Terms

Question 1

teratology

Answer 1

the study of malformations or serious deviations from the normal type in developing organisms; from Greek teratologia “a telling of marvels.”

Question 2

nosology

Answer 2

branch of science dealing with the classification of diseases; from Greek nosos “disease, sickness, malady.”

Question 3

syncretism

Answer 3

involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths.

Question 4

hierophany

Answer 4

(from Greek hiero-, “sacred,” and phainein, “to show”) is a term designating the manifestation of the sacred. A reality of an entirely different order than those of this world becomes manifest in an object that is part of the natural or profane sphere

Question 5

cosmic hierophanies

Answer 5

associated with the sovereign gods of the sky who display their power through storm, thunder, and lightning, such as the Greek god Zeus, his Roman counterpart Jupiter, and Yahveh, the Hebrew supreme being

Question 6

pseudomorph

Answer 6

In mineralogy, a pseudomorph is a mineral or mineral compound that appears in an atypical form (crystal system), resulting from a substitution process in which the appearance and dimensions remain constant, but the original mineral is replaced by another. The name literally means “false form”.An example of this process is the replacement of wood by silica (quartz or opal) to form petrified wood in which the substitution may be so perfect as to retain the original cellular structure of the wood.

Question 7

lunar hierophanies

Answer 7

In many cultures, the fertility of animals and plants is presided over by the sacredness of the moon. Above all others, the hierophanies of the moon convey the sacredness of life’s rhythms: rainy seasons, ocean tides, sowing times, the menstrual cycle. Through the metamorphosis it undergoes each month, the moon displays its powers of immortality and its ability to regenerate a form of life that even includes the experience of death. Women and snakes become epiphanies of the moon’s sacred power through their periodic loss of life in the form of blood and skin.

Question 8

Isaac Babel

Answer 8

1894-1940, “the greatest prose writer of Russian Jewry”