Primordial Water Chaos, "the great green one," the Egyptian Nu, the waters of space; a graphic descriptive term of cosmic space before manvantara begins.

(See also: Primordial Water , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Aqua (water) aerobics: Aerobic exercise performed in a swimming pool where the water provides support and added resistance. Reduced impact to the body makes this a particularly advantageous form of exercise for the overweight, elderly, post-medical trauma, or pregnant exerciser.

(See also: Aqua Aerobics , Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

cupping (cupping method, cupping therapy; called the horn method in ancient China): Variable method akin to moxabustion.

The practitioner may use a cup made of glass, metal, or wood (notably bamboo) and burn alcohol, alcohol-soaked cotton wool, herbs, paper, or a taper therein. Before or after the burning is complete, the practitioner applies the cup upside-down to a relatively flat body surface and leaves it in this position for five to ten minutes. Results include erythema (reddening of the skin due to capillary expansion), edema (excessive fluid accumulation in tissue spaces), and ecchymoses (purple discoloration of the skin due to rupture of blood vessels).

The above description relates to fire cupping (the fire cupping method), which has several forms. Other forms of cupping include the acupuncture cupping method, the air pumping cupping method, and the water cupping method.

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

AROMATHERAPY: uses essential oils from flowers, trees, roots, herbs, berries and fruits, to treat emotional disorders such as stress and anxiety as well as a wide range of other ailments and to promote physical, mental and emotional wellness. Oils are either massaged into the skin in diluted form, inhaled, placed in baths, or applied on and around the body.

Aromatherapy is often used in conjunction with massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, herbology, chiropractic and other wholistic healing.

What is aromatherapy?

It is the controlled use of natural essential oils in the process of physical and emotional healing. You may have discovered that in some ways, you've been experiencing aromatherapy most of your life without even knowing it.

We have all experienced memory recall triggered by a particular scent; perhaps the scent of a favorite flower, or the perfume your grandmother used to wear, or an aunt's linen closet. The event can produce positive or negative memories. Certain scents may trigger negative thoughts of a person or place in your past. Whatever the case, the importance of scent in our lives is quite profound and in some ways, unique to each of us. Aromatherapy is a way to enjoy a controlled use of natural oils to enrich and benefit your life.

What are essential oils?

Whole, pure essential oils come from nature; they are the "essence" of plants. They are droplets of water-like fluid contained in the leaves, stems, bark, flowers, roots and/or fruits of different plants, and give the plant its unique scent. Essential oils are volatile, whereas they easily transfer from a liquid to a gaseous state at room temperature or higher. The amount of essential oil found in most plants is 1 to 2%, but can contain amounts from 0.01 to 10%. They can change in composition and location with a particular plant. For example, orange trees produce neroli oil in their blossoms, orange oil in their citrus, and petitgrain oil in their leaves. Essential oils are also very concentrated and extremely potent, and sometimes 75 to 100 times more concentrated than say, the herb it is present in. This is all the more reason to use these oils with thorough knowledge of their potency.

How are essential oils extracted?

There are two common procedures for extracting true essential oils:

1. Steam distillation
2. Expression

 The process of steam distillation has 5 steps:

1. Steam plant material
2. Collect steam carrying aromatic molecules
3. Cool in cold-water bath
4. Produce floral water and essential oil
5. Separate essential oil, then bottle

This process is also the most popular for obtaining the essential oils from plants. The steam is forced into a vat containing the plant material, which ruptures the oil glands and releases the oil. The volatile oils are cooled, separated from the water content, and bottled. It may take hundreds or thousands of pounds of plant material to distill a single pound of the essential oil. Bulgarian Rose oil requires about 4,000 pounds of hand-picked flower petals to make 1 pound of oil, obviously making this one expensive oil!

The second method, extraction, has 4 major steps:

1. Have citrus peels
2. Machine press
3. Obtain essential oils and fruit waxes
4. Separate oils, then bottle

This method is primarily used in the perfume and food industries, and does not produce a 100% pure essential oil. Solvents are used in the process to pull out the soluable molecules; therefore making them incomplete oils. Resins, concretes, absolutes, and pomades result from this method.

How are essential oils taken in?

