Q._The seventeenth letter of the English Alphabet. It is the obsolete Æolian Qoppa and the Hebrew Koph. As a numeral it is 100, and its symbol is the back of the head from the ears to the neck. With the Æolian Occultists it stood for the symbol of differentiation.

Qabbalah (Heb.). The ancient Chaldean Secret Doctrine, abbreviated into Kabala. An occult system handed clown by oral transmission; but which, though accepting tradition, is not in itself composed of merely traditional teachings, as it was once a fundamental science, now disfigured by the additions of centuries, and by interpolation by the Western Occultists, especially by Christian Mystics. It treats of hitherto esoteric interpretations of the Jewish Scriptures, and teaches several methods of interpreting Biblical allegories. Originally the doctrines were transmitted “from mouth to ear” only, says Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, “in an oral manner from teacher to pupil who received them; hence the name Kabbalah, Qabalah, or Cabbala from the Hebrew root QBL, to receive. Besides this Theoretic Kabbalah, there was created a Practical branch, which is concerned with the Hebrew letters, as types a like of Sounds, Numbers, and Ideas.” (See “Gematria”, “Notaricon”, “ Temura”.) For the original book of the Qabbalah—the Zohar—see further on. But the Zohar we have now is not the Zohar left by Simeon Ben Jochai to his son and secretary as an heirloom. The author of the present approximation was one Moses de Leon, a Jew of the XIIIth century. (See “Kabalah” and “Zohar”.)

Qadmon, Adam, or Adam Kadmon (Heb.). The Heavenly or Celestial Man, the Microcosm (q.v.), He is the manifested Logos; the third Logos according to Occultism, or the Paradigm of Humanity.

Qai-yin (Heb.). The same as Cain.

Qaniratha (Mazd.). Our earth, in the Zoroastrian Scriptures, which is placed, as taught in the Secret Doctrine, in the midst of the other six Karshwars, or globes of the terrestrial chain.

(See Secret Doctrine, II. p. 759.)

Q’lippoth (Heb.), or Klippoth. The world of Demons or Shells; the same as the Aseeyatic World, called also Olam Klippoth. It is the residence of Samâel, the Prince of Darkness in the Kabbalistic allegories.  But note what we read in the Zohar (ii.43a) “For the service of the Angelic World, the Holy. . . . made Samâel and his legions, i.e., the world of action, who are as it were the clouds to be used (by the higher or upper Spirits, our Egos) to ride upon in their descent to the earth, and serve, as it were, for their horses”. This, in conjunction with the fact that Q’lippoth contains the matter of which stars, planets, and even men are made, shows that Samâel with his legions is simply chaotic, turbulent matter, which is used in its finer state by spirits to robe themselves in. For speaking of the “vesture” or form (rupa) of the incarnating Egos, it is said in the Occult Catechism that they, the Mânasaputras or Sons of Wisdom, use for the consolidation of their forms, in order to descend into lower spheres, the dregs of Swabhavat, or that plastic matter which is throughout Space, in other words, primordial ilus. And these dregs are what the Egyptians have called Typhon and modern Europeans Satan, Samâel, etc., etc. Deus est Demon inversus—the Demon is the lining of God.

Quadrivium (Lat.). A term used by the Scholastics during the Middle Ages to designate the last four paths of learning—of which there were originally seven. Thus grammar, rhetoric and logic were called the trivium, and arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy (the Pythagorean obligatory sciences) went under the name of quadrivium.

Quetzo-Cohuatl (Mex.). The serpent-god in the Mexican Scriptures and legends. His wand and other “land-marks” show him to be some great Initiate of antiquity, who received the name of “Serpent” on account of his wisdom, long life and powers. To this day the aboriginal tribes of Mexico call themselves by the names of various reptiles, animals and birds.

Quiche Cosmogony. Called Popol Vuh; discovered by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg.

(See “Popol Vuh”.)

Quietists. A religious sect founded by a Spanish monk named Molinos. Their chief doctrine was that contemplation (an internal state of complete rest and passivity) was the only religious practice possible, and constituted the whole of religious observances. They were the Western Hatha Yogis and passed their time in trying to separate their minds from the objects of sense. The practice became a fashion in France and also in Russia during the early portion of this century.

Quinanes. A very ancient race of giants, of whom there are many traditions, not only in the folk-lore but in the history of Central America. Occult science teaches that the race which preceded our own human race was one of giants, which gradually decreased, after the Atlantean deluge had almost swept them off the face of the earth, to the present size of man.

Quindecemvir (Lat.). The Roman priest who had charge of the Sibylline books.

Qû-tamy (Chald.). The name of the mystic who receives the revelations of the moon-goddess in the ancient Chaldean work, translated into Arabic, and retranslated by Chwolsohn into German, under the name of Nabathean Agriculture.