The Word Dictionary

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

COBRA

The Hieroglyphics of Horapollo Nilous explains the metaphorical aspects of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. The first entry is about serpents. It seems the Egyptians used the cobra to designate royalty because of its power over life and death. Since, when coiled, its tail disappears, it is also a fitting symbol for eternity. The Greeks called the serpent oura, or "tail", whence the "Uraeus", which is the Greek word for the cobra-shaped crown worn by kings and gods alike. To demonstrate its "eternal" aspect, the Greeks depicted the serpent devouring its own tail (Ouroboros "tail-devouring"). Oddly enough, the Greek letter rho is similar in shape to the beta, and some scholars think oura (read ouba) is taken from an old Hebrew word for sorcery ob. (See OBEAH).

This is all very instructive, to be sure, but what interests us is that the Egyptians believed that the cobra was so deadly that it didn't even have to sink its fangs into a person. It barely needed to graze him. In fact, it merely had to "breathe" on someone to inflict its venom. Now, since we already know that the "king" cobra was associated with royalty, its not surprising that the Greeks should call it, in their language, "the little king" or basilisk, bringing along with the word the Egyptian version of its natural history.

By the time we reach the Middle Ages in Europe, the basilisk (since cobras don't exist in Europe) had turned into a fabulous beast with wings and a fiery breath fatal to every living thing. A similar transformation happened to the poor white rhinoceros of Africa; in Europe the unicorn was turned into a fabulous horse with a horn. And when we learn that the most fearsome of sea serpents, the Nichus, was born of a medieval monk's mistranslation of an original misspelling of the Latin version of the "Nile" river (Nilus), an obnoxious pattern emerges: the decay of truth into superstition, simply because of linguistic ignorance.

(See also: COBRA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

A Theosophical definition of Metensomatosis :

Metensomatosis

(Greek) A compound word of which the significance may perhaps be briefly rendered thus: "changing body after body." The reference is to a reimbodying entity which does not necessarily use human bodies of flesh only, in which respect this word differs from reincarnation, but bodies of appropriate yet different physical material concordant with the evolutionary stage which the human race may have reached at any time, and with the plane or sphere of nature on which the reimbodiment takes place.

This word, because of the intricate ideas involved, is very difficult to explain properly or even to hint at in a few words, but perhaps it may be made more clear by the following observation:

• In far past ages the human race had bodies, but not bodies of flesh; and in far distant ages of the future, the human race will likewise have bodies, but not necessarily bodies of flesh. Actually, our teaching in this respect is that in those far-distant periods of the future, human bodies of that time will be compact of ether or, what comes to much the same thing, of luminous matter which may very properly be called concreted light.

See also: Metensomatosis , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

ABRACADABRA/ABRAHADABRA

The former is the traditional magical word, the latter is Crowley's mutation, for the sake of its "proper" numerological value (418), which was also the number for Boleskine, his castle and for AIWASS, his Holy Guardian Angel. Originally the intention of the word was to cause ailments to diminish and death to be vanquished as letters were progressively removed from either end.

ABRACADABRA

BRACADABR

RACADAB

ACADA

CAD

A

As an amulet, therefore, it should be worn with the point downwards. Similar traditional magical words were Shabriri (for banishing the demon of the same name) and Ochnotinos (for diminishing fever). The Gnostics used Ablanathalba, a palindrome, meaning "The Father hath given to us". With Crowley, however, Abrahadabra meant "The Great Work of the aeon of Horus". (See ABRAXAS).

(See also: ABRACADABRA, ABRAHADABRA , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

punya: (Sanskrit) "Holy; virtuous; auspicious."

1)    Good or righteous.

2)    Meritorious action.

3)    Merit earned through right thought, word and action.

Punya includes all forms of doing good, from the simplest helpful deed to a lifetime of conscientious beneficence. Each act of punya carries its karmic consequence, karmaphala, "fruit of action" - the positive reward of actions, words and deeds that are in keeping with dharma. Awakened psychics who have developed clairvoyant sight can clearly see the punya accrued in the inner subconscious aura as a colorful, freeflowing, astral, light-energy, pranic substance.

Punya is seen as light-hued, pastel colors, whereas its counterpart, papa, is seen as shades of darker colors which are usually static and immovable. These arrangements of the papa shades and punya hues are not unlike the free-expression paintings found in modern art. Punya colors produce inner contentment, deep joy, the feeling of security and fearlessness. Papa can be dissolved and punya created through penance (prayashchitta), austerity (tapas) and good deeds (sukritya).

