Southern neighbors and close ethnic relations of the Circassians. Abkhazians live mainly in a disputed region called Abkhazia, on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea, and...

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These faiths are called Abrahamic because they descend from Abraham, honoring him as the founding patriarch, spiritual father, and a great prophet...

One of the tribes subsumed under the generic term Circassians in the 14th century. The name may derive from “Atyghe,” meaning “high [in altitude],” as Circassians have lived in...

See Soul.

Remorse of conscience or, literally, the “again-biting of inner wit.” It is the title of a confessional prose work written in a Kentish dialect of Middle English.

“ForeverMind,” a portmanteau created by Kayin to provide the Voice in his head, a.k.a. the Numen, with a name, as in “Lord Aionoia.” The two concepts merged are the Ancient...

Ancient Mesopotamian empire, centered on the city of Akkad/Agade, which reached its peak during the 24th to the 22nd centuries BC. It succeeded from the Sumerians, who submitted...

Historian, geographer, and traveler who lived c. 896–956 AD. Known as the “Herodotus of the Arabs” his magnum opus is Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems, a work combining history...

“Amaranth” comes from the Greek amarantos, meaning “unwithering.” The concept derived from the amaranth flower, which took a long time to fade, and thereby came to symbolize...

The legendary ancestor or “Forest Mother” of the Adyge people (Circassians), depicted as a fierce warrior-princess—in some versions of the tale she is said to have been the...

A member of the legendary race of female warriors in Greek mythology, portrayed in ancient epic poems and legends, including in the Labors of Heracles, the Argonautica, and...

Euphemism for “the Virgins.” Amiantal comes from the Greek “amiantos,” meaning “undefiled,” “pure,” “untouched.” It is the designation for Circassian Adyge princesses who are...

“Ascent.” See also Initiation and Katabasis.

Scythian philosopher and prince who lived during the 6th century BC.

Of Anatolia, or Asia Minor, the western peninsula of Asia that today forms the greater part of Turkey. It is bounded by the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean.

An archaic title meaning “Helper” used by the Ouranian to address Kayin. In response Kayin sometimes refers to himself as the Lord’s “thane,” an Old English word for attendant...

In the Orthodox Church an archimandrite is the head of a large monastery or group of monasteries. From the Greek arch- meaning “rule,” and mandra meaning “monastery.”

A prominent temple located in the ancient city of Argos, near the sanctuary of Hera, the queen of the Gods in Greek mythology. It was built in the 7th century BC and was where...

14-16th century (now obsolete) term meaning “Soothsayer” or “diviner,” and one of Kayin’s many titles.

Jews of Eastern or Central European descent, distinguished by their customs and rites from other Jewish communities (such as the Sephardim and Mizrahim), who preserve the...

The people of Assyria, an ancient Mesopotemian civilization in today’s northern Iraq, which succeeded the Sumerians. Assyria’s rise began in the late 3rd millennium BC and...

An ancient Mesopotamian creation and flood myth preserved in Akkadian texts from the Old Babylonian period (c. 18th century BC). The epic centers around Atrahasis, whose name...

Of Babylon, an ancient Mesopotamian city on the Euphrates River. It was the political and cultural center of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia, whose rulers established...

A compilation of rabbinic opinion written in the 3rd to 5th centuries BC in Babylon. The Talmud is the foundational text of Rabbinic Judaism, and the primary source of Jewish...

Female assassin. The unofficial designation of an elite assassin group belonging to the Masks of God. The term is often used to describe the entire Order of the Amarant. See...

The bubonic plague epidemic that swept across Eurasia from 1347 to 1353, claiming more lives than any war or natural disaster in human history. It is estimated that as many as...

How the Sumerians, inhabitants of South Mesopotamia, referred to themselves. Their Akkadian neighbors called the region “Šumeru.”

A rare substance sacred to various shaman traditions and other dreamwalker groups, including the Forest People. The brew’s main ingredients are the medicinal saps from two...

See Amarant.

Known as the Bane-maidens, the Brides of Salome are an elite group of female (mostly Adyge) assassins belonging to the Masks of God. The name derives from the story of Salome,...

A medieval inn with a central courtyard which served as a waystation for caravans travelling the Jade Route (Silk Road). The well-preserved remains of such an inn, known as Tash...

A Christian pseudo-Gnostic movement that flourished in western Europe from the 12th to the 14th century. The name Cathari comes from the Greek catharoi, meaning “pure.” They...

Of, from, or relating to the Caucasus region (“Kavkas” in Russian, hence “Kavkas mountain folk”), a mountain range in Eastern Europe between the Black and Caspian Seas. The term...

