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Iambilicus
(also, Jambilicus, A.D. 250-325) A Neo-Platonist philosopher who wrote The Mysteries of the Chaldeans and Assyrians. He gave formulas for invoking magical powers, one of which was plagiarized almost verbatim by Nostradamus and used for his first quatrain, I-1. He has been quoted and plagiarized from by many subsequent writers on the subject of magic. Iannes & Iambres The two magicians who challenged Moses in the biblical account of a magic contest at Pharaoh's court. They are known in Arabian lore as Sadur and Ghadur. Losers. I Ching (formerly written, “Y-Kim” or “I King,” and pronounced, ee-ching) Scapulimancy, an ancient form of fortune-telling, involved burning the shoulder blade of an animal in a slow fire, then examining the cracks thus produced, in order to divine the future. Through the Chinese, this evolved into a much more attractive method known as, and described in, the Book of Changes or I Ching, ascribed to an early emperor of China, Fu Hsi (formerly written, “Fo Hi,”) who is generally supposed to have lived 2953-2838 B.C., though that is unlikely. The book first appeared in English in 1882 and attracted much attention among the occultists, who were eager to adopt anything of Asiatic origin. This basic idea involves two directly opposite forces, “yin” and “yang,” the yin being the female/negative/receptive/dark/earth force and the yang the positive/active/bright/sky (or heaven) force. The yin force is said to be stronger in the winter and the yang in the summer. Both are equal at the spring and fall equinoxes. For purposes of divination, the permutations of 64 hexagrams, each formed from a pair of trigrams, are consulted. Each is formed from a set of solid or broken lines. The yin is represented by a broken line and yang by a solid line. Sets of three yin and/or yang lines are known as “trigrams,” and there are eight possibilities (23). Each has an attribute and a name: Combined in sets of six lines (pairs of trigrams), there are 64 (26) possible combinations, and the figures are known as “hexagrams.” The I Ching contains detailed meanings for these diagrams, and a complicated system exists for shaking inscribed reeds from a container (or, in an alternate mode, tossing coins), then referring to the I Ching and trying to make sense of the results. The success of the I Ching lies largely in its rather flattering and generally nonthreatening messages, along with the vague language it uses. Almost any meaning can be derived from a configuration and the very vague, poetic and general book interpretations, and it is probably as a form of self-administered pop psychology that the system finds its greatest value. See also sortilege. Icke, David In March 1991, a former U.K. soccer star, spokesperson for the Green party, and broadcaster named David Icke called a press conference in London to announce a number of upcoming world-shaking events revealed to him personally, he said, by Socrates, “the Godhead,” Jesus Christ, and various other spirits. They had chosen him, he said, to be the “channel for the Christ spirit.” The press paid close attention and published lengthy interviews with Mr. Icke. Mr. Icke declared that “disruptive thought vibrations” originating with the Sicilian Mafia and the Tiananmen Square massacre in China had combined to set in motion a cataclysm that would first be evidenced when Mount Rainier in the United States would explode. No date was given. This would be followed, he said, by the complete disappearance of New Zealand, the collapse of the Channel Tunnel, the fall of Naples Cathedral, and an unspecified failure of the Texas oil fields. These events would be brought about by the “archangel Ak-Taurus,” who, he said, had previously managed to thwart an attempt by the citizens of Atlantis to avoid the submersion of that civilization. The Atlanteans, said Mr. Icke, had been urged to tune in to the “power point” at Stonehenge, but they did not heed the warning and were thus destroyed. He also revealed that both King Arthur and Merlin, along with the archangels, have now turned off the power at Stonehenge so that Ak-Taurus cannot use it against mankind. What a relief! By Christmas 1991, Mr. Icke predicted, Cuba, Greece, the Isle of Arran, the cliffs of Kent, and Teeside would be hit by a great earthquake (8.0 on the Richter scale) that would submerge them. Mr. Icke has since stated that at the time he made these predictions he knew they were crazy. I have no disagreement with that evaluation. Ideomotor Effect This is the psychological phenomenon that underlies dowsing, automatic writing, table tipping, and the Ouija board. Quite unconsciously, the participant is moving the hand enough to make the movement of the involved device occur, though he may attribute the motion to the divine or supernatural force in which he believes. In all these events, nothing in the way of information is revealed to the operator except what he