Rakshasa
An Indian demon. In one of the Indian folktales he appears black as soot, with hair yellow as the lightning, looking like a thunder-cloud. He had made himself a wreath of entrails; he wore a sacrificial cord of Rakshasa "If one of the families in a commune subject to the purrah becomes too powerful and too formidable, the great purrah meets, and nearly always condems it to unexpected sack, which is carried out by night and, as usual, by masked and disguised men. Should the heads of such a dangerous family offer any resistance, they are killed, or carried off, and conveyed to the depths of a sacred and lonely grove where they are tried by the purrah for their insubordination; they are seldom heard of again. "Such, in part, is the constitution of this extraordinary institution. Its existence is known; the display of its power is felt; it is dreaded; yet the veil covering its intentions, decisions and decrees is impenetrable, and not till he is about to be executed does the outlaw know that he has been condemned. The power and reputation of the purrah is immense, not only in the homeland, but also in the surrounding districts. It is reported to be in league with the spirits (instead of the devil). 66
According to the general belief the number of armed men who are members and at the disposal of the purrah exceeds 6,000. Moreover, the rules, the secrets and the mysteries of this society are strictly obeyed and observed by its numerous associated members, who understand and recognise each other by words and signs."
Puysegur: (See Hypnotism.) Pyromancy, or divining by fire, has been alluded to in Extispicy. The presage was good when the flame was vigorous and quickly consumed the sacrifice; when it was clear of all smoke, transparent, neither red nor dark in colour; when it did not crackle, but burnt silently in a pyramidal form. On the contrary, if it was difficult to kindle, if the wind disturbed it, if it was slow to consume the victim, the presage was evil. Besides the sacrificial fire, the ancients divined by observing the flames of torches, and even by throwing powdered pitch into a fire; if it caught quickly, the omen was good. The flame of a torch was good if it formed one point, bad if it divided into two; but three was a better omen than one. Sickness for the healthy, and death for the sick, was presaged by the bending of the flame, and some frightful disaster by its sudden extinction. The vestals in the Temple of Minerva at Athens were charged to make particular observations on the light perpetually burning there. Pythagoras: (See Greece.) Q astrology, and was the author of several astrological and other works. 66 Quirinus, or Quirus, is described as a juggling stone, found in the nest of the hoopoo." If laid on the breast of one sleeping, it forces him to discover his rogueries.
R hair; he was gnawing the flesh of a man's head and drinking blood out of a skull. In another story these Brahma Rakshasas have formidable tusks, flaming hair, and insatiable hunger. They wander about the forests catching animals and eating them. Mr. Campbell tells a Mahrata legend of a master who became a Brahmaparusha in order to teach grammar to a pupil. He haunted a house at Benares, and the pupil went to take lessons from him. He promised to teach him the whole science in a year on condition that he never left the house. One day the boy went out and learned that the house was haunted, and that he was being taught by a ghost. The boy returned Randolph, P. B.
Reincarnation and was ordered by the preceptor to take his bones to Gaya, Rector: Control of Rev. W. S. Moses. (See Moses, William and perform the necessary ceremonies for the emancipation of his soul. This he did, and the uneasy spirit of the learned man was laid.
Randolph, P. B.: (See Spiritualism.) 66 Raphael, the Angel : In the prophecy of Enoch it is said that: Raphael presides over the spirits of men." In the Jewish rabbinical legend of the angelic hierarchies Raphael is the medium through which the power of Tsebaoth, or the Lord of hosts, passes into the sphere of the sun, giving motion, heat and brightness to it.