Lexicon

I try to keep a running list of interesting words and short phrases from English and other languages. Here is that collection, which, of course, is not in alphabetical order

LEXICON

Mise en Abyme - copy of an image within itself

Arctolatry - Bear Worship

Geschichtlos - people without a history

Mleccha - sanskrit for barbarian

Weltislehre - world ice theory

Pleonasm - using more words than necessary

Inyenzi - Kingarwanda word for cockroach, slur by Hutu toward Tutsi

Anya - from Aynasiz, turkish for “those without a mirror” aka the police

Kgotla - Public council in historic Botswana, early democracy

Acinteyya - Buddhist term for 4 unanswerable questions

Jahiliyya - pre-Islamic Barbarism

Flagelado - the tormented ones, N.E. Brazilians

Qilin - Chinese chimera, presages good rulers, associated with the giraffe

Euphrosynos - Have fun/enjoy life (found on mosaic)

Eudaimonia - human flourishing, a good life

Swaraj- self-rule, Ghandian term

Dromomania - urge to walk

Drapetomania - condition that causes slaves to want to run away, coined by Sam Cartwright in 1851

Sluggish Schizophrenia - USSR term to diagnose dissidents

Ofay- Pig latin for “foe” Black slang for YT people, ‘20’s

Koyaanisqatsi- Hopi for “life out of balance”

Ethnophaulism - an ethnic slur

Cantinflear - From Cantinflaus, to talk a lot but not say anything, Mexican Spanish

Flyting- Scottish insult poetry, 1500’s

Naqāiḍ - Arabic insult poetry

Ikocha Nkocha - Nigerian insult poetry

Enthousiasmos - possession trance

Charivari/Skymmington - English carnaval/mythical land

Orpheotelestae - Greek doctor who dances around the sick

Horror Vacui/Kenophobia - fear of empty space, especially in an artwork

Iram of the Pillars - lost city mentioned in the Quran

Anatamopoiesis - act of creating bodies

Lampades - underworld nymphs

Paideum - interconnectedness of all aspects of a society’s culture, Leo Frobenius

Wyrd - Anglo-Saxon for fate/destiny

Eusebeia - to perform actions appropriate to the god’s, greek version of dharma

Ta’xet - Haida god of violent death

Tia - Haida god of peaceful death

Interdexicality - ability of some words to have different meanings each time used, like “I” or “here”

Grève dezèle - work-to-rule, a strike where things are shut down by following the exact letter of the rules and work grinds to a halt

Sekrata - Sakalava 3rd gender

Gynaceum - greek term for part of the house for women

Zenana - Indian term for part of the house for women

Andion - part of the house for men

Zermatism - theory of history from Stanislaw Szukalsk. All humans from Easter Island, fighting against Yetinsyny, sons of Yeti/humans

Agartha - Kingdom in the hollow earth

Iatrogenic - brought forth from the healer

Tang Ping - Chinese term for “lying flat” aka doing nothing

Bangaku - Japanese, barbarian studies

Melmastya - Pashto term for hospitality

Jirga - Pashto assembly to make decisions by consensus

Khwaindo Jirga - Women’s Jirga

Gua Gou - lit. “interlocking mechanism” chinese, to explain corruption

Multatuli- Latin, lit, “I have suffered much” pen name of Dutch anti-colonial writer, early 1800’s

Ergi - Old Norse, insult meaning unmanly

Seidr - Norse term for ability to tell the future, considered a feminine trait

Yamy - Russian urban ghetto

Fenya/Ofenya - Russian criminal slang

Myaso - lit. meat, Russian, term for person you escape gulag with that you intend to eat

KOT- Russian tattoo, Native of Prisons

NEZh- Russian tattoo, fed up with this fucking life

ZLO - Russian tattoo, take revenge on informants

Hui - chinese informal loan co-operatives

Zhulong - Pig Dragon, artifact from neolithic China

Gylang - social system based on gender equality

Yaogui - Starving ghost, people with insatiable appetites

Batin - hidden inner form, Islam

Zahir - surface, apperent form, Islam

Kenjataimu - Japanese, post-nut clarity

Ashe - universal life-force in Afro-Cuban religions

YKINMKBYKIOK - your kink is not my kink, but your kink is okay

Xanthic - yellow

Algedonic - characterized by pain associated with pleasure

Echopraxia - involuntary repetition/imitation of another’s actions, name of brothel in BotNS

