P
Palingenesy
A term employed by the philosophers of the seventeenth century to denote the "resurrection of plants," and the method of achieving their…
Palladium
(See Devil-worship.) Palladium, Order of: A masonic-diabolic order, also entitled the Sovereign-Council of Wisdom, founded in Paris on May…
Palmistry
The science of divination by means of lines and marks on the human hand. It is said to have been practised in very early times by the…
Paracelsus
In the history of alchemy there is not a more striking or picturesque figure than Aurœlus Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von…
Paradise
From old Persian (Zeud) pairedaèza an enclosure, a walled-in place; Old Persian pairi, around, dig, to mould, form, shape (hence to form a…
Parama-Hamsas
(See India.) Paraskeva, Saint: A saint of the Russian Calendar, whose feast day is August 3rd. On that day pilgrims from all parts of…
Pearls
Occult properties of. Amongst the early Greeks and Romans, the wearing of gems as an amulet or talisman, was much in vogue. For this…
Pentagram
(See Magical Diagram.) Perfect Sermon A hermetic Book. (See Hermes Trismegistus.) Pernety, Antoine Joseph : Author of the Dictionnaire…
Peter of Apono
Born in 1250, at Apono, near Padua, a philosopher, mathematician, and astrologer of no mean skill. He practised physic in Paris with so…
Papaloi – Phantasmagoria
An Obeah priest: (See West Indian Islands.) Papyri, Magical: (See Eygpt.) Deity without form. The two indestructible principles from which…
Philadelphian Society
(See Visions.) Philalethes, Eirenæus: (circa, 1660) Alchemist. The life of this alchemist is wrapped in mystery, albeit a considerable mass…
Philosopher's Stone
A substance which enabled adepts in alchemy to compass the transmutation of metals. (See Alchemy.) It was imagined by the…
Phreno-Magnet
Journal of Magnetism. (See Spiritualism.) Phreno-Mesmerism (or Phrenopathy) : An application of the principles of Mesmerism to the science…
Phrygian Cap
Hargrave Jennings, in his Rosicrucians. Their Rites and Mysteries, says that the Phrygian Cap, the classic Mithraic Cap, sacrificial Cap…
Physical World
Formerly known as the Sthula Plane-is in the theosophic scheme of things the lowest of the seven worlds, the world in which ordinary man…
Pinto
Grand Master of Malta: (See Cagliostro.) Piper, Mrs.: A famous trance medium, whose discourses and writings present the best evidence…
Planchette
An instrument designed for the purpose of communication with spirits. It consists of a thin-heartof a thin-heartshaped piece of wood…
Planet
(See Planetary Chains.) 66 66 Planetary Logos, or Ruler of Seven Chains, is, in the theosophic scheme, one of the grades in the hierarchy…
Planetary Spirits
In the theosophical scheme the number of these spirits is seven. They are emanations from the Absolute, and are the agents by which the…
Poltergeist
The name given to the supposed supernatural causes of outbreaks of rappings, inexplicable noises, and similar disturbances, which from time…
Polynesia
Magic in Polynesia is the preserve of the priestly and upper classes, although lesser sorcery is practised by individuals not of these…
Polytrix
This is almost the only example of an inauspicious stone. It caused the hair to fall off the head of anyone who had it about his person.
Poppy Seeds
Divination by smoke was sometimes practised by magicians. A few jasmine or poppy seeds were flung upon burning coals, for this purpose; if…
Port of Fortune
(See Astrology.) Postel, Guillaume : A visionary of the sixteenth century, Precipitation born in the diocese of Avranches. He was so…
Posthumous Letters
Many investigators of psychic science, members of the Society for Psychic Research and others, have left sealed letters, whose contents are…
Powder of Sympathy
A remedy which, by its application to the weapon which had caused a wound, was supposed to cure the hurt. This method was in vogue during…
Precipitation of Matter
One of the phenomena of spiritualism which least admits of a rational explanation is that known as the passing of solids through solids."…
Phyllorhodomancy – Prelati
Divination by rose-leaves. The Greeks clapped a rose-leaf on the hand, and judged from the resulting sound the success or otherwise of…
Premonition
An impressional warning of a future event. Premonitions may range from vague feelings of disquiet, suggestive of impending disaster, to…
Prophecy
In an early state of society, the prophet and shaman were probably one and the same, as is still the case among primitive peoples. It is…
Psychic
A sensitive, one susceptible to psychic influences. A psychic is not necessarily a medium, unless he is sufficiently sensitive to be…
Psychic Body
A spiritualistic term variously applied to an impalpable body which clothes the soul on the great dissolution," or to the soul itself…
Psychical Research
A term covering all scientific investigation into the obscure phenomena connected with the so-called "supernatural," undertaken with a view…
Psychograph
An instrument to facilitate automatic writing. It is composed of a rotating disc, on which the medium's finger-tips are placed, thus…
Psychography
Writing produced without human contact, and supposed to be the work of the spirits. Psychological Society, The: The Psychological Society…
Psychometry
A term used by spiritualists to denote the faculty, supposed to be common among mediums, of reading the characters, surroundings, etc. of…
Psylli
A class of persons in Ancient Italy who had the power of charming serpents. This name is given by other writers to the snake-charmers of…