Punya is earned through virtuous living, following the multi-faceted laws of dharma. Punya depends on purity of acts according to various factors including

1)   the karma and evolution of the individual,

2)    degree of sacrifice and unselfish motivation and

3)    time and place. For example, virtuous deeds, sadhana, tapas and penance have greater merit when performed in holy places and at auspicious times.

The Tirukural (105) states that "Help rendered another cannot be measured by the extent of the assistance given. Its true measure is the worth of the recipient." In other words, a small act done for a great and worthy soul carries more punya than even a large act performed for a lesser person. (Opposite of papa.)

See: aura, karma, papa, penance.

(See also: Punya , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Berasit (Hebrew, Jewish). The first word of the book of Genesis. The English established version translates this as "In the beginning," but this rendering is disputed by many scholars.

Tertullian approved of "In power"; Grotius "When first"; but the authors of the Targum of Jerusalern, who ought to have known Hebrew if anyone did, translated it "In Wisdom". Godfrey Higgins, in his Anacalypsis, insists on Berasit being the sign of the ablative case, meaning "in" and ras, rasit, an ancient word for Chokmah, "wisdom".

Berasit or Berasheth is a mystic word among the Kabbalists of Asia Minor.

(See also: Berasit , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

A Theosophical definition of Individuality :

Individuality

Theosophists draw a sharp and comprehensive distinction between individuality and personality. The individuality is the spiritual-intellectual and immortal part of us; deathless, at least for the duration of the kosmic manvantara  - the root, the very essence of us, the spiritual sun within, our inner god. The personality is the veil, the mask, composed of various sheaths of consciousness through which the individuality acts.

The word individuality means that which cannot be divided, that which is simple and pure in the philosophical sense, indivisible, uncompounded, original. It is not heterogeneous; it is not composite; it is not builded up of other elements; it is the thing in itself. Whereas, on the contrary, the intermediate nature and the lower nature are composite, and therefore mortal, being builded up of elements other than themselves. Strictly speaking, individuality and monad are identical, but the two words are convenient because of the distinctions of usage contained in them; just as consciousness and self-consciousness are fundamentally identical, but convenient as words on account of the distinctions contained in them. (See also Monad)

See also: Individuality , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

A Theosophical definition of Vach :

Vach

(Sanskrit) A term which means "speech" or "word"; and by the same procedure of mystical thought which is seen in ancient Greek mysticism, wherein the Logos is not merely the speech or word of the Divinity, but also the divine reason, so Vach has come to mean really more than merely word or speech. The esoteric Vach is the subjective creative intelligent force which, emanating from the subjective universe, becomes the manifested or concrete expression of ideation, hence Word or Logos. Mystically, therefore, Vach may be said to be the feminine or vehicular aspect of the Logos, or the power of the Logos when enshrined within its vehicle or sheath of action. Vach in India is often called Sata-rupa, "the hundred-formed." Cosmologically in one sense daiviprakriti may be said to be a manifestation or form of Vach

See also: Vach , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Popular archives related to Alternative Health

Ayurveda, Chakra, Aura, Kundalini, Kundalini Yoga, Meditation, Spiritual Growth, Medical Astrology, Essential Oils, Body Mind and Soul, Yoga, Mudras, Yoga Positions, Feng Shui, Acupuncture, Acupressure, Spiritual Healing, Relaxation, Physical Health, Vibrational Healing, Healing Music, Color Healing, Emotional Health, Health and Healing, Health Foods, Health Man, Fruitarian Diet, Happiness, Inner Child, Flower Essences for Healing, Highly Sensitive Person

Alternative Health Dictionary

Below are the archives for the 4269 dictionary entries related to alternative health. The great advantage with this dictionary is that each word is linking to an archive with

1. explanations of the word from several sources<br>

2. articles related to the word, where the phrase is used in its natural context.<br>

Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary

Alternative Health Dictionary - A, Alternative Health Dictionary - B

Alternative Health Dictionary - C, Alternative Health Dictionary - D

Alternative Health Dictionary - E, Alternative Health Dictionary - F

Alternative Health Dictionary - G, Alternative Health Dictionary - H

Alternative Health Dictionary - I, Alternative Health Dictionary - J

Alternative Health Dictionary - K, Alternative Health Dictionary - L

Alternative Health Dictionary - M, Alternative Health Dictionary - N

Alternative Health Dictionary - O. Alternative Health Dictionary - P

Alternative Health Dictionary - Q, Alternative Health Dictionary - R

Alternative Health Dictionary - S, Alternative Health Dictionary - T

Alternative Health Dictionary - U, Alternative Health Dictionary - V

Alternative Health Dictionary - W, Alternative Health Dictionary - X

Alternative Health Dictionary - Y, Alternative Health Dictionary - Z

Archives related to Alternative Health

Health Care, Womens Health, Mental Health, Health and Beauty, Health and Fitness, Sexual Health, Health Food, Woman Health, Man Health, Alternative Medicine, Health Medicine, Health Problems, Holistic Health, Holistic Health Care, Holistic Health Therapy, Holistic Medicine, Holistic Therapies, Natural Health, Spiritual Health, Mental Health, Spirituality and Health

