Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. M-Z

989 Pages·2000·8.618 MB·English

by  Leslie Shepard

A Compendium of Information on the Occult Sciences,
Magic, Demonology, Superstitions, Spiritism, Mysticism,
Metaphysics, Psychical Science, and Parapsychology,
with Biographical and Bibliographical
Notes and Comprehensive Indexes
FIFTH EDITION
In Two Volumes
VOLUME TWO
M-Z
Edited by J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
Gale Group Staff
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ISBN 0-8103-8570-8 (Complete Set)
ISBN 0-8103-9488-X (Volume 1)
ISBN 0-8103-9489-8 (Volume 2)
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
VOLUME I
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
Encyclopedia A-L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
VOLUME II
Encyclopedia M-Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .951
Internet Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1713
General Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1721
General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1829
M
M. A., Oxon Machell’s art took on a mystical/Gnostic cast and realism
gave way to symbolism. He soon produced some of his most fa-
Pseudonym of William Stainton Moses, prominent British mous paintings, including Dweller on the Threshold, The Birth of
Spiritualist, author of Spirit Teachings (1833) and other books. the Planet and Lead Kindly Light. In 1900 he moved to the Unit-
ed States and joined the theosophical community at Point
Maa-Kheru Loma, San Diego, California, established by the independent
American branch of the Theosophical Society by Katherine
According to Egyptologist Gaston Maspero, Maa-Kheru is Tingley. Over the next years he worked on the decor of the
the Egyptian name of the true intonation with which the dead buildings, wrote articles for the community’s periodical, The
must recite those magic incantations that would give them Theosophical Path, and did numerous illustrations for the Path.
power in Amenti, the Egyptian Hades. (See also Egypt) His painting ‘‘The Path’’ was used as the cover art of the journal
for many years.
Machell died at Point Loma on October 9, 1927.
Mabinogion
A collection of ancient Welsh legends translated into En-
glish by Lady Charlotte Guest (1812–1895) and published Machen, Arthur (Llewellyn) (1863–1947)
1838–49. The title is the plural form of the Welsh maginogi,
originally indicating stories of a hero’s childhood, but is here British novelist born March 3, 1863, at Carleon-on-Usk,
used in the wider sense of ‘‘hero tale.’’ The stories in this collec- Wales, who became one of the leading authors of English occult
tion are from various manuscript sources, originally part of the fiction, but was undeservedly neglected during his lifetime. He
oral tradition of professional minstrels known as cyvarwyddon. was a close friend of Arthur Edward Waite, one of Britain’s
In this collection, the section entitled the Four Branches of the greatest authorities on occult literature. His books include: The
Mabinogi derives from a manuscript ca. 1060 C.E., dealing with Great God Pan (1894), The House of Souls (1906), The Hill of
pre-Christian myths that have affinities with traditional Irish Dreams (1907), The Great Return (1915), and The Terror (1917).
folklore. Kilhwch and Olwen is from a manuscript ca. 1100 C.E. In addition to his powerful stories on occult themes, he also
and is an early Arthurian romance. The Dream of Rhonabwy is published a number of volumes of essays and translations.
another Arthurian story, related to the French recension of One of Machen’s short stories brought a legend to real life.
Didot Perceval. The Lady of the Fountain, Geraint, and Peredur are On September 29, 1914, his story ‘‘The Bowmen’’ appeared in
also Arthurian, ca. 1200 C.E., colored by Breton and French cul- the London Evening News. The story describes how British
ture, although Celtic in origin. The Dream of Maxen, dating from troops, hopelessly outnumbered in the French trenches of
the twelfth century, is a literary work rather than folk tale, the World War I, are miraculously rescued by phantom English
plot resembling the Irish Dream of Oengus. Taliesin dates from archers from Agincourt, led by St. George. Many people read
a sixteenth-century manuscript; it concerns a famous bard of it as a factual account of what had happened, and a few months
the sixth century and has affinities with Irish legends. after publication, a number of eyewitness accounts of the An-
In addition to the translation by Lady Charlotte Guest, there gels of Mons began to appear. Throughout the twentieth cen-
is also a later translation by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones tury people have believed the events actually occurred.
