Earthbound Spirits: - people who have passed over but do not realize their true condition or do and choose the vicarious thrills of imposing themselves on earth-dwellers. The result is hauntings and occasionally possessions which may bring their condition to the attention of RESCUE CIRCLES.

Earth Signs: In astrology, those of the Earth Triplicity: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. The ancients symbolized these types by the Earth element, because of their predominant "Earthiness" or practicality. v. Signs.

Easter Island:

Ectoplasm: (from the Greek ektos and plasma: exteriorized substance), a mysterious protoplasmic substance streaming out of the body of mediums by the manipulation of which, either by the subconscious self or by discarnate intelligences, phenomena of a super-physical order, including partial and complete materializations, are produced. (See Ectoplasm).

Ecstasis: (Gr.) A psycho-spiritual state; a physical trance which induces clairvoyance, and a beatific state which brings on visions.

On his nationally syndicated talk show, Crossing Over with John Edward, he tries to connect people with loved ones who have passed on. 

Element 115:  According to Bob Lazar, this is the yet-undiscovered super-heavy element which will allow us to make technology to harness gravity waves.

Elementary Spirits: The unseen intelligences who inhabit the four elements, of the finest essence of which they are composed. The creatures of the air are called sylphs; of the earth gnomes; of fire salamanders; and of water, nymphs or undines. The best authority on the subject is the Abbé de Villars, who published early in the eighteenth century a short treatise entitled Comte de Gabalis, from which a good deal of what follows is drawn. According to this work the creatures of the elements were before the Fall subject to Adam in all things, and we are led to understand that by means of certain performances this ancient communication may be restored, and that man may once more have at his beck and call the elementary spirits. The Abbé gives a brief sketch of the nature of these peoples. The air, he says, is filled with a great number of beings of human form, somewhat fierce in appearance, but really of a docile nature. They are much interested in the sciences, and are subtle, officious towards the sages, hostile towards the foolish and the ignorant. Their wives and daughters are of a masculine type of beauty, such as is depicted in the Amazons. The seas and rivers are inhabited as well as the air, beings dwelling therein whom the sages designated undines, or nymphs. The female population much exceeds the male, the women being exceedingly beautiful, so that among the daughters of men there is none to equal them. The earth is filled almost to the centre with gnomes, people of small stature, the guardians of subterranean treasure, minerals and precious stones. They are ingenious, friendly towards men, and easy to command. They provide the children of the sages with all the money they require, asking no other reward for their services than the glory of performing them. The gnomides, their wives, are small of stature but very good-looking, and they dress very curiously. As for the salamanders, the inhabitants of the region of fire, they serve the philosophers, but are not over-anxious for their company, while their daughters are rarely seen. Their women are very beautiful, beyond all the other elementals, since they dwell in a purer element. Their habits, mode of life, manners and laws are admirable, and the attractions of their minds are greater even than that of their persons. The Supreme Being they know and religiously adore, but have no hope of eternal enjoyment of Him, since their souls are mortal. True it is that, being composed of the purest parts of the elements wherein they dwell, and having no contrary qualities, they can live for several centuries; yet are they much troubled because of their mortal nature. It was, however, revealed to the philosophers that an elementary spirit could attain to immortality by being united in marriage with a human being. The children born of such unions are more noble and heroic than the children of human men and women, and some of the greatest figures of antiquity - Zoroaster, Alexander, Hercules, Merlin, to mention a few - are declared to have been the children of elementary spirits.

