Occult
Hidden or concealed; in early modern 'occult philosophy' it often referred to qualities thought to act without an obvious visible mechanism.
Reference · Glossary
Glossary
A guide to the words used across this site and in the texts behind it. Definitions describe historical usage, not proven supernatural effects. A term may mean different things in different traditions; the tradition label tells you which sense is meant here.
Looking for a sign rather than a word? Symbols draws the signs of astrology, alchemy and geomancy and links each to what this study says about it.
7 terms · page 1 of 1
Occult philosophy
The study of hidden qualities and relationships in nature, the heavens and religious rites as organized by Renaissance writers such as Agrippa; 'occult' here means hidden, not automatically evil.
Odd and even
The parity rule in geomancy: an odd total becomes one mark and an even total becomes two. It is the arithmetic behind derived figures.
Omen
Also: Omens
A sign read as foretelling, taken from something that happened rather than from something cast or calculated. The oldest astrological material is omen literature.
Opposition
An approximate 180-degree relationship between chart positions, traditionally read as a polarity or confrontation.
Orb
The allowed deviation from an exact aspect in an astrological method; there is no single orb rule shared by all traditions.
Ouroboros
A serpent shown biting its own tail, used among other things as a sign for the alchemical work's circularity and transformation.