The Revealing Word: A Dictionary of Metaphysical Terms. Charles Fillmore

"For whosoever hath, to him shall be given" (Luke 8:18).

      accident--An unfortunate event that takes place without our conscious foreknowledge.

      accidents, cause and cure of--The cause of all accidents lies in sense consciousness. To be free from all accidents, we must raise our consciousness, so that it is spiritually positive and Christlike. Then we shall attract only good.

      accuser--Opposer; hater; an enemy. (see Devil and Satan) The accuser is overcome by casting him down in the name of Jesus Christ.

      achievement, universal desire for--The craving for accomplishment, innate in every man. The universal desire for worth-while achievement, giving a mighty impulse to all things, is divinely good.

      acquisitiveness--The desire to acquire. It is a legitimate faculty of mind, but covetousness is the Judas trait. When a man seeks to acquire from God only, acquisitiveness builds up his consciousness, but when he oversteps the law and seeks that which belongs to another his acquisitiveness becomes a destroyer. (see covetousness)

      activity, spiritual--Thoughts in relation to spiritual Principle. Mind movement in accordance with the activity of Divine Mind.

      Adam--Red; reddish. The first movement of mind in its contact with life and substance. Adam was created from the "dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7). Dust represents the radiant earth or substance. When spiritual man (I AM) enters into this substance and makes use of the God ideas inherent in him, he brings forth the ideal body in its elemental perfection. Adam was first perfect as an idea in elemental divinity.

      Adam man--Unregenerate sense man; antichrist: the man who has fallen away from spirituality. Originally Adam was the spiritually illumined man of God. The Adam man was primitively identified with an infinite capacity for expansion. When he recognizes his identity as spiritual he expands in divine order and brings forth only good.

      Adam man, ills of--The many ills of the Adam man grew out of his belief that he could satisfy and nourish himself with material food and drink alone. To feed the body is not enough. The spiritual man hungers for the bread of life and thirsts for living water, even the Word of God.

      Adam man, transformation of--We are not to erase Adam, but we are to transform him by the renewing of our mind. "And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2).

      adjustment--The rearrangement of thoughts according to the divine order of the Christ Mind; a bringing of man's consciousness into exact correspondence with God's perfect harmony, or heaven. "And the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways smooth" (Luke 3:5).

      adultery--Mixed thoughts, errors that have their existence in the unregenerated feelings; thoughts that have not come under the dominion of the I AM.

      Adversary, the--The vain imagination that there could, in reality, be anything opposed to Divine Mind, or could be any separation of man from it, led to the forming of a state of mind that is described in the Bible as the "adversary." We find that the various names--Satan; Devil; Adversary; accuser; carnal mind; old man; man of sin; and personality--all refer to the consciousness that man has built up in his ignorance of his true estate.

      affirm--To hold steadfast in mind or to speak aloud a statement of Truth.

      affirm the salvation of the Lord--To realize silently and to declare audibly that the Christ within us is taking charge of all our affairs.

      affirmation--A positive statement of Truth. By the use of affirmations we claim and appropriate that which is ours in Truth. (see denial)

      affirmation, act of--The "yes" action of the mind; the act of affirming; the declaring of Truth; the mental movement that asserts confidently and persistently the Truth of Being in the face of all appearances to the contrary.

      affirmation and denial--Two movements of the mind that express power to accept or to reject, to lay hold of or to let go. (see denial)

      affirmation, how made--Affirmations do not have to be made only in set terms such as, "I affirm my body to be spiritual." The sum total of thought in all its positive aspects composes the affirmations that bring ideas into form.

      affirmation, purpose of--To establish in consciousness a broad understanding of the divine principles on which all life and existence depend. By affirming Truth we are lifted out of false thinking into the consciousness of Spirit.

      affirmation, remedial effects of--All unrighteous conditions may be adjusted through affirming the power of the great universal Spirit of justice. Affirm: "The infinite Spirit of love and justice is now operating in all my affairs, and all is well."

      age--A cycle or a dispensation. Jesus was acquainted with cycles or ages of spiritual development of which the natural man knew nothing. Jesus came at the end of an age. Age to mortal man is the measurement of the life or existence of a person or thing. It is based on the false concept of time as reality. "What is the signal of Your presence, and the completion of this age?" (Matt. 24:3, Fenton.)

      air--The deific breath of God. It symbolizes a purifying, vitalizing power that revives and makes alive.

      alchemy, divine--Transmutation; changing in action and in character from the mortal into the spiritual. It has been said that the mind is the crucible in which the ideal is transmuted into the real.

      alcoholism--A diseased condition brought about by one who, thirsting for the true stimulation of Spirit, resorts to the excessive use of false stimulants, such as alcoholic beverages. The way to demonstrate over this condition is to turn wholeheartedly to Spirit and to realize and to affirm that the desire for false stimulants is dissolved and dissipated and that the pure spiritual life of Christ satisfies and uplifts.

      allegiance to the Father--The consciousness that divine wisdom is guiding the universe and man, which gives man a feeling of security. Allegiance to the Father signifies a constant devotion to and trust in the Father.

      allegory--A symbolical representation of Truth. "Which things contain an allegory" (Gal. 4:24).

      All-Good--Divine Mind; God; the principle of divine benevolence that permeates the universe.

      almighty--All-powerful; having all power or force to accomplish anything. All things are possible with God, because He is infinitely all-mighty. All the power, all the force, all the might of the universe are God's; He is, in truth, almighty God. "Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty" (Gen. 17:1).

      Alpha and Omega--The beginning and the end; the Son of God; all in all. "I am the Alpha and the Omega" (Rev. 22:13).

      altar--Stabilized place of worship. A fixed, definite center in consciousness; the place in consciousness where we meet the Lord and are willing to give up our sins, to give up the lower for the higher, the personal for the impersonal.

      The altar mentioned in Rev. 11:1 symbolizes the consciousness of full consecration that takes place first in the temple of worship within: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service" (Rom. 12:1).

      altar, brazen, of temple worship--Represents the generative life.

      altar, golden, of incense--Symbolizes the establishing of permanent resolutions of purity and covenants with the higher law of obedience, although it may entail daily sacrifice. (This applies to the altar of the burnt offerings also.)

      altar, to an unknown God--A yearning to know the unrevealed Spirit and a reaching out for a fuller realization of its source.

      alternate between good and evil--To swing the mind from good to evil and vice versa, with consequent variation in the application of Truth principles. Alternation is fatal to realization. "For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:7,8).

      ambition--A subtle mental force that drives men toward their goals. If it is dedicated wholly to Spirit and acts from Principle, it will work for good. If its motto is, "The end justifies the means," it is a menace.

      ancestors--Forefathers.