UNE RAISON DE LIRE: a GLOSSARY for "Beauty is Truth, and Truth, Beauty" *** A.'.A.'.: The two A's followed each by a triangle of three dots actually represents the abbreviation of a Thelemic (q.v.) secret society. The true name of the society is debated, most probably Asterium Argentum (the silver star), but the suggestion has been put forth that the society had no name other than A.'.A.'. and that anyone who said those letters stood for anything was at once known to be a non-member. In my book, however, I use the letters to stand for the name Abdul Alhazred, a semi-mythical Arab scholar who was probably invented by H.P. Lovecraft (q.v.). ABLANATHANALBA: A palindrome, originally in Greek, found on Gnostic (q.v.) amulets such as Abraxas Gems (q.v.). This word supposedly means "Thou art our Father". Abraxas: A Gnostic (q.v.) representation of God as a man with an armored kilt, a shield, and a spear. He also has the head of a rooster and, in place of two legs, a couple of snakes. Abraxas Gem: An amulet featuring a picture of Abraxas (q.v.). Aemeth: A form of the rabbinical Secret Name of God, used by me to describe the genderless Deity, a truly all-powerful force from which springs all forms of all gods and goddesses, and all else as well. (c.f. Godhead) Agdistis: In Phrygian myth, a hermaphrodite who becomes intoxicated from the drinks of the wine god Dionysus. When Agdistis awakens, s/he finds that s/he has castrated him/herself. Later, in this emasculated form, she (it IS a she now) becomes the mother-goddess Cybele. AGLA: A name of god that comes from the abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase: "Athah Gibor Leolam, Adonai" ("Thou Art Powerful and Eternal, Lord"). Assez!: A French word meaning, roughly, "Enough!" avemorph: A word I conglomerated from fractured Greek meaning "Bird-form". Azathoth: A god developed in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft (q.v.). Azathoth is the seething nuclear chaos that exists at the very center of the universe. behen chowd: A very common Indian insult (from India, ya moron) meaning, literally, "sister-fucker". It is pretty much equal in connotation to the American "motherfucker". Beliel: A devil who rules the darkness of the outer underworld Sheol. be'n chood: A senile corruption of behen chowd (q.v.). BfLlOeOsDh: I get more questions about this one than I should. What you are meant to do with this "word" is separate the uppercase letters from the lower- case letters. You should get two words: BLOOD/flesh. Blake, William: A philosopher, poet, and artist who lived in England in the 18th century. He wrote epic poems approaching Biblical magnitude in which he attacked traditional views of God as unforgiving and cruel. He also wrote a completely ludicrous and hilarious story known today as "An Island in the Moon": "The trumpeter shit in his hat...and clapt it on his head"! Ha! Ha! Can ya get any funnier than that, folks? Ha ha ha! Bosch, Hieronymus: The name of a medieval painter who did pictures of the Garden of Eden, Hell, the Last Judgment, and other such religious subjects. The main difference between him and other painters were the unique grotesque monsters and demons which populated many of his pictures. I sometimes refer to him by his anglicized name, Jerome. Brille: A German word meaning "eye-glasses". Buch der Suendenbock, Das: This is German for "The Book of the Scapegoat". Burroughs, William S: A very interesting man. He was a beatnik-type in the '40s and '50s, as well as a junkie. He has written many books, and gained much recognition as an "underground" author and artist. Chadhulu: An Arabic form of "Cthulhu" (q.v.) meaning, literally, "Abandoner" or "Forsaker". Chnoubis: A Gnostic (q.v.) god of healing. He was the lord of the Agathodaemons (good demons) and was a great serpent with the shining head of a lion. Criste: In the finest book I have ever read, _Ancient Lights_ by Davis Grubb, Sweeley Leech refers to Jesus Christ as "Criste" (pronounced CRY-stee) rather than Christ; he does this because the name Christ has been misused and mis- interpreted, stereotyped and idealized. Criste refers to Christ, the actual man who taught, not the Nobodaddy (q.v.) like image of the Church. Cthulhu: H.P. Lovecraft's (q.v.) most famous character, an enormous being who sleeps in a tomb at the bottom of the sea, in the sunken city of R'lyeh. I purposefully misuse his name to refer to "Choronzon" (q.v.). Deimorph: A word I invented from corrupted semi-Greek-and-Latin meaning, approximately, "God-form". Der