The salamanders, the Comte de Gabalis goes on to say, are composed of the most subtle particles of the sphere or fire, conglobated and organized by the action of the Universal Fire, so called because it is the principle of all the motions of nature. The sylphs are composed of the purest atoms of the air; the nymphs, of the most delicate particles of water; and the gnomes, of the finest essence of earth. Adam was in complete accord with these creatures because, being composed of that which was purest in the four elements, he contained in himself the perfections of these four peoples, and was their natural king. But since by reason of his sin he had been cast into the excrements of the elements, there no longer existed the harmony between him, so impure and gross, and these fine and ethereal substances. The Abbé then gives a recipe whereby the resultant state of things may be remedied and the ancient correspondence restored. To attain this end we must purify and exalt the element of fire which is within us. All that is necessary is to concentrate the fire of the world by means of concave mirrors, in a globe of glass. There will then be formed within the globe a solary powder, which, having purified itself from the admixture of other elements, becomes in a very short time a sovereign means of exalting the fire which is in us, and makes us, so to speak, of an igneous nature. Thenceforward these creatures of the fire become our inferiors, and, delighted at the restoration of mutual harmony between themselves and the human race, they will show towards man all the good-will they have for their own kind. Sylphs, gnomes, and nymphs are more familiar with man than are the salamanders, on account of their shorter term of life, and it is therefore easier to get into touch with them. To accomplish the restoration of our empire over the sylphs, gnomes, or nymphs, we must close a glass full of air, earth, or water, and expose it to the sun for a month, at the end of which period its various elements must be separated according to science. This process is most easy in the case of water and earth. "Thus," says the Comte, "without characters, without ceremonies, without barbarous words, it is possible to rule absolutely over these peoples." Other authorities prescribe other means of obtaining dominion over the spirits of the elements. Eliphas Levi, for instance, states that anyone desirous of subjugating the elements must first perform the four trials of antique initiation; but as the original trials are no longer known similar ones must be substituted. Thus he who would control the sylphs must walk fearlessly on the edge of a precipice, he who would win the service of the salamanders must take his stand in a burning building, and so on, the point of the ordeals being that the man should show himself unafraid of the elements whose inhabitants he desires to rule. In mediaeval times the evocation and exorcism of elementary spirits was much practiced, the crystal being a favorite means of evoking them. The exorcism of earth is performed by means of breathing, sprinkling of water, and burning of incense, and the repetition of a formula of prayer to the gnomes. Air is exorcised by breathing towards the four cardinal points, and by the recital of prayers to the air-spirits (sylphs). The casting of salt, incense, sulphur, camphor, and white resin into a fire is declared efficacious in the exorcism of that element. In the case of water, breathing and laying on of hands, repetition of formulae, mixing of salt and ashes of incense, and other ceremonials are to be observed. In every instance a special consecration of the four elements is a primary and essential part of the proceedings.

As has been said, it is possible for a human being to confer immortality on an elementary spirit by the ceremony of marriage. But this does not always occur; sometimes the reverse is the case, and the elementals share their mortality with their human mate. In literature, at all events, countless stories relate how men have risked and lost their immortality by marrying a sylph or an undine. According to the Comte de Gabalis, however, it would seem to be a matter of choice whether a man confers his immortality on his ethereal partner, or whether he partakes of her mortal nature; for it is therein suggested that those who have not been predestined to eternal happiness would do well to marry with an elemental, and spare themselves an eternity of woe.

