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Glossary Of
Terms - A
A COURSE
IN MIRACLES: A three
(3) volume work which is closely related to the Hindu Vedas and is "Zen-like"
in its approach to "holy instants", moment -to-moment experiences of
truth achieved through love, forgiveness and atonement. Channeled in
1981, using Christian terminology, by a Jewish atheist, Helen Cohen
Schurmand, a psychologist, it does not claim to be the only path to
enlightenment. The basic message is that all human beings share a oneness
of love and the capacity for compassion, forgiveness and peace so that
rather than trying to reform the world, one must change one's self and
one's view of the world. The success of the course seems to be contingent
on the clarity and publisher.
ACUPUNCTURE:
(Click
here)
ACUPRESSURE:
(Click
here)
AFFIRMATION:
A
positive word or statement repeated continually for the purpose of reprogramming
the nonconscious mind. This method is believed to assist in releasing
barriers to the physical manifestation of positive attitudes and perspectives.
AGE OF
AQUARIUS: A supposed
2000 year long era of enlightenment, joy, accomplishment, intellect,
brotherly peace and closeness to God, heralded by the entry of the sun
into the zodiac sign of Aquarius. Dates range from 1904 to 2160 among
astrologers due to the backward drift of the vernal equinox through
the zodiac. Some astrologers take this slippage into account, others
do not. The sign is ruled by two planets: Saturn, symbol of time, endurance,
tests and tasks, and Uranus, symbol of the new, revolutionary, strange
and bizarre. The term was popular during the 1960's, which saw a great
deal of societal change and upheaval and interest in spiritual exploration.
The term has been supplanted by "New Age".
AGE OF
PISCES: The
2000 year era characterized by disillusionment and skepticism said to
have been heralded in with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
AKASHA: Sanskrit
term for "all-pervasive" space or "fundamental etheric substance in
the universe" used in Hinduism and Buddhism as a life principle. Hinduism
sees it as the substance ether, the fifth and subtlest element which
permeates everything in the universe and is a vehicle for life and sound,
enabling all manner of feats to be accomplished through will. Buddhism
sees it as space which is divided into two kinds: space limited by the
physical/material which forms the personality, space unlimited, beyond
all description, unbound by the material yet the container for all things
material. The Theosophical Society in the West in the early twentieth
century saw it as the universal life force, the world soul which allows
divine thought to manifest in matter.. The Hebrew ruah, the
wind, breath, air in motion or moving spirit is another way it is viewed.
According to
Theosophy the akasha is an eternal record of the vibrations of every action, thought,
emotion, light and sound.
AKASHIC
RECORDS: In theory, these
are the master records of everything that has ever occurred since the
beginning of the universe. The records are said to exist as impressions
on the astral plane and to provide a dossier, of sorts, for souls who
wish to examine their spiritual progress through many lifetimes.
ALCHEMY: An
ancient art of transmutation and the precursor of modern chemistry and
metallurgy. Symbolically, a mystical art for the transformation of consciousness.
As a mystical art, it draws on various spiritual traditions, including
the Hermetica, Gnosticism, Islam, Kabbalah, Taoism and yoga. Both Eastern
and Western cultures dealt with this as transformation of the soul.
Carl G. Jung saw it as having a spiritual dimension as well as a physical
one: the true purpose of the art is the psychological and spiritual
transformation of the alchemist.
ALTERED
STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS: Any of a variety of states characterized by a
radical shift in the pattern of consciousness from one's "normal" waking
state coined by parapsychologist Charles T. Tart.
AMERICAN
SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH: Organization
founded in late 1884 in Boston under the auspices of the Society for
Psychical Research of England and dedicated to the advancement of psychical
research, now called parapsychology.
AMULET:
Natural and eye-catching objects, an inscription,
drawing or symbol believed to be imbued with a supernormal or magical
power to protect against disease, evil spirits, the evil eye, bewitchment,
infertility, impotence, bad luck, and a host of misfortunes and calamities.
ANGEL: An immortal
being who lives in the spirit and works and serves as an intermediary
between God and humanity. The word "Angel" is derived from the Greek
Angelos and the Latin Angelus, which mean "messenger".
APPARITION: The
supernormal manifestation of people, animals, objects and spirits, mostly
of living people or animals who are too distant to be perceived by normal
senses. Apparitions of the dead are usually called ghosts.
APPORT: An object
mediums and adepts claim to materialize from thin air or transport through
solid matter, as well as being a phenomenon in
poltergeist cases.
Most apports are small objects,
some are large and quite unusual. During the height of Spiritualism,
apports were commonplace at
seances.
A live dove was a favorite.