Teufel: see Teufel, Der Deo: One of my names for God derived from Latin. Drabk: The "guru"-type two-dimensional being sought and found by Yendred (q.v.) in _The Planiverse_. Dyaus Pitar: Ancient god of sky in India. His name is related to those of Zeus and Jupiter, Greek and Roman sky gods, respectively. Dyer: The name used by Sweeley Leech to describe, in _Ancient Lights_, the essence of Criste (q.v.) which dyes or paints the final colors into the pictures of the ultimate book, the Criste Lite. Erasmus, Desiderius: A Dutch priest who attempted to unify the Church by attempting to create a coomon ground between the Catholic and Protestant factions during the 16th century. Gnostic: A term used to describe any one of several religious sects claiming to possess the "secret" teachings of Jesus Christ. Godhead: Technically, a word meaning "divinity" or "The Trinity", but I use it to refer to the Consciously Omniscient part of God (as opposed to animals and us, the conscious yet non-omniscient part, or to inanimate objects, the unconscious and non-omniscient part). Gott: This word means "God" in German. Hassan i Sabbah: The "Old Man of The Mountain", so called by the Crusaders, gathered a following of Assassins (the word assassin comes from his name) by luring men into his society with hashish (also from his name) and a paradise. He drugged a young, gullible man and transported him to his secret mountain palace, where beautiful women served and entertained him. He was drugged again, and removed from this palace. He was told that the palace was Heaven, and that the only way to go there again was to die while in the service of the Assassin society. The man naturally wanted to reach Paradise when he died, so he joined Hassan's group. Homunculus: A Latin word meaning "little man". A homunculus was a tiny man of high intelligence that alchemists believed they could create from materials and chemicals semi-readily available. It could answer questions and perform tasks for the alchemist. Horned Moses: My title for the idea of Moses as a harsh law-giver and strict law-enforcer. Horned Moses is probably the greatest follower of Nobodaddy. IAOANARABARANAOAI: A palindrome found on Gnostic (q.v.) amulets such as Abraxas Gems (q.v.). It supposedly translates as: "I am the Great IAO". IAO was a Gnostic form of the name YHWH (q.v.) and, pronounced "Iaho", was sometimes applied to Abraxas (q.v.). Ieshua: A Hebrew form of the name Jesus. "In Principio, Erat Nihil": Latin for "In the beginning, there was nothing." Based on the Latin translation of John 1:1a: "In Principio, Erat Verbum". Ishtar: The Babylonian goddess of Love. Jahwe: Another form of Yahweh (q.v.). Kadmon/Adam-Kadmon: Actually, by Hebrew legend, Adam-Kadmon, the first man, also signifies the perfect man. However, I use the name here to describe the imperfect man. Kahlo, Frida: the greatest painter who ever lived. She was a German-Hispanic woman born and raised in Mexico with a love for the land and a hatred for technocracy. She was a communist until the end, and I appreciate this because communism is an incredibly good system on paper, but a tyrannical and easily- corrupted one in reality. "Kein Mitleid fuer die Minderheit": A play on the name of the music group KMFDM ("Kein Mitleid fuer die Mehrheit"; German for "No Pity for the Majority") which means, in this form, "No Pity for the Minority". Lilith: By Hebrew tradition, queen of the demons and Adam's first wife. She would not submit to the Man's nor the God's will, and so was banished to the deserts and made a vampire demon who sucked blood mostly from children. Locust: A creature used by myself as a metaphor for Nobodaddy and his. Lovecraft, H.P.: A "weird fiction" and horror writer of the '20s and '30s primarily. He created an incredible mythos universe where strange gods slept beneath the waves. His creations include Azathoth (q.v.), Cthulhu (q.v.) and, very probably, Abdul Alhazred (see A.'.A.'