astrology, special
positions or points signifying important events in life.
They are somewhat similar to Arabic parts
- Sahasrara: (Sanskrit)
- The thousand-petalled lotus,
the crown chakra.
- Saint Germain:
- See Ascended Masters,
Germain,
St.,I AM Movement.
- Salamander:
- An elemental who dwells in
fire.
- Salvation:
- The
Christian doctrine of deliverance from sin. The basic
Christian doctrine is that Jesus died on the cross and paid
the price of our sins, so that we are all saved from the
spiritual consequences of our sins when we accept Jesus as
our personal savior. Some teach we need only accept Jesus as
our savior, others that we must keep his commandments..
- Salvation by Grace:
- The doctrine that eternal life is not gained by or
conditioned on works but is an undeserved and free gift from
God received through faith in Jesus as
the Lord and Savior who died for our sins and rose from the
dead. Contrasted with salvation by works
- Salvation by Works:
- The doctrine that eternal life is merited, earned,
conditioned, or maintained through human effort, religious
ritual, financial donations, obedience to laws/commandments,
church membership, and/or moral behavior.
- Samadhi:
- The state of mental dicipline
in which the aspirant is one with the object of his
meditation
- Samavriti: (Sanskrit)
- Pranayama
with equally long inhalation, exhalation, and suspension
- Samhain:
- Sabbat held on the eve of
November 1st, also called Halloween and celebrated by most
people (religiously or not) on October 31. Pronounced
Sow -wen
- Samsara: (Buddhist)
- The opposite of Nirvana. It is the world
we live in now - the world of
illusion, .passion; attachment to people and
things; multiplicity and
differentiation.
- Samskars:
(Sanskrit:
activator)
- 1) Habitual movement of the mind.
Every action lays down a deposit in
the mind, which conditions the mind
and leads on to a new activity, thus
keeping the doer enmeshed in the world
of change.
2) The imprints left on the
subconscious mind by experience (from
this or previous lives), which then
color all of life, one's nature,
responses, states of mind, etc. 3)
Mental programs 4) Ebbbngrams
- Sankirtana:
- Religious chant or mantra repeated
over and over to draw practitioners into an ever closer
state of God-consciousness.
- Sankhya:
- One of the schools (systems)
of Indian philosophy
- Sannyasi: (Sanskrit)
- A disciple, one who has
renounced the world
- Santeria:
- Literally “worship of the saints,” a syncretism of
traditional African religion with Roman
Catholicism created when African slaves were introduced
to the Caribbeanand forced to accept Chrisitanity.. Elements
include animal sacrifice. Akin to voodoo.
- Sanctification:
- To
sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use. According
to Christian doctrine, sanctification follows justification.
In justification our sins are completely forgiven in Jesus.
Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit makes
us more like Jesus in all that we do, think, and desire.
- Sanyama:
- In Hinduism, when dharana,
dhyana and samadhi are taken together
- Sarasvati:
- The Hindu goddess of speech
and learning
- Sasquatch: (Amer. Indian, bigfoot)
- The term Sasquatch (bigfoot) refers to a large (usually 8'
to 10' tall), hairy homonid being sighted in North America
over the last 300 years. Several thousand have been
documented by researchers, including law enforcement
and military personnel. See Yeti.
- Satan:
- Originally any angel of God sent as an adversary (Satan
means adversary in Hebrew) On at least one occasion in
the Old Testament Satan is a specific angel acting as God's
agent to discover and punish sin. Modern Christian
mythology teaches that Satan was a high ranking angel named
Lucifer who wanted to be exalted to the position of God.
Through this sin, Lucifer fell and became Satan, the Devil,
leading a large number of rebellious angels with him who
became the demons. The Jesus cult
teaches that Satan and his host now seek to destroy the plan
of God.
- Satanic Bible:
- Scripture of the Church
of Satan written by Anton LaVey.
- Satanism:
- Any of several perverse Christian religions in which Satan
is worshipped with occult rituals
sometimes including animal or human sacrifice. Some
Satanists do not actually believe in a literal Devil but
unashamedly worship greed, lust and self. The Church
of Satan is probably the best-known Satanic group
- Satori:
- The direct experience of realizing the
nature of Mind, the ego's obliteration, the
experience of our living, sacred Self.
Satori demonstrates beyond all doubt that we
and God are one in the same. Until we
experience Satori we merely believe that
there is the divine within us
- Satsang:
- A
meeting of devotees for the purpose of chanting, meditation
and the study of relevant scriptures. The fundamental
Guru/Disciple relationship.
- Scapulomancy:
- Also known as
Spatulamancy, it is a
form of augury
or divination
by examining the patterns or cracks and fissures on
the burned (after being roasted over an open fire)
shoulder-blade (scapula) bones of an animal. It was
widely practiced in ancient Babylon.
- Scatomancy:
- A form
of divination
by the examination of egested food (feces, excrement).
See Spatalamancy.
- Scholasticism:
- The
method of study in the Middle Ages which was used to support
the doctrines of the church through reason and logic.
- Sciamancy or Sciomancy:
- A form of divination by shadows
or by communicating with the ghosts of the dead.
- Science:
- Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:
- Principal scripture of Christian
Science.
- Science of Man:
- An esoteric and mystical order reviving the doctrines of
the now defunct Holy Order of
MANS. Founded by Mother Ruth in Portland, OR:
- Science of Mind:
- Textbook of Religious Science,
written by its founder, Ernest Holmes.
- Scientology:
- See Church of Scientology.
- Scribe:
- In
the
New
Testament,
one
who
was
conversant
with
the
Law
of
Moses,
and
its
many
interpretations
and
rulings..
Usually
a
librarian
or
scholar
- Scriptures:
- The
religious writings of any people that they regard as sacred
and authoritative.
- Scrying:
- A
method
of
divination
using
a
crystal
ball,
shiny
stone,
dark
mirror,,
bowl
of
water
or
other
reflective
object
or
surface
until
psychic
visions
appear.
The
art
dates
back
to
ancient
Egypt
and
Mesopotamia,
and
practitioners
aim
to
answer
questions,
solve
problems,
find
lost
objects
or
people,
and
help
solve
crimes.
The
tool
of
scryers
is
called
a
speculum,
which
can
be
any
object,
but
is
usually
one
with
reflective
surface.
The
French
physician
and
astrologer
Nostrodamus
used
a
brass
bowl
of
water
on
a
tripod.
Dr.
John
Dee,
astrologer
to
Queen
Elizabeth
I,
used
a
crystal
egg
and
black
obsidian
mirror.
The
stereotypical
speculum
is
the
crystal
ball
as
popularized
by
gypsy
fortune-tellers.
- Seals:
- Talismanic devices used in magick.
- Seance:
- A gathering of people seeking
communication with deceased loved ones or famous historical
figures through a medium. Also
gathering
for
the
purpose
of
investigating
or
experiencing
supernormal
phenomena.
In
the
past
they
were
sometimes
called
"circles",
because
participants,
called
'sitters',
sat
around
a
table
(or
on
chairs
arranged
in
a
circle)
in
order
to
link
hands,
in
the
belief
that
this
boosted
the
psychic
forces
which
encourage
paranormal
manifestations.
Generally
seances
involve
a
medium
who
enters
a
tance-like
state
and
contacts
a
'spirit
friend'
or
'spirit
helper'.
The
spirit
then
communicates
with
the
gathering
through
the
medium
or
shannel,
either
mentally,
or
directly
using
the
medium's
vocal
chords.
In
the
19th
century,
seances
were
dominated
by
physical
manifestations,
such
as
rappings,
strange
smells,
levitation,
and
materialization,
many
episodes
of
which
were
eventually
exposed
as
fraudulent.
Because
of
these
fraudulent
associations,
the
term
'seance'
has
fallen
into
disuse.
- Second Coming:
- Those who worship Jesus use
this term to describe the physical return of Jesus to the
Earth in conjuction with the destruction of the world of the
wicked. New Agers use this term to describe
"parousia" - a New Testament word which describes
Christ Conscousness. Others associate it specifically with
the appearance of Maitreya as the avatar of the New Age.
- The Secret Doctrine:
- See Theosophy
- Secularism:
- 1) worldly views esp., a system of
belief and practices that rejects any form
of religious faith. 2) the belief that
religion should be strictly separated from
the state or government esp., from
education."
- Self-Realization:
- Total consciousness or
realizaton of the true self, or Higher Self, and that the
body is only an expression of that reality..
- Self-Realization Fellowship:
- A Hindu religion brought to the US by Paramahansa
Yogananda Headquartered in Los Angeles CA.
- Sensitive:
- A person who frequently
demonstrates extrasensory gifts such as clairvoyance,
telepathy, or precognition.
- Septuagint,
The:
- The
Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament.
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. It was
during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.) that
the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, were
translated into Greek. Shortly afterwards the rest of the
Old Testament was also translated. This translation was done
by approximately 70 translators- which is Greek is
Septuagent. This translation slanted Genesis from a
scientific, historical treatise to a mythological text. .
- Serpent Seed:
- Doctrine that alleges Eve’s sin in the Garden of
Eden was sexual. Eve had intercourse with the Serpent and
begot Cain, whose father is really Satan not Adam. Cain’s
descendants were supposedly somehow perpetuated after the
flood (usually through Noah’s son Ham). Diverse groups
teach variations of this doctrine. Cain’s descendants are:
Jews according to the Christian Identity
Movement, Communists/Atheists according to the Unification
Church, Whites according to the Nation
of Yahweh, the lost according to William
Branham, etc.
- Seth:
- Spirit entity channeled by
Jane Roberts.
