Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA (c. 4 B.C.)

A Greek philosopher who travelled widely in the East and is said to have visited India, where he was Initiated into the Elusian Mysteries.

The narrative of his travels, given by his disciple Damis and reproduced by Philostratus, is so full of wondrous events that by the Middle Ages Apollonius had come to be regarded as an entirely mythical character.

Among his recorded exploits is the story of how he reanimated the corpse of a Roman matron who had died a short time previously. Besides working this and similar miracles, Apollonius went about preaching love and the forgiveness of one's enemies. In many ways his life resembled that of Jesus and, like him, Apollonius was believed to have ended his earthly mission by ascending bodily to heaven.

Many Western occultists now regard him as their Magister, or spiritual patron, and commemorate his life by an act of dedication performed around sunset on May 1st. In 1854 the occultist Eliphas Levi performed a ceremony designed to summon the shade of Apollonius, but the experiment had somewhat mixed results.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc