Religions and mystics

Abraham Aboulafia was a Spanish kabbalist of the 13th century. His works are marked by messianism and prophetic fervour. He elaborated an original kabbalist technique based on meditation on the Hebrew letters and names of divinity, comparable to that which exists in Muslim esotericism.

Alchemy may be understood as being at once a practice and a theory. On the level of theory, it concerns a philosophy of nature whose origins go back to antiquity. At the practical level, alchemy refers to a process of purification and the perfecting of matter, which could be seen as being parallel to the purification of the soul of the alchemist. The objective is the search for a panacea, a universal medicine capable of healing both body and soul. Alchemy was a particularly prominent trend in western esotericism from the Middle Ages.

The Almoravids were the ruling dynasty in Morocco between 1073 and 1146. They are known for their conquest of Sp[ain against the Iberians and their role in the unification of the Muslim principalities in Andalucia.

The Anabaptists are Christians who practice adult baptism and therefore refuse to give the sacraments to children.

In the 19th century there were numerous apparitions of the Virgin Mary, particularly to young people. Many were subjected to episcopal enquiries but only three of them were ultimately attested: La Salette (1846), Lourdes (1858), and Pontmain (1871).

Asmahan (Amal el Attrache 1912-1944) was a singer, performer, and actress of Syrian-Lebanese origin, living in Cairo from 1920.

The baraka is a particular spiritual force which drives Muslim or Jewish mystics. It is seen as a gift from God.

Basra is a town in the south of modern Iraq. At the beginning of the Abbasid Empire (8th century) it was celebrated as a crossroads for the great mystical tendencies and was the laboratory of the great Muslim mystical theories.

Beatification is the declaration by pontifical decree that a person of Christian faith has practised the natural and Christian virtues in an exemplary or even heroic fashion.

The Zohar is the central text of Jewish mysticism. It is an anthology, the first sections of which date from the end of the 13th century and which are presented as an esoteric commentary on the scriptures. Research suggests that its author was the Spanish kabbalist Moses de Léon, but it is traditionally attributed to Simeon Bar Yohai, master of the Mishnah, who lived in the 2nd century AD.

According to Catholic theology, men must be guided by the theological virtues in their relations with the world and with God. They are three in number: faith, hope and charity.

The fourth ecumenical council, called by Emperor Marcian with the consent of Pope Leo, was held at the port city of Chalcedon in 451. The council deposed Dioscorus and decreed an important formula for faith which defined the unity of the person of Christ of two natures, the perfect man and the perfect God, without confusion, and without change, without division or separation. It also promulgated an important collection of disciplinary canons, the 28th of which accorded the See of Constantinople, the Imperial city, the same privileges as that of Rome. Pope Leo refused to accept that canon.

Hinduism (hindu darm) is a religion or system of thought of the Indian Sub-continent characterised by not having an acknowledged founder or official clergy. Hinduism is based on a the scriptural foundation of the veda, texts written down between 1700 and 500 BC. Six orthodox (astika: accepting the authority of the veda) schools or darshana are recognised today. Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are however considered as nastika (non orthodox schools)

Dermographism is graphical representation on the skin.

La dhimma (litt. « protection ») est un contrat qui garantit au Juifs, aux chrétiens comme aux zoroastriens la sauvegarde de leur vie et de leurs biens, aussi que le respect tant de leur culte que de leurs lois. En contrepartie, ces communautés religieuses doivent s'acquitter d'un impôt spécifique la djizia et respecter un certain nombre de règles attestant de leur infériorité. La dhimma a été cependant appliquée en monde majoritairement musulman de façon très hétérogène suivant les lieux et les époques.

A dicastery is a department of the Roman Curia through which the Pope exercises his power and is broadly similar to a ministry in a government. The head of a dicastery is appointed by the Pope.

The third ecumenical council called by Emperor Theodosius was held in the port city of Ephesus in 431 in order to rule on the controversy of Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, suspected of the admission of two persons in Christ and of denying the title of Mother of God to the Holy Virgin. The council condemned Nestorius, affirmed the unity of the person of Christ and approved the title of Mother of God applied to the Holy Virgin.

