THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.sufi,alt.islam.sufism,alt.religion.gnostic,alt.magick From: haramullahSubject: Khidr/Green One in Sufism (was Non Jews and Kabbalah) Date: Sat, 11 Aug 2001 00:23:07 GMT 50010725 VI! om Hail Satan! haramullah: >>are there sources of instruction on kabbalah travelling about >>and offering instruction somewhat anonymously, such as Khidr, >>the Green Man among Sufis, Fox Spirits in Chinese Buddhism, >>or Taoist Sages and Immortals? >> lilah11@aol.comnospam (Sarah): >Who is the Green Man among sufis? I want to know because a green man >showed up in a drawing I did recently, he is burying an egg shaped >object. Could you tell me where to find out more about this? there's a Green Man of Europe (Spring Man!) and also of the Sufis, who makes an appearance in the Qur'an as an impenetrable instructor of the Prophet Moses (may peace be upon him). from what I've heard and read in researching the material I'll append below I find that Khidr is associated with Elijah amongst those who enjoy a connect with Judaism, as well as with Metatron amongst those who find some connection with Hermeticism valuable. a trickster, the Green Man or Green One has been featured in an article within the magazine "Gnosis" in one of their April Fool's Day specials. I'm sure there is quite a bit of information about him, since, after Muhammad and Muhammad's kin, he is one of the more popular figures of legend and lore (and has been depicted graphically at times!). here's the reference document I just added to the Lucky Mojo Esoteric Archive: [from http://www.kheper.auz.com/topics/mythology/Khezr.html ] The Green Man of the Qur'an Eylon Israeli Just a little something I read last night: (Wilson, Peter Lamborn, "Sacred Drift - Essays on the Margins of Islam", San-Francisco, 1993, p. 140 -- in the last essay, titled "Sacred Drift", and dealing mainly with the concept of 'Travel' is Sufism. This book, and the author's previous one titled "Scandal", are both excellent thought provoking readings from a 'renegade scholar' in search of 'poetic facts'. The paragraph quoted is, of course, out of context, and should be read likewise. ) "Some have identified Khezr with St. George -- but he might more accurately be seen as both St. George and the dragon in one figure. Nature, for esoteric Islam, does not need to be pinned down like some biology specimen or household pest -- there exists no deep moral struggle between Nature and Order in the Islamic worldview. The "spirits" of Nature, such as Khezr and the djinn -- who are in sense the principles of natural power -- recognize in the Muhammadan Light that green portion of the spectrum upon which they themselves are also situated. If Christian moralism "fixes" Nature by "killing it," Islam proceeds by conversion -- or rather, by transmutation. "Nature maintains its measure of independence from merely human and moral sphere, while both realms are bathed in the integrative and salvific light of Muhammadan knowledge. Nowadays Khezr might well be induced to reappear as the patron of modern militant eco-enviromentalism, since he represents the fulcrum or nexus between wild(er)ness and the human/humane. Rather than attempt to moralize Nature (which never works because Nature is amoral), Khadirian Enviromentalism would rejoice simulaneously both in its utter wildness and its "meaningfulness" -- Nature as tajalli (the "shining through" of the divine into creation; the manifestation of each thing as divine light), Nature as an aesthetic of realization. "Khezr is the embodiment of the hadith 'Three things of this world delight the heart: water, green things, and a beautiful face.' He is also, as we shall see, the very patron and personification of Sufi travel." posted on the Donmeh West news list Mon 15 Feb 1999 ================= [from http://www.kheper.auz.com/topics/Islamic_esotericism/Sabbatai/Zevi.htm#3 ] III. Khidr and Sabbatai Sevi ======================= In Sabbateansim, Khidr is equivalent to Elijah, and this is the way they were conceptualized in AMIRA"H's thought. Just as Khidr is, in the Holy Qur'an, Moses' mysterious companion (as you can see from my post on this matter) -- so is Elijah/Khidr Sabbatai Sevi's companion and spiritual guide. Elijah/Khidr was AMIRA"H's mystical mentor, and it was he who has annoited him, in a mystical rite, to be messiah. Part of the rite was a gift, from Elija/Khidr, of the Book of Zohar. This reminds us of the way a Sufi initiate -- a murid -- receives his garmant -- khirqah -- in the Sufi initiation rite. What's more, Khidr is a customay initiation guide in the Sufi tradition. Sufi mystics would meet him in their journies, and he would inspire them, answer their questions, save them from dangers, and in special cases even bestow on them the khirqah. Such bestowing is thought valid initiation in the Sufi tradition, and those who pass it are considered connected to the greatest source of mystic inspiration. The great Sufi mystic Ibn al-`Arabi is one who claimed to have received his khirqah from Khidr. In a way, Sabbatai Sevi is comparable to Ibn al-`Arabi, since he too claimed to have received