Apotropaic - designed to ward off evil

Eutarchia - perpetual happiness

Kleos - Greek, renown, glory

Eidolon - spiritual image of double

Onomastics - study of names

Oubliette - place of forgetting, dungeon entered from above

Peryton - any creature with bat wings

Phrontistery - place for study/thinking

Pinakotheken - place for exhibiting art

Scoplanga - beautiful woman

Teratoid - monster-like

Thaumaturge - wonder-worker

Threnody/threnodic - Lament, lament-like, dirge

Conatus - an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself

Abya Yala - lit. “land of vital blood,” used by natives across Colombia and Panama as a sort of South American “Turtle Island”

Katabasis - lit, “going down” trip to the netherworld

Sitra Achra - realm of evil in Kabbalah, home to the Qliphoth

Qliphoth - husks or shells, dark side reflection in Kabbalah

Dunya - temporary world and earthly possessions, Arabic

al-Akhirah - afterlife and eternity, Arabic

Haruspex - person trained to read entrails

Kabloona - YT devil, Inuit. Historic

Qallunang - YT devil, Inuit, current

Tuungaq - devil, Inuit

Sila - breath of soul, life-force, Inuit

Utkiavik - a place for hunting owls, Inuit

Zersetzung - E. German term for gang-stalking

Ori - Yoruba concept of spiritual intuition and destiny.

Iwa Pele - Yoruba for balanced life

Emere - Yoruba, child who can travel between the spirit world and earth at will. Usually bad and tends to die on days of great joy

Der Irrgarten - German, maze lit. “error garden”

Homoioi - Spartan term for “those who are equal”

Wogie - Checto (Oregon) term for mythical original inhabitants of the land, small and White and driven out. Originally thought that YT people were the Wogie returned

Sangah - Popular assemblies in S. Asia

Pochteca - Aztec warrior-merchant class. Also acted as spies

Sapa Inca - lit. “the unique Inca”

Khipu - Incan knots as records

Khipukamayuqs - Knot keepers in Andean society

Huachuma - Mescaline-based drink in Peru

Ondinnonk - Wendat, concept of special dreams that must be realized

Onoharoin - Wendat, festival to realize Ondinnonk dreams

Izao rehetra izao - lit. “that is all” term for Madagascar

Gezirart al-Komr - “island of the moon” term for Madagascar

Ombiasy - “man of virtue” Sakalava shamen

Maro Taola - time of bones

Ampitifirambazaha - place of shooting Vazaha, deep south

Bath Kol - Heavenly voice, audible in biblical times

Mahlath - female demon

Kavvanah - mystical exegesis

Skeuomorphism - design term for making an object look like the thing it is replacing

JDPON - Joint Dictatorship of the Proletariat of the Oppressed Nations

Eubouleus - good counselor, epithet for Hades and Dionysus

Hyperia - land of dancing

Xenios - God of Strangers

Zeitgeber - time-giver, usually the sun

Chronotaxis - departure into time

Enantiodromia - tendency of things to change into their opposites

Symbiopoisis - act of creating one another

Myxocene - age of slime

Poshlost - Russian, self-satisfied vulgarity

Dveshabhakti - Hate-Devotion, in Hinduism, spending all your time hating a god is thinking about them all the time and, thus good. Happens to Kamsa, who is obsessed with his nephew Krishna, who is destined to kill him.

Scholé - inaction/leisure with a higher purpose, Greek

Theoria - Contemplation

гулять (gulyat) - To wonder w/o purpose

Majdhub - Someone who is mad for Allah

Kakotherēs- Greek, unable to endure the summer heat

Nachash - name of the serpent in Genesis, as a noun it means “serpent” as verb, “to divine” as an adjective, “shining”

Khanqua - Sufi lodge

Misology - hatred of reason/logic

Tetralemma - Indian logical form, each proposition has 4 possibilities

-It is true

-It is not true

-It is both true and not true

-It is neither true nor untrue

G.I.G.O. - garbage in, garbage out

Verschlimmbesserung - German, to make things worse while trying to make them better

Lila - Divine play, child’s play, ease, charm in Hinduism

Ista-devota - One’s chosen deity

Baraka - Spiritual power/authority, Islam

Jama’a - Association of the learned, Islam

N’gana - Mande, man of action

N’gara - Mande, man of words

Majlis - learning circle, Islam

Tulpa - Object or being created by thoughts, Theosophy

Bhava-hatya - ideocide, the murder of ideas or by ideas, Sanskrit coined by Velcheru Naragan Rao

Shlesha - Figure of speech where some expression refers to two different stories at once. Sanskrit

Kottabos - ancient Greek drinking game where one throws wine-dregs at a target in the center of the room.