Caves represent and symbolize both the Underworld and eternity. They are sanctuaries and safe harbors from the encroachment of the passage of time. For instance, the Maya...

A “khanate” is the historic polity or state ruled by a khan. Khanates were typically nomadic Turkic, Mongol, and Tatar societies equivalent to kinship-based chiefdoms and feudal...

Of or from Chaldea, a small country of Semitic people who lived in Mesopotamia from the 9th to the 6th century BC. Chaldeans were a nomadic group who initially settled in the...

See Han.

Records of a person’s laudable deeds found in various churches around the Caucasus (especially in Svaneti, Kartvelia/Georgia) to be kept there for “eternity.” In a real sense...

Kayin’s mission is to be a living record for key historical events for the Ouranians. He is charged with witnessing and retaining key historical events, which he helps to...

The Precepts are specific largely philosophical teachings Kayin reveals to Aušrinė, as part of her training as Ascending Chronologer. The preparation includes learning to retain...

Umbrella exonym for the indigenous mountain peoples of the Northwest Caucasus, united by related languages, the heroic Nart Saga, and the ethical code Adyghe Xabze. Their...

See, Incubation.

According to the OC, the voice of conscience is in reality the whispering guidance of an Ouranian, meaning the First or Original Self of a person. The same function applies to...

The Aggregate Body of the First Selves. See First Self/Second Self. Partially inspired by the “Council of Deities” convened by Enki/Ea in the Atrahasis Epic.

“Bicched” means cursed, bad, horrid (related to “bitch” and, possibly, “bewitched”). “Jape, japing,” “sard, sarding,” and “swive, swiving” are all archaic vulgar terms for...

See Getae.

A “rewrite” or revision of a particular segment of history. The “rearrangement” is a phenomenon initiated by the Ouranians. It is carried out by subtly influencing their human...

An old name for “clan” from the time before the concept of a clan existed. It originally referred to the dwellings of hunter-gatherers that were burrowed into the...

See Incubation.

See Shaman.

Initiation rituals belonging to the cult of Demeter and Persephone that were celebrated annually at the sacred sanctuary of Eleusis. The rites and their teachings were secret,...

Ancient Greek philosopher, poet, and healer (5th century BC). Described as a student of Parmenides who later switched to Anaxagoras’ teachings and Pythagoreanism. Known for two...

According to Kayin, the seer Epimenides was the most celebrated example of an extended incubation in a cave, lasting an unimaginable fifty-seven years. This strikes even Kayin...

The OC proceeds from the idea of the dual nature of the individual. The twofold distinction is borrowed from the Neoplatonist philosopher, Plotinus (Ennead VI.4.14): “But we...

(Urianhai/Uriankhai) The original Forest People were a mysterious assembly of tribes of migrating people/nomads who long ago descended from the far regions of Siberia, making...

A spirit companion who guards a person’s fate or fortune. An equivalent or precursor of a fairy. A fylgja can appear in the form of an animal that reflects the character of the...

(c. 1280–c. 1356 AD), notary from Piacenza, and professed onsite witness to the Mongol siege of Kaffa, and the ensuing spread of the Black Death through Europe (1347–1352). Author of the acclaimed report on the plague titled Istoria de Morbo sive Mortalitate quae fuit Anno Dni MCCCXLVIII. The original manuscript can be traced to the University of Wroclaw, Poland, and comes to us via the German translation by Augustus Henschel (1842) and finally Rosemary Horrox’s English translation, parts of which form chapter mottos in Masks of God.

Further reading:

Derbes, Vincent J. “De Mussis and the Great Plague of 1348.” Journal of the American Medical Association 196 (1966): 59–62.

Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. Free Press, 1983.

Henschel, August Wilhelm. “Documente zur Geschichte des schwarzen Todes.” Archiv für die gesammte Medizin 2 (1842): 26–59.

Horrox, Rosemary, ed. The Black Death. Manchester University Press, 1994.

Wheelis, Mark. “Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of Caffa.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 8, no. 9 (2002). https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/8/9/01-0536_article.

“The Siege of Caffa.” The Trench. https://www.thetrench.org/de-mussis-and-the-siege-of-caffa/.

Promontories that flank the Strait of Gibraltar, mentioned by Kayin and cited by the poet Pindar. They are generally known as the Pillars of Hercules.

A sort of “timelock” or “temporal valve” set up by the Ouranians for their temporal incisions. Second Selves are not “inserted” into our world through a physical interface like...

