BODDHISATTVA — A saint who has forgone Nirvana and reincarnates in order to help mankind.
BOMOS FOETUS IN FOETIBUS, AD INFINITUM — “God is bringing forth out of infinite bringings forth.”
BÖN or BÖNPA —The aboriginal magicians of Tibet, prior to Buddhism, at first much opposed to the Lamas, but eventually joining them in their adoption of Tantric Buddhism. Like all major movements, Bsm. did not become popular until it learned how to take in and alter local beliefs. “Dhyana” (meditation) was used in Tibet before passing to Japan as “Zen,” though one can’t be sure whether it’s a non-stop link from Tibet to Japan. If it is, then why not Obon/Bon equivalence, as well? Bon was (is) very back-woodsy and little is known about it. Christmas Humphreys says it has roots in Asiatic (Mongol) Shamanism: nature worship, sex magic and psychic arts. Modern Bon are called “black hats” and are sorcerors of the Dug-pa sects of Bhutan and Ladak.
BONEWITZ, PHILIP — First holder of B.A. degree in Magic from U.C., Berkeley, 1970. His goal is to “modernize” and scientize M/magic(k) of all kinds.
BOOK OF THOTH — Crowley’s term for the Tarot. He didn’t necessarily, however, assume an Egyptian origin for the Tarot, as some believe. Thoth is interchangeable with Hermes and Tarot is part of the “Hermetic” tradition.
BRUNO, GIORDANO — A Dominican monk, absolute pantheist and an early promoter of unbridled sexual freedom. Best known for his work on the art of memory, which was essential for scholars in the 16th Century. Briefly, it consisted in using architecture, classical literature, religious ritual, etc as vast mnemonic devices. But Bruno’s heady and bizarre occult ideas soon outdistanced his practical appeal and had him defrocked and on the run. Bruno was burned at the stake in 1600. Aleister Crowley claimed that Bruno was one of his former incarnations.
BUDDHISM — Since we waste our youth suffering from boundless ignorance and unfulfilled desire and since age is mostly a time of physical hardship and blunted hopes, it seems clear that life, for all its promises, is more often a burden than a joy. Since, however, to die is to be instantly reborn into life, death is apparently an even more absolute cheat. Considering also, that all things have arisen in the Mind, in the midst of the Void, and since we are ourselves our own creators and gods (in a multiplicity of aspects and a simultaneous gallimaufry of forms), there is no escaping from the inevitability of either the existing or the potential cosmos. Indeed, it is this very weariness which Reality seeks to assuage by confusing itself as to its own identity.
The Buddha, sensing the horror and outrage of life on earth, wants to lead us to the perfection of the Absolute. He teaches that birth and death (the wheel of Samsara), together with the Karmic burden, can be dropped in enlightenment and we can enter into Nirvana directly. In an even deeper understanding we are shown that Samsara and Nirvana are already one — so there is not even any need for Enlightenment! (But of course you have to be enlightened before you can understand that you are already enlightened!)
Footprints of Buddha
To the average westerner this seems fairly tame stuff and much too intellectual for his taste. He doesn’t want contemplation, he wants action. But he should understand that Buddhism is a discipline of conscious mind and is meant to accompany action, not to take its place. It is serenity of the mind which enables creative work to be done and acceptance of life to take place. The other thing the westerner sometimes fails to recognize is that death and reincarnation are as much a part of his belief system as they are that of a Hindu philosopher. What, after all, is Heaven but the prospect of rebirth on a higher plane? What is Hell but the karma of past lives?
BUFOTENIN — A hallucinogenic derived from the active ingredient in the fluid taken from toad warts.
BUSINESS ZOK — As the century draws to a close, more and more corporations, having seen the value of original research, are carrying an intuitive approach beyond research into experimental investment. Growth is less important than perfectable stability. “Business Zok” (i.e., “zero overkill”) is a futuristic trend in which organizations of all types and sizes must look to their own community service as a source of profit and loss. This does not mean responding to human weakness, but rather educating public response to and participation in metaphysical and esthetic goals. “Trade Esthetics” is financially sound insofar as it is based on eternal values, rather than fashion and so long as it seeks to harmonize with its market rather than assault or exploit it. Business is moving actively, beyond mere elitism, to integrate with the conscious individual and his New Aeon (Neon) need to transform the dying world. Industry, management, retail merchandising, etc. increasingly must reflect holistic needs, not merely through streamlined standardization and product reliability, but through transcendental agendas as well.
C
CACABUS — Graeco-Roman equivalent of Hebrew Kochav, or “Star.”
CADUCEUS — < Kerux, “herald” — a herald’s wand, kerukeion. Symbolic of the spinal column and of matter and spirit intertwining to produce the manifest world and create a channel for the sexless Sushumna power. Pingala and Ida, the serpents, are male and female. Ultimately the embodiment of Kundalini, the sexual, hence vital force or “healing power.” The doubled serpent is unconditional, absolute wisdom. A herald’s wand confers immunity in all regions — protection from attack (especially since the serpents are vipers).
Apart from being the emblem of the wandering healer, the caduceus also stands for the Qabalah as a whole. The staff itself is the middle pillar and the serpents are the two flanking pillars, representing the slippery extremes. A recently unearthed hieroglyph depicts Thoth with a staff surmounted by two cobras bearing, respectively, the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt (the conscious and unconscious mind). In medicine, the black and white serpents signify disease and health.
CANCER — The 4th sign of the Zodiac (June 22 - July 23). The Crab is the final resolution of material manifestation, symbolized by the depth of the sea or the lake between the mountains. It is the sign of the soul’s incarnation and the beginning of material life.
All the other creatures of the Zodiac move in a forward direction, but the Crab is able to move backwards and sideways as well. This indicates that Cancer is the sign of the time-traveller. (The Chariot is a time machine.) Colin Wilson believes that the Crab symbolizes the fact that when we have our skeletons on the outside we are undeveloped followers of the will of others and must learn to grow our skeletons on the inside so that we can become leaders.
For the Egyptians, Cancer, coinciding with the rising of Sirius, was the “Theme of the World,” the universal horoscope (what today we call the “mundane chart”) in which, according to Ptolemy’s Tetrabiblos, the planets, etc. were in the positions they occupied at the very beginning, long before the Age of Aries.
Famous Cancerians: Alexander the Great, John the Baptist, Count Von Zeppelin, Mary Baker Eddy, George Orwell, Helen Keller, P.T. Barnum, Jean Cocteau, Rousseau, Pirandello, Charles Laughton, Buckminster Fuller, Ingmar Bergman, Jerry Rubin, Colin Wilson, Hermann Hesse, Kafka, Tesla, Hawthorne, Proust, Thoreau, Rembrandt, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, George McGovern, Marshall McLuhan, Rube Goldberg.
CAP OF MAINTENANCE — (Like that of St. Nicholas.) Worn before nobility as a show of respect — sometimes worn by nobility as well.
CAPRICORN — The Tenth sign of the Zodiac (Dec. 22 - Jan.20). The Fish-Goat is the culmination of all the