Not every authority has painted so attractive a picture of the creatures of the elements as has the Abbé de Villars. By some it is believed that there are numberless degrees among these beings, the highest resembling the lowest which, while the lowest may often be mistaken for demons, which, of course, they are not. Not only do multitudinous variations of form and disposition characterise the elementals of our own planet; the other planets and the stars are the abode of countless hosts of elementary spirits, differing from those of our world perhaps more than the latter differ from one another. All the forms of beasts, insects, and reptiles may be taken by the lower elementals, as well as strange combinations of the shapes of different animals. The inhabitants of each element have their peculiar virtues and vices which serve to distinguish them. The sylphs are capricious and inconstant, but agile and active; the undines, jealous and cold, but observant; the salamanders, hot and hasty, but energetic and strong; and the gnomes, greedy of gold and treasures, but nevertheless hard-working, good-tempered and patient. One who would seek dominion over any of these must practise their virtues; but carefully avoid their faults, thus conquering them, as it were, on their own ground. Each species can only dwell in its own proper element. Thus a sylph may not invade the sphere of a salamander, or vice versa, while both would be decidedly out of their element in the regions of the nymphs or the gnomes. Four rulers have been set over the four species - Gob, ruler of the gnomes; Paralda, of the sylphs; Djin, of the salamanders; and Necksa, of the nymphs. To the dwellers in each element is assigned a point of the compass, where lies their special kingdom. To the gnomes is given the north; to the salamanders, the south; to the sylphs, the east; and to the undines, the west. The gnomes influence those of a melancholic disposition, because they dwell in the gloom of subterranean caverns. The salamanders have an effect on those of sanguine temperament, because their home is in the fire. The influence of the undines is upon the phlegmatic, and of the sylphs upon those of a bilious temperament. Though as a rule they are invisible to human eyes, they may on occasion become visible to those who invoke them, to the sages and philosophers, or even to the multitude. In the reign of king Pepin, Zedekias suggested to the sylph that they should appear to men, whereupon the air was seen to be full of them, sometimes ranged in battle, or in an aerial navy. It was said by the people that they were sorcerers - an opinion to which Charlemagne and Louis the Debonnair subscribed, the latter at least imposing heavy penalties on the supposed sorcerers. So that they might behold their admirable institutions, certain men were raised up in the air, and while descending were seen by their fellowmen on earth. The latter regarded them as stragglers of the aerial army of sorcerers, and thought that they had come to poison the fruits and fountains. These unfortunate persons were thereupon put to death, along with many others suspected of connection with the sorcerers.

To return to the consideration of the nature of these spirits, we find them collated in the Comte de Gabalis with the oracles of antiquity, and even with the classic panteons of Greece and Rome. Pan, for example, was the first and oldest of the nymphs, and the news of his death, communicated by the people of the air to the inhabitants of the waters, was proclaimed by them in a voice that was heard sounding all over the rivers of Italy - "The great Pan is dead!" Mr. A. E. Waite considers that the "angels" evoked in mediaeval magic, as well as the "devils" of the Sabbath, were higher or lower elementals. Others may see in the brownies and domestic spirits of folk-lore some resemblance to the subjugated elementary spirit. Even the familiar poltergeist, where he does not clearly establish his identity as the spirit of a deceased person, may be regarded with propriety as an elemental. The Theosophists use the word "elemental" in a different sense, to denote the "astral remains" (See Shell) of one who has lived an evil life on earth, and who is loath to leave the scene of this pleasures. With some occultists, again, "elemental" really signifies a sub-human being, probably identical with an elementary spirit, but of a mental and moral status considerably lower than that of a human being.

(See Nature Spirits)

Eleusinia: (Gr.) The Eleusinian Mysteries were the most famous and the most ancient of all the Greek mysteries (save the Samothracian), and were performed near the hamlet of Eleusis, not far from Athens. Epiphanius traces them to the days of Iacchos (1800 bc) They were held in honor of Demeter, the great Ceres, and the Egyptian Isis; and the last act of the performance referred to a sacrificial victim of atonement and a resurrection, when the Initiate was admitted to the highest degree of Epopt. The festival of the Mysteries began in the month of Boëdromion (September), the time of grape-gathering, and lasted from the 15th to the 22nd-seven days. The Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles-the feast of ingatherings-in the month of Ethanim (the seventh) also began on the 15th and ended on the 22nd of that month. The name of the month (Ethanim) is derived, according to some, from Adonim, Adonia, Attenim, Ethanim, and was in honor of Adonai, or Adonis (Tham), whose death was lamented by the Hebrews in the groves of Bethlehem. The sacrifice of "Bread and Wine" was performed both in the Eleusinia and during the Feast of Tabernacles.

Elias: jjjjjjjj

Elixir of Life: No doubt exists that the mediaeval alchemists and mystics believed that they were perfectly justified in their search for the Elixir of Life, the universal medicine, and the renewal of youth. This, with the quest for gold, became the grand aim of alchemy, and although this search may have had a psychical and mystical side, it most certainly had a physical one. But there does not seem to have been any standard method of accomplishing the manufacture of the elixir. Thus in Petit Albert one is instructed to take 8lbs. of sugar of mercury as the foundation of such a mixture; while Bernard Trévisan believes that the precipitation of the philosopher's stone into mercurial water results in the manufacture of the elixir. This he states, will when elaborated to the Red, transmute copper and other metals into pure gold, and if elaborated to the White, will produce unalloyed silver.