Esotericism (L'ésotérisme) is the term coined by Jacques Matter in his Histoire critique du gnosticisme et de son influence from the Greek esôterikós ("belonging to an inner circle"). It usually describes the hidden part of religious teaching, accessible only to initiates. It is therefore often a synonym for gnosticism, and esotericism can equally be described in general as the discipline applied to exploring all the mysteries of nature, here related to occultism.

The Essenians were a Jewish group contemporary to Christ whose members lived in ascetic communities. The way of life recalls primitive Christian monachism. They are associated with the Dead Sea scrolls.

Evil, the adversary, may signify the Devil in his role of malefactor.

Farid el Attrache (1910-1974) was Asmahan's brother, an author, composer, performer, a virtuoso on the oud, and actor. Farid and Asmahan enjoyed great success and were called the 'stars of Cairo'

The fatek is a murderer, destroyer, assassin..a name which reflects the personality and behaviour of the personage.

A fatwa is a piece of advice on jurisprudence given by a jurist (mufti) in relation to a questionable case or a specific issue in relation to Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh)

Fayrouz is a Lebanese singer famous throughout the Arab world. Born Nouhad Haddad on 21 November 1935 in a Christian village in Mount Lebanon (Jabal al Arz), her father was Wadi Haddad and her mother, Liza Boustani. Fayrouz is the mother of four children (Ziad, Hali, Layal and Rima), of whom the eldest, Ziad, was born in 1956 and the youngest, Rima, was born in 1966. In 1988 she was decorated by France as 'Commander of arts and letters', presented by Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture under François Mitterand.

The Third Orders in the middle ages were lay people who, without taking religious vows or renouncing marriage, practised penitence. The Franciscan Third Order was founded at the end of the 13th century, its members inspired by the way of life of the first Franciscans. Many spiritual personages, ecclesiastical and political, were eminent members: King Louis IX (Saint Louis), the curate of Ars, the Count of Chambord and several popes. Its symbol was the stigmatised hand of Francis of Assisi.

Frankism was a fringe movement of Judaism which recognised Jacob Frank (1726-1791) as the Messiah awaited by the Jews. It was a majority Ashkanazi successor to Sabbataism. Jacob Frank grew up in a family influenced by Sabbataism and proclaimed himself as the successor to Sabbatai Zevi, then as the Messiah himself, before converting, with his followers, to Christianity in 1756.

The Ghomara (or Ghmara) are members of a tribe of western Rif who are amongst the most ancient peoples of Morocco.

The term 'gnosis' signifies a specialist and superior knowledge about the mysteries of divinity. Antoine Faivre made a distinction between 'gnostic' and 'gnosticism', which refers to a philosophical and religious movement specific to the ancient world.

The Hadith is a collection of traditions relating to the acts and words of the prophet Muhammed. The hadith are the second fundamental dogma of Sunni Islam.

The term comes from the root halakh, which means 'to go'. The halakha constitutes a collection of practical rules which govern Jewish religious life and the behaviour of the faithful.

For meat to be hallal (lawful) it must not be forbidden by the sacred texts and must have been obtained according to a rite requiring a precise method of of butchery and a certain number of sanitary principles.

Hermetism is a group of esoteric doctrines presented as having been transmitted by the Egyptian god Hermes Thot ('Hermes Trismegistus' in Greek tradition), the central text of which is the Corpus hermeticum (assemblage of writings attributed to Hermes). Hermetic tradition was an important component of alchemy from the Middle Ages. From the 18th century, the term 'hermetism' became an umbrella term associated with different trends such as the kabbalah, the philosophy of Paracelcus, pythagorism, and alchemy, which later reverted to the term 'esotericism'.

The Congregation of the Holy Office inherited the role of controlling publications and the compilation of the Index from the Inquisition.

Life in hypethra [without a roof] relates to the solitary life of an anchorite who lives in the open air without any protection from the weather.

The imam is the person who leads Islamic worship. As such he must know the main rituals.

The Index librorum prohibitorum (Index of banned books) was a catalogue set up by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) of the works that Roman Catholics were not allowed to read. The system was discontinued in 1966.

Jaculatory orations are brief prayers spontaneously addressed to God at any time of the day and which might consist of a simple thought, but which are always based on words or images.

