Induction

The term agnostic was fittingly coined by the 19th-century British scientist Thomas H. Huxley, who believed that only material phenomena were objects of exact knowledge. He made up the word from the prefix a-, meaning “without, not,” as in amoral, and the noun Gnostic. Gnostic is related to the Greek word gn?, “knowledge,” which was used by early Christian writers to mean “higher, esoteric knowledge of spiritual things”; hence, Gnostic referred to those with such knowledge. In coining the term agnostic, Huxley was considering as “Gnostics” a group of his fellow intellectuals—“ists,” as he called them— who had eagerly embraced various doctrines or theories that explained the world to their satisfaction. Because he was a “man without a rag of a label to cover himself with,” Huxley coined the term agnostic for himself, its first published use being in 1870.

Monday, February 2, 2015

He Xiangu 何仙姑 3/9/2014

He Xiangu (meaning "Immortal Woman He") is the only female deity among the Eight Immortals figures in Daoism. She is often described as a morally pure woman, an ideal daughter, and a selfless seeker after spiritual freedom. In iconography, she is typically pictured bearing a lotus flower or a peach (of immortality). She is one of the few female deities revered as members of the Daoist pantheon.
Member of the Eight Immortals: 
He Xiangu is one of the illustrious Eight Immortals (Ba Xian), a group of Daoist/folk deities who play an important role in Chinese religion and culture. While they are famed for espousing and teaching Daoist philosophy and cultivation practices, they are also figures of popular myth and legend that are known for their devotion to the downtrodden and their collective lifestyle of “free and easy wandering.” Though they are most often depicted and described in the context of their group, each has their own particular set of tales, iconography, and areas of patronage.
(by New World Encyclopedia)

 Legend: 
He Xiangu (何仙姑), also named He Qiong (何瓊). She was from Yong Prefecture (today Linglin County) during the Tang Dynasty, or from a wealthy and generous family in Zēngchéng County (增城縣), Guangdong.
At birth she had six long hairs on the crown of her head. When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica, in order that her body might become etherealized and immune from death. So she swallowed it, and also vowed to remain a virgin.
Later on by slow degrees she gave up taking ordinary food.
The Empress Wu dispatched a messenger to summon her to attend at the palace, but on the way there, she disappeared.
One day during the Jinglong (景龍) period (about 707 CE), she ascended to heaven in broad daylight, and became a Xian (Taoist Immortal).
Her lotus flower improves one's health, mental and physical. She is depicted holding a lotus flower, and sometimes with the musical instrument known as Shēng, or a fènghuáng bird to accompany her. She may also carry a bamboo ladle or fly-whisk. (from Wikipedia)
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