As Mr

The abbreviation "Mr" derives from the English word "Mister," itself a contraction of "Master." "Master" has roots in the Old French "maistre" and Latin "magister," meaning "chief" or "teacher." It has been used as a title of respect for men for centuries.

J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S., beautifully expresses it: "Thoth . . . has a powerful effect on the imagination ... in this intricate yet beautiful phantasmagoria of thought and moral sentiment of that shadowy past. It is in vain we ask ourselves however man, in the infancy of this world of humanity, in the rudeness of supposed incipient civilization, could have dreamed of such a heavenly being as Thoth. The lines are so delicately drawn, so intimately and tastefully interwoven, that we seem to regard a picture designed by the genius of a ^lilton, and executed with the skill of a Raphael." Verily, there was some truth in the old saying, "The wisdom of the Egyptians". . . . "When it is shown that the wife of Cephren, builder of the second Pyramid, was a priestess of Thoth, one sees that the ideas comprehended in him were 308 TlIKosol'IllCAL Hxt'tl ti.OOO \tnvs a^'u"". Acfonliii^' 1<> ri;ito. •'rimtli Il.rnns was tlu iliscovnvi- ami invfiit(»r of mimlH'i-s, jri-oint'try. astnuiuniy and letters". li*oclus, tilt- disciple (tf IMotimis. spcakintr of this inysterions deity, says: "lie presides over evi-ry spicics of coiiditioii, leadirifr us to an intellitriltl"' "ssence from this mortal abode, jjovernin^r the difTerent lierds of .souls". In other words Thoth. as the Kefji.strar and Reeorder of Osiris in Anu'nti, the JiKljrnuMif Hall of the Dead was a psychoponipic deity; while lamhliehns hints that "thr cross with a handle (the thau or tan) which Tot holds in his hand, was none other tlian the monoj^ram of his name". Besiiles the Tau. as the ])rototype of Mercury. Thoth carries the serpent - rod. emblem of Wisdom, the rod that becomes the Caduceus. Says .Mr. Monwick, ''Hermes was the serpent it.self in a mystical .sense. He j^lidcs lik«' that creature, noiselessly, without ai)pan'nt exertion, along the course of apres. He is ... a rei)rcsentative of the sjjanfrled lieavens. Hut he is the foe of the bad serpent, for the ibis devoured the snakes of K<r\ pt ".

The query for "As Mr" as an esoteric term, particularly in the context of Blavatsky's encyclopedic ambition, reveals a fascinating linguistic boundary. Blavatsky, drawing from a vast ocean of ancient wisdom, sought to catalog and illuminate concepts that held profound spiritual and philosophical weight. Terms like Thoth, with its rich Egyptian associations with wisdom, magic, and the divine, resonate with millennia of human inquiry into the nature of reality and consciousness.

The reference to Thoth, as presented in the provided text, evokes a sense of awe, an acknowledgment of a wisdom so profound it seems almost beyond the grasp of nascent humanity. The description of Thoth as presiding over "every species of condition, leading us to an intelligent essence from this mortal abode" speaks to a core esoteric aspiration: the transcendence of material limitations and the attainment of higher knowledge. This echoes the Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below," suggesting a divine order reflected in the human and natural worlds, a principle Thoth, as a divine scribe and mediator, might embody.

However, "As Mr" stands as a stark contrast. It is a marker of social convention, a polite address devoid of the archetypal power that fuels esoteric symbolism. Its origin in "Master" points to a hierarchical understanding, but one rooted in earthly authority or skill, not in the cosmic architecture or the subtle energies that esoteric traditions explore. The absence of "As Mr" in Blavatsky's or any other major esoteric lexicon underscores that the pursuit of the profound requires a vocabulary attuned to the subtle, the symbolic, and the transcendent, rather than the quotidian. The very act of seeking esoteric meaning within a common abbreviation invites a reflection on what truly constitutes the "esoteric"—a knowledge hidden, not by obscurity, but by a depth of significance that demands a different kind of perception.

RELATED_TERMS: Mister, Master, Title, Address, Social Convention, Linguistic Function