The god of mind, intellect, or intelligence in Sumerian/Akkadian mythology. According to the Atrahasis Epic, Gestu-E agrees to be sacrificed during the creation of humankind to...

(Old Norse); (also, geymiárr, geymiorum). Keepers, guardians, guarding-envoys, Geymari is the title of the custodians of Quinnen Quum. Their headmaster’s name is Yarlaganda...

In the OC the term Gnostic is employed in its historical sense, alluding to sects or movements deemed heretical by the Christian Church. The Masks of God belong to such a belief...

“Lorn” means “lost,” “ruined,” or “doomed.” In Kayin’s situation on the Torugart it suggests “abandoned by a god.”

See Orphism.

Eastern European term for bandit, or brigand, organized in large gangs of a hundred men. In time, Haiduci (Romanian spelling) gained the reputation for freedom fighters who...

Also the Hanzu or Han people. The world’s largest ethnic group and the original Chinese tribe that descended from the Huaxia. “Huaxia” (meaning “beautiful grandness”) is a...

Old Romanian term for “bad person” (“om rău”). Alternative definitions are “forest thief,” “robber,” and “haiduc.” In Masks of God the term Qırım Haramín refers to a loose guild...

Whisp is an Old English word describing the sound of wind—a faint sound, like the swishing produced by the faraway rustling of leaves. Also as a verb, “the whisping of waters”...

A term the Ouranian mentions occasionally, later discovered to refer to the two natural stone pillars at the entrance to Cave Ichké.

CoMonia, the future empire of asexually produced inhabitants, also known as the Silent ones or the Lost Ones, whose headquarters are located in an underground bunker below Cave...

The historical name of India. In Masks of God it can also refer to the Indus Valley.

See Mongols.

See Han (Chinese).

The blood of the Gods in Greek mythology. An ethereal liquid with immortal qualities. In the OC, it protects against the plague. Kayin likens his own blood to ichor, given that...

See Zu.

Ancient tribal name for today’s Ket, a small group of native Siberians related genetically and linguistically to some native American tribes. Called Ostyaks by the Russians, the...

Kayin refers to incubation or dreamdeath as “taking the way of the shaman,” a process that removes his waking Self from the body and sends it to regions beyond his present...

A title Kayin bestows upon a Yug shaman (Siberia) whose expertise is to watch over the process of prolonged incubation or dreamdeath. Comparable to the Greek “Iatromantis”...

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines initiation as a “Formal introduction by preliminary instruction or initial ceremony into some position, office, or society, or to...

Intrigue; also the plot of a play.

Mongol Khan of the Golden Horde, from 1342–1357 AD.

See Curses.

A tribe of Georgians. See Caucasian.

“Descent” in Ancient Greek, meaning a “Journey to the Underworld.” Katabasis can also refer to a brief/temporary stay in the underworld. In this sense it is the reverse of...

See Caucasian.

See Imbak.

The ancient code that governs the lives of a number of Caucasian tribes.

The word “Khan” means literally “lord, prince” and is a contraction of the Turkic khaqan, “ruler, sovereign.”

The Lingua franca of 14th century Eurasia.

Some of the descendants of the Forest People came to call themselves “the Forty Tribes.” The word “Kirgiz” means “40” as well as “immortal,” for the Forest People believe they...

Old English and Scottish for “making known,” “to show,” “to demonstrate,” and “to announce.” The term “kything” is used as a substitute for a “debriefing,” since the latter came...

“Messenger” in Biblical Hebrew, denoting either a divine messenger, like an angel, or a human one. A herald of the divinity.

An alternate name for the members of the Order of the Amarant. A religious association of warrior-nuns whose leader is Aušrinė the Red, a.k.a. the Red Abbess. The order’s...

A Georgian tribe.

The “Unburdening,” “Bath of Forgiveness,” “Redirection,” and “Memory Upload.” The End-of-Life Memory Purge is the reason why an immortal soul can lose its memory and identity....

China. See Han.

The Circassian/Adyge designation “Milk-sister,” respectively “Milk-brother,” is rooted in an ancient tradition of adoption. It was a means used to put an end to or to prevent a...

A person’s visual memory or imagination, as well as recollection and contemplation. The concept of the Mind’s Eye takes on a special significance in the OC, as in Book One,...

The Sumerian God of Death. Sister of Inanna.

Sumerian messenger deity, aide and advisor to Inanna. Ninšubur assists Inanna in her descent to the Underworld by faithfully carrying out the goddess’ instructions. She tries to...

Also Vikings, Varangians, and Normand (French term for Norsemen). The Norsemen, respectively the Skandinavians, were a highly developed society, and one which this short...