Japa Yoga is a technique for the achievement of ecstasy through the mechanical repetition of the name of the Divinity or of a mantra, used to gain concentration in meditation exercises. This japa may be recited out loud, sung or, better still, silently.

Justification is a teaching which affirms that the sinner is made just freely, purely through the goodness of God.

The kabbala (Hebrew qabbalah, lit 'reception') is the esoteric branch of Judaism, the secret law given by God.

Khwarazm is a region to the south of the Aral Sea in modern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Its most celebrated son is the mathematician Muhammed Ibn Musa al-Khwarazmi whose name, once latinised, gives us the word 'algorithm'.

In Hinduism, the One, or supreme being is incarnated in different divinities. For the majority of Hindus, Krishna is one of the incarnations of Vishnu, himself a member of an original trinity with Brahma and Shiva. However, for the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Krishna is the supreme divinity and the origin of all the others. It is with this understanding of him that he is the object of devotion through the Guide of the Blessed.

Kufa is a town in the centre of modern Iraq known for its flourishing culture during the Abbasid era.

La société Saint-Luc, Saint-Côme et Saint-Damien was founded in 1884 in Mans. Its aim was to gather French Catholic doctors to enable their participation in the debates of the day. Its members played an important role in the healing sanctuary at Lourdes.

Legitimism was the political movement from the 1830's which favoured the re-establishment of the monarchy and the Bourbon dynasty.

Since 1957 the Festival of Baalbaeck had supported Lebanese musical development through a section showcasing Lebanese artists: this was the Nuits libanaises.

La Maison de Saint Cyr or Maison royale de Saint Louis was a girls' school for the impoverished nobility created by Louis XIV in 1686 on the request of Madame de Maintenon.

The word majdoub means, in Arabic, a Sufi who is in a state of mystical intoxication. Wholly given over to divine love, he seems mad and dispenses with all religious responsibility.

The Masmuda is one of the large tribal groups in central Morocco

The Midrach represents a profound reading and lengthy commentary on the text of the Bible. Midrachite literature developed over a long period from the 1st to the 11th century AD.

Mikhael Naimy was born in 1889 and died in 1988 in Beirut, and was a Lebanese poet and writer. He pursued ecclesiastical studies at the Russian seminary in Nazareth, then at Poltava. In 1911 he went to the United States, where he settled until 1931, and became one of the most celebrated representatives of the Arab diaspora in that country. He returned to Lebanon in 1932, to Baskinta. He finally died of pneumonia in 1988 in Beirut. Like his teacher and friend Gibran Khalil Gibran, Naimy hoped that the Arab world would achieve a “synthesis of the spiritual civilisation of the East and the material civilisation of the West.” Naimy wrote 99 books in total. His principle oeuvre remains The Book of Mirdad.

Theodoret was an only child to parents who had long awaited his arrival in the world, which was probably the reason for their frequent visits to the ascetics.

The sanctuary at Lourdes was greatly enhanced from the 1870s under pressure from the fundamental assumptionists of the journal Le Pèlerin in 1873.

A wandering monk was an itinerant Christian monk not attached to a monastery. This practice was in vogue in the 4th century before being progressively discouraged and then condemned by a number of Councils, in particular the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

The mufti is a consultant on jurisprudence who has the authority to issue legal opinions called fatwa.

Nembutsu is an Amidist Buddhist school founded in Japan as the end of the Heian era (beginning of the 12th century) by the monk Ryonin. As with all the Amidist schools, it is centred on the devotion of Amitabha or Amida, Buddha reigning on the pure earth where the cycle of transmigrations has ceased.

The syllable 'Om', in Hinduism, as well as Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism, constitutes the primordial mantra ie the original sound during the creation of the universe.

Ordinary virtues such as modesty, courage etc

The last great episode of collective possession which led to a thorough enquiry by doctors and clerics was that of Morzine (1857-1870).

Psychasthenia was defined at the end of the 19th century by Pierre Janet as a form of neurosis characterised by obsessions and inhibitions.

Psychiatry was established at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries as a medical discipline specialising in the treatment of the insane which involved a new approach to mental illness, new asylums, and a new legal mechanism to define it (1838).