(1949). (See also Wales) Machen reiterated that his story was fiction in the introduc-
tion to the later publication of his story in the book The Bowmen
and Other Legends of the War (London, 1915), but the actual
Machell, Reginald Willoughby (1854–1927)
semi-miraculous retreat of the British from Mons had such an
Artist and theosophist, born on June 20, 1854, in Cracken- overpowering effect on the British public that they seemed to
thorpe, Westmoreland, England. His father was the canon at want to believe in divine intervention.
York Cathedral. Machell attended Owen’s College, Manches- He died December 15, 1947, at Beaconsfield, England.
ter, where he was an outstanding student in the classics and in
art. In 1875 he moved to London and then Paris to pursue ar- Sources:
tistic endeavors and won prizes at the Academy de Juliens. In Machen, Arthur. The Great God Pan. 1894. Reprint, London:
1880 he settled in London as a professional painter, successful- M. Secker, 1926.
ly specializing in portraits. ———. The Great Return. London: Faith Press, 1915.
In 1887 Machell encountered Theosophy and found himself ———. The Hill of Dreams. 1907. Reprint, New York: Dover,
immediately drawn to it. He soon met Helena Petrovona Bla- 1986.
vatsky, cofounder of the Theosophical Society, and joined ———. The House of Souls. 1906. Reprint, Freeport, N.Y.:
that organization. He redecorated the facilities at 19 Avenue Books for Libraries Press, 1971.
Rd., Regents Park, where Blavatsky moved in 1890, and she in- ———. The Terror. 1917. Reprint, New York: W. W. Norton,
vited him to move his studio into the same building. He de- 1965.
signed the urn that held Blavatsky’s ashes following her death Reynolds, Aidan, and William Charlton. Arthur Machen: A
and cremation in 1891. Short Account of His Life and Work. London, 1963.
951
Macionica Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (cid:127) 5th Ed.
Sullivan, Jack, ed. The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the W. Westcott, one of the founding chiefs, presuming a continuity
Supernatural. New York: Viking, 1986. of occult tradition through Rosicrucianism.
Sources:
Macionica Mackenzie, Kenneth. Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia. 1877. Re-
print, New York: Sterling Publishing, 1987.
Slavonic name for a witch. (See Slavs)
Mackenzie, William (1877– ?)
Mackenzie, Kenneth R(obert) H(enderson) British biologist and writer, living in Italy, who played a
(1833–1886) prominent part in the scientific study of parapsychology. Mac-
kenzie, born March 25, 1877, in Genoa, Italy, studied at the
Prominent British occultist, an honorary magus of the Soci- University of Turin (Ph.D., 1900). In 1905 he founded the first
etas Rosicruciana in Anglia, and a member of the Hermetic Marine Biological Laboratory at the University of Genoa and
Society of the Golden Dawn. During 1858–59 he edited four during 1912–13 conducted research in Germany on the phe-
issues of Biological Review, devoted to Spiritualism, homeopa- nomenon of ‘‘thinking animals.’’ During World War I he was
thy, and electro-dentistry. a volunteer in the Italian Army; during World War II
Mackenzie was born on October 31, 1833, in London. The (1939–45), he lectured on biological philosophy at the Univer-
following year his family lived in Vienna, where his father, Dr. sity of Geneva and was a consultant on foreign scientific litera-
Rowland H. Mackenzie, was assistant surgeon in the midwifery ture to publishers in Florence beginning in 1960.
department at Imperial Hospital. Mackenzie and his wife re- He was president of the Second International Congress of
turned to England about 1840, but it is probable that Kenneth Psychical Research, held in Warsaw in 1923, then served as
Mackenzie was educated abroad. According to William Wynn president of the Italian Society for Parapsychology, 1951–54,
Westcott, Mackenzie received a Rosicrucian initiation in Aus- and honorary president beginning in 1954. He was president
tria while living with Count Apponyi as an English tutor. Mac- of the Third National Congress of Parapsychology, held at the
kenzie returned to London by 1851 and contributed a series of University of Rome in 1956, and honorary member of the In-
learned notes to Notes and Queries. stitut Métapsychique International, Paris, and the Institut
As a young man he had an impressive knowledge of Ger- Francais de Florence.
man, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew and had a precocious Mackenzie edited Parapsicologia (quarterly journal of para-
talent for antiquarian studies. He had ambitions to follow a lit- psychology) from 1955 to 1956. He conducted a special study
erary career, and as early as 1852 he translated K. R. Lepsius’s of psychobiology (parapsychology in living organisms) and in-
Briefe aus Aegypten, Aethiopen, 1842–45 into English. He also vestigated psychic animals and mathematical mediumship. He
contributed articles on Peking, America, and Scandinavia to published many articles on parapsychology in English and Ital-
Theodore Alois Buckley’s work Great Cities of the Ancient World ian journals such as Psiche, Archives de Psycholgie, Proceedings of
(1852). The next year he assisted Walter Savage Landor in a the Italian Society for the Advancement of Science, Quaderni di
new edition of Imaginary Conversations. In 1870 Mackenzie mar- Psichiatria, Journal of the ASPR, Revue Métapsychique, and Uomini
ried Alexandrina Aydon, daughter of a Freemason. His mar- e Idee.
riage became the occasion of his joining the craft in the same
year.
Mackey, Albert Gallatin (1807–1881)
He was author of the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia (1877) and
also planned a work called The Game of Tarot: Archaeologically American authority on Freemasonry and editor of numer-
and Symbolically Considered, which was announced but not pub- ous books on the subject, including Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
lished. In 1861 Mackenzie visited the famous French occultist (1874). Mackey was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on
Éliphas Lévi (Alphonse Louis Constant) in Paris and published March 12, 1807. He was a disciple of the great nineteenth-
vivid personal recollections of the man and his outlook in the century Masonic leader Albert Pike (1809–1891), one of those
Rosicrucian, the journal of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. falsely charged by fictitious Satanic priestess Diana Vaughan
He also studied occultism with Frederick Hockley and others with the practice of devil worship and sorcery. The
(1808–1885). whole campaign proved to be a conspiracy on the part of jour-
Mackenzie’s other literary publications include Burmah and nalist Gabriel Jogand-Pagés to discredit and embarrass both
the Burmese (1853), Zythogala; or, Borne by the Sea (a novel, 1872), the Roman Catholic Church and Freemasonry. One of the ear-
and the Fundamental Constitutions of Freemasonry (1877). liest writers to throw doubt on the revelations of Jogand-Pagès
In addition he translated and/or edited Schamyl and Circassia was British occultist and mystic Arthur E. Waite in his book
by F. Wagner (1854), Fairy Tales by J. W. Wolf (1855), The Mar- Devil-Worship in France (1896).
vellous Adventures . . . of Tyll Owlglass by T. Eulenspiegel (1859), He died on June 20, 1881, in Virginia.
The Life of Bismarck by J. G. L. Hesekiel (1870), and Bismarck:
His Authentic Biography by G. E. L. von Bismarck-Schoenhausen. Sources:
He also edited early issues of a Masonic periodical titled Kneph Mackey, Albert Gallatin. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. 1874.
in 1881. Reprint, Chicago: Masonic History, 1927.
On April 21, 1873, Mackenzie read a paper on Éliphas Lévi Stein, Gordon. Encyclopedia of Hoaxes. Detroit: Gale Re-
to the Rosicrucian Society (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia), search, 1993.
