O
Occult:
Om mani padmi hum: Phrase in Tibetan Buddhism that means "Om the jewel of the lotus, hum".
Order of St. Benedict (OSB):
Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO):
Orisha: In African mythology, lesser deities who participated in the creation of the world.
Orthodox: conforming to established doctrine especially in religion
P
P2 Conspiracy:
Pagan:
Paganism:
Paijusana: Jain festival commensing eight days before the new year; a period of fasting and meditation.
Pantheism:
Parable: Short, meaningful story used as a teching device, popular by gurus like Jesus.
Parapsychology:
Parsi: aka Parsee; Name by which the Zoroastrians are known in India.
Passover: aka Pesach; Jewish holiday celebrated in the spring, commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyption slavery.
Pastor:
Penance: Sacrament in which the Christians confess sin and receives absolution, oftain through an act perfomed to show repentance for sin.
Pentagram:
Pentecost: Christian festival that comes 50 days after the Passover and celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
People's Temple: Founded by Jim Jones, most members, including Jim Jones, comitted mass murder and suicide at their compound in Guyana in 1979.
Peyote: Cactus plant that bears small button growths. These buttons contain mescaline, a hallucinogenic sometimes used in the religious rites of the Native American Church.
Platonism:
Pogrom:
Polytheism: The belief in more than one God.
Poltergeist:
Pope:
Pragmatism:
Praxis:
Prayer:
Presbyterianism:
Priest: 1) ordained person: an ordained minister, especially in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox churches, responsible for administering the sacraments, preaching, and ministering to the needs of the congregation. 2) minister of non-Christian religion: a spiritual leader or teacher of a non-Christian religion. 3) descendant of family of Aaron: somebody descended from theron: somebody descended from the family of Aaron of the tribe of Levi, appointed as priests in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Priory of Sion:
Prophet: One who speaks the works of the gods.
Protestant:
Protocols of the Elders of Zion:
Psionics:
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI):
Psychotronics: Electronics used to measure physiology, see Biofeedback.
Puranic: one of a class of Hindu sacred writings chiefly from A.D. 300 to A.D. 750 comprising popular myths and legends and other traditional lore.
Pure Land Buddhism: Version of Mahayana Buddhism popular in Japan; it teaches that it's devotees can achive a paradise, called "Pure Land from the West" after their deaths.
Purim: Jewish holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from destruction at the hands of the Pursians.
Purva Mimamsa: A Hindu philosophical system that taught the avoidance of rebirth by adhering to the laws of Vedic literature.
Q
Qabalah:
Quakers:
Quran: "reading"; Muslim scripture.
R
Rabbi:
Rajneesh Foundation International: Founded by Shree Rajneesh, born a Jain, created "Rajneeshism", a combination of major religions and humanistic psychology. In 1981 he purchased a 64,000 acre ranch near Antelope, Oregon called "Rajneeshouram". In 198 Antelope, Oregon called "Rajneeshouram". In 1982, they took control of the Antelope government. In 1985 he was arrested on charges of immigration fraud, fined $40,000 and was deported back to India where he died in 1990. The movement is still alive in some countries.
Rapture:
Realism:
Reformed Church:
Reiki:
Reincarnation:
Religious Society of Friends:
Reverend:
Rinzai:
Roman Catholicism:
Realism:
Runes:
S
Saami: See Shamanism
Sacrament:
Sacred Chao:
Sacrifice:
Sameel:
Samoyed: See Shamanism
Santeria:
Saxonôt: a deity of the ancient Continental Saxons.
Semite: a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs.
Semitic: Relating to, or constituting a subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic language family that includes Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Amharic or relating to the Semites.
Sephir Yetzirah:
Sexism:
Shaman:
Shamanism: shamanic tribes include those from Russia: Chukchi, Gilyak, Guarani, Hmong, Inuit, Klamath, Mongol, Saami, Samoyed, Yakut. Canada: Mexico: South America: United States:
Shambhalla:
ShaoliUnited States:
Shambhalla:
Shaolin:
Shiites: the only surviving major sectarian movement in Islam. They emerged out of a dispute over political succession to Muhammad, the Shiites claiming that rule over the community is a divine right of the Prophet's descendants through his daughter Fatima and her husband Ali. The Shiites believe in a series of 12 infallible leaders beginning with Imam Ali and are thus also known as the "Twelvers." The 12th and last imam disappeared in 880, and Shiites await his return, at which time the world will be filled with justice. Until that time even the best ruler is only half legitimate. The Shiites, in contrast to the orthodox Sunnites, emphasize esoteric knowledge rather than the consensus of the community.