- Seven
Rays:
- According
to the writings of Helena P Blavatsky and
Alice A Bailey, an ancient tradition in
which seven rays or energies, are the
fundamental divine energies behind life in
the universe. The original divine
qualities of the Absolute. Each individual
human soul is an essential part of one of
the Seven Rays, and through a succession of
lifetimes the qualities of that Ray are
developed and refined, to further the
evolution of humanity. These
rays function as a sevenfold division of
many physical realities, including the
colors of the spectrum, the notes of a
musical octave, and the natural cycle of
birth and death. The initialization of every
process is governed by the First Ray, and
its completion by the Seventh Ray, and the
other Rays govern the various stages of
growth and decay between these two extremes.
(see
Seven
Rays)
- Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA):
- The largest Adventist church.
Founded in 1845 by Ellen G. White, who claimed to have
“the spirit of prophecy,” was an important early leader
of the movement and taught a number of distinctive SDA
doctrines, including the Investigative
Judgment and Sabbatarianism.
While the church’s official theology now appears to be
generally in the tradition of evangelical
Christianity, but they still cling to the belief that
Sunday worship will result in the “Mark of the
Beast,”and the “Remnant Church” doctrine that
implies that the SDA is or will be God’s only true church,
and the doctrine of the Investigative
Judgment..
- Sex:
- The biological differences between
male and female. The social and
psychological systems related to or
derived from this difference.
- Shade:
- The spirit of a deceased
being.
- Shakers:
- Shakers The Shakers, a perfectionist utopian movement, originated in Manchester, England, after Ann Lee, a member of the Shaking Quakers, had a visionary experience. She claimed to have seen Adam and Eve in sexual intercourse, after which Jesus enjoined her to teach others that lust was the source of sin. Her ideas about lust and corruption were intensified by the death of her four children. Thereafter, she suffered a dread of sexual relations and formed a religious order based on celibacy.
In 1774 Ms. Lee moved her group to America. They settled first near Albany, New York, but after Lee's death in 1784, they moved to New Lebanon, New York. By 1822 there were four thousand Shakers in more than a dozen communities.
In the 1780s leaders initiated a cooperative economic system and organized communes composed of extended "families." Shaker communities abolished private property, regulated all behavior, and imposed mandatory confessions. Organized around the concept of celibacy, Shaker communities kept men and women carefully segregated. Children were raised communally. Their religious services provided emotional release through trembling, speaking in tongues, and falling into trances-hence, the name Shakers.
Membership turnover was always high, but before 1830 many members stayed for decades. Often whole families joined. Shaker population reached its peak of about five to six thousand during the 1830s but then dropped dramatically. Shakers were renowned for their original styles of vocal music, crafts, and architecture. Adhering to the idea that form follows function, they created furniture designs that are highly prized for their simple lines and functionality. Shakers invented an impressive array of devices from the common clothespin and the flat broom to a revolving oven and a folding stereoscope. They pioneered the industry of herbal medicines and the selling of garden seeds in packets.
- Shakti:
- The consort of Shiva
- Shaktichalani:
- One of the mudras, involves
contracting the rectum
- Shakti-chalini: (Sanskrit)
- The nerve-power posture of
yoga
- Shaktitrayah:
(Sanskrit)
- The three powers of ichch,
kriya and gyana
- Shalabhasana: (Sanskrit)
- The locust posture in yoga
- Shaman:
(Siberian
Tungus
language)
- A medicine man/woman or witch
doctor. While a
medicine
man
will
tend
to
the
sick,
working
with
herbs,
barks
and
the
like,
the
shaman
works
more
on
the
psychological
level.
He
will
go
down
on
"a
journey"
for
the
benefit
of
the
one
who
is
ill;
he
will
direct
sacrifices,
he
will
seek
out
new
knowledge,
and
he
will
accompany
the
spirits
of
the
dead
on
their
journey
to
the
afterlife.
The
Eskimos,
Maoris,
Polynesians,
Mongolians
and
the
American
Indians
are
some
of
the
peoples
that
believe
in
the
abilities
of
shamans.
- Shamanic Therapy:
- Belief in psychic healing
techniques and mediumship skills as practiced by tribal
"medicine men" such as those among the Native
Americans and in various parts of the Orient; the practices
of mediumship and healing techniques of a Shamanic priest.
- Shamanism:
- The religion of many of the
ancient less-developed civilizations of the world.
Some societies today are shamanistic. Shamanism is
characterised by the ability of the Shaman to communicate
with the spirit world to provide healing, guidance or
wisdom.. The shaman’s soul is sometimes believed to
leave the body during a trance at which time the
shaman will speak with beings from the other worlds or
assume animal forms.
- Shambhala:
- 1)According to Theosophy, the physical headquarters of the
planetary government, situated in the Gobi Desert,
Mongolia.2) An utopia located in the Himalayas 3) the
Spiritual birthplace of civilization. See Shambhala,
Shangri-la,
Agartha
- Shambhu:
- A name of Shiva
- Shangri-La:
- A
mythical
country
allegedly
located
in
the
mountains
of
Tibet,
created
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