Presence, one that is taken to be divine. “A local or presiding power or spirit,” per the Oxford English Dictionary. Originally the term “numen” referred to the disembodied...

The Ouranian Chronicles series.

See Amarant.

Thracian poet, bard, seer, and musician. Son of the Thracian king Oeagrus. Orpheus is also renowned as the founder (or most likely, the patron) of the Orphic Mysteries. His sign...

A Caucasian tribe. See Caucasus.

Arguably the most important successor to the Eastern Roman Empire. Founded by Osman I as a principality or emirate, destined to grow into a globe-spanning empire after his...

Extra-universal intelligences who explore our universe by proxy . . . through us. Being unable to directly act upon or take part in this physical continuum, the Ouranians have...

From Ancient Greek oura = “tail” and -boros = “eating.” A circular representation of a snake (sometimes a dragon) biting or eating its own tail. In Book One, Masks of God, a...

A lightweight riding horse, popular in the Middle Ages for its endurance over long distances.

The wanderings of Kayin. His quest can be compared to that of a pilgrim who has to make his way not only across the world, but also across time. He drags himself from sacred...

A mysterious refuge or sanctuary located high in the Caucasian Mountains (during the 14th century). Its setting was said to be mild however, for the valley that hid the refuge...

Northern China: A 14th century peasant rebel movement that put an end to the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1206–1368 AD) and restored the Dragon Throne to Han rule at the inception of...

See Temenos.

Philosophers of Haran. Mentioned in the Koran as the only people who are absolved from converting to Islam.

(1323–1396 AD), Golden Horde poet, who presciently has the Earth circle the Sun in his poem “Suhail and Geldersen.”

For the Baltic tribes see Curonians, Semigallian, Ruthenians, etc.

A term used to refer to Arabs during the Middle Ages. Before the 16th century it was generally employed as a designation for Muslims.

See Curses.

Unlike the related terms “soul,” “consciousness,” “psyche,” “ego,” or “mind,” the concept of “Self” is comparatively free from metaphysical encumbrances. When we remove...

The much-vaunted Loss of Self experience associated with several Eastern religions, but also some shamanic beliefs, can be conceived as the undergoing of a “merging” of the...

The word shaman essentially means a “person who knows.” The Tungusic word xaman is derived from the verb “scha,” meaning “knowledge.” Accordingly, shaman stands for “someone who...

A postulated eternal entity assumed to be given to mortals by their creator, according to some religions. It is known by many names: psȳchē (Greek), animus (Latin), sæl...

See “Chronicles of Souls.”

A set of white Chinese jade stones also known as the “Ceremonial Jades” or the “Six Ritual Jades.” The stones are carved from the purest white “muttonfat” jade and are named Bi,...

To take on physical substance, respectively, substantial existence—the Numen’s term for what humans call “incarnation.” The Sky Lord rejects “incarnation” as too limiting,...

Sweven. To dream (verb) and the dream (noun). From Old English “Swevener” = dreamer. Also swevening. In the OC a “sweven” stands for a vision or briefing received from the First...

See Curses.

Originally an ethnonym for a Turkic speaking folk group, probably descending from an Eurasian confederation of ancient Bulgar tribes known as Old Great Bulgaria (founded in the...

In Ancient Greek “temenos” describes a piece of land marked off from common uses in order to become dedicated to a god—also a sanctuary, a holy grove, or holy precinct. In the...

A servant or attendant. From Old English “Thaness,” a thane’s wife or a female attendant.

See Curses.

On the Southern shores of the Black Sea. Located in today’s Northern Turkey, bordering Georgia to the East. (Known to Ancient Greeks as the Pontos.) In the 14th century it was...

Kayin’s term for the Future.

“To the city (of Rome) and the World”: the formal Papal address reserved for significant occasions usually preceding the official greeting.

See Forest Folk.

See Norsemen.

(Old Norse “vikingr”) is a generic term for “sea raider” or “pirate,” and is not mentioned historically before the 12th century. Thus, contrary to popular belief, it does not...

Woman. The term was later used to refer to a man-like heroic woman, a female warrior, or an amazon.

“Leuke,” the original name in Greek (leuke means white) a.k.a., “Isle of the Immortals” and “Home of Achilles.” Known as “Snake Island today, located in the Western part of the...

An early confederation of nomadic tribes in Ancient China, active during the first millennium BC. After being defeated by the Xiongnu (predecessors of the Huns) in 176 BC, they...

See Imbak.

See Shaman.

Name of the divine storm bird in Mesopotemian religion, associated by Yarlaganda with the Knowledge Creature in Book One, Masks of God.