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New Age Dictionary G

Gabriel:: In Jewish and Christian sources, an archangel, best known in Christianity for the announcement to Mary that she was to bear Jesus. Gabriel (Arab. Jibril) is the angel who conveys God's messages to humans, especially prophets. The Qur'an (26:193) calls him "the trustworthy spirit" for being a faithful messenger. The Qur'an was brought down by him. Islamic tradition represents Jibril as having appeared in human form and read to the Prophet Muhammad from of spiritual book of scripture, because Muhammad could not read. Muhammad repeated what Gabriel read to him. Gabriel also guided Muhammad during the prophet's journey through the heavens.
Gaia:: Greek - Earth) The goddess of the earth. It also refers to a scientific hypothesis formulated by James Lovelock whereby all living matter on the earth is believed to be a single living organism. In such a scheme, humanity is considered the nervous system of the living earth.
Gajakeshariyoga:: In Vedic astrology, when the Moon is in an angular position (Kendra) or 1,4,7,10 signs from Jupiter. Good aspect for wealth and power based on strength and other factors in the chart
Ganapati:: Hindu god of luck and wisdom
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand:(1869-1948): Best known by his title, Mahatma (Skt., "great soul"), social reformer and leader of India's nationalist movement. Gandhi advocated a chaste, modern Hinduism that rejected priests, caste, and deities and focused on Truth (Skt. satya) as God. Gandhi's idea of self-sacrifice and asceticism (tapasya) was based on the Bhagavad Gita. With nonviolence (ahimsa) as his ideal, Gandhi developed the technique of satyagraha as a virtuous form of conflict resolution and political engagement.
Ganesha:: The elephant-headed deity, son of Shiva and Parvati, worshiped since the medieval period in Hinduism as the remover of obstacles and bringer of success. His mythology and festival were effectively utilized during the British period to resist colonial authority in the name of a revitalized Hindu tradition.
Ganga, Ganges:: A holy river of India. The principal river given this name originates in the Himalayas, flows past Hardvar, Prayag (Allahabad), Varanasi (Banaras), and Gaya, and empties into the Bay of Bengal at Gangasagar. This Ganga is said to have come from the feet of the Hindu god Vishnu and to have landed first on the matted hair of the god Shiva, where it aroused the jealousy of Shiva's wife. It is also called Bhagirathi and Jahnavi. Other Gangas include a Ganga in the sky (Akashaganga, the Milky Way), a Ganga in the underworld (Patalaganga), and numerous replicas of the Ganga on earth.
Garudasana:(Sansk: yoga posture
Gardner, Gerald B:(1884-1964): An amateur English anthropologist and folklorist whom many consider the person most responsible for the revival of witchcraft as a Neo-Pagan religion. After his retirement in 1936, Gardner moved to the New Forest area of England, where he became involved in an occult society, The Fellowship of Crotona. There, he said, he met a more secret group that claimed to be hereditary witches and after the last witchcraft acts were repealed in Britain in 1951, Gardner founded his own coven. Gardnerian Wicca, one of the most important traditions of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, which many modern Wicca groups have unknowingly assimilated, includes the Goddess as the preeminent deity, the circle as a place to contain magical energy, ritual work done in small intimate groups, and the idea that the priestess of the coven becomes the Goddess through a ceremony known as "drawing down the moon."
Gardnerian Tradition:: The witchcraft tradition based on the teachings of Gerald Gardner, who established Wicca in 1938
Garvey, Marcus M.: (1887-1940): Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in Jamaica in 1914. A black Jamaican, Garvey migrated to the United States in 1916. His Back to Africa program promoted black pride and capitalism. Garvey's religious teachings anticipated global unification of people of African heritage under a black God and a Christian-based black theology.
Gathas: (Avestan, "songs"): Seventeen hymns in Yasna (a section of the Zoroastrian scriptures) ascribed to Zoroaster, the holiest words in the tradition.