already knows. The effect is very powerful with some personalities, and no amount of evidence will disabuse believers in the magical nature of the phenomenon. Ideoplast Differentiated from ectoplasm in that it is a materialization formed by the mind rather than by spirit forces. A term invented by Schrenck-Notzing. Illuminati An identification generally adopted since the fifteenth century by those who believe they have a special understanding of mystical, occult, and obscure matters. The official Order of the Illuminati, though it had its origins much earlier, was a secret society founded in May of 1776 by Bavarian university law professor Adam Weishaupt (1748-1811). Originally a group of republican freethinkers loosely related to the freemasonry movement, it really lasted only a decade or so, but interest in the group was happily rekindled later by authors such as Aleister Crowley and today a plethora of dunderhead conspiracy nuts such as Texe Marrs — publisher of “Power of Prophecy” — ascribe to these underground agents — as well as the freemasons movements — every sort of imaginable, rascally, devious, action against humanity. Certainly, the Illuminati notion must be the most adaptable and wide-reaching of all conspiracy theories. It takes in such subjects as communism, the French Revolution, kabala, the Ku Klux Klan, the Mafia, magic, pyramids, Satanism, spoon-bending, Stonehenge, UFOs, witchcraft, Zionism, and many other silly pursuits and philosophies. The UK’s David Icke who has never hesitated to plunge into any conspiracy idea, has declared that the Illuminati are reptilian aliens. Who knows? Does anyone care? Incubus (plural, incubi) A male demon that visits women at night for purposes of copulation. Among most husbands, not a generally believed story. See also succubus. Inquisition See Holy Inquisition. Intuition Knowledge or feelings about events, conditions, or other data without apparent direct evidence, regular sensory input or previous training. A faculty often ascribed, by tradition, more to women than to men. There are two ways of looking at intuition: The mystic tends to consider it a paranormal or divine attribution, the pragmatist sees it as an unconscious drawing upon basic instincts, previous experience, and available clues to arrive at a probable decision or conclusion. Persons highly skilled in various arts often exhibit remarkable abilities to know facts and subtleties about various substances, people and circumstances, skills that may appear almost supernatural to the uncritical observer. For another example, a mother's ability to “know” of danger to her child may be triggered by sounds that are audible to the mother on an unconscious level, but which suddenly change or cease in a manner that shows a difference to which the mother is sensitive. A supernatural explanation is not parsimonious when examining such matters. Imp A juvenile demon or child of a devil. immortality The state of eternal life, or at least living far, far beyond normal expectation. Cagliostro, Mary Baker Eddy, Saint Germain, and many other mystics claimed they would live forever, and gave formulas for doing so successfully. That is, they successfully gave formulas; the formulas were unsuccessful. It will suffice to give just one such formula in order to illustrate the practical difficulty of following the plan. In the 1660s, one Eirenaeus Philoponus Philalethes, an alchemist, outlined his system for attaining immortality. He suggested the following concoction: 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 straightaway, 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 It would appear that the apothecary who wished to prepare this substance might need immortality in order to look up the various substances and terms needed. Immortality appears to be still unattainable. incantation A phrase, verse, song, or other form of magic formula that is used to bewitch a person, summon demons, or invoke curses. It is more often sung than merely spoken. A typical formula for calling a demon runs thus: Xilka, Xilka, Besa, Besa, Besa, Besa, Xilka, Xilka. . . And so on. Iridology This is a quack system of diagnosis originated by Hungarian physician Ignatz von Peczely and revived in the twentieth century by an American chiropractor named Bernard Jensen. It assumes that a homunculus is represented in the iris of the eye. The iris is charted in zones which represent all areas of the body. Discolorations, streaks, and spots present in these areas are interpreted as either present or future problems. Since there is no differentiation between existing or yet-to-come physical defects, the interpreter/diagnoser cannot be wrong. The irises of the human eyes mapped by Bernard Jensen, a doctor of chiropractic, showing the parts of the body represented by iris areas, according to iridology theory. Iridology has been tested many times and has always failed. Nonetheless, it is still popular, particularly in Belgium and France. |