But the application of the elixir to the prolongation of life was undoubtedly the chief reason for its continued search. The retired alchemist in his later years, wearied with his quest for gold, craved the boon of youth and desired renewed health and strength to assist him to carry out his great purpose. As an illustration of the alchemical conception of the elixir of life, we quote the following from a work dealing with the secret of rejuvenescence, originally supposed to have been written by Arnold de Villanova, and published by Longueville-Harcourt at Paris in 1716: -

"To renew youth is to enter once more into that felicitous season which imparts to the human frame the pleasures and strength of the morning. Here it is to no purpose that we should speak of that problem so much discussed by the Wise, whether the art can be carried to such a pitch of excellence that old age should itself be made young. We know that Paracelsus has vaunted the metamorphic resources of his Mercury of Life which not merely rejuvenates men but converts metal into gold; He who promised unto others the years of the sybils, or at least the 300 winters of Nestor, himself perished at the age of thirty-seven. Let us turn rather to Nature, so admirable in her achievements, and deem her not capable alone of destroying what she has produced at the moment she has begotten them. Is it possible that she will refuse unto man, for whom all was created, what she accords to the stags, the eagles, and the serpents, who do annually cast aside the mournful concomitants of senility, and do assume the most brilliant, the most gracious amenities of the most joyous youth? Art, it is true, has not as yet arrived at that apex of perfection wherefrom it can renew our youth; but that which was unachieved in the past may be accomplished in the future, a prodigy which may be more confidently expected from the fact that in isolated cases it has actually already taken place, as the facts of history make evident. By observing and following the manner in which nature performs such wonders, we may assuredly hope to execute this desirable transformation, and the first condition is an amiable temperament, such as that which was possessed by Moses, of whom it is written that for one hundred and twenty years his sight never failed him.

"The stag, eagle, and sparrow-hawk renew their youth. Aldrovandus has written on the rejuvenescence of the eagle. Among the birds of the air, we are told by Pliny that the raven and the phoenix live, each of them six hundred years. No one denies that the stag is renewed by feeding on vipers and serpents, while the apes of Caucasus, whose diet is pepper, prove a sovereign remedy for the lion, who grows young by devouring their flesh. Those who have written of the elephant maintain that his normal life is extended through three centuries, while the horse, which alone in creation participates in the natures of man, of the lion, of the ox, the sheep, the mule, the stag, the wolf, the fox, the serpent, and the hare, from each deriving three of its qualities, has occasionally survived with undiminished vigour the lapse of a hundred years. The serpent, who is instrumental in the rejuvenescence of the stag, himself renews his youth at the shedding of his scales, from all which considerations, it follows that it is not beyond belief that a like prodigy may be found in the superior order of the same productions whence man has been himself derived, for man is assuredly not in a worse condition than the beasts whom he rules."

Trithemius (q.v.) on his death-bed dictated a receipt which he said would preserve mind, health and memory with perfect sight and hearing, for those who made use of it. It consists of among other things, calomel, gentian, cinnamon, aniseed, nard, coral, tartar, mace, and five grammes of it were to be taken night and morning in wine or brodium during the whole of the first month; during the second month, in the morning only; during the third month thrice in the week, and so continuing through life. This is a more understandable receipt than that of Eugenius Philalethes, who says: "Ten parts of coelestiall slime; separate the male from the female, and each afterwards from its own earth, physically, mark you, and with no violence. Conjoin after separation in due, harmonic vitall proportion; and straightway, the Soul descending from the pyroplastic sphere, shall restore, by a mirific embrace, its dead and deserted body. Proceed according to the Volcanico magica theory, till they are exalted into the Fifth Metaphysical Rota. This is that world-renowned medicine, whereof so many have scribbled, which, notwithstanding, so few have known."