Gautama:: The family name of the Buddha. There is no certainty about the century in which the historical Gautama lived. Buddhists in various parts of the world date the life of the Buddha to either 624 to 544 BC, 448 to 368 BC, or 566 to 486 BC According to Buddhist biographies, Gautama was born the son of a king in Lumbini, now in Nepal near the modern Indian border. He was raised in luxury, but left home at age twenty-nine in search of "the Deathless." He spent six years after this "Great Renunciation" following the spiritual practices of other ascetic teachers and then experimenting on his own. At the age of thirty-five he attained enlightenment, rediscovering Truth (Dharma) and thus becoming worthy of the epithet "Buddha," or "Awakened One." Out of compassion, he spent the next forty-five years teaching what he had rediscovered, and each of the different Buddhist traditions traces its doctrine to his career. He died at the age of eighty.
Gawain, Shakti:: New Age author who popularized creative visualization (meditation) techniques.
Gehenna:: (Hebrew - Valley of Hinnon, just outside of Jerusalem) A dump where rubbish, including the bodies of criminals and the homeless, was burned. It was used as symbol of the outcome of a lawless life. It is translated as "hell" in the English NT
Geller, Uri:: 20th century mentalist who popularized "spoon bending"
Gematria: (Hebrew, from Greek. geimetria, "measure": In Judaism, a system of the practice of cabbala.or interpreting or decoding scripture according to either (1) the numerical value of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, hence of words or phrases, or (2) various systems that substitute Hebrew letters for one another. It is particularly useful in esoteric or mystical exegesis. It shows the numerical value of Hebrew words by summing up the values of the letters composing them; and further, it shows by this means, analogies between words and phrases. Also, a method (arithmetical) for extracting the mystical meaning from letters, words and sentences.
Gentile::: Those who are not Jews. Mormon's refer to those who are not Mormonas as gentiles.
Genuflection: :: The custom of briefly kneeling onto the right knee before the altar as a sign of respect in a Roman Catholic church. In the Eastern church, the custom is a deep bow..
Geomancy: (Greek., "earth divination"): A widespread system of divination either by means of designs drawn randomly on the ground with sand, pollen, or other similar powders or by detecting, through calculations and signs, the hidden forces present in the landscape. Chinese geomancy (feng-shui, lit., "wind and water") is an ancient system of site analysis to determine its suitability for grave, home, or temple. Diviners often used a special compass (lo-p'an) that indicated the main cosmic factors impinging upon a site. In a "lair" (a hollow), in front of a hill, or behind a body of water were the most desired locations. Geomancy is best understood as an ancient method of harmonizing humans and their works with the terrestrial and celestial powers that might bring good or bad fortune to those who wished to build. See feng-shui
Germain, Saint:: 1)A Roman Catholic saint who died in. 448 AD A married lawyer, rather worldly, who became Bishop of Auxerre, 2) The legitimate son of Franz-Leopold, Prince Ragoczy of Transylvania. Count St Germain was apparently on the European scene from 1651 to 1896 - a period of 245 years. Unable to explain the incredible lifespan of this man, the historians either omitted him from the history books or claimed several impostors in different time periods were responsible for the myth. Comte de St.-Germain appeared in Leipzig in 1777 as Prince Ragoczy, the son of Prince Ragoczy. reared and educated by the last Duc de Medici. It is generally supposed that he was born in 1710, but the Countess Von Gergy declared that she had seen him during that year in Venice and that he appeared to be between 45 and 50 years of age at that time. While the church register at Eckernforde contains a record of his death in 1784, it is known that he was seen upon several occasions subsequent to that date, having attended a Masonic conference in 1785 and having been recognized in Venice in 1788. The last historical mention of the Comte de St.Gcrmain was in 1822, at which time he embarking for India. He was acclaimed as an ascended master by Madame Blavatsky and Godfry Rey King,
Gestalt Therapy:: Humanistic therapy originated by Fritz Perls that centers on the reality of what is and each individual being responsible for his/her own actions; includes the interrelatedness of the object and the perceiver.
Ghee: (Hindi ghi, from Sankrit. ghrita, "sprinkled"): Clarified butter, common as a ritual offering in Vedic and later India; it was poured into fire to be conveyed to celestial gods by smoke.