Essential oils are absorbed into the body two ways; through the skin and through nasal inhalation. Our sense of smell, controlled by the olfactory system, is some 10,000 times greater than any other sense. The olfactory system is directly linked to the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotional state, memory, and certain regulatory function.

Essential oils also penetrate the skin, or the integumentary system. Because essential oils have a low molecular weight and are organic in nature, they are absorbed through the pores and hair follicles of the skin, and unlike synthetic chemicals, they do not accumulate in the body. Absorption can take place anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours, and take from 3 to 6 hours to be metabolized in a healthy body. Excessive fat or toughened skin may slow down the rate of absorption; whereas heat, water, exercise, or broken skin may speed it up.

How are essential oils used?

Aromatherapy is used to self-heal and soothe common, everyday health challenges. It is by no means a replacement for the opinion of a licensed physician, and should always be used with respect.

As with all things derived from nature, some essential oils are considered hazardous, and under certain circumstances, should be avoided. Some are phototoxic, neurotoxic, or carcinogenic, and safety precautions should always be considered when working with and administering any essential oil.

Here are common-sense safety points to note:

1. Avoid essential oils deemed as hazardous
2. Keep all essential oils out of the reach of children.
3. Remember essentail oils are very potent.
4. Do not take orally.
5. Follow dilution guidelines carefully. Never use an oil without first diluting.
6. Use 1% or less dilution during pregnancy.
7. Be aware of others with sensitivities or allergies.
8. Do not use on or near the eyes.
9. Do a skin patch test if prone to sensitivities.
10. Use extra care on broken or damaged skin.
11. Avoid phototoxic essential oils if history of skin cancer.
12. Keep them away from light and heat sources.
13. Use only therapeutic genuine and authentic essential oils.

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

Sharks

Please remember that the water in your dreams may be a statement about your emotions and the unconscious. Sharks, water-dwelling animals, could represent unpleasant emotions or difficult and painful materials coming up from the unconscious. You may feel some emotional upset, and the shark could be the symbol of the perceived emotional danger. Old dream interpretation books say that sharks may represent dishonest friends or reflect financial troubles.

See also: Meaning of Dreams about Animals

Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Sharks , Meaning of Dreams about Sharks , Dream Interpretation Sharks )

Fish

• To dream that you see fish in clear-water streams, denotes that you will be favored by the rich and powerful.
• Dead fish, signifies the loss of wealth and power through some dire calamity.
• For a young woman to dream of seeing fish, portends that she will have a handsome and talented lover.
• To dream of catching a catfish, denotes that you will be embarrassed by evil designs of enemies, but your luck and presence of mind will tide you safely over the trouble.
• To wade in water, catching fish, denotes that you will possess wealth acquired by your own ability and enterprise.
• To dream of fishing, denotes energy and economy; but if you do not succeed in catching any, your efforts to obtain honors and wealth will be futile.
• Eating fish, denotes warm and lasting attachments.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Fish , Meaning of Dreams about Fish , Dream Interpretation Fish )

Raga - a deep attachment which is permeated by spontaneous and intense absorption in the object of one’s affection. The primary characteristic of raga is a deep and overpowering thirst for the object of one’s affection.

The desire for water is called thirst. When the body is deprived of water, thirst arises. The greater the thirst, the greater the longing for water. When this thirst reaches the point that without water one can no longer maintain the body, it is known as an overpowering thirst.

Similarly, when the loving thirst to please the object of one’s affection becomes so intense that in the absence of such service one is on the verge of giving up his life, it is known as raga.

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

The Herbal Dictionary

A herbal dictionary with definitions.

Please note that all words in grey, like "yoga", "enlightenment" or "kundalini" are hyperlinked to archives further explaining the term. At the corresponding archive you will also find articles related to the term.

Dictionary on Dreams Meaning including the meaning of dreams about: Ditch, Dividend, Diving, Divining Rods, Divorce, Docks, Doctor, Dogs, Dolphin, Dome, Dominoes, Donkey, Doomsday, Door, Door Bell, Doves, Dowry, Dragon, Drama, Dram-drinking, Draw-knife, Dressing, Drinking, Driving, Dromedary.