In his History of Magic Eliphas Levi gives Cagliostro's great secret of rejuvenescence in the following terms:

"Let us now turn to the secret of physical regeneration to attain which - according to the occult prescription of the Grand Copht - a retreat of forty days, after the manner of a jubilee, must be made once in every fifty years, beginning during the full moon of May in the company of one faithful person only. It must be also a fast of forty days, drinking May-dew - collected from sprouting corn with a cloth of pure white linen - and eating new and tender herbs. The repast should begin with a large glass of dew and end with a biscuit or crust of bread. There should be slight bleeding on the seventeenth day. Balm of Azoth should then be taken morning and evening, beginning with a dose of six drops and increasing by two drops daily till the end of the thirty-second day. At the dawn which follows thereafter renew the slight bleeding; then take to your bed and remain in it till the end of the fortieth day.

"On the first awakening after the bleeding, take the first grain of Universal Medicine. A swoon of three hours will be followed by convulsions, sweats and much purging, necessitating a change both of bed and linen. At this stage a broth of lean beef must be taken, seasoned with rice, sage, valerian, vervain and balm. On the day following take the second grain of Universal Medicine, which is Astral Mercury combined with Sulphur of Gold. On the next day have a warm bath. On the thirty-sixth day drink a glass of Egyptian wine, and on the thirty-seventh take the third and last grain of Universal Medicine. A profound sleep will follow, during which the hair, teeth, nails and skin will be renewed. The prescription for the thirty-eighth day is another warm bath, steeping aromatic herbs in the water, of the same kind as those specified for the broth. On the thirty-ninth day drink ten drops of Elixir of Acharat in two spoonsful of red wine. The work will be finished on the fortieth day, and the aged man will be renewed in youth.

"By means of this jubilary regimen, Cagliostro claimed to have lived for many centuries. It will be seen that it is a variation of the famous Bath of Immortality in use among the Menandrian Gnostics."

Aristeus is stated to have left to his disciples a secret which rendered all metals diaphanous, and man immortal. The process would appear to consist in a mystic treatment of the atmosphere, which is to be congealed and distilled until it develops the divine sparkle, and subsequently becomes liquified. It is then subjected to heat and undergoes several processes, when the elixir emerges.

There is surprisingly little literature upon the subject of the Elixir of Life. But a more prolonged notice on the subject will be found under the article "Philosopher's stone" (q.v.).  (See Alchemy.)

Elongation: The phenomenon of elongation is a fairly common one at spiritualistic séances. It may be described as a stretching out of the medium's body, till his height is increased by from three inches to nearly a foot. The feat is ascribed to spirit agencies. There are accounts by witnesses of standing in the social and scientific world of elongations of Herne, Home, Morse, and other well-known mediums. These manifestations usually made their appearance only when the light was low, but there were several exceptions. In describing an elongation of Home, Lord Lindsay says: "Home looked as if he was pulled up by the neck, the muscles seemed in a state of tension. He stood firmly upright in the middle of the room, and before the elongation commenced I placed my foot on his instep." The same witness also declares that the increase in Home's height on this occasion was eleven inches. Most accounts describe a violent swaying motion on the part of the medium as preceding the elongation, which some critics have regarded as a convenient mode of covering the use of mechanism, which might be concealed in the medium's boots.

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Emanations: The most ancient writing extant in which this theory of emanations may be traced is ascribed to Timaeus of Locris in which he ascribes the creation of the universe to the divine emanations of God, an imparting of His being to unformed matter. By this union a world-soul was created which vitalises and regulates all things. Claudian in his Idyl of the Magnet uses it as a symbol of the informative spirit of things, the laws of nature, creative and existent. The mysticism of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mainly depends on these ideas of radiations emanating from all things but especially the stars, magnets and human beings, of a force which would act on all things and was controlled by the indwelling spirit. The writings of Paracelsus abound with instances of the theory. He asserts that every substance in itself contains something of the nature of the loadstone; that the astral light, which is one of the finer media of nature, finer than the luminiferous ether, exists throughout planetary space especially around the brain and spinal cords of human beings; (See. article Aura) that we are all but organised magnets having each our poles which attract and repel; that our thoughts are magnetic emanations escaping from our brains. His theory of the universe was that it emanated from a great first Being and there was a reciprocity in all things. In man too there exists an astral quality, emanating from the stars, which, whether physical or not, when compared with the physical body may be considered a spirit. This life stands in connection with the stars from which it sprang and draws to it their power like a magnet. He calls this Sidereal life the magnes microcosmi and makes use of it to explain the manifestations of nature—it glows in the flower, glides in the stream, moves in the ocean and shines in the sky.

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Emmanuel:

Enchantments: [See Spells]

England (Occult in): (For the pre-Saxon inhabitants of England, See Celts.) The Anglo-Saxon system of magic was of course Teutonic. Their pretenders to witchcraft were called wicca, scin-laeca, galdor-craeftig, wiglaer, and morthwyrtha. Wiglaer is a combination from wig, an idol or a temple, and laer, learning. He was the wizard, as wicca was the witch. Scinlaeca was a species of phantom or apparition, and was also used as a name of the person who had the power of producing such things: it is, literally, "a shining dead body." Galdor-craeftig implies one skilled in incantations; and morth-wyrtha is, literally, "a worshipper of the dead."

Another general appellation for such personages was dry, a magician.

Magic in England in early times is of course one with witchcraft, and it is only when we discern the stupendous figure of Roger Bacon (q.v.) that we find any thing like separation between the two. Of course, the popular traditions concerning Bacon are merely legendary, but they assist to crystallise for us the idea of an English magician of medieval times. The Elizabethan History of Friar Bacon was probably the first which placed these traditions on record. Here we have no concern with the Bacon of science, for the Bacon of magic is a magician who cheated the Devil, who made a brazen head that spoke, and who engaged in all manner of black magic.

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Enoch: Seventh master of the world after Adam, and author of the Kabbala and Book of the Tarot. He is identical with the Thoth of the Egyptians, the Cadmus of the Phoenicans, and the Palamedes of the Greeks. According to traditions he did not die, but was carried up to heaven, whence he will return at the end of time.

Enoch, Book of: An Apochryphal book of the Old Testament, written in Hebrew about a century before Christ. The original version was lost about the end of the fourth century, and only fragments remained, but Bruce the traveller brought back a copy from Abyssinia, in 1773 in Ethiopia, probably made from the version known to the early Greek fathers. In his work the spiritual world is minutely described, as is the region of Sheol (q.v.) the place of the wicked. The book also deals with the history of the fallen angels, their relations with the human species and the foundations of magic. The book says: "that there were angels who consented to fall from heaven that they might have intercourse with the daughters of earth. For in those days the sons of men having multiplied, there were born to them daughters of great beauty. And when the angels, or sons of heaven, beheld them, they were filled with desire; wherefore they said to one another: Come let us choose wives from among the race of man, and let us beget children.' Their leader Samyasa, answered thereupon and said: 'Perchance you will be wanting in the courage needed to fulfil this resolution, and then I alone shall be answerable for your fall.' But they swore that they would in no wise repent and that they would achieve their whole design. Now there were two hundred who descended on Mount Armon, and it was from this time that the mountain received its designation, which signifies Mount of the Oath. Hereinafter follow the names of those angelic leaders who descended with this object: Samyasa, chief among all, Urakabarameel, Azibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Sarakuyal, Asael, Armers, Batraal, Anane, Zavebe, Sameveel, Ertrael, Turel, Jomiael, Arizial. They took wives with whom they had intercourse, to whom also they taught Magic, the art of enchantment and the diverse properties of roots and trees. Amazarac gave instruction in all secrets of sorcerers; Barkaial was the master of those who study the stars; Akibeel manifested signs; and Azaradel taught the motions of the moon." In this account we see a description of the profanation of mysteries. The fallen angels exposed their occult and heaven-born wisdom to earthly women, whereby it was profaned, and brute force taking advantage of the profanation of divine law, reigned supreme. Only a deluge could wipe out the stain of the enormity, and pave the way for a restitution of the balance between the human and the divine, which had been disturbed by these unlawful revelations. A translation of the Book of Enoch was published by Archbishop Lawrence in 1821, the Etheopic text in 1838, and there is a good edition by Dillman (1851). Philippi and Ewald have also written special works on the subject.

Enochian Magic: a system of ceremonial magic based on the evocation and commanding of various spirits. It is based on the 16th century writings of Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley, who claimed that their information was delivered to them directly by an angel. They created the Enochian script, and the table of correspondences that goes with it. It claims to embrace secrets contained within the apocryphal Book of Enoch.

Equilibrium: Magical harmony depends on equilibrium. In occult operations if the will of the operator be always at the same tension and directed along the same line, moral impotence will ensue.

Eromanty: On of six kinds of divination practiced among the Persians by means of air. They enveloped their heads in a napkin and exposed to the air a vase filled with water, over which they mutter in a low voice the objects of their desires. If the surface of the air shows bubbles it is regarded as a happy prognostication.

Esoteric: Hidden, secret. From the Greek Esotericos-"inner," concealed.

ESP (Extra Sensory Perception):

Ether: sometimes spoken of as koilon is in theosophic as in scientific teachng, all prevading, filling all space and interpenetrating all matter. Despite this, it is of very great density, 10,000 times more dense than water and with a pressure of 750 tons per square inch. It is capable of being known only by clairvoyant of the most highly developed powers. This ether is filled with an infinitude of small bubbles pretty much like the air-bubbles in treacle or some viscid substance, and thee were formed at some vastly remote period by the infusion of the breath of the Logos into the ether, or, as Madame Blavatsky phrased it, they are the holes which Fohat, Logos, dug in space. Of thse bubbles -- not of the ether -- matter is built up in its degree varying with the numbr of bubbles combined together to form each degree. (See Star System, Theosophy)

Etheric Double: is, in Theosophy, the invisible part of the ordinary, visible, physical body which it interpenetrates and beyond wich it extends for a little, forming with other finer bodies the "aura."  The term etheric is used because it is composed of that tenuous matter by the vibrations of which the sensation of light is conveyed to the eye. This matter, it must however be noted is not the omnipresent ether of space, but is composed of physical matter known as etheric, super-etheric, sub-atomic, and atomic. The term double is used because it is an exact replica of the denser physical body. The sense organs of the etheric double are the chaksams and it is through the chaksams that the physical body is supplied with the vitality necessary for its existence and its well-being during life. The etheric double thus plays the part of the conductor, and it also plays the part of the bridge between the physical and astral bodies, for without it man could have no communication with the astral world and hence neither thoughts nor feelings. Anaesthetics for instance drive out the greater part of the double, and the subject is then impervious to pain. During sleep it does not leave the physical body, and, indeed, in dreams the ehteric part of the brain is extremely active, especially when, as is often the case, the dreams are caused by attendant physical circumstances, such as noise. Shortly after death, the etheric double finally quits the physical body though it does not move far away from that body, but it is composed of the four subdivisions of physical matter above alluded to. With the decay of the latter, the double also decays and thus to a clairvoyant, a burying ground presents a most unpleasant sight.

Etheric Vision: is in Theosophy, the power of sight peculiar to the Etheric Double. It is of considerably greater power than physical vision, and by its aid many of the phenomena of the physical world may be examined as may also many creatures of non-human nature which are ordinarily just outside the range of physical vision. It responds readily to stimuli of various kinds and becomes active under their influence.

Evergreens: The custom of decorating homes at Christmas with evergreen plants -- holly, ivy, box, laurel, mistletoe -- is sometimes said to have originated when Christianity was introduced into this country, to typify the first British church, built of evergreen boughs. More probably it extends back to into antiquity. In Druidic times people decorated their houses so that the sylvan spirits might repair thither to shelter from the severity of winter, till their leafy bowers should be renewed.