A Theosophical definition of Kalpa :

Kalpa

(Sanskrit) This word comes from a verb-root klrip, meaning "to be in order"; hence a "period of time," or a "cycle of time." Sometimes a kalpa is called the period of a mahamanvantara  - or "great manvantara"  - after which the globes of a planetary chain no longer go into obscuration or repose, as they periodically do, but die utterly. A kalpa is also called a Day of Brahma, and its length is 4,320,000,000 years. Seven rounds form a Day of Brahma, or a planetary manvantara. (See also Brahma, Manvantara)

Seven planetary manvantaras (or planetary cycles, each cycle consisting of seven rounds) form one solar kalpa (or solar manvantara), or seven Days of Brahma  - a week of Brahma.

The difficulty that many Western students have had in understanding this word lies in the fact that it is unavoidably a "blind," because it does not apply with exclusive meaning to the length of one time period alone. Like the English word age, or the English phrase time period, the word kalpa may be used for several different cycles. There is likewise the maha-kalpa or "great kalpa," which frequently is the name given to the vast time period contained in a complete solar manvantara or complete solar pralaya.

See also: Kalpa , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

WARLOCK:

1) "Oath Breaker" and "Traitor", from Scottish Gaelic dialect. Also refers to the binding of the candidate in preparation for initiation. Wiccans do NOT use this word for a 'male witch'! Its meaning is from the Old English (one source: Scottish) word: waerloga. 

2)A word for an untrustworthy man, an oathbreaker, sometimes an eunuch (castrated male). It's thought to have come into usage by Witches to describe one who had betrayed them.

(See also: WARLOCK , Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Sabda-Brahman (Sanskrit) Word-Brahman, "the soul of Brahman expressing itself though its akasic veils as the Divine Logos, or Word, or Sound" (OG 149); analogous to the active unmanifested Logos of the solar system, and closely connected in meaning with the teachings concerning daiviprakriti.

In later ancient Hindu thought, because sabda meant word, and Brahman was considered to be revealed in the Vedas, Sabda-Brahman was often used as a title for the Vedas themselves, as being the revealed word of Brahman or Brahman expressed in words.

(See also: Sabda-Brahman , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Baphomet (Ancient Greek). The androgyne goat of Mendes. (See Secret Doctrine, I. 253).

According to the Western, and especially the French Kabalists, the Templars were accused of worshipping Baphomet, and Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the Templars, with all his brother-Masons, suffered death in consequence.

But esoterically, and philologically, the word never meant "goat", nor even anything so objective as an idol. The term means according to Von Hammer, "baptism" or initiation into Wisdom, from the Greek words bafh and mhtiz and from the relation of Baphometus to Pan. Von Hammer must be right. It was a Hermetico Kabalistic symbol, but the whole story as invented by the Clergy was false.

(See "Pan ".)

(See also: Baphomet , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Athravan, Atravan (Avestan), Atourban (Pahlavi), Azarban, Azarvan (Persian) Fire-guardian; the attendant of the sacred fire in Persian temples; the proper word for a priest in the Avesta, likewise Zoroaster's name with the Persians in far later times. Blavatsky interprets the word as "teacher of fire."

As the Persian scriptures says, it was not only the wearing of the priestly robes and bearing of the implements and the baresma which made one an athravan: "He who sleeps on throughout the night, who does not perform the Yasna nor chant the hymns, who does not worship by word or by deed, who does neither learn nor teach, with a longing for (everlasting) life, he lies when he says, 'I am an Athravan.' Him thou shalt call an Athravan who throughout the night sits up and demands of the holy wisdom, which makes man free from anxiety, with dilated heart, and which makes him reach that holy, excellent world, the world of paradise" (Vendidad 18:6, 7).

In Shah-Nameh (the Book of Kings) it was Jamshid (Yima) who categorized society into four classes. The first of these four were the Atourbans. The kings of the early Aryans were also chosen from among the first category, who were royal sages.