spiritual guidance and to have passed inititation by Elijah/Khidr. Khidr, or Hizir in Turkish, was greatly venerated by the Bektashi order, and many miracles are connected to his person. One of the miracle recounted is how Sari Saltik fought the seven-headed dragon at Kigra in the Dobruja; Hizir arrived in time to remind him of his sword, seizing which Sari Saltik cut off all the dragon's heads. Sabbatai Sevi used to take part in the Betashi rites conducted at the Bektashi Tekke in Adrianopolis. This Tekke was located at Hizirlik, a name dervied from Hizir, because it was connected with his person. Almost every town in Turky has a place called Khuddur Ellez, i.e., Khidr Elijah. A folk's festive day, the Hidrellez, very popular in Turky, is connected with both Hizir and Ellez (Elijah in Turkish), who are thought in the Turkish tradition to be brothers (or, according to another tradition, lovers; in this legend Elijah is the girl). This festive day is celebrated in the spring, May 5th and 6th, to mark the summer's beginning, and incorporates many magical rites, among which the most prominent one is a future-revelation rite. Since Khidr means "green", he is conceptualized as connceted with resumption of growth in the spring, and as a bringer of affluence, fertility and happiness. In the Sabbatean Calendar, Sivan 21st is selebrated as Elijah's revelation, the day Elija annoited AMIRA"H as messiah. This festive day was celebrated by Tukish Sabbateans for many generations. Sabbatai Sevi is the spring of the Jewish nation; he is the source of affluence and regrowth. Like Khidr, in his wake the greenary swells and flora is renewed. He is the messianic "Green man". How much green meant to Sabbatai Sevi can be learned from his antinomies in Jerusalem after his revelation as messiah. He appeared in public, riding his horse, and wearing a green mantle, saying that this was his wish according to his mysteries. The mystery of green, for AMIRA"H, is the mystery of Khidr, the Green Man, the mystery of Elijah is mentor. AMIRA"H's anoitment by Elijah, the Green Man, the saviour of scattered ones, marks the mythical transition of the whole Jewish nation from the barren cold of winter to spring's regrowth. [at the same site?] Al-Khidr: The Green One Hugh Talat Halman Ages 8-10, 34 pg HB Availability: Usually ships the next business day. B6476 pad $12.95 pad Order ==================== [from http://208.154.71.60/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,108140+14+105852,00.html ] Other Qur'anic figures In addition to Muhammad himself, his cousin and son-in-law 'Ali, the Shi'ah hero, has been surrounded by legends concerning his bravery, his miraculous sword, Dhua'l-fiqar, and his wisdom. 'Ali's son, Husayn, is the subject of innumerable poems that concern the day of his final fight in Karbala'. Almost every figure mentioned in the Qur'an has become the centre of a circle of legends, be it Yusuf, the symbol of overwhelming beauty, or Jesus with the life-giving breath, the model of poverty and asceticism. Of special interest is Khidr, identified with the unnamed companion of Moses (Qur'an, surah 20). He is the patron saint of the wayfarers, connected with green, the colour of heavenly bliss, appearing whenever a pious person is in need, and immortal since he drank from the fountain of life, which is hidden in the darkness. In many respects, he is the Islamic counterpart of Elijah. Strong influences of the Alexander romances (a widely distributed literary genre dealing with the adventures of Alexander the Great) are visible in his figure. EOF ================== [from http://www.adishakti.org/his_light_within/surah_34_(Al_Nur).htm ] Ibn al-Arabi did not believe that the God he knew had an objective existence. Even though he was a skilled metaphysician, he did not believe that Gods existence could be proved by logic. He liked to call himself a disciple of Khidr, a name given to the mysterious figure who appears in the Koran as the spiritual director of Moses, who brought the external Law to the Israelites. God has given Khidr a special knowledge of himself, so Moses begs him for instruction, but Khidr tells him that he will not be able to put up with this, since it lies outside his own religious experience. It is no good trying to understand religious "information" that we have not experienced ourselves. The name Khidr seems to have meant "the Green One," indicating that his wisdom was ever fresh and eternally renewable. Even a prophet of Moses stature cannot necessarily comprehend esoteric forms of religion, for, in the Koran, he finds that indeed he cannot put up with Khidrs method of instruction. The meaning of this strange episode seems to suggest that the external trappings of a religion do not always correspond to its spiritual or mystical element. People, such as the ulema, might be unable to understand the Islam of a Sufi like Ibn al-Arabi. Muslim tradition makes Khidr the master of all who seek a mystic truth, which is inherently superior to and quite different from the God which is the same as everybody elses but to a God who is in the deepest sense of the word subjective. Karen