Shikantaza - Just sitting, objectless meditation, Japanese

Alexithymia - inability to identify one’s emotions

Anagnorisis - sudden discovery of one’s identity and predicament

Geworfenheit: lit. "thrownness" from German. Heidegger's terms for being tossed into a specific context/time/culture

Kozo Oshoku - structural corruption, Japanese

Aflakete - lit. “I have tricked you” name for Legba

Cassés - lit. “breaks” in Haitian Creole. Haitian term for jarring rhythmically dissonant patterns

Telesterion - Secret location of the Elysian mysteries

Umbanda - fusion of Condomble and European spirituality in urban Brazil. Eshu becomes Exu and is fused with the devil

Sondé miroir, O Legba - lit. “to fathom the mirror” to uncover secrets, Haitian

Hen Kai Pan - The One and the All, Greek

Brahmamuhurtha - lit. “The Time of Brahma'' in ancient Hindu time division, best time for mediation/yoga. 1hr 36 minutes before sunrise until 48 minutes before sunrise.

Fana - Annihilation, sufism

Mukhallitun - mixers, syncretists

Zaqqum - tree that grows in hell with devil heads as fruit

Glamour - Scottish word for spell which makes beloved appear ugly to everyone else

Aporia - an irresolvable contradiction in logic or argument

Schreibtischtäter - lit. “writing table perpetrator” German for desk murderers or bureaucrats in Nazi machine.

Cosmophagy - eating the world

Sūnyatā - empty of independent existence, Sanskrit

Clinamen - originally meant “unpredictable swerve” by Lucretius to describe atoms, now means inclination or bias

Sabr & Skukr - “Patients and Gratitude” philosophy of life outside of religion, Arabic

Misology - Hatred of reasoning/debate/words

Gaman Kurabe - game to see who will leave the office first, Japanese

Zaitech - “money games” finance that is not productive but is lucrative, Japanese

O.G.U. - One god universe, Burroughs

Ekpyrosis - Stoic belief in period of burning for the cosmos every great year

Palingenesis - cosmic recreation

Kataklysmos - catastrophe, destruction by water

Mundus Vult Decipi, Ergo Decipiatur <the world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived>

Etiäinen - Spirit/image/doppelganger, that goes ahead of a person and does what they will do, a type of Haltija, or spirit connected to people/places, Finish

Servitor - psychological complex, deliberately created to work for the creator, Chaos Magik on the Thoughtform continuum:

Sigils ->Servitors -> Egregores ->Godforms

Emic/Etic - types of field research. Emic is from within the group being studied, etic is from without.

Takwin - goal is Islamic alchemy to create synthetic life. Associated with Jabir ibn Hayyan

Kausaj - man with a short thin beard, thought of as cunning and untrustworthy, Hindi

Kúseh - thin-bearded, insult, Persian

Khush-rish - well-beared, Persian

Hanami - (花見, "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers

Fylgjam- a spirit, often in the form of an animal that accompanies a person and is connected to their fate. Norse

Heyókȟa- Lakota, contrarian, jester. Laughs when sad, cries when happy, etc. Can act as a sort of police at large festivals. Black Elk was one. Must have had vision of Wakíŋyaŋ, or Thunder-beings, as a child.

Haqq - Truth, Arabic

4 Stages of Sufism:

Shariat - Following Sharia

Tariaqat - literally “path” joining a Sufi brotherhood

Haqiqat - knowledge gained from communion with God

Ma’riaft - Knowledge acquired from spiritual experience, gnosis

Allegory: Shariat is the boat, Tariqat is the roving and diving, Haqiqat is the pearl, Ma’riaft is the gift to see the pearl perpetually

Shut-eye - Carny slang for a mind-reader who starts believing in his own act.

