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 5^th 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.