Psychoanalysis originated in neurology and the practice of hypnosis at the end of the 19th century; psychoanalysis became an autonomous discipline in the first decades of the 20th century and spread through France in the inter-war years.

Psychology emerged from philosophy at the end of the 19th century and developed through complementary branches: experimental psychology, pathological psychology, and psychotherapy.

The Regragas tribe was an Amazigh tribe belonging to the Masmuda sub-tribe, from the Chiadma region in the south west of Morocco with its base at Essaouira. This tribe became the pinnacle of Moroccan Sufism.

Revelation is the way in which God and men enter into a relationship. In the Christian tradition, Revelation is that of God and Jesus Christ.

The Edict of Fontainbleu, otherwise known as the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, was signed in 1685 by Louis XIV. It deprived the Protestants of their freedom of worship in the name of religious unity in the realm.

Ribat Chakir was a military camp which was also served as a place for spiritual education. It was among the first places of worship and prayer in the history of Morocco.

Ribats were at first places of refuge for Sufis to practice their mystical rites; they later evolved to become places of learning for mysticism. Ribats also had a role as sanctuaries and sometimes as fortresses for the defence of Islamic territory.

Sabbataism was a fringe movement of Judaism which recognised Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1675) as the Messiah awaited by the Jews. He proclaimed himself the Messiah in Smyrna in 1648 and attracted numerous followers including communities far beyond the Ottoman Empire. Condemned by the Jewish authorities (herem) and threatened by the Ottoman Suktan Mehmet IV, Sabbatai Zevi ended up converting to Islam in 1666, bringing some of his disciples with him.

Samsara is the sanscrit term literally meaning “that which goes round” and describes the reincarnations of souls afflicted with suffering and ignorance. This concept is found also in Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.

According to Calvin, sanctification was the process whereby the believer confirmed, through his life, the salvation he had received from God.

The sankhya is one of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism (darshana) which is more specifically orientated toward cosmological speculation. Codified in the sankhyakarika around the 4th and 5th centuries, it is in general close to yoga.

The Sefer ha-Bahir, literally the 'Book of the Bright' is one of the first texts in the Jewish mystical tradition. Its dating is controversial, but it is estimated to have been written in the 12th century. Adopting the form of the Midrach, the Bahir is an anthology of fairly disparate commentaries on the Bible story, based on concepts which were later greatly developed in kabbalist literature.

A technical term from kabbalist literature. the sefirot are the 10 emanations, or powers, by which God the Creator is said to become manifest, accessible through the search for knowledge or contact with divinity.

Song of God (Bhagavad-Gita) is part of the Mahabharata – a vast epic poem of 250,000 verses compiled between the 4th century BC and the 6th century AD – dedicated to Krishna.

Stigmatisation consists in the regular appearance on the body (most often on the hands and wrists) of marks similar to those of the wounds of Jesus. The phenomenon is often accompanied by visions and may culminate in total abstinence from food.

Element of the psychic structure working unconsciously on the id as a means of defence against the impulses of the id, producing guilt, and which is developed from childhood by the internalisation of the demands and sanctions of the parents. The super-ego, the ego and the id are the three agents of personality. The super-ego is the determinant of moral sense.

Superior virtues signifies the cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance.

A synodal letter is a missive addressed by a bishop to the faithful of the diocese to notify them of the decisions of a provincial assembly.

The term taifa literally means a religious or ethnic community, and later became synonymous with the kingdom at the time of the Umayyad Calipahte of Al-Andalus in the 9th century.

The 'Robber synod' of Ephesus was the council called by Theodosius II in 449 to address the question of of Eutyches, condemned in 448 for monophysism. Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria, agreed with his predecessor Cyril's ruling in 431; he opened the synod without waiting for the arrival of the fathers of Antioch, rehabilitated Eutyches and deposed the orthodox bishops. Pope Leo the Great condemned this assembly and described it as brigandage.

The Angelic state signifies monastic life and presupposes a detachment from the world of the present in favour of the world to come, that of the saints and the angels well versed in contemplation and eternal praise.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints is one of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. It administers the process of beatification and canonisation of saints.

The Daughters of the Covenant were young girls or celibate women or chaste married women dedicated to monastic life.

