Glossary of Spiritual and Religious Terms: Letter E

Glossary of Spiritual and Religious Words

There are 1023 entries in this glossary.

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E

Term Definition

Ecstasy: "Ecstasy is not a nebulous state, but a transcendental state of wonderment, which is associated with perfect mental clarity." - Samael Aun Weor, The Elimination of Satan's Tail

"Unquestionably, the Essence (the consciousness), through rigorous discipline, can escape from within the “I” (the ego); thus, it enjoys ecstasy. However, after such bliss, the Essence returns into the interior of the “myself.” Those who have become accustomed to ecstasy without having dissolved the ego believe that they have already reached liberation. They fool themselves by believing themselves to be Masters. They even enter into the submerged devolution." - Samael Aun Weor, Revolutionary Psychology

“Ecstasy has seven degrees of power: The first is the fire that instructs and teaches us. The second is the Gnostic Unction, which is a soft, solar liquor, that when diffused throughout the Soul, teaches, corroborates, and prepares us in order to incarnate the Truth. The third is the mystical exaltation of the humble and sincere disciple. The fourth is the illumination. The fifth is the internal joy of divine sweetness that emanates from the precious fountain of the Holy Spirit. This joy is for those who have “continuous consciousness.” The sixth is the decapitation of the “I.” The seventh is the Venustic Initiation, the incarnation of the Son of Man within ourselves. Other degrees of contemplation and ecstasy exist, such as: rapture, liquefaction, bliss, jubilation, osculation, embracing, transformation, etc.” - Samael Aun Weor, The Aquarian Message

See also: samadhi
Eden: (Hebrew עדן) Eden means “bliss, pleasure, delight.” In the book of Genesis written by Moses [Moshe], Eden is a symbol with many levels of meaning.

Of primary importance, in the book of Genesis / Bereshit, the primeval state of humanity is depicted in the Garden of Eden. This story symbolizes that when the man and the woman are performing the sexual act, they are in that moment in the Garden of Eden, enjoying that bliss, delight, or voluptuousness, and it is in that state when the serpent (Lucifer) appears in order to tempt them.

"Eden is the Ethereal World. Eden is sex itself. The Ethereal World is the abode of the sexual forces. The Ethereal World is Eden. We were driven out of Eden through the doors of sex, thus we can return to Eden only through the doors of sex. We cannot enter into Eden through false doors; we must enter into Eden through the doors out of which we were driven. The governor of Eden is the Lord Jehovah." - Samael Aun Weor, The Major Mysteries

In Kabbalah, there are two Edens.

"...there is a Garden of Eden above and another below." - Zohar

The Upper Eden is the sephirah Daath. The Lower Eden is the sephirah Yesod. Both are related to sex.
Ego: From the Latin for "I" and similar to the Greek Εγώ. In Gnosis, the term ego is very different from the Freudian definition. In practical spirituality, the term ego refers to psychological constructs in the mind that trap the consciousness. The ego is a multiplicity of contradictory psychological elements that we have inside and are in their sum the “ego.” Each one is also called “an ego” or an “I.” Every ego is a psychological defect which produces suffering. The ego is three (related to our Three Brains or three centers of psychological processing), seven (capital sins) and legion (in their infinite combinations).

"The ego is the root of ignorance and pain." - Samael Aun Weor, The Esoteric Treatise of Hermetic Astrology

"The Being and the ego are incompatible. The Being and the ego are like water and oil. They can never be mixed... The annihilation of the psychic aggregates (egos) can be made possible only by radically comprehending our errors through meditation and by the evident Self-reflection of the Being." - Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled
Egregore: "Eliphas Levi commits the mistake of commenting about an apocryphal document of Enoch, and falsely judging the twenty Egregores who descended upon Ardis, which is the top of the Mount Armon and dogmatically condemning them by qualifying them as demons... Azasel is an Egregore who gave great assistance to humanity. Azasel was the king Solomon. Actually, the Bodhisattva of Azasel is fallen, but it is logical that, in the close future, this Bodhisattva will rise from the clay of the earth again. All the angels of families, angels of countries, angels of tribes, etc. are Egregores. We find written in the Theosophical Glossary of H.P.B the following: “Egregores” from the Greek Egregori, “watcher.” Eliphas Levi calls them “the chiefs of the souls who are the spirits of energy and action”; whatever that may or may not mean. The Oriental Occultists describe the Egregores as “Beings whose bodies and essence is a tissue of the so-called Astral Light. They are the shadows (Bodhisattvas) of the higher Planetary Spirits whose bodies are of the essence of the higher divine light.” The Book of Enoch gives the name Egregores to the angels who married the daughters of Seth and who begot with them giants as children." - Samael Aun Weor, The Aquarian Message
Egypt: In the Bible the word Egypt is written מצרים Matzarim, Mitsrayim, or Mitzriyim.

"Now there arose up a new king over מצרים (Mitsrayim / Egypt), which knew not Joseph." - Exodus 1:8

The word Matzarim also connotes the Essence or parts of the soul trapped within Mitzriyim, a symbol of the physical plane as well as the physical body, Malkuth. Matzarim also relates to the difficult ordeals of the narrow, strait and difficult initiatic path. Matzarim represents for all initiates the ordeals of life that release afflictions which they must received calmly and with resignation. The initiate through the Initiatic philosophy understands the fleeting adversity of this world of Maya (illusion) and the reality, divine and eternal nature of the Spirit. Thus, Mitzriyim, Egypt, represents the different mechanical evolving or devolving laws of Nature, or Wheel of Samsara. Egypt Matzarim in the bible represents the mental, emotional and instinctual situations of the soul slaved of the forces of nature. The Exodus of Israel from Egypt, Mitzriyim, means the building of the solar bodies and the acquisition of the dominion of the physical, vital, emotional and mental bodies (four elements) by the will of God (Moses). Thus Moses represents Willpower or Thelema developed on the Staff of Aaron that represents the Spinal Medulla of the Human Soul, Tiphereth.
Ehecatl: In Aztec Christic Magic, Samael Aun Weor states: “Ehecatl, God of the air, of the wind and of the night is an invisible and untouchable Deity.” He is invoked to aid in astral travel, curing old sicknesses, and assists in small and great journeys. He assisted in the resurrection of Jesus as he is a principal of universal movement (thus he was the force that animated the physical body of the Master at his time of resurrection). For information on his different forms see: Tlalocyotl, Mictlapaehecatl, Cihuatlampaehecatl, and Huitztlampaehecatl.
Eidolon: (Greek) The Astral Body.
Eight Worldly Desires: (or Eight Worldly Dharmas) A phrase from Buddhism referring to the desires we have in relation to (1) praise or (2) criticism, (3) hearing good or (4) bad news, having (5) gains or (6) losses, and having things (7) going well or (8) going poorly. Or:

Feeling happy when acquiring mundane worldly reward

Feeling unhappy when losing the desired reward

Feeling happy when praised

Feeling unhappy when criticized

Feeling happy when having mental and physical well-being

Feeling unhappy when not having mental or physical well-being

Feeling happy when hearing pleasant things

Feeling unhappy when hearing unpleasant things

Milarepa said, "I left my home and sought the solitude of the mountains but even there the eight worldly winds followed me. When I came to choose a cave I looked for one which was warm, dry and sheltered. The eight worldly winds were still blowing in my mind."
Eightfold Path: The Buddha Shakyamuni taught that the path to the freedom from suffering was accomplished by following eight fundamental steps:

1. Right view or understanding;

2. Right intention or motivation;

3. Right speech or communication;

4. Right action or conduct;

5. Right vocation or livelihood;

6. Right effort;

7. Right attention or mindfulness;

8. Right presence or concentration.

In The Aquarian Message, Samael Aun Weor reveals the esoteric meaning behind these steps: "The eight steps of the Eight-Fold Path within the Ninth Sphere are as follows:

First: Creative comprehension.

Second: Upright intentions.

Third: Upright words.

Fourth: Absolute sacrifice.

Fifth: Upright behavior.

Sixth: Absolute chastity.

Seventh: Constant struggles against the Black Magicians.

Eighth: Supreme patience in all ordeals and sufferings."
Eikasia: (Greek) The lowest of the Four States of Consciousness. This term is used by Plato to signify imagination that is focused exclusively on a temporal appearance or image; in other words, fantasy or illusion, one of the sources of suffering. This state of consciousness corresponds to the most unconscious and mechanical levels of the psyche, and relates also to the state of physical sleep (within which the consciousness is wandering within the subjective, inferior levels of the psyche, also called "dreaming").

"Eikasia is ignorance, human cruelty, barbarism, exceedingly profound sleep, a brutal and instinctive world, an infra-human state." - Samael Aun Weor, The Perfect Matrimony
El-Shaddai: (Hebrew אל שדי‎) El Shaddai, the Almighty God, the Holy Spirit, the strength of Shaddai El Chai.

(Hebrew שדי) An acrostic that hides the phrase, "shomer d'latot Yisrael," which means "Guardian of the Doors of Yisrael."
Elemental Advocate/Intercessor: "Every human being possesses an Elemental Instructor. This Elemental Instructor is made with the elemental substances of Nature and his creator was the human being himself. The human being created his Elemental Instructor when he too was an elemental. The aspirations of the elemental-man engendered his Elemental Instructor. This is how his Elemental Instructor was created. The Elemental Instructor of the Gnostic Medic is a Master of Elementotherapy." - Occult Medicine and Practical Magic
Elementals: The intelligence or soul of all creatures below the Human Kingdom, whose physical bodies are the minerals, plants and animals, but whose souls are gnomes, sprites, elves and fairies. (Strictly speaking, even Intellectual Animals remain as elementals until they create the soul; however in common usage the term elementals refers to the creatures of the three lower kingdoms: mineral, plant and animal).

"In the times of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, elementals of Nature were manifest everywhere, deeply penetrating our physical atmosphere. Many are the tales of elves, leprechauns and fairies, which still abound in green Erin, Ireland. Unfortunately, all these things of innocence, all this beauty from the soul of the Earth, is no longer perceived by humanity. This is due to the intellectual scoundrel’s pedantries and the animal ego’s excessive development." - Samael Aun Weor, The Great Rebellion
Elements: Gnosis studies five fundamental elements in nature, which are manifestations of more subtle energetic sources called tattvas.

1. ether (related to the tattva akash)

2. fire (related to the tattva tejas)

3. air (related to the tattva vayu)

4. water (related to the tattva apas)

5. earth (related to the tattva prithvi)
Eli: (Hebrew) אלי literally “my God” or "the highest," the י Iod of the head, Kether, the Atom of the Father in the root of the nose.
Elijah: or Elias (Hebrew) אליה or אליוה from אלי (eli, “my God”) and the letters יהו (the name of God). An important prophet and symbol in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

"John the Baptist, decapitated by the lustful Salome, was in truth the living reincarnation of Elijah, the Prophet of the Almighty." - Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

"...when you say, “My God is Jah,” [Eli-jah] you are saying that you are a Hum-Man, that your Manas, your mind, which is Solar, is under the service of your own particular Jah, which is Hum, the Spirit, the Ruach. And this is precisely what Elias represents, or Elijah in the Old Testament, who is John the Baptist in the New Testament." - The Metamorphosis or Transfiguration of the Bodhisattva
Elixir of Long Life: “When the Adept renounces the supreme bliss of Nirvana, the Adept then may ask for the Elixir of Long Life. The blessed ones who receive this marvelous Elixir die but do not die. On the third day they are raised. This has already been demonstrated by the Adorable one.” - The Perfect Matrimony. "There are three conditions that are necessary in order to receive the Elixir of Long Life: Sexual Magic, perfect sanctity, and to know how to consciously travel in the Astral Body." - The Revolution of Beelzebub
Elohai: Also Eloah, Eloha (Hebrew אלה or אלוה) A singular feminine word that refers to feminine aspect of the Divine, the goddess, the Divine Mother Ima or Aima.

The name אלוהים (Elohim) that in the Bible is translated as "God" should be translated as "Gods and Goddesses," since in Hebrew the -im is used in the masculine plural of a word that is feminine in the singular (Elohai or Eloha).
Elohim: [אלהים] A Hebrew term with a wide variety of meanings. םהלא El [אל] is God, Eloah [אלה] is Goddess, therefore the plural Elohim refers to Gods and Goddesses; commonly used to refer to Cosmocreators or Dhyan-Choans.

"Every Initiate must previously integrate himself with Elohim before integrating himself with Aelohim. Each one of us has his own Interior Elohim. The Interior Elohim is the Being of our Being. The Interior Elohim is our Father-Mother. The Interior Elohim is the ray that emanates from Aelohim." - Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled
Elohim Sabaoth: Sabaoth means "army" or "host," therefore Elohim Sabaoth is the army of the Elohim, or angels.
Emerald Tablet, The: An ancient teaching by Hermes Trismegistus (the Egyptian Thoth), and one of the most fundamental texts of the Alchemical tradition. This is the complete text: “It is true, no lie, certain, and to be depended upon, the superior agrees with the inferior, and the inferior with the superior, to effect that one truly wonderful work. As all things owe their existence to the will of the Only One, so all things owe their origin to the One Only Thing, the most hidden, by the arrangement of the Only God. The Father of that One Only Thing is the Sun, its Mother is the Moon, the Wind carries it in its belly; but its nourse is a Spirituous Earth. That One Only Thing is the Father of all things in the Universe, its power is perfect, after it is has been united to a Spirituous Earth. Separate that Spirituous Earth from the dense or crude by means of a gentle heat, with much attention. In great measure it ascends from the Earth up to Heaven, and the superior and the inferior are increased in power. By this thou wilt partake of the honours of the whole world. And the Darkness will fly from thee. This is the strength of all powers. With this thou wilt be able to overcome all things and to transmute all what is fine and what is coarse. In this manner, the world was created; the arrangements to follow this road are hidden. In this is hidden the Wisdom of the whole world.”
Emptiness: (Sunyata) "Emptiness is simply a clear and precise Buddhist term which denotes the insubstantial and impersonal nature of beings, and an indication of the state of absolute detachment and freedom outside of time and beyond the mind." - Samael Aun Weor, The Mystery of the Golden Blossom

"Know all things to be like this: A mirage, a cloud castle, A dream, an apparition, Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.

Know all things to be like this: As the moon in a bright sky In some clear lake reflected, Though to that lake the moon has never moved.

Know all things to be like this: As an echo that derives From music, sounds, and weeping, Yet in that echo is no melody.

Know all things to be like this: As a magician makes illusions Of horses, oxen, carts and other things, Nothing is as it appears. - The Buddha, Samadhi Raja Sutra

"Sometimes, the thought of "I" suddenly arises with great force....The situation is like that of a rock or a tree seen protruding up from the peak of a hill on the horizon: From afar it may be mistaken for a human being. Yet the existence of a human in that rock or tree is only an illusion. On deeper investigation, no human being can be found in any of the individual pieces of the protruding entity, nor in its collection of parts, nor in any other aspect of it. Nothing in the protrusion can be said to be a valid basis for the name "human being." Likewise, the solid "I" which seems to exist somewhere within the body and mind is merely an imputation. The body and mind are no more represented by the sense of "I" than is the protruding rock represented by the word "human." This "I" cannot be located anywhere within any individual piece of the body and mind, nor is it found within the body and mind as a collection, nor is there a place outside of these that could be considered to be a substantial basis of the object referred to by the name "I"." - The Second Dalai Lama (1475-1542)

See also "Illuminating Void"
Enoch: (Hebrew חנוך Chanowk) An important symbolic figure in the book of Genesis. The son of Cain.

"And Enoch walked with the Elohim: and he [was] not; for the Elohim took him." - Genesis 5

"It is written, "and Enoch walked with the Elohim" (Genesis 5:24) and also, "train (heb. Chanoch) up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6), meaning that certain child that is the angel Metatron. This is the meaning of the verse. Enoch became a child, Metatron; "with the Elohim", refers to Malchut and not with Yud Hei Vav Hei which is Zeir Anpin, because he became a servant of Malchut. "And he was not" (Genesis 5:24) means that he was not under the name Enoch, "for the Elohim took him" to be called in his name, for he became an angel of Elohim." - The Zohar

From The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg [1909]:

The sinfulness of men was the reason why Enoch was translated to heaven. Thus Enoch himself told Rabbi Ishmael. When the generation of the deluge transgressed, and spoke to God, saying, "Depart from us, for we do not desire to know Thy ways," Enoch was carried to heaven, to serve there as a witness that God was not a cruel God in spite of the destruction decreed upon all living beings on earth.