(See also: Athravan, Atravan , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Agla (Hebrew, Jewish). This Kabbalistic word is a talisman composed of the initals of the four words "Ateh Gibor Leolam Adonai", meaning "Thou art mighty for ever 0 Lord". MacGregor Mathers explains it thus "A, the first; A, the last; G, the trinity in unity; L, the completion of the great work".

(See also: Agla , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Phenomena [from Greek phainomena appearances from phainomai to appear]

The impermanent, ever-changing outward appearances of things, as opposed to onta, the permanent enduring realities behind. Also, objects of perception as opposed to objects of cognition; that which is perceived by the senses, contrasted with that which is conceived by the mind.

The word correlates with both meanings of noumena. Under the first meaning it may be said that, in one sense, everything is phenomenal except the one Reality; but the word may also be used relatively.

Under the second meaning, we may speak of phenomena as a word stressing the mechanical aspect of things, as contrasted with the unseen intelligences behind, as in the contrast between the forces of science and the intelligent noumena of which they are merely the manifestations.

In modern popular use it also denotes a supernormal event, such as an exercise of occult or magical powers, or again a portent, what the Latins would have called a prodigy.

(See also: Phenomena , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Qigong (also spelled chi gong, and chi gung; originally called daoyin):

1. (Chi Kung, Chinese Energetic healing, Chinese Qigong therapy, Chinese yoga, internal Qigong, Kiko, Qi Gong, Qigong healing) Chinese form of self-healing whose aim is to stimulate and balance the flow of qi (chi, vital energy) through meridians (energy pathways).

It involves contemplation, visualization (imagery), assumption of postures, and stylized breathing and body movements. Gong (or kung, as in kung fu) is a Chinese word that pertains to skill.

The word qigong literally means breathing exercise, to work the vital force, practicing with the breath, or working with the energy of life. Interpretations of the word include energy skill and energy mastering exercise.

2. A vast group of systems and methods of ancient Chinese and twentieth-century origin that encompasses Qigong therapy.

(See also: Qigong , Body Mind and Soul, Alternative Health, Alternative Health Dictionary)

Japa - loud chanting or soft utterance of the holy names of Krsna to oneself; usually referring to the practice of chanting hari-nama on tulasi beads.

The word japa comes from the verbal root jap which means to utter or whisper repeatedly (especially prayers or incantations). In the Sabda-kalpa-druma, japa has been defined as the utterance of mantras either within the heart or verbally. In Haribhakti- vilasa (17.155-159) Srila Sanatana Gosvami describes japa in the following words: "In the Nrsimha-Purana it is said that japa-yajna is of three kinds:

(1) vacika (verbal) ,

(2) upamsu (in a whisper) , and

(3) manasika (within the mind).

When a mantra is pronounced very distinctly either in a high, low, or resonant voice it is known as vacika-japa. When a mantra is uttered slowly with slight movement of the lips and can be heard only by one’s own ears it is known as upamsu-japa. When one meditates on the meaning of the mantra by application of the intelligence going repeatedly from one syllable to the next and from one word to the next it is known as manasika-japa.”

(See also: Japa , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A Theosophical definition of Gods :

Gods

The old pantheons were builded upon an ancient and esoteric wisdom which taught, under the guise of a public mythology, profound secrets of the structure and operations of the universe which surrounds us. The entire human race has believed in gods, has believed in beings superior to men; the ancients all said that men are the "children" of these gods, and that from these superior beings, existent in the azure spaces, men draw all that in them is; and, furthermore, that men themselves, as children of the gods, are in their inmost essence divine beings linked forever with the boundless universe of which each human being, just as is the case with every other entity everywhere, is an inseparable part. This is a truly sublime conception.

One should not think of human forms when the theosophist speaks of the gods; we mean the arupa  - the "formless"  - entities, beings of pure intelligence and understanding, relatively pure essences, relatively pure spirits, formless as we physical humans conceive form. The gods are the higher inhabitants of nature. They are intrinsic portions of nature itself, for they are its informing principles. They are as much subject to the wills and energies of still higher beings  - call these wills and energies the "laws" of higher beings, if you will  - as we are, and as are the kingdoms of nature below us.

The ancients put realities, living beings, in the place of laws which, as Occidentals use the term, are only abstractions  - an expression for the action of entities in nature; the ancients did not cheat themselves so easily with words. They called them gods, spiritual entities. Not one single great thinker of the ancients, until the Christian era, ever talked about laws of nature, as if these laws were living entities, as if these abstractions were actual entities which did things. Did the laws of navigation ever navigate a ship? Does the law of gravity pull the planets together? Does it unite or pull the atoms together? This word laws is simply a mental abstraction signifying unerring action of conscious and semi-conscious energies in nature.

See also: Gods , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Be-ness. A term coined by Theosophists to render more accurately the essential meaning of the untranslatable word Sat. The latter word does not mean "Being" for it presupposes a sentient feeling or some consciousness of existence.

But, as the term Sat is applied solely to the absolute Principle, the universal, unknown, and ever unknowable Presence, which philosophical Pantheism postulates in Kosmos, calling it the basic root of Kosmos. and Kosmos itself -  "Being" was no fit word to express it. Indeed, the latter is not even, as translated by some Orientalists, "the incomprehensible Entity"; for it is no more an Entity than a non-Entity, but both.

It is, as said, absolute Be-ness, not Being, the one secondless, undivided, and indivisible All - the root of all Nature visible and invisible, objective and subjective, to be sensed by the highest spiritual intuition, but’ never to be fully comprehended.

(See also: Be-ness , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Transmigration The belief that human souls after death pass into other bodies either human or animal, and mistakenly given as a synonym for reincarnation, metempsychosis, etc. Transmigration in general means the passing of an entity from one imbodiment to another, without regard to the status of the entity or the form of the imbodiments, so that it includes various specific meanings denoted by other terms.

Actually the word refers to the transmigration of life-atoms, especially those of the human vehicles after dissolution. According to their own affinities and degree of development, these life-atoms which have composed the lower human principles transmigrate to other physical psychomental bodies, there to pursue each its own further specific evolution, unretarded by the temporary association with its former body. Eventually, when the proper cyclic time arrives, they are all again attracted back to the reincarnating human entity to which they formerly belonged. The teaching as to the transmigration of the life-atoms is very important in elucidation of the unity of all life, the interaction of all nature, and the working of karma.

The meanings of transmigration, metempsychosis, metensomatosis, the Hebrew gilgulim, etc., are not synonymous. Each one of these words has its own particular significance, although many of these different words overlap to a certain extent. Thus a being who reincarnates on earth -- takes up a body of flesh -- likewise transmigrates in the sense of passing over from one condition of life to another, followed by a third and yet others; and that during this process there is a certain change of the condition of the soul or migrating entity which is the particular meaning of metempsychosis; and furthermore, the assumption of a new physical body which is part of the meaning of reincarnation appears in the specific term metensomatosis, and yet again the phase of rebirth is likewise involved. Each one of these different terms, and others, sets forth one particular aspect of the destiny and adventures of the peregrinating entity.

(See also: Transmigration , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

See also these related archives:

Cross-Over exercise, Crude herb moxibustion, Cruise Ship Spa, Cryotherapy, Crystal Healing, Crystal healing, Crystal Therapeutics, Crystal Therapy, Crystledyne Therapy, Cupping, Curanderismo, Curative eurhythmy, Cuy ritual, Cybex, Cymatic therapy, Cymatics, Dance & Movement Therapy, Dancercise, Daniel's Diet, Daoyin, Day Spa, Dayan Qigong, De la Warr system, Dead Sea Mud Treatment, Deep Emotional Breathwork, Deep Emotional Release Bodywork, Deep Memory Process, Deep Muscle Massage, Deep Muscle Massage / Primmer Deep Muscle Therapy, Deep Tissue Bodywork, Deep Tissue Massage, Degriefing, DeHypnotherapy, Depossession, Descending Sun, Destination Spa, Detoxification, Detoxification Therapy, Developmental Manual Therapy, Dhatus, Diagnosis, Diagnosis Process, Diagnostic acupressure, Diamond Approach, Diamond method, Dian xue, Dianetics, Diathermy, Didgeridoo vibrational healing, Diet #7, Diet Planning, Dietics, Dimensional clearing, Dinacharya, Direct Bi-Digital O-Ring Test Method, Direct Command, Direct healing, Direct image substitution, Direct moxabustion, Directed Esoteric Toning, Distant Healing, Distant pranic healing, Distant pulse diagnosis, Divine Healing from Japan, Divine therapy, Divine will healing, Dna Activation And Healing, Dna Repatterning, Do-in, Do-In, Dolphin Therapy, Dolphin-assisted therapy, Dong gong, Doshas, Doshic Imbalances, Double Circle, Double Dosha Body Types, Dowsing, Dph, Dr Lynch's Holistic Self-Health Program, Dragon Style, Drama, Dream Changing, Dream counseling, Dream Learning, Dreamwork, Drisana, Drown radio therapy, Dulse Scrub, Dynamic Self Inquiry, Dynamic Spinal Therapy