Ghetto: (possibly from the Italian, "foundry" ): A section of a city or town into which Jews were forcibly settled. Ghetto was first employed to describe the walled-in area near a Venice foundry that, in 1516, was designated as the only section of the city in which Jews could dwell. Ghettos were usually walled off from the rest of the urban area, and movement in and out was limited to a small number of gates that were generally bolted at night. Jewish ghettos in the technical sense are limited to Christian lands and were most prominent in medieval Europe and areas under the rule of Nazi Germany
Ghost:: Non-physical entity or spirit being, often believed to be the spirits of the dead.
Ghost Dance:: A new religious movement among Native Americans of the western United States. The Ghost Dance had two distinct phases, both of which originated in the visions of a Paiute shaman living in western Nevada. The Ghost Dance of 1870: Wodziwob (d. ca. 1872), the prophet of the 1870 dance, proclaimed that the world would soon be destroyed, then renewed; the dead would be brought back to life and game animals restored. He instructed his followers to dance a nocturnal circle dance. This dance was similar to both older Paiute traditions and an earlier regional movement, the Plateau Prophet Dance, but it addressed very present conditions of deprivation resulting from white incursions into tribal territories. It spread to California, Oregon, and Idaho but, with the death of Wodziwob and the nonfulfillment of his prophecies, died out within a few years. The Shoshone and Bannock of Fort Hall, Idaho, however, continued to perform the Ghost Dance at least intermittently up to 1890. The Ghost Dance of 1890: Wovoka (ca.1856-1932), a Paiute Native American prophet, inaugurated the Ghost Dance of 1890 on the basis of a vision he had received during a total eclipse of the sun. His message was in direct continuity with the 1870 dance: there was to be an immanent renewal of the world in which dead Native Americans would be resurrected and the living would no longer be subject to sickness and old age, game animals would be restored to their former abundance, and the old way of life would once more flourish. Euro-Americans, by this time firmly in control, would be eliminated by supernatural means, such as a flood or earthquake. It is uncertain whether Wovoka announced a specific date for these events, but many expected them in the spring of 1891. Wovoka's message also contained ethical admonitions (e.g., members of different tribes should live in peace with each other; they should cooperate with, not war against, the whites). In anticipation of the great event and to speed its arrival, Wovoka instructed his followers to perform circle dances periodically. They did so in large numbers, and (especially among Plains tribes) dancers often fell into trances, subsequently reporting that they had visited the spirit world and spoken with dead relatives, who were living a life like the one that had flourished before the coming of the whites. The 1890 dance spread mainly eastward along the length of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. In some tribes (e.g., Paiute, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Pawnee) acceptance was almost unanimous; in others (like the Sioux) only segments of the population became believers. No Pueblo (except at Taos) or Navajo accepted it, the latter because of a culturally conditioned aversion to ghosts. As news of the Paiute prophet Wovoka began to spread, tribes sent delegations to the Walker Lake Reservation in western Nevada to see him. They returned with versions of his teachings that were sometimes shaped by the particular needs of their tribe. Among the Pawnee, the dance provided the basis for an important cultural renewal, for the visions of the dancers made possible the revival of old ceremonial activities that had fallen into disuse because knowledge of their correct performance had been lost. The Sioux, who had a number of current grievances against the government (e.g., loss of reservation lands, cuts in rations), altered Wovoka's message in the direction of greater hostility toward the whites. Delegates like Short Bull and Kicking Bear advocated the use of "ghost shirts" (special garments that were supposed to make the wearer invulnerable to bullets) and spoke of the possibility of armed conflict with the government soldiers. During 1890, newspapers around the country carried often sensational stories about the "messiah craze" (Wovoka was often called the "Indian messiah") and the possibility of renewed warfare with the Sioux. Violence did erupt in December: during an attempt to arrest him, Chief Sitting Bull was shot to death, and Chief Big Foot and almost three hundred of his band were massacred by the cavalry at Wounded Knee. These events were more the result of government blunders than of a Sioux outbreak. Following the violence among the Sioux and the failure of the expected transformations the next spring, the popularity of the dance began to fade. However, it did not die out altogether. Wovoka remained active, but shifted his message in the direction of ethical admonitions. As late as 1896 some Kiowa were still dancing, and one of the early Northern Cheyenne delegates, Porcupine, led a brief revival of the dance in 1900. The movement continued elsewhere in a more substantive way. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Fred Robinson, an Assiniboin who had been instructed in the Ghost Dance by Kicking Bear and had corresponded with Wovoka, brought the dance to a small community of Sioux living in Saskatchewan. Combined with a traditional Medicine Feast, apocalyptic elements disappeared and the themes of ethical admonition and community solidarity predominated. Among the Wind River Shoshone (Wyoming), the Ghost Dance apparently combined with an earlier ceremony (the Father Dance) of thanksgiving to God for food. As a result, the annual renewal of nature took on a cosmic dimension: shamans reported dreams in which they saw the dead assembled in heaven waiting to return to earth at some unspecified time in the future. The people on earth anticipated this event and performed a dance thought to imitate that of the dead. In both these places the Ghost Dance continued to be performed into the 1950s. In the 1970s the dance was revived by the activist American Indian Movement. Even among persons and groups who no longer practice it, knowledge of the Ghost Dance has not died out and lessons are still derived from it. Thus ca. 1970 the Sioux medicine man Lame Deer reinterpreted an old Ghost Dance song about straightening arrows and killing and butchering buffalo to mean that individuals must live upright lives in order to help bring about a new earth.
Gibbous:: The shape of the Moon between the half-moon and the full-moon.
Gifts, Spiritual Gifts:: According to Christian doctrine, special abilities given by God to worthy believers.. Every Christian has at least one Following is a list of the gifts arranged in two groups. The first are gifts that require supernatural intervention and are possessed only by true Christians. The second are gifts that do not require supernatural intervention. Even non-Christians can have the second group of gifts. A further issue is whether or not the gifts are still in use today. Some believe they ceased with the apostles and the completion of the writings of the Bible) and they are no longer needed for the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12). Others believe the gifts are still in use but not in the pure apostolic sense. In other words, they are still in use but not in the same way possessed by the apostles. Instead, they are available to the believer if and when God decides it is beneficial to use them. The first group of spiritual gifts are: Salvation, Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miracles, Prophecy, Distinguishing of Spirits, Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues. The group of spiritual gifts are: Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, and Showing mercy.
Gilgamesh:: The legendary king of the Sumerian city-state Uruk (biblical Erech) ca. 2650 BC Of the man and his actual achievements nothing certain is known, but within a century of his death he had become a god residing in the underworld, a king and judge. Until the end of Mesopotamian civilization he remained associated with the cult and care of the dead. Gilgamesh also lived on as a great hero of legendary exploits. Five or six tales were committed to writing ca. 2100 to 2000 BC in the Sumerian language. Around 1800 the Sumerian traditions were united in a single work, written in Babylonian, of at least a thousand lines. This version spread across the Near East, at times translated into Hittite and Hurrian. Finally, in the late second millennium, it was edited in a standard form of about three thousand lines. In this form, the epic has been transformed into a wisdom tale. It is addressed to a reader who is urged to read and ponder the story of a great man's struggle with life and the human condition. It is structured around three weeklong rites of passage: rites conferring humanity, rites rejecting humanity, and rites restoring humanity. At first Gilgamesh would overcome death by the immortality of fame. This he achieves by slaying the monster Huwawa. But his dearest friend, Enkidu, dies, and fame becomes worthless. Now he will be satisfied only with the transcendence that belongs to the immortal gods and the one man who shares in this immortality, Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah and sole survivor of the Flood; hence the journey to this unique figure. But Gilgamesh learns that this distinction is due to divine caprice, never to be repeated. At last Gilgamesh accepts his mortality and regains his humanity. At the end, pointing to the city Uruk and its mighty walls, he shows a sense of human achievement as well as human limitation; "He was weary but at peace."
Glamor:: 1) The attractive external form of someone or something that has little to do with their essence, as the tinsel on a Christmas tree makes it attractive, though it does not change the true nature of the tree. 2)A form of magick which involves changing people's immediate perception of you. It generally is simply altering your physical appearance (eye color, hair length, height, etc.) temporarily. However, it can also include changing people's emotional reaction to you.
Glossolalia: (Greek. glossa, "tongue," and lalein, "to speak"): Speaking in tongues. The act of speaking in a "language" either unknown or incomprehensible to the speaker. This practice may have played a significant role in early Christianity. In the late twentieth century, a similar phenomenon is practiced in certain Pentecostal and charismatic traditions.
Glyph:: 1)A symbolic character, usually as part of an inscription or writing. 2).A sigil imbued with magick.
Gnome:: An elemental of the earth.
Gnosticism: (from Gk. gnosis, "knowledge"): A pre- Christian category of religions which emphasizes that a personal experience, or knowlege, is essential to salvation. The oldest oldest known Christian scriptures, The Nag Hammadi Library, are Gnostic. Neither unequivocally Christian, Jewish, Greek, nor Iranian, Gnosticism is not a clearly delineated religion, but rather a specific religious interpretative perspective. Gnosticism lives mainly in or on the edges of Christianity and Judaism and it bears a number of philosophical, astrological, and magical marks loosely belonging in the Near Eastern and Inner Mediterranean areas. Common to many Gnostic texts and systems are an emphasis on dualistic speculations (e.g., light vs. darkness, good vs. evil, the earthly realm vs. the heavenly world, or the Lightworld); a reevaluation of many biblical traditions (especially Genesis and the New Testament) so that the Old Testament God, for instance, becomes an inferior figure ignorant of Lightworld entities above and prior to himself; and a keen interest in the salvation of the human soul, which, due to its Lightworld origin, is opposed to the body it inhabits and possesses a superior knowledge. Gnostic mythologies offer intricate, detailed speculations on cosmic geographies, provide emotional descriptions of the fate of the soul in its material prison, and, in frequently impressive poetry, describe the soul's journey back to its lofty home. In brief, Gnosticism exemplifies the common religious and creative response of Late Antiquity to a feeling of alienation toward bodily, material, even social existence, and a burning interest in arriving at a higher, more authentic level of life. Far from leading to paralytic pessimism, this orientation caused Gnostics to create mythologies, ideologies, rituals, and organized communities. Subversive Gnostic interpretations, especially of the biblical traditions, elicited horrified, swift denunciations from the early fathers of the church, who rightly perceived the Gnostics as a menace to the budding Christian orthodoxy. Much of what we know about Gnostic doctrines and practices comes from these church fathers, but their accounts are unavoidably colored by a strong hostility toward Gnostics. Direct Gnostic testimonies are available from numerous sources: the Nag Hammadi texts (a cache of fifty-odd documents unearthed in Egypt in 1945); manuscripts found or bought by European scholars in recent centuries; and voluminous texts from two Gnostic groups--the Manichaeans (whose system became a "world religion" stretching from North Africa to China) and the Mandaeans (a still-extant community of Gnostics in Iran and Iraq). Various Gnostic texts show strong affinities with Greek philosophy, Syriac Christianity, and Iranian traditions. Gnostic speculations tend to pose a "prehistory" to the creation accounts in Genesis, imagining a number of Lightworld angelic (aeonic) beings emanating or springing from one or more original, ineffable entities. A progression of male and female emanations eventually result in the lowest levels of aeons where the Old Testament God belongs. Ignorant of--or rebelling against--his more elevated predecessors, this god (sometimes called Samael, "the blind one") creates the visible, material world, the human body (an androgynous Adam or the pair Adam and Eve), and imprisons the human soul in it. Having thus separated the supreme god from the creator god, Gnostics give a negative evaluation of the latter and his minions. In parallel, heroic figures in the Bible turn into villains and vice versa, so that the serpent in paradise and Cain become principles of the light and of gnosis, while Noah turns into a collaborator with the ignorant creator. Gnostic ideas about Jesus tend toward splitting his personality, with Christ, the Lightworld aspect of Jesus, escaping crucifixion, while the bodily Jesus, a mere shadow of his real self, is destroyed on the cross. The principle of evil originates within the Lightworld itself, results unavoidably from the emanation process, or exists as a separate, anti-Lightworld entity from the beginning of creation. Personified (or hypostasized) evil is in many Gnostic myths portrayed as a tragic figure: he (it is usually male) knows of his wrongdoing and ignorance but seems unable to act differently, though he still hopes for his own, final redemption and return to home in the upper worlds. His mother, personified Wisdom or Error, is likewise tragic, but possesses more insight than her son. Human responsibilities include knowledge about the good and evil principles, the numerous aeonic beings populating the spheres between earth and Lightworld, and a firm sense of cosmic geography so that the ascending soul may know its way home. Anthropological models often correspond to cosmic maps: the upper human component is the spirit, the mid-level is the soul, and the material body roughly correlates with the macrocosm. Gnostic religions undoubtedly possessed a rich cultic life alongside the mythological/speculative component, but except for Manichaeism and Mandaeism--and a few scattered texts from other, less delineated traditions--we have only hazy evidence of the intricacies of Gnostic rituals. Initiations, baptisms, sacred meals, rituals for the dead, and techniques for ecstatic experiences are attested in various traditions. Community ethics, class divisions based on levels of gnosis, and aggressively polemical interests against "normative" Christianity and Judaism testify to organized Gnostic schools and groups eager to define themselves against outsiders and against one another.
Goat�s Head:: An occult symbol consisting of an upside-down five-pointed star. See Baphomet.
God :: The unchangeably perfect being who is the first and final cause of the universe, who ensouls the universe and within whom the universe operates. Some religions say God is one, others that God is dual, and still others that God is a Trinity,
Goddess:: A term used in various senses to affirm a feminine nature or aspect of the divine. Three beliefs are common: revering �Mother Nature,� or the Earth, as divine (see Gaia); worshiping a female deity (often linked to primitive pagan religions, as in Wicca); and the search by some women for the �divine spark� of the �goddess within.�
Goetia:: See Key of Solomon.
Gog and Magog:: In Christian apocalypticism, the last great world power that must be defeated before the coming of the kingdom of God.
Golden Dawn:: A hermetic order founded in 1888 and the most famous of modern initiatory occult organizations. Its heyday was the 1890s, when its London lodge was famous for both the literary figures it attracted, such as W. B. Yeats, and the scandals and upheavals that devastated it at the end of the decade. Though the Golden Dawn divided and dwindled in the twentieth century, its ritual practices and elaborate system of grades, each requiring significant esoteric learning and accomplishment, have served as models for many later occult orders in the Western tradition.
Golem: (Hebrew, "embryo"): In Jewish mysticism and folklore, an animated humanoid fashioned by a rabbi who had mastered the "secrets of creation." The most famous golems were those created by Loew of Prague, Elijah of Chelm, and Jaffe of Poland.
Gopi:: In Hinduism, one of the cowherding girls or women of Braj who epitomize intimate devotion to Krishna. There are some sixteen thousand gopis, all sharing in Krishna's dance, but he makes himself present to each as if she were trysting with him alone.
Gospel:: Literally meaning �good news,� the term gospel is used by traditional Christians as a reference to the message of salvation as contained in the New Testament. The first four books of the New Testament, which consist of accounts of Jesus� ministry, death, and resurrection (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), are also called the Gospels.
Govinda:: Lord Krishna
Grace:: A purely Christian term. It refers to God giving mankind salvation which was not earned but freely given.
Grail, Holy:: In Christian legend, the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper and that caught his blood when he was crucified. The quest for the Grail was combined with the Arthurian romances to produce a complex series of medieval texts and traditions
Graphology:: The science of character analysis through handwriting. Foretelling by handwriting.
Great Awakening:: A Christian revivalist movement that swept the American colonies from 1725 to 1760. In experiences of ecstatic joy and release, converts "awakened" to Christ and knew him experientially. By 1730, Theodore J. Frelinghuysen, a Dutch Calvinist, and Gilbert Tennent, a revivalist Presbyterian, had begun the Awakening from their churches in New Jersey. In 1734, Jonathan Edwards, the most formidable apologist for this experiential religion, witnessed to the "surprising work of God" in his Congregationalist church at Northampton, Massachusetts. British evangelist George Whitefield toured the colonies between 1738 and 1740 lending impetus and cohesiveness to the movement. Itinerant revivalists carried the Awakening to the South. Its distinguishing characteristics included the insistence on the personal nature of conversion to Christ, itinerant ministry, and a novel preaching style appealing openly to the emotions. Mobile ministry and individual conversion tended to undermine the parish structure of the old tax-supported churches and led to a proliferation of separate and voluntary ones. The revivalists succeeded in revitalizing colonial Protestantism by a typically modern appeal to individual experience. They accommodated New World Calvinism and Anglicanism to conditions of dramatically expanded personal liberty.