Shin:
Shinto:
Shofar:
Sikhism:
Sirius:
Sisterhood of the Shields: A secret society of 44 shamanesses from various tribal cultures who are deicated to preserving their shamanic traditions.
Skepticism:
Soto:
Spinozist:
Star of David: Symbol of the Jewish faith.
Suchen
Sufi: The mystical movement called Sufism originated in the 8th century, when small circles of pious Muslims, reacting against the growing worldliness of the Islamic community, began to emphasize the inner life of the spirit and moral purification. During the 9th century Sufism developed into a mysticam developed into a mystical doctrine, with direct communion or even ecstatic union with God as its ideal. This aspiration to mystical union with God violated the orthodox Islamic commitment to monotheism, and in 922 al-Hallaj, who was accused of having asserted his identity with God, was executed in Baghdâd. Prominent Sufis subsequently attempted to achieve a synthesis between moderate Sufism and orthodoxy, and in the 11th century al-Ghazali largely succeeded in bringing Sufism within the orthodox framework. In the 12th century Sufism ceased to be the pursuit of an educated elite and developed into a complex popular movement. The Sufi emphasis on intuitive knowledge and the love of God increased the appeal of Islam to the masses and largely made possible its extension beyond the Middle East into Africa and East Asia. Sufi brotherhoods multiplied rapidly from the Atlantic to Indonesia; some spanned the entire Islamic world; others were regional or local. The tremendous success of these fraternities was due primarily to the abilities and humanitarianism of their founders and leaders, who not only ministered to the spiritual needs of their followers but also helped the poor of all faiths and frequently served as intermediaries between the people and the government.
Summit Lighthouse: Publishing arm of the Church Universal and Triumphant.
Swastika: The swastika as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune is widely distributed throughout the the ancient and modern world. The word is derived from the Sanskrit svastika, meaning "conducive to well-being." It was a favourite symbol on ancient Mesopotamian coinage. In Scandinavia the left-hand swastika was the sign for the god Thor's hammer. The swastika also appeared in early Christian and Byzantine art (where it became known as the gammadion cross, or crux gammata, because it could be constructed from four Greek gammas [ ] attached to a common base), and it occurred in South and Central America (among the Maya) and in North America (principally among the Navajo). In India the swastika continues to be the most widely used auspicious symbol of Hindus, Jainas, and Buddhists. Among the Jainas it is the emblem of their seventh Tirthankara (saint) and is also said to remind the worshiper by its four arms of the four possible places of rebirth--in the animal or plant world, in hell, on Earth, or in the spirit world. In Nazi Germany the swastika (German: Hakenkreuz), with its oblique arms turned clockwise, became the national symbol. In 1910 a poet and nationalist ideologist Guido von List had suggested the swastika as a symbol for all anti-Semitic organizations; and when the National Socialist Party was formed in 1919-20, it adopted it.
Syncretism: the combination of different forms of belief or practice
Synod:
Syriac Christians:
T
Taliesin:Founded iin:Founded in 1932 by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, based on Gurdjieff's teaching.
Talisman:
Talmud: the authoritative body of Jewish tradition comprising the Mishnah and Gemara.
Tannaim: early rabbinic masters of Judaism
Tantra: Hindu or Buddhist scriptures dealing especially with techniques and rituals including meditative and sexual practices.
Tarot:
Taoism:
Tarantella:
Tarot:
Tattwas: The tattwas or tattvas are primal energies that underlie the five elements of Hindu philosophy - Akasha or akasa (spirit), tejas (fire), apas (water), vayu (air) and prithivi (earth). The term tattwas means realities or states of being. The tattwa symbols are used to graphically represent the five elements, Earth, Air, Water, Fire and the fifth element of Spirit or Light.
Tefillin:
Thelema: Greek word which stands for "Will" .also refers to sexmagick
Theology:
Theravada: Conservative Buddhist sect, the characteristic physical structure is a complex of buildings called a wat.
Three Magi (the):
Transcendentalism:
Tree of Life:
U
Unification Church: Founded in 1954 by Reverend Sun Moon in North Korea. They own many companies in the US, most notably "The Washinton Times" daily newspaper.
Unitarian: one who believes that the deity exists only in one person.
Unitarian Universalist Association:
United Church of Canada:
Universalism: belief in the salvation of all souls.
V
Vajrayana:
Vedic:
Voodoo:
W
Wailing Wall: aka Western Wall
Western Wall: aka Wailing Wall
Wicca:
Worldwide Ministries:
X
Xanadu:
Xenoglossy: the ability to speak in an unlearned foreign language.
Y
Yahweh:
Yakut: See Shamanism
Yesod:
Yezidi: middle eastern priests.
Yiddish:
Yin-Yang:
Yoga:
Yonkippur: