Annihilation- "Passing away" or loss of the normal sense of the self, which enables the mystic to experience the presence of God. By passing away from the ego, the mystic discovers the true self that abides.
Attributes- The multiple qualities of God that are expressed in creation and are related to the names of God. While the names and attributes may be described, the essence of God is beyond description.
Beloved- Also "the Friend." A common Sufi name for God as the object of love and spiritual desire. Can also be used to denote a human being who mirrors divine attributes.
Dervish- Literally, "one who waits at the threshold." A follower of the Sufi path; one who strives for spiritual poverty or emptiness.
Ego- (nafs) The lower, impulsive self that needs to be purified. One goal of Sufi training is to purify the ego and gain access to more refined states of awareness.
Essence- The most essential, innermost, and unified dimension of something, which is beyond description.
Fana- A Sufi term for "annihilation" to die before one dies.
Gnostics- gnosis is a synonym for knowledge. The Gnostic is the knower of
God.
Gnostokoi- One who understands divine matters. Intiated teachers in the mystery schools.
Headless- The annihilation of the ego
Idol- In a negative sense, anything that stands between an individual and God.
Iod-Chavah- Our inner divinity; God.
Jezebel- A figure in the Hebrew Bible. She was the wife of Ahab. She became associated with false prophets and pressed the cult of Baal on the Israelite kingdom but was finally killed. An impudent, shameless, or morally unrestrained woman.
Kabbalah- "receiving", The Bible itself represents the outer shell while Kabbalah is the inner core, concealed from sight. The Bible reveals the word of God, while Kabbalah reveals the hidden.
Knowledge- Sufis differentiate between acquired, rational knowledge and mystical knowledge. One who possesses mystical knowledge is a gnostic, mystic, or Sufi.
Kundalini- It is the major channel in the subtle body in which the creative energy of consciousness flows through. It is the storehouse of all karmas.
Marketplace- A man gathers up good and bad karma from previous lives and in the present life he reaps the karma. He is led by Maya from one birth to another selling him to the world where he toils day and night to gain worldly objects, objects, wealth, prestige, and power.
Maya- The negative power represented as a woman with alluring beauty and lethal guile that keeps souls attached to the world of matter. On the material plane she represents wealth and possessions, power and prestige. On the mental plane she represents the desires and cravings, and all the emotional bonds and attachments that keep men tied to the world.
Mirror- A Sufi symbol of the human heart, which when polished and purified from the rust of egoism reflects the light of God.
Mystery Schools- The spiritual universities of antiquity attached to a temple belonging to the network of Pagan Mysteries, consisting of libraries, workshops, gymnasia, and agorae.
Oneness- "Divine Unity." The acceptance and affirmation of the Oneness of God. The most central belief in Islam, for Sufis it usually leads to a belief in the Unity of Being.
Permanence- (baqa) "Remaining," "abiding," or "subsistence." After the passing away of the conditioned self in annihilation, baqa is the discovery of the abiding, permanent quality of the true self, which exists through God.
Resting Bitch Face- A person, usually a girl, who naturally looks mean when her face is expressionless, without meaning to.
Samsara- The endless series of births, deaths, and rebirths to which all beings are subject.
Shabd- 'Word' or 'sound'. Creative power; source of all creation, the one reality behind all appearances. Manifests as sound and light in the spiritual regions.
Sophia- The living intelligence of the earth. Central figure in Gnostic cosmology and the Pagan Mysteries. The goddess Sophia from the Pleroma, who by the force of her dreaming came to be metamorphosed into a planetary body, the earth.
Srimad-Bhagavatam- The transcendental science not only for knowing the ultimate source of everything but also for knowing our relation with God and our duty toward perfection of the human society on the basis of this perfect knowledge. The ideals of spiritual communism are based on the oneness of the entire human society, the entire energy of living beings.
Supernal- Being in or belonging to the heaven of divine beings; heavenly, celestial, or divine.
The Real- Ultimate Reality, or "the Truth." One of the most common names for God and the divine level of reality in Sufi literature.
The Sea- Absolute being and unity.
Tavern- The place of "ruins:; the gathering place where spiritual wine is served to Sufis.
Tebah- Chest, box, case, hull, body. Indicates a container.
Two Worlds- This world and the next.
Unseen World- The spirit world.
Veil- In the same way that the divine is mirrored in the world, it is also veiled and hidden. One of the terms for coming to know God directly is "unveiling."
Wisdom- (Sophia) is honored as a goddess of wisdom by Gnostics. Holy Wisdom is an expression of understanding for the second person of the Holy Trinity.
Wine- Overwhelming love.