Great Invocation:: A universal prayer written in 1937 by Alice Bailey (see Arcane School) and circulated by various New Age groups. It has been translated into over 80 languages. The purpose of this prayer is to invoke the presence of the Cosmic Christ on earth, thus leading to the unity and brotherhood of all mankind.
Great White Brotherhood:: In Western occult and theosophical movements, a collective term for adepts, spirit beings or reincarnated teachers, also called Ascended Masters, existing on a non-physical higher plane. who have concluded their cycles of reincarnation and have ascended to a higher place of spiritual existence while retaining an active role in the collective and individual salvation of human beings.
Great Rite:: The ritual act, usually Wiccan, of sexual intercourse performed between the high-priestess and the high-priest, or between the high-priestess and a coven member. Originally performed in the midst of the circle, then later performed apart from the circle. Now usually performed symbollicly by placing the sword in the cup..
Greater Key of Solomon: (see Goetia)
Grigori: (Italian): They serve as guardians to the portals between the worlds - the physical world and what lies beyond. They are the protectors.. The Grigori are called upon to preside over the rites of Strega Pagans. They are a stellar race, gazing down from the skies, watching us and assisting us. They occupy the position of the four royal stars - Aldebaran, Regulus, Antares and Fomalhaut. The Grigori are the original essence behind the four Archangels. .
Grimoire:: A magickal workbook which contains various information on rituals, formulae, correspondences, and preparation of ritual tools and space. Similar to a Book of Shadows.
Gris-Gris:: In African religious systems, a charm, fetish, or amulet.
Grounding:: 1) The act of ritually, psychically imbuing someone or something with a calming and stabilizing energy to overcome flightiness and intability. 2).Sending excess energy generated during a ritual into the earth, symbolically, back to the God or the Goddess from which it came.
Group Guru:: A slang New Age term referring to the Cosmic Christ. Being incarnate in all of humanity, alll mankind may be seen as a single "guru."
Guardian Angel:: A supernatural being that acts as a guide and protector for individuals or nations. (see also Spirit Guide, Daemon)
Guardian Spirit:: A supernatural helper. (see also Familiar, Spirit Guide.
Guided Imagery:: Another term for Guided Visualization
Guna: (Sanskrit): Character
Guptasana: (Sanskrit):: The hidden yoga posture
Gurdjieff, George Ivanovitch:(ca. 1877-1949): Russian-born spiritual teacher and a major influence on twentieth-century alternative spirituality. He is best known for the community of disciples, which included well-known literary figures, that he established in Fontainebleau, France, in the 1920s. His basic teaching was that human beings are asleep and need to be awakened, so that instead of acting merely out of mechanical habit they can truly control their lives. Gurdjieff strove to awaken his pupils through seemingly erratic demands, rapid changes of activity or circumstance, sacred dance, and self-observation. Some groups in the Gurdjieff tradition still operate. His early life reads like a collection of tales from the Arabian Nights. Born in Alexandropol, Russia, followers began to organize around him in 1913. He is considered by some to have been the greatest mystical teacher of all times.
Guru: (Sanskrit - weighty): Literally a teacher or spiritual advisor. However, in India and Tibet it means one at a very high level of consciousness. In fact, worship of Guru is done to develop devotion or adoration, because the teacher is the highest expression of God we know on Earth in our personal experience. There may be many high Gurus even beyond those we know personally, but we must take the reality we know of and not accept anything on mere hearsay. Guru is a real manifestation through which we can. directly experience our own capacities and inadequacies.
Gymnosophists: (Greek., "naked philosophers"): Hindu, Jain, or Buddhist ascetics as represented in Greek literature after Alexander the Great's Indian journey (327-325 BC)..