The Episcopal Conference or Bishops' Conference is a permanent institution of a nation or given territory which exercises a number of pastoral duties on behalf of the faithful of a particular church. It decides the forms and means of the Apostolate adapted to its territory and the functioning of canon law.

The Golden Legend (Legenda aurea in Latin) is a work written in Latin between 1261 and 1266 by Jacques de Voragine, Dominican and Archbishop of Genoa, which recounts the life of about 150 saints or groups of saints and Christian martyrs, and, following the dates of the liturgical year, certain events in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The original title of the work was Legenda sanctorum alias Lombardica hystoria, which literally means “That which must be read about the saints or the history of Lombardy”. The work was soon known as Legenda aurea as its contents were judged to be of great value, like gold.

The Lurian kabbalah is a kabbalist system attributed to Isaac Luria (1534-1572), a kabbalist of Ashkenazy origin who settled in Galilee at the end of his life, in the town of Safed. His teaching was presented as a commentary on the zoharic tradition which, however, he greatly developed and altered. In a form seen as classical, Isaac Luria introduced original and innovative ideas within the kabbalist tradition, contributing significantly to its popularisation.

The monophysite doctrine, or monophysism is a heresy which claims that the human nature of Christ does not exist. The Council of Chalcedon condemned this heresy and proclaimed the dual nature of Christ. Certain churches such as that of Alexandria adopted monophysism.

The literature of ancient Jewish mysticism principally addresses two themes; the merkavah ('the divine chariot') and the heikhalot (the 'palaces') having been the basis of many commentaries known as the 'literature of the Palaces' or the 'literature of the merkavah', dating approximately from the 4th 5th and 6th centuries. The central figure is that of the divine throne, object of contemplation for the mystic, who must achieve different stages (the different palaces) before arriving at the palace of the divine King.

The Rahbani brothers, Assi (1923-1986) and Mansour (1925-2009) were artists and composers, musicians, poets and managers. They are best known for their collaboration with the Lebanese singer Fayrouz.

The Second Council of Constantinople was called by Emperor Justinian in 553 to condemn the extraction of three fathers of Antioch: Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas, and to bring round the monophysites.

The Six Days War resulted in a crushing victory for the Israeli army and a profound modification of frontiers: with the occupation of East Jerusalem, Trans-Jordan, Gaza, the Golan Heights and Sinai, Israel increased its territory fourfold.

Theosophy, etymologically speaking, signifies 'knowledge of the divine', and is a description of the hidden mysteries of the life of God in his relationship to that of man and of creation. The term 'theosophy' has, since the 19th century, been applied to a western esoteric trend with links to eastern traditions and which is known under the name of the 'Theosophy Society'.

Theosophy is the knowledge of the hidden mysteries of divinity and thereby the universe in their relationship to men and God.

The vedanta is one of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism (darshana), orientated towards the metaphysical.

The Yoga Sutra (Aphorisms of Yoga) attributed to Patanjali – no doubt in reality two authors fairly distanced from each other in time – is the central text of that school (darshana) of Hinduism. Its classic form was fixed around the third and fourth centuries. It consists of aphorisms, most often prophetic, and is the subject of many commentaries, including contemporary ones.

The zaouia was theoretically a place of worship, formally organised for the teaching of religious science and mysticism to disciples by a 'teacher' sheikh venerated for his charisma and his mystical devotion. The zaouia was often also an institution with social, political, and even military functions.

The Zaouia was theoretically a place of religious worship, formally organised for the teaching of religious science and mysticism by a sheikh 'master' venerated for his charisma and his mystical devotion. The Zouaia was often also an institution with social, political and even military functions.

Zen (chan in Chinese) is a form of Buddhism, associated in its origins with a person called Bodhi Darma who came from Ceylon in the 6th century. This form was developed in China under the Tang dynasty (6th-9th century) then prospered essentially in Japan where it had a major cultural influence on Japanese ritual, such as the tea ceremony and the organisation of Japanese gardens.

The Zohar is the central text of Jewish mysticism. It is a compilation, the first elements of which date from the end of the 13th century and which are presented as an esoteric commentary on the scriptures. Research suggests that the author was Moses de Léon, but tradition attributes the text to Simeon Bar Yohai, master of the Mishnah, who died in the 2nd century AD.