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Open Sesame
"Open sesame" (french: Sésame, ouvre-toi; ar, افتح يا سمسم) is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in Antoine Galland's version of '' One Thousand and One Nights''. It opens the mouth of a cave in which forty thieves have hidden a treasure. Documentation The phrase first appears in Antoine Galland's French translation of '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (1704–1717) as ''Sésame, ouvre-toi'' (English, "Sesame, open yourself"). In the story, Ali Baba overhears one of the 40 thieves saying "open sesame". His brother later cannot remember the phrase, and confuses it with the names of grains other than sesame, becoming trapped in the magic cave. Galland's phrase has been variously translated from the French into English as "Sesame, open", "Open, sesame" and "Open, O sesame". Classification Open sesame has been classified by Stith Thompson as motif element D1552.2, "Mountain opens to magic formula". Origin Sesame seeds grow in a see ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The term ''Talmud'' normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (). It may also traditionally be called (), a Hebrew abbreviation of , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (, 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah; and the Gemara (, 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Oriental Society
The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society encourages basic research in the languages and literatures of the Near East and Asia and covers subjects such as philology, literary criticism, textual criticism, paleography, epigraphy, linguistics, biography, archaeology, and the history of the intellectual and imaginative aspects of Eastern civilizations, especially of philosophy, religion, folklore and art. It is closely associated with Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ..., which is the site of its library. The society publishes a journal quarterly, the '' Journal of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. It is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson's Muppets, and includes short films, with humor and cultural references. It premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy, and high viewership. It has aired on the United States national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run moving to premium channel HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service HBO Max in 2020. ''Sesame Street'' is one of the longest-running shows in the world. The show's format consists of a combination of commercial television production elements and techniques which have evolved to reflect changes in American culture and aud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hocus Pocus (magic)
Hocus-pocus is a reference to the actions of magicians, often as the stereotypical magic words spoken when bringing about some sort of change. It was once a common term for a magician, juggler, or other similar entertainers. In extended usage, the term is often used (pejoratively) to describe irrational human activities that appear to depend on magic. Examples are given below. Examples of the extended use of the term hocus-pocus ''Those relating to divination or other activity by one practitioner working in isolation:'' Haruspication (divination by inspection of entrails), and necromancy. ''Those relating to a magical connection between two or more people:'' Subconscious direction, cross-dreaming, extrasensory perception, split subjectivity, telepathy, clairvoyance, channelling, psychic transcription, ‘faculty X’, ‘mind energy’. History The earliest known English-language work on magic, or what was then known as ''legerdemain'' (sleight of hand), was published anonym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbarous Name
A barbarous name is a meaningless or seemingly meaningless word used in magic rituals. The term ''barbarous'' comes from the Greek ''barbaroi'' ( el, βάρβαροι) meaning those who do not speak the Greek Language ( barbarians). Often these names were derived from foreign sources and acquired their "barbarous" nature from the magician's lack of understanding of that language.The New Encyclopedia of the Occult, by John Michael Greer, Llewellyn, 2005, p. 58-59The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Facts on File ( Infobase Publishing), 2006, p.31 Many ancient barbarous names were of Egyptian origin, though there were plenty of Hebrew and Persian names that were corrupted by transcription into Greek. They appear throughout the Greek Magical Papyri, a notable example being "ablanathanalba." Iamblichus discusses barbarous names, warning magicians not to translate them even if their original meaning is discovered, due to the belief that the power of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abracadabra
''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence is in the second-century works of Serenus Sammonicus. Several folk etymologies are associated with the word: from phrases in Hebrew that mean "I will create as I speak", or Aramaic "I create like the word" (אברא כדברא), to folk etymologies that point to similar words in Latin and Greek such as abraxas or to its similarity to the first four letters of the Greek alphabet (alpha-beta-gamma-delta or ΑΒΓΔ). According to the ''OED Online'', "no documentation has been found to support any of the various conjectures." History The first known mention of the word was in the second century AD in a book called ''Liber Medicinalis'' (sometimes known as ''De Medicina Praecepta Saluberrima'') by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Rom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodor Nöldeke
Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several important works of oriental literature and during his lifetime was considered an important orientalist. He wrote numerous studies (including on the Qur’ān) and contributed articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica. Among the projects Nöldeke collaborated on was Michael Jan de Goeje’s published edition of al-Tabari's ''Tarikh'' ("Universal History"), for which he translated the Sassanid-era section. This translation remains of great value, particularly for the extensive supplementary commentary. His numerous students included Charles Cutler Torrey, Louis Ginzberg and Friedrich Zacharias Schwally. He entrusted Schwally with the continuation of his standard work "The History of the Qur’ān". Biography Nöldeke was born in Harburg, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sesame Oil
Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. Oil made from raw seeds, which may or may not be cold-pressed, is used as a cooking oil. Oil made from toasted seeds is used for its distinctive nutty aroma and taste, although it may be unsuitable for frying, which makes it taste burnt and bitter. Composition Sesame oil is composed of the following fatty acids: linoleic acid (41% of total), oleic acid (39%), palmitic acid (8%), stearic acid (5%) and others in small amounts. History Historically, sesame was cultivated more than 5000 years ago as a drought-tolerant crop which was able to grow where other crops failed. Sesame seeds were one of the first crops processed for oil as well as one of the earliest condiments. Sesame was cultivated during the Indus Valley civilization and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic (paranormal)
Magic, sometimes spelled magick, is an ancient praxis rooted in sacred rituals, spiritual divinations, and/or cultural lineage—with an intention to invoke, manipulate, or otherwise manifest supernatural forces, beings, or entities in the natural, incarnate world. It is a categorical yet often ambiguous term which has been used to refer to a wide variety of beliefs and practices, frequently considered separate from both religion and science. Although connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history, magic continues to have an important religious and medicinal role in many cultures today. Within Western culture, magic has been linked to ideas of the Other, foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise, a non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Ernst Peiser
Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain * St. Felix, Prince Edward Island, a rural community in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. * Felix, Ontario, an unincorporated place and railway point in Northeastern Ontario, Canada * St. Felix, South Tyrol, a village in South Tyrol, in northern Italy. * Felix, California, an unincorporated community in Calaveras County Music * Felix (band), a British band * Felix (musician), British DJ * Félix Award, a Quebec music award named after Félix Leclerc Business * Felix (pet food), a brand of cat food sold in most European countries * AB Felix, a Swedish food company * Felix Bus Services of Derbyshire, England * Felix Airways, an airline based in Yemen Science and technology * Apache Felix, an open source OSGi fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The definition of Kabbalah varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its origin in medieval Judaism to its later adaptations in Western esotericism (Christian Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah). Jewish Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between the unchanging, eternal God—the mysterious ''Ein Sof'' (, ''"The Infinite"'')—and the mortal, finite universe (God's creation). It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. Jewish Kabbalists originally developed their own transmission of sacred texts within the realm of Jewish tradition and often use classical Jewish scriptures to explain and demonstrate its mystical teachings. These teachings are held by K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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