The mediums usually say
their apports are brought to the seance as gifts from the spirits. Others
say the medium pulls the objects from other dimensions through sheer
will power and some sort of psychic magnetism or that the medium somehow
took existing objects in other locations, disintegrated them, then transported
and reassembled them.
The Sufis and Hindu swamis
and holy men are renowned for the apports they produce, including food,
precious jewelry, religious objects , and vibuti, holy ash.
ARCHETYPES: The
contents of the collective nonconscious as universal primordial images
passed down from an ancestral past that includes not only early humankind
but humankind's prehuman and animal ancestors. Carl G. Jung developed
this concept although they have existed universally for thousands of
years in mythologies and in the motifs of fairy tales and folktales.
The psyche is viewed as the archetypal first principle.
ASHRAM:
Sanskrit term for a retreat or center
of spiritual study.
ASSOCIATION
FOR RESEARCH AND ENLIGHTENMENT (ARE): Nonprofit
foundation established 1931 by Edgar Cayce and a group of associates
to pursue work and education in spiritual healing, psychic development,
reincarnation studies, holistic health care and meditation instruction.
ASTRAL
BODY: An invisible body of subtle
energy that is dense enough to be seen by clairvoyants or physically
seen on black paper when a hand is spread out over the paper and the
lights are low or off. It surrounds the physical and etheric bodies
and extends outward from 9 inches to several feet.
ASTRAL
PROJECTION:
To
go outside of the physical body and stand in the astral body allowing
you to walk about or project to any part of the world or universe.
ASTROLOGY:The origins of Astrology may date to fifty thousand years ago, and is considered
by many to be the first science. It was not until 3000 B.C. that Astrology
was developed into a system first by the Chaldeans in Uruk, Chaldea
now known as Iraq. The oldest surviving horoscope is from Babylon circa
410 B.C.; another found in Uruk, Chaldea ) dates to 263 B.C. The Ancient
people used the movements of the planetary bodies through the Zodiac
to forecast the best times for Matters of State and to predict weather
and natural disasters. It is the study of cycles based in planetary
movements which are then associated with energies and events occurring
at the same time on Earth. During this process, two types of Astrology
evolved: Horary, which determines the best time for action, and Mundane,
which predicts disasters and other great happenings and is concerned
with countries, races and groups. Scholars disagree about
whether it was the Babylonians or the Chaldeans that actually formalized
the Zodiac. The term Zodiac was coined by the Greeks meaning "circus
of animals".
Astrology is an ancient system of
divination using the positions of the planets, moon, and stars. According
to astrology, the celestial bodies exert forces and exhibit personalities
that influence people and events. These influences may be determined
by mapping positions in the sky at various times. The influences are
determined most commonly by the month you were born. As the true science
and art that it was intended to be, it offers much more than what is
commonly offered when used as a daily prediction today. The Western
signs used are represented by the archetypical 12 signs of the Zodiac:
Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Saggitarious,
Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
Although Astrology has fallen out
of favor, it has been studied and those studies have been recorded and
created a most complex psychological model that offers an explanation
for human behavior, and other phenomena rational science just cannot
address.
Natal Astrology predicts
the general course of a person's character and destiny throughout life
based on the positions of the planets at the exact time and place of
birth and generally offers a more indepth insight into the individual.
This is the third and themost enduringly popular type of astrology.
This began around 5th century B.C. when the Chaldeans observed
relationships between the position of the planets at the time of birth
and a person's subsequent destiny. Gradually the natal chart was born
and fully developed by the Greeks.
ATLANTIS: Fabled
island continent of ancient times that allegedly sank beneath the sea
in a cataclysm. Numerous legends exist about the Atlanteans and their
highly advanced civilization, and how they destroyed their land through
their misuse of power. At least forty - five locations around the globe
have been proposed as sites of the lost continent.
AURA: An envelope
of vital energy, which apparently radiates from everything in nature:
minerals,plants, animals, and humans. The aura is not visible to normal
vision; however, may be seen by clairvoyance as a halo of light. Then
it often appears as a multi - colored mist that fades off into space
with no definite boundary, and having sparks, rays and streamers.
AUTOMATIC
WRITING:
Writing
while in a dissociated or altered state of consciousness.
AVATAR:
In Hinduism,
a human incarnation of the Divine who functions as a mediator between
people and God. Avator is a Sanskrit term literally meaning "descent".
The concept is expressed in the sacred writings of the Ramayana and
Mahobharata (the latter of which includes the Bhagavad-Gita), yet is
not present in the Vedas or the Upanishads. It is well to note that
the term Avatar can have other meanings in other cultures.
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