When Enoch, under the guidance of the angel 'Anpiel, was carried from earth to heaven, the holy beings, the ofanim, the seraphim, the cherubim, all those who move the throne of God, and the ministering spirits whose substance is of consuming fire, they all, at a distance of six hundred and fifty million and three hundred parasangs, noticed the presence of a human being, and they exclaimed: "Whence the odor of one born of woman? How comes he into the highest heaven of the fire-coruscating angels?" But God replied: "O My servants and hosts, ye, My cherubim, ofanim, and seraphim, let this not be an offense unto you, for all the children of men denied Me and My mighty dominion, and they paid homage to the idols, so that I transferred the Shekinah from earth to heaven. But this man Enoch is the elect of men. He has more faith, justice, and righteousness than all the rest, and he is the only reward I have derived from the terrestrial world."

Before Enoch could be admitted to service near the Divine throne, the gates of wisdom were opened unto him, and the gates of understanding, and of discernment, of life, peace, and the Shekinah, of strength and power, of might, loveliness, and grace, of humility and fear of sin. Equipped by God with extraordinary wisdom, sagacity, judgment, knowledge, learning, compassionateness, love, kindness, grace, humility, strength, power, might, splendor, beauty, shapeliness, and all other excellent qualities, beyond the endowment of any of the celestial beings, Enoch received, besides, many thousand blessings from God, and his height and his breadth became equal to the height and the breadth of the world, and thirty-six wings were attached to his body, to the right and to the left, each as large as the world, and three hundred and sixty-five thousand eyes were bestowed upon him, each brilliant as the sun. A magnificent throne was erected for him beside the gates of the seventh celestial palace, and a herald proclaimed throughout the heavens concerning him, who was henceforth to be called Metatron in the celestial regions: "I have appointed My servant Metatron as prince and chief over all the princes in My realm, with the exception only of the eight august and exalted princes that bear My name. Whatever angel has a request to prefer to Me, shall appear before Metatron, and what he will command at My bidding, ye must observe and do, for the prince of wisdom and the prince of understanding are at his service, and they will reveal unto him the sciences of the celestials and the terrestrials, the knowledge of the present order of the world and the knowledge of the future order of the world. Furthermore, I have made him the guardian of the treasures of the palaces in the heaven 'Arabot, and of the treasures of life that are in the highest heaven."

Out of the love He bore Enoch, God arrayed him in a magnificent garment, to which every kind of luminary in existence was attached, and a crown gleaming with forty-nine jewels, the splendor of which pierced to all parts of the seven heavens and to the four corners of the earth. In the presence of the heavenly family, He set this crown upon the head of Enoch, and called him "the little Lord." It bears also the letters by means of which heaven and earth were created, and seas and rivers, mountains and valleys, planets and constellations, lightning and thunder, snow and hail, storm and whirlwind--these and also all things needed in the world, and the mysteries of creation. Even the princes of the heavens, when they see Metatron, tremble before him, and prostrate themselves; his magnificence and majesty, the splendor and beauty radiating from him overwhelm them, even the wicked Samael, the greatest of them, even Gabriel the angel of the fire, Bardiel the angel of the hail, Ruhiel the angel of the wind, Barkiel the angel of the lightning, Za'miel the angel of the hurricane, Zakkiel the angel of the storm, Sui'el the angel of the earthquake, Za'fiel the angel of the showers, Ra'miel the angel of the thunder, Ra'shiel the angel of the whirlwind, Shalgiel the angel of the snow, Matriel the angel of the rain, Shamshiel the angel of the day, Leliel the angel of the night, Galgliel the angel of the solar system, Ofaniel the angel of the wheel of the moon, Kokabiel the angel of the stars, and Rahtiel the angel of the constellations.

When Enoch was transformed into Metatron, his body was turned into celestial fire--his flesh became flame, his veins fire, his bones glimmering coals, the light of his eyes heavenly brightness, his eyeballs torches of fire, his hair a flaring blaze, all his limbs and organs burning sparks, and his frame a consuming fire. To right of him sparkled flames of fire, to left of him burnt torches of fire, and on all sides he was engirdled by storm and whirlwind, hurricane and thundering.
Enosh: (Hebrew אנוש, literally human being, man) "And Seth [son of Adam] lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos..." - Genesis 5
Ens Seminis: (Latin) Literally, “the entity of semen.” A term used by Paracelsus.