Irfan - Knowledge or gnosis, Arabic

Ikigai - Purpose or reason to live, Japanese

Gylany - society with equality of the sexes

Androcracy - rule by men

Yata no Kagami - Sacred mirror in Shintoism,

Kamaitachi - Youkai, sickle-weasel

Chaoskampf - struggle against chaos, typically personified as a dragon or serpent

Egotic Text - text where you have to use textual clues to put it together

Ti Bonnanj - one of the two human souls in Vodun, the part that is conscious, self-reflective and critical. Either dissolves into the earth or faces final judgment at death

Gwo Bonnanj/Gros Bonnanj - one of the two souls in Vodun. The part that contains memories, intelligence and personhood. Joins the Ginae, or ancestral spirits, at death

Genius Loci Ignotus - unknown spirit of a place

Olam HaTohu - world of chaos, Hebrew

Olam HaTikun - world of order, Hebrew

Horos - the limit between the Pleroma and creation, Greek

5 Breaths in Yoga

Prana - inhalation

Udana - exhalation

Samana - aids in digestion

Apana - aids in excreation

Uyana - interal movement, allows motion

Plotonius’ Phases of Union

Catharsis

Self-reversion

Autophony

Annihilation

Union with the One

Wakashu - young boy objects of desire, Iris and Bellflowers on clothing, Japan, Edo period

Sekhet-Aaru - Field of Reeds, place of honor in Egyptian afterlife

Tenkō - forced ideological conversion of Leftists in Japan, 1925-1945

Tsundoke - piling up books without reading them, Japanese

Rudab - Salvia from another person that gets in your mouth when you kiss them, Arabic

Lazzo - Stock comic routine in commedia dell’arte

Egosyntoic - Behaviors/values/feelings that are in line with our goals and self-image

Egodystonic - Behaviors/values/feelings that are out of line with our goals and self-image

Uji - Time-being. To exist means to exist in time, time itself is a function of being. Dogen, Japanese

Hare hachi bun me - Confucian teaching to only eat until 80% full, Japanese

Uwaisi - transmission of spiritual knowledge between two people who have not met in person, Arabic

Kranti, Vidroh, Samyavad - Revolution, Revolt, Communism, Hindi

Ghotul - community space for youths “children's republics” Gond/Muria tribes in India

Yūgen - Profound sense of the mystery of the universe, Japanese

Oubaitori - do not compare oneself to others, Kanji is 4 different blossoms, Japanese

Otiose- serving no practical purpose

Syndexioi - “united by the handshake” initiates in Mythrism

Mystagouge - someone who initiates into the mysteries

Kusôzu- decay paintings, Japanese

Tophet - Place of abomination, where Moloch is worshiped

Zhīyán - Goblet word, rhetorical device where a words meaning can shift and change depending on the way you look at it, Chinese

Wu Wei - inaction/effortless action, Chinese

Aidos - awe towards the sacred, Greek

Kolófardos - someone who has a wide ass. Usually means someone who has undeserved luck as well. Greek

Katapugon - butt-fucked, Greek

Muliebria Pati - “a woman’s experience” the person penetrated during sex, Latin

Steatopygia - excessively protruding buttocks

Venous Occlusion - Medical term for getting an erection

Telesterion - Hall where Eleusinian Mysteries are held

Sukhavati - Land of Bliss/Western Pure Land in Mahayana

Anam Cara - Soul Friend, Celtic

Waḥdat al-wujūd- Unity of being/ only god exists, Ibn al-Arabi

Honne - lit. “true sound,” true feelings and inner desire, Japanese

Tatemae - lit. “built in front/facade,” one’s public behavior and opinions, Japanese

Uchi - in-group, Japanese

Soto - out-group, Japanese

Gestalt - a whole more than its parts, in psychology an individual who is a blend of mind, emotion, body, soul, unique experiences

Shanzai - counterfeit, imitation or parody products, usually electronics, Chinese

Tsukimi - Moon-viewing parties, especially in autumn. Japanese

Tsentsk - Magical/psychic darts thrown by shamans during ayahuasca ceremonies. Cause illness/death. Shuar

Martha Mitchell effect - when a psych doctor assumes a patient is crazy when their “delusion” is actually happening. Named after Nixon whistleblower who was actually being followed and harassed.

Hypnopompic Hallucinations - hallucinations while waking up

Hypnagogic Hallucinations - hallucinations while falling asleep

Anosognosia - also called "lack of insight," is a symptom of severe mental illness experienced by some that impairs a person's ability to understand and perceive his or her illness.

Exulansis - the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it—whether through envy or pity or simple foreignness

Dybbuk - an evil spirit that possess humans, Jewish folklore

Ibbur - a good spirit that possesses humans, Jewish folklore

Niramiai - staredown before Sumo match

Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto - Shinto goddess of mirth, the dawn, meditation, the arts and revelry

Gboyo- Liberian practice of killing to acquire body parts in order to acquire wealth/power. Gyude Bryant warns presidential candidates against it in 2005

Nostalgie de la boue - literally, nostalgia for the mud, French for an attraction to low life culture and experiences.