of which he became a member. He subsequently contributed
papers to their journal, the Rosicrucian. He resigned from the
society in 1875 while preparing his Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia. MacLaine, Shirley (Shirley MacLean Beatty)
In subsequent years, he seems to have lived precariously on a (1934– )
modest income from journalism. He developed a system of as-
trological prediction of horse race winners and also became in- World-famous actress, dancer, movie star, and writer, whose
volved with the promotion of fringe Masonic orders, such as Sat books on her search for spiritual fulfillment have created wide-
B’Hai. spread popular interest in psychic phenomena, channeling of
He died July 3, 1886, before the formation of the Hermetic spirit guides, and New Age teachings. She was born on April
Order of the Golden Dawn, but was claimed posthumously as 24, 1934, in Richmond, Virginia, and attended high school in
an adept of the order (together with Lévi and Hockley) by W. Washington, D.C. She began taking dancing lessons before she
952
Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (cid:127) 5th Ed. The Macrocosm
was three years old; by the time she was 16 she was a chorus girl ———. It’s All in the Playing. New York: Bantam Books,
in New York in a City Center revival of Oklahoma! Four years 1987.
later, she was dancing in the chorus of Pajama Game and acting ———. Out on a Limb. New York: Bantam Books, 1983.
as understudy to Carol Haney, the show’s leading dancer. ———. You Can Get There from Here. New York: W. W. Nor-
When Haney injured her ankle soon after the show’s opening, ton, 1975.
MacLaine replaced her in the lead. After enthusiastic reviews, Melton, J. Gordon, Jerome Clark, and Aidan Kelly. New Age
the Hollywood producer Hal B. Wallis signed her for a long- Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale Research, 1990.
term film contract.
Her first motion picture role was in The Trouble with Harry,
directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Later, her performance in Irma MacLeod, Fiona
la douce earned her a Golden Globe Award and the third of four
Academy Award nominations. Honors for her acting have con- Pseudonym of Scottish writer William Sharp (1856–1905),
tinued into the 1990s. virtually a secondary personality who authored mystical writ-
Apart from her acting, MacLaine has gained a considerable ings on Celtic lore, which played a large part in the Scottish
reputation as an outspoken political and humanitarian activist, Celtic Revival. These works were the product of automatic
notably for civil rights, women’s rights, and environmental pro- writing by Sharp.
tection. During the Vietnam War, she supported George Mc-
Govern’s 1972 presidential campaign. She was the first woman
ever to speak at the National Democratic Club, where she ad-
MacRobert, Russell Galbraith (1890–1967)
dressed the dangers of overpopulation. MacLaine’s extensive
travels have included such remote parts of the world as East Af- Psychiatrist and neurologist with a special interest in para-
rica, where she lived among the Masai tribe, and the Himala- psychology. MacRobert was born June 4, 1890, at London,
yan kingdom of Bhutan, where she was detained by border Ontario, Canada, and studied at the University of Western On-
guards during a political crisis. When traveling in India, she tario (M.D., 1912) and the University of Toronto (M.D., 1916).
became sympathetic to the plight of the ‘‘gutter babies’’ and He was an associate neuropsychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital,
helped to establish an orphanage for them in Calcutta. Her New York (1922–41), a captain in the USNR Medical Corps
best-selling autobiography Don’t Fall Off the Mountain (1970), during World War II, and afterward returned to Lenox Hill
which detailed her experiences in Africa, India, the Far East, (1946–55). In 1955 he entered private practice and became an
and Hollywood, was translated into eight languages. instructor in clinical neurology at New York University, Belle-
In 1973 MacLaine led a delegation of 12 American women, vue Hospital Medical Center, New York.
including filmmaker Claudia Weill, on a six-week tour of the He was a member of the American Medical Association,
People’s Republic of China. With Weill acting as her co- American Academy of Neurology, American Board of Psychia-
director, MacLaine produced and wrote the narration for the try and Neurology, and Academy of Religion and Mental
film The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir, a documentary Health, and a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
of the trip broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (1975). and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. His interest in
Her second autobiographical book, You Can Get There from Here intuition, clairvoyance, and mediumship prompted him to
(1975), discussed her China trip and her involvement with join the American Society for Psychical Research.
George McGovern’s presidential campaign. In 1976, after a 20- MacRobert published many articles on medical, psychiatric,
year hiatus as an entertainer, she returned to the theatrical and neurological subjects, as well as articles in parapsychology,
stage in A Gypsy in My Soul, which attracted rave reviews. By including the chapter ‘‘Something Better than Reincarnation’’
1983 she had appeared in some 35 movies. in the book Reincarnation (1956) and the preface to R. DeWitt
Her third autobiographical book, Out on a Limb (1983), de- Miller’s book You Do Take It with You (1956).
scribed a spiritual odyssey that developed from her world trav- He died on July 10, 1967, of cancer.
els. It is a heady exploration of New Age beliefs, including med-
itation, psychic healing, channeling of spirit guides, Sources:
reincarnation, UFOs, extraterrestrials, and out-of-the-body MacRobert, Russell G. ‘‘Current Attitudes of American
travel. If at times the book appears naive, it is redeemed by its Neuropsychiatrists towards Parapsychology.’’ Journal of Para-
transparent honesty and sincerity and a deep desire for a spiri- psychology (November 1948).
tual framework to life. The book became the basis for a five- ———. ‘‘Hallucinations of the Sane.’’ Journal of Insurance
hour prime-time ABC-TV mini-series. Her inner search contin- Medicine 5, no. 3 (1950).
ued in her book Dancing in the Light (1985), in which she stated: ———. ‘‘Psychiatry and Intuition.’’ Journal of Insurance Med-
‘‘I like to think of Dancing in the Light as a celebration of all icine 4, no. 3 (1949).
my ‘selves.’ It was a fulfilling and satisfying exploration of the ———. ‘‘Science Studies Intuition.’’ Tomorrow (May 1950).
promises I made to myself in Out on a Limb. In it I look with ———. ‘‘When Is Healing ‘Psychic’?’’ Tomorrow (spring
pleasure, humor and some contentment upon my experiences 1955).
as a daughter, a mother, a lover, a friend, a seeker of spiritual ———. ‘‘Where Is Bridey Murphy?’’ Tomorrow (spring
destiny and a voice calling for peace in the world.’’ 1956).
The book cites several channels from whom she received Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsycholo-
guidance, but her kindest words are reserved for J. Z. Knight, gy. New York: Helix Press, 1964.
who channels an entity named ‘‘Ramtha’’ and has since attract-
ed a large following.
In the late 1980s MacLaine emerged as a New Age teacher
The Macrocosm
and leader of Higher Life Seminars. Profits from the seminars
have funded several New Age centers. MacLaine has continued The whole universe—from the Greek words macros (long)
to write New Age books. and kosmos (the world)—symbolized by a six-pointed star,
formed of two triangles. This is the sacred symbol of Solomon’s
Sources: seal. It represents the infinite and the absolute—that is, the
MacLaine, Shirley. Dancing in the Light. New York: Bantam most simple and complete abridgment of the science of all
Books, 1985. things. Paracelsus stated that all magical figures may be re-
———. Don’t Fall Off the Mountain. New York: W. W. Norton, duced to two: the macrocosm and the microcosm (world in
1970. miniature). (See also magical diagrams)
953
Macro-PK Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (cid:127) 5th Ed.
Macro-PK The society accepted the allegorical interpretation that the
Neoplatonists placed upon the pagan creeds during the first
Term used to denote the effects of psychokinesis (paranor- ages of Christianity.
mal movements) that, like table turning, are large enough to
be observed by the naked eye. In contrast, Micro-PK refers to
psychokinetic effects so minute that they require statistical Maeterlinck, Maurice (1862–1949)
analysis or special methods to detect.
Famous Belgian writer and poet and winner of the Nobel
Prize in literature in 1911. He was born in Ghent, Belgium, on
The Macroprosopus August 29, 1862, and educated at the Collège Sainte-Barbe and
the University of Ghent. For a time he lived in Paris, where he
Representing one of the four magical elements in the Ka- became associated with the symbolist school of French poetry.
bala and probably representing one of the four simple ele- His first publication was Serres Chaudes, a volume of poems, in
ments—air, water, earth, or fire. Macroprosopus means ‘‘cre- 1889. His play La Princesse Maleine, which appeared the follow-
ator of the great world.’’ ing year, was praised by novelist Octave Mirbeau. Although
Maeterlinck had already qualified for the legal profession, he
decided to follow a literary life.