.). Lucifer: I use this name primarily to refer to only the archangel Lucifer before the fall, not usually after. Lunette: A French word meaning "eye-glasses". Lupus: The Latin word for "wolf". Lycanthropy: The affliction by which one becomes a werewolf. MacSatan: "Mac-" means "son of". MacSatan, then, means "son of Satan". Maison de Dieu, Maison du Diable: French phrases supposedly meaning, respectively, "House of God" and "House of the Devil". I don't know French well enough to know precisely. Mephistopheles: A devil who grants wishes in return for souls. Mercurius: Latin form of "Mercury". This god was highly revered by alchemists. Mi-lo Fo: The future (as in yet-to-come) incarnation of Buddha. Perhaps the most famous of the Buddhas, he is the fat one so favored by Chinese eating establishments. Mi-lo Fo is his Chinese title, his Indian name is Maitreya. Nobodaddy: A title given by William Blake (q.v.) to the harsh, judgmental, and unjust side of God. NOBO and NOBOD. are my abbreviations for this name. omicronsigmaiotarhoiotasigma: The spelling of all the Greek letters in the name of Osiris (q.v.). Onnophris/Osiris-Onnophris: The Egyptian name for the "perfect being". Osiris: The Egyptian god of the afterlife, mummies, and plant-life. Peter and Simon Magus: St. Peter allegedly stopped a Gnostic (q.v.) magician named Simon Magus from performing the miracle of flying by halting the so- called "demons" which lifted Simon. Simon was killed by, I think, stoning on that day, traditionally. Pyrophorus: An alchemical compound of extreme flammability. The word means, literally, "fire bearer". Rovanos: I did actually dream of a carved relief of a horrible ancient Pope (who fortunately does not exist in reality) named Rovanos. Samael/Sammael: The Hebrew folkloric name for the Great Serpent (devil). samedi: The French word for Saturday. Semeseilam: A Gnostic (q.v.) god representing the Sun (c.f. Shemesh). I personify him as a man with the head of a hawk or falcon and six wings. Seth: The Egyptian god of evil. His head was that of an unidentifiable animal with a long, flat snout and flat-tipped, onager-like ears. Shekinah: The feminine side of God, according to Jewish lore. Shekki/Shekkie: A pet name for Shekinah that I invented. Shelley, Percy Bysshe: A (probably) atheist poet of the 19th century. Shemesh: A Hebrew title for the Sun. sigmaepsilonmuepsilonsigmaepsiloniotalambdaalphamu: The spelling-out of the Greek letters of the name "Semeseilam". Solday: The name of the demon-spirit who rules the Sabbath day (Saturday). Sorath: The daemon of the Sun whose sacred number, coincidentally, is 666. "Spiegel Gegen Kunst und Natur": A parody of the title of an alchemical text called "Spiegel der Kunst und Natur" (a mirror of art and nature). This version of the title means "Mirror AGAINST Art and Nature". Steles of Norea: A triad of tablets used, on the Internet, by a group of Sethian Gnostics (q.v.). 'Strewth: A mild oath used in the middle ages. It is a shortening of the phrase "God's truth". Sutech: An anglicized form of the original name of Seth (q.v.), in Egyptian, SWTkH. Teufel, Der: German for "The Devil". Thelemism: A practice founded by the 20th century mystic and Satanist Aleister Crowley. It comes from the Greek word for "will", because Thelemism upheld human will as the most sacred object of all: "There is no god but man. Man has the right to live by his own law--to live in the way that he wills to do: to work as he will: to play as he will: to rest as he will: to die when and how he will. Man has the right to eat what he will: to drink what he will: to dwell where he will: to move as he will on the face of the earth. Man has the right to think what he will: to speak what he will: to write what he will: to draw, paint, carve, etch, mold, build as he will: to dress as he will. Man has the right to love as he will. Man has the right to kill those who thwart these rights." --"The Equinox: A Journal of Scientific Illuminism", 1922 (edited by Aleister Crowley) I pretty much agree with each of these points, except the very first one, and the very last one. I am only the slightest bit foggy and undecided on these areas. "Unnameable, The": A reference to H.P. Lovecraft's (q.v.) story about a horror so terrible as to be impossible to call by any name. wisent: The German name for the species of European Bison known as the aurochs which died out altogether in the 17th century. "WO BIST ADAM?": German for "Where are you, Adam?", as God spoke in Genesis. Ya: A shortening of Yahweh (q.v.). Yage': A drug that comes from extremely freshly cut specimens of a South American vine. It was used and described by William Burroughs (q.v.). Yahweh: A more pronouncable form of YHWH (q.v.). Yendred: Actually spelled, in the original way, YNDRD. This was the two dimensional being contacted in the book _The Planiverse_ by A.K. Dewdney. YHWH; YHVH: Two versions of the "tetragrammaton", a relatively unaltered transliteration of the Ancient Hebrew name of God. Yohimbine: An intense aphrodisiac drug from, I believe, Africa. -ZZZ-: A representation of a symbol used to praise Chnoubis (q.v.).