Henosis - Greek, state of oneness

Homonoia - opposite of Eris, personification of one-ness

Hireath - deep longing, especially for home. Welsh

Acedia - listlessness, torpor, depression

Abakua - Afro-Cuban men’s secret society

Solomon’s Shamir - worm-like creature that Solomon used to build the first temple

Tsiazombazaha - “ that which is inaccessible to Vazaha” last stronghold in 1947 uprising

Sokushinbutsu - Shugendo mummy

Gorgoneion - apotropaic amulet showing gorgon’s head

Medusa, Sthenno, Euryale - Gorgons

Sybaritic - fond of sensuous luxury

Tlamatinime - Knower of things, Nahuatl sage

Tsundere - Japanese character arch from harsh to warmer, tsun tsun=aloof, dere dere= lovey-dovey

Ipse Dixit - an assertion w/o proof, a dogma

Antichthon - anti-earth in Philoaus cosmology

Tatemae - Social face/opinions, Japanese

Honne - true feelings, Japanese

Ganbatte - try your best/ good luck

Gappu Moe - gap between appearance and personality, Japanese

Bishon - Beautiful boy, Japanese

Wakashu - Beautiful youth, Japanese

Black gold - Taiwanese term for political corruption

Kodama - spirits that inhabit trees, Japan

Ijime - bullying, Japanese

Alkebulan - old name for Africa, used by Moors and Nubians

Serapis - Ptolemaic deity that combined Osirus, Hades, Demeter, Apis

O-yatoi Gaikokujin - Foreigner hired to industrialize, Meiji Japan

Gaisensha - public address vehicle, Japanese

Uyoku dantai - Ultranationalist, Japan

Epekeina tes ousias - beyond being, Plato

Phantic language - small talk, ritualistically test boundaries

Betsubara - Japanese, second stomach for sweets

Hikkoshi Binbo - poverty caused by the expenses of moving, Japanese

Kireru - acts of violence by alienated youth, Japanese

River Sanzu - Japanese Styx

Theoria - Contemplation, looking inward, Greek

Manzai- Double act with straight man (tsukkomi) and funny man (boke), Japanese

UPG - Unverifiable personal gnosis, pagan term

SPG - Subjective Personal gnosis, pagan term

Aperion - infinite w/o limit, Anaximader

Chaekgado - bookshelf painting

Hatsu yume - first dream of the new year

Itutu- calm,collected beauty, source of “cool” Yoruba

Ase - power to make things happen, Yoruba

Mazbut - Djinn of gossip

Shamhurish- sultan of righteous djinn

Apophenias - tendency to see connections in unconnected things, early sign of schizophrenia

Vicus Lusorum - village of the players

Hodology- emotional bearing that humans bring to every task

Bakwas - husband of Dzunukwa, eats ghost food

Hamatsa - NW cannibal society

Anagnorisis - point of a play/novel when a character discovers another character’s true nature

Kushtaka - land otter men in NW tribes, usally drowning people, shapeshifters, sometimes good.

Pratyeka Buddhas- solitary, achieve enlightenment without a teacher or others

Bestu mu kufu - no spiritual meaning, no other ideas, japanese

Omnibus idem - the same to all

Ixiptlatl - god impersonators

Pochteca- merchant spies

Cihuateteo - spirits to women who die in childbirth

Lord Tlacuache - possum who gives fire

Inugami Gyōbu - famous Tanuki that leads the 808 Tanuki in war

Tanuki-bayashi - mysterious tanuki drumming

Tzimtzum - "contraction" or "concealment" in Hebrew

Atakkavarcara - Pali, "beyond logic," "outside the realm of conjecture," or "beyond the realm of thought"

Eidolon - spirit image of a living or dead person

Aflakete - lit. “I have tricked you” nickname for Legba

Kapnobatai - lit, "those who walk on clouds” Scythian term for shamans who use cannabis

Temicxoch - dream flowers, state of hallucination, Nahau

Anba dlo - under the waters, Haitian term for space that includes the ancestors and Lwa

Psychostasia - motif of gods holding a scale

Pasithea - Greek Grace, goddess of relaxation, mediation, hallucinations, beloved by Hypnos, and parent to Morpheus

Ekphrasis - description of another work of art in a story