Macumba
From the very beginning of his great literary career, he was
African-derived Brazilian religions that have spirit posses- attracted by the problems of the inner life. His early plays were
sion as a central feature. dominated by the grim specter of death as the destroyer of life.
In his later works, his interest in psychic phenomena devel-
oped, and the fearful mystery gave place to wondrous fascina-
Madonna Ministry tion.
The Unknown Guest, Our Eternity and The Wrack of the Storm
The Madonna Ministry is a New Thought metaphysical
disclosed a familiarity with all the prevailing ideas on the para-
ministry founded by Bishop Arnold Michael, formerly a minis-
normal, and he showed no doubt whatever as to the genuine-
ter with the United Church of Religious Science. As a young
ness of phenomena. He wrote:
man, in 1947 he had written a book, Blessed Among Women, on
‘‘The question of fraud and imposture are naturally the first
the life of the Virgin Mary published in 1948. The writing of
that suggest themselves when we begin the study of these phe-
the book became a life-altering event and Michael left his job
nomena. But the slightest acquaintance with the life, habits and
managing a restaurant and studied for the Religious Science
proceedings of the three or four leading mediums is enough to
ministry. He served Religious Science churches for the next 35
remove even the faintest shadow of suspicion. Of all the expla-
years. In 1980, he returned to his consideration of the Virgin
nations conceivable, the one which attributes everything to im-
Mary and began writing a series of newsletters under the title
posture and trickery is unquestionably the most extraordinary
Madonna Ministry that explored Mary’s role as a consciousness
and the least probable. . . . From the moment that one enters
of unconditioned love who represents the feminine-mothering
upon this study, all suspicions are dispelled without leaving a
aspect of God.
trace behind them; and we are soon convinced that the key to
In the mid-1980s he retired from the Religious Science min-
the riddle is not to be found in imposture. . . . Less than fifty
istry and accepted consecration as a bishop by Archbishop War-
years ago most of the hypnotic phenomena which are now sci-
ren Watters of the Independent Church of Antioch, a church
entifically classified were likewise looked upon as fraudulent. It
that combines a Gnostic theosophical approach to Christianity
seems that man is loathe to admit that there lie within him
with an apostolic lineage through the non- Chalcedonian
many more things than he imagined.’’
churches in the Middle East. Michael founded the Church of
Maeterlinck considered survival proved but was uncertain
the Talking Pines before he died in 1987. Two years later he
as to the possibility of communication with the dead. Between
was succeeded by Bishop Charles Sommers, who had also been
the telepathic and spirit hypotheses, he could not make a
consecrated by Archbishop Watters. In 1990, the Church of the
choice in favor of the latter. He admitted that:
Talking Pines changed its name to Madonna Ministry.
‘‘the survival of the spirit is no more improbable than the
The church continues a major focus on spiritual healing, as
prodigious faculties which we are obliged to attribute to the me-
does Religious Science, but includes a wide diversity of healers
dium if we deny them to the dead; but the existence of the me-
who represent the broad spectrum of holistic health practices.
dium, contrary to that of the spirit, is unquestionable, and
The healing emphasis led it into a relationship with the World
therefore it is for the spirit, or for those who make use of its
Federation of Healing and the Creative Health Network as
name, first to prove that it exists.’’
cosponsors of the annual international Healing Summit. The
He added that in his view there were five imaginable solu-
first summit was held in 1997 in Monterey, California; subse-
tions of the great problem: the religious solution, annihilation,
quent summits included meetings at Glastonbury (1999) and
survival with our consciousness of today, survival without any
Australia (2000).
sort of consciousness, and survival with a modified conscious-
The Madonna Ministry is headquartered at 237 W. Ave. Al-
ness.
essandro, San Clemente, CA 92672-4334. It maintains two In-
The religious solution he ruled out definitely, because it oc-
ternet sites, http://www.madonnaministry.org/, and http://
cupied ‘‘a citadel without doors or windows into which human
www.paradigm-sys.com/madionnanews/.
reason does not penetrate.’’ Annihilation he considered un-
thinkable and impossible: ‘‘We are the prisoners of an infinity
Sources:
without outlet, wherein nothing perishes, wherein everything
Madonna Ministry. http://www.madonnaministry.org/. April
is dispersed but nothing lost.’’ Survival without consciousness
4, 2000.
of today is inconceivable, as the change of death and the casting
aside of the body must bring about an enlarged understanding
Madre Natura and an expansion of the intellectual horizon. Survival without
any consciousness amounted to the same thing as annihilation.
An old and powerful secret society of Italy whose members The only solution that appealed to him was survival with a
worshiped and idealized nature. It seems to have been founded modified consciousness. He argued that since we have been
by members of the ancient Italian priesthood. It had a tradition able to acquire our present consciousness, why should it be im-
that one of the popes became a member of the fraternity, and possible for us to acquire another in which our present con-
there appears to be some documentary evidence for this claim. sciousness is a mere speck, a negligible quantity: ‘‘Let us accus-
954
Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (cid:127) 5th Ed. Magi
tom ourselves to regard death as a form of life which we do not Torres, Penny [Mafu]. And What Be God? Vacaville, Calif.:
as yet understand; let us learn to look upon it with the same eye Mafu Seminars, 1989.
that looks upon birth; and soon our minds will be accompanied ———. Reflections on Yeshua Ben Joseph. Vacaville, Calif.:
to the steps of the tomb with the same glad expectation that Mafu Seminars, 1989.
greets a birth.’’
Maeterlinck died May 6, 1949.
Magi
Sources:
Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Priests of ancient Persia and cultivators of the wisdom of Zo-
Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon roaster (or Zarathustra) (possibly 1500 B.C.E.). They were insti-
House, 1991. tuted by Cyrus when he founded the new Persian empire and
Ebon, Martin. They Knew the Unknown. New York: New are supposed to have been of the Median race.
American Library, 1971. The German scholar K. W. F. von Schlegel stated in his Lec-
Maeterlinck, Maurice. The Great Secret. New Hyde Park, tures on the Philosophy of History (2 vols., 1829): ‘‘They were not
N.Y.: University Books, 1969. so much a hereditary sacerdotal caste as an order or associa-
———. The Unknown Guest. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: Universi- tion, divided into various and successive ranks and grades, such
ty Books, 1975. as existed in the mysteries—the grade of apprenticeship—that
of mastership—that of perfect mastership.’’ In short, they were
a theosophical college; and either its professors were indiffer-
‘‘Mafu’’
ently ‘‘magi,’’ or magicians, and ‘‘wise men’’ or they were dis-
tinguished into two classes by those names.
‘‘Mafu,’’ the entity said to speak through channel Penny
Torres, emerged in the mid-1980s during the growing popu- Their name, pronounced ‘‘Mogh’’ by later Persians, and
larity of ‘‘Ramtha,’’ the entity said to speak through J. Z. ‘‘Magh’’ by the ancients, signified ‘‘wise,’’ which was the inter-
Knight. In the process of developing as a channel, Torres had pretation of it given by the Greek and Roman writers. Stobaeus
visited Knight, and as ‘‘Mafu’’ emerged, many people noted the expressly called the science of the magi, the ‘‘service of the
similarity between his speech characteristics and gestures and gods,’’ as did Plato. According to Joseph Ennemoser in his
those of ‘‘Ramtha.’’ book The History of Magic (1847), ‘‘Magiusiah, Madschusie’’ sig-
Mafu described himself as a 32,000-year-old being who had nified the office and knowledge of the priest, who was called
incarnated on earth 17 different times. He began to manifest ‘‘Mag, Magius, Magiusi,’’ and afterward magi and ‘‘Magician.’’
through Torres in 1986. Torres’s attention had been occupied The philosopher J. J. Brucker maintained that the primitive
by some poltergeist activity, in which objects spontaneously meaning of the word was ‘‘fire worshiper’’ and ‘‘worship of the
flew around the room. She was then told by another channel, light,’’ an erroneous opinion. In modern Persian, the word is
Pam Davis, that a master named Mafu wished to speak through ‘‘Mog’’; ‘‘Mogbed’’ signifies high priest. The high priest of the
her. The very next day ‘‘Mafu’’ first spoke to Torres and in- Parsees at Surat was called ‘‘Mobed.’’ Others derive the word
structed her how to use a crystal to heal her son, who was sick from ‘‘Megh,’’ ‘‘Meh-ab’’ signifying something that is great and
with pneumonia. Later that year, in Davis’s home, Torres noble; Zoroaster’s disciples were called ‘‘Meghestom.’’
began to channel, though it was not ‘‘Mafu’’ who spoke. Eusèbe Salverte, author of Des sciences occulte (1829), stated
Then a month later ‘‘Mafu’’ again spoke through Torres that these Mobeds were named in the Pehivi dialect ‘‘Magoi.’’
and began to train her as a trance channel. She gave her first They were divided into three classes: those who abstained from
public channeling sessions in Santa Barbara, California, and all animal food; those who never ate of the flesh of any tame
within a short time was regularly conducting channeling ses- animals; and those who made no scruple to eat any kind of
sions in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. As her popularity meat. A belief in the transmigration of the soul was the founda-
grew, she organized Mafu Seminars and began to give weekend tion of this abstinence.
programs around the country. In 1988 ‘‘Mafu’’ launched a They professed the science of divination and for that pur-
more advanced study opportunity for people serious about his pose met together and consulted in their temples. They pro-
teachings, developing a course called ‘‘Advanced Realization fessed to make truth the great object of their study, for that
Training Beyond the Human Potential.’’ The course intro- alone, they said, can make man like God ‘‘whose body resem-
duced people to a macrobiotic diet, meditation, and other ad- bles light, as his soul or spirit resembles truth.’’
vanced teachings. They condemned all images and those who said that the
The direction of the movement around ‘‘Mafu’’ took a new gods were male and female; they had neither temples nor al-
turn in 1989 when Torres visited India and had an intense reli- tars, but worshiped the sky, as a representative of the deity, on
gious experience. She took the vows of a renounced life (as a the tops of mountains; they also sacrificed to the sun, moon,
sanyassi) and accepted the mission as the ‘‘ordained leader of earth, fire, water, and winds, said Herodotus, meaning no
spirituality’’ for the present age. She also received her new doubt that they adored the heavenly bodies and the elements.
name, Swami Paramananda Saraswati. Torres returned to the This was probably before the time of Zoroaster, when the reli-
United States and established the Foundation for the Realiza- gion of Persia seems to have resembled that of ancient India.
tion of Inner Divinity to supersede Mafu Seminars. The subsid- Their hymns in praise of the Most High exceeded (according
iary, the Center for God Realization, now disseminates to Dio Chrysostom) the sublimity of anything in Homer or He-
‘‘Mafu’s’’ teaching materials (tapes and books). siod. They exposed their dead bodies to wild beasts.
The foundation is headquartered at a campground near Schlegel maintained that it was an open question ‘‘whether
Ashland, Oregon, which serves as a retreat center. Mafu’s con- the old Persian doctrine and wisdom or tradition of light did
tinued teachings, most of which are disseminated in cassette not undergo material alterations in the hand of its Median re-
tapes, are seen as forming a distinct path to realization. The storer, Zoroaster, or whether this doctrine was preserved in all
foundation may be contacted at P.O. Box 458, White City, OR its purity by the order of the magi.’’ He then remarked that on
97524. them devolved the important trust of the monarch’s education,
which must necessarily have given them great weight and influ-
Sources: ence in the state. They were in high credit at the ‘‘Persian
‘‘Interview: Penny Torres on Mafu.’’ Life Times 1, no. 2 (win- gates’’ (the Oriental name given to the capital of the empire,
ter 1986–87): 74–79. and the abode of the prince) and they took the most active part
L’Ecuyer, Michele. ‘‘Mafu.’’ Life Times 1, no. 2 (winter in all the factions that encompassed the throne, or that were
1986–87): 80–82. formed in the vicinity of the court.
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