Armstrong, A History of God ================ [from http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Glossary/JKL.htm ] * al-Khadir or al-Khidr - Mystical Islamic figure whose name derives from an Arabic root meaning 'green'. A huge amount of information is available on this figure in the Tafsir, Hadith and historical literature of Islam. What might be described as the key primal text concerning al-Khadir occurs in Surat al-Kahf. Here he appears, unnamed, as the mystic sage or pir par excellence, familiar with God's ways and competent to test others. like Musa, about those ways. The moral of this text here in the Qur'an is clearly that God's ways are not man's ways, and the actions of the former imbued with prescient and universal knowledge, only seem bizarre. Al-Khadir appears to have a foot in both the human and celestial spheres and he ranks as a saint in popular and sufi circles alike. (See Wali.) ================ [from http://www.al-qiyamah.org/pdf_files/sufism_mysticism_(digiserve.com).pdf+khidr+Green+Man+Sufism&hl=en ] Muslim: Ibn Arabi: Teacher The teacher (Quotations from Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al- Arabi) Ibn Arabi was above all the disciple of Khidr {an invisible master}... such a relationship with a hidden spiritual master lends the disciple an essentially "transhistorical" dimension and presupposes an ability to experience events which are enacted in a reality other than the physical reality of daily life, events which spontaneously transmute themselves into symbols. (p. 32) Khidr {is} experienced simultaneously as a person and as an archetype... To have him as a master and initiand is to be obliged to be what he himself is. Khidr is the master of all those who are masterless, because he shows all those whose master he is how to be what he himself is: he who has attained the Spring of Life... he who has attained haqiqa, the mystic, esoteric truth which dominates the Law, and frees us from the literal religion. Khidr is the master of all these, because he shows each one how to attain the spiritual state which he himself has attained and which he typifies... Indeed, Khidr's "guidance" does not consist in leading all his disciples uniformly to the same goal, to one theophany identical for all, in the manner of a theologian propagating his dogma. He leads each disciple to his own theophany, the theophany of which he personally is the witness, because that theophany (pp. 32-33) ... each person is oriented toward a quest for his personal invisible guide, or ... he entrusts himself to the collective, magisterial authority as the intermediary between himself and Revelation. (p. 33) All these are matters that cannot be taught uniformly to all, because each man is the measure of what he can understand and of what, in accordance with the "economy" of esoterism, it is fitting to set before him. (p. 88) (c) 1999 by Deb Platt [http://www.digiserve.com/mystic/Muslim/Ibn_Arabi/teacher.html (1 of 2) [3/14/2001 6:38:24 AM] =========================== Surah 18: Al Kahf Section 9 [ED. NOTE: This episode in the story of Moses is meant to illustrate four points. (1) Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Even so that wisdom did not comprehend everything, even as the whole stock of the knowledge of the prese4nt day, the sciences and the arts, and in literature, (if it could be supposed to be gathered in one individual), does not include all knowledge. Divine knowledge, as far as man is concerned, is unlimited. Even after Moses recevied his divine mission, his knowledge was not so perfect that it could not receive further additions. (2) Constant effort is necessary to keep our knowledge square with the march of time, and such effort Moses is shown to be making. (3) The mysterious man meets (18:65 and n. 2411), to whom Tradition assigns the name of *Khidr* (literally, Green), is the type that knowledge which is ever in contact with life as it is actually lived. (4) There are paradoxes in life: apparent loss may be real gain; apparent cruelty may be real mercy; returning good for evil may really be justice and not generosity (18:79-82). Allah's wisdom transcends all human calculation.... ] 60. Behold, Moses said To his attendant, "I will not Give up until I reach The junction of the two [ED. NOTE: The most probable geographical location (if any is required in a story that is a parable) is where the two arms of the Red Sea join together, *viz.*, the Gulf of 'Aqabah and the Gulf of Suez. They enclose the Sinai Peninsula, in which Moses and the Israelites spent many years in their wanderings. There is also authority ... for interpreting the two seas as the two great streams of knowledge, which were to meet in the persons of Moses and Khidr.] WHOOPS! end of my free time for this one. consult Ali's version of Qur'an for more on this, as well as the sources mentioned. peace be with you, haramullah -- emailed replies may be posted ----- "sa avidya ya vimuktaye" ----- "that which liberates is ignorance" http://www.luckymojo.com/nagasiva.html hoodoo catalogue: send postal address to catalogues@luckymojo.com
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|