Evil Eye:

Evolution of Life: according the theosophists, began when the Logos, in his second aspect, sent forth the second life wave. This life wave descends from above through the various worlds causing an increasing heterogeneity and thereafter ascends, causing a return to its original homogeneity. Our present state of knowledge of life in these worlds extend no farther than the mentl world. In the higher division of that world it has ensouled the relatively fine matter appropriate thereto -- if that matter is atomic it is known as "monadic essence" if non-atomc, as "elemental essence," and this is known as the first elemental kingdom. What we may call the inhabitants of this kingdom are the higher order of angels. The life wave having now functioned sufficiently long in the higher mental world, now presses down to the lower level of that world, were it appears as the second elemental kingdom, the inhabitants of which are some of the lower orders of angels, the Form Devas. Again pressing down, the life wave manifests itself in the astral world, forming the third elemental kingdom, the inhabitants of which are the lowest orders of angels, the Passion Devas. It now enters the Physical world, and, in the fourth elemental kingdom, ensouls etheric parts of minerals with the elementary type of life which these posses. The middle of this kingdom represents the farthest descent of the life wave, and thereafter its course is reversed and it commences to ascend. The next kingdom into which it passes is the fifth elemental kingdom, the vegetable world, whence it passes to the sixth elemental kingdom, the animal world, and lastly to the seventh elemental kingdom, man. During its stay in each kingdom, the life wave progresses gradually from elementary to highly specialized type and when it has attainded these latter, it passes to the next kingom. This, of course, of necessity means that successive currents of the great second life wave have come forth from the Logos, since, if it were otherwise, there would be only one kingdom in existence at a time. In each kingdom, also, the souls of the bodies which inhabit it differ from those of the other kingdoms. Thus, in the seventh kingdom, that of man, each individual has a soul. In the animal kingdom on the contrary, one soul is distributed among different bodies, the number of which varies with the state of evolution. To one soul may be allotted countless bodies of a low type of development, but, as the development increases, the soul comes to to have fewer bodies alloted to it until in the kingdom of man there is but one.

EVP: Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is the term traditionally used to describe unexpected sounds or voices sometimes found on recording media. EVP initially involved audio tape recorders, but in later years, virtually any recording medium became a vehicle for phenomena.

Exorcism: To exorcise, according to the received definitions, sayf"5medley, is to bind upon oath, to charge upon oath, and thus, by the use of certain words, and performance of certain ceremonies, to subject the devil and other evil spirits to command and exact obedience. Minshew calls an "exorcist" a "conjuror;" and it is so used by Shakespeare ; and exorcism, " conjuration." It is in the general sense of casting out evil spirits, however, that the word is now understood.

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Exoteric: (Gr.) Outward, public; the opposite of esoteric or hidden.

Extispicy: so named from exta and spicere, to view, consider was applied to the inspection of entrails chiefly. The officers were Extispices or Aruspices, and one of the instruments they used was called by the same name as the craft, an extispicium. The Erturians were the first and also the most learned, who practiced extispicy, and Romulus is said to have chosen his first Aruspices from among them. The art was also practiced throughout Greece, where it had a consecrated priesthood cnfined to two families. The Roman Aruspices had four distinct duties, to examine the victims before they were opened, to examine the entrails, to observe the flame as the sacrifice was burnt, and also to examine the meat and drink-offering which accomplished it. It was a fatal sign when the heart was wanting, and this is said to have been the case with two oxen that were immolated on the day when Caesar was killed. If the priest let the entrails fall, or there was more bloodiness than usual, or if they were livid in color, it was understood to be a portent of instant disaster.

Extraterrestrial (ET): A sentient soul based on a planet other than earth who is visiting earth either physically or astrally, usually in order to study it and/or to assist in the changes occurring here. Commonly referred to as aliens, ETs from numerous star systems are said to be visiting the Earth. 

[See Aliens & UFOs]