Dream Dictionary Index including links to 10.000 dream interpretations: Dream Dictionary Index

For more dream interpretation, see: Meaning of Dreams or Dream Dictionary

For articles about dreams, see: Dreams

Unsui: The novices in a Zen monastery. The word literally means cloud-water. Novices are called this because clouds move about freely, without specific form and unhampered. Water is very powerful, able to wear down even the Earth, but also has a yielding quality. The virtues of clouds and water are desired virtues to the zennist.

 (See also: Unsui , Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Lotus (from Greek lotos)

A lily belonging to the genus Nymphaea, an ancient and universal symbol; in India spoken of innumerable times under its Sanskrit name padma.

"It is the flower sacred to nature and her Gods, and represents the abstract and the Concrete Universes, standing as the emblem of the productive powers of both spiritual and physical nature. It was held sacred from the remotest antiquity by the Aryan Hindus, the Egyptians, and the Buddhists after them; revered in China and Japan, and adopted as a Christian emblem by the Greek and Latin Churches, who made of it a messenger as the Christians do now, who replace it with the water lily. It had, and still has, its mystic meaning which is identical with every nation on the earth" (SD 1:379).

In relation to men, the lotus is the symbol of the self-producing soul which, during manifestation immersed in material life as the lotus seed is embedded in the mud of lake or pond, is wakened by the warm rays of the spiritual sun, and grows upward through the world of illusion (symbolized by water) to blossom in the free air and sunlight of truth.

Cosmically the lotus symbolizes the emanation of the objective from the subjective, the manifested effect or production of the eternal plan on which the invisible worlds are built by the formative logoi. This lies buried, until the time for its svabhava or production comes, in the bosom of eternal ideation -- as the lotus plant of visible nature exists in miniature in the seed.

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

Brahma (Sanskrit) (from the verbal root brih to expand, grow, fructify)

The first god of the Hindu Trimurti or triad, consisting of Brahma, the emanator, evolver, and creator; Vishnu, the sustainer or preserver; and Siva, the regenerator or destroyer. Brahma is the vivifying expansive force of nature in its eternally periodic manvantaras. He stands for the spiritual evolving or developing energy-consciousness of a solar system which is also called the Egg of Brahma (brahmanda). Brahma is called the creator or Logos, but in the theosophic philosophy creator is simply an abstract term or idea, like army. In Burnouf's words:

"Having evolved himself from the soul of the world, once separated from the first cause, he evaporates with, and emanates all nature out of himself. He does not stand above it, but is mixed up with it; Brahma and the universe form one Being, each particle of which is in its essence Brahma himself, who proceeded out of himself" (q SD 1:380n). The Vishnu-Purana explains that created beings "although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet being affected by the good or evil acts of former existences, are never exempted from their consequences. And when Brahma produces the world anew, they are the progeny of his will . . ." (q SD 1:456n).

Brahman is both masculine and neuter, and therefore has two meanings. In the masculine (Brahma) it is the evolving energy of the cosmic egg, as distinguished from the neuter (Brahman). Brahma is the vehicle or sheath of Brahman. The Vishnu-Purana says that Brahma in its totality has essentially the aspect of prakriti, both evolved and unevolved (mulaprakriti), and also the aspects of spirit and of time. "Brahma, as 'the germ of unknown Darkness,' is the material from which all evolves and develops 'as the web from the spider, as foam from the water,' etc. This is only graphic and true, if Brahma the 'Creator' is, as a term, derived from the root brih, to increase or expand. Brahma 'expands' and becomes the Universe woven out of his own substance" (SD 1:83). Again,

"Here we find, as in all genuine philosophical systems, even the 'Egg' or the Circle (or Zero), boundless Infinity, referred to as It, and Brahma, the first unit only, referred to as the male god, i.e., the fructifying Principle. It is  or 10 (ten) the Decade. On the plane of the Septenary or our World only, it is called Brahma. On that of the Unified Decade in the realm of Reality, this male Brahma is an illusion" (SD 1:333).

According to the Aitareya-Brahmana, Brahma as Prajapati (lord of beings) manifests himself first of all as twelve bodies or attributes, which are represented by the twelve gods, symbolizing 1) fire; 2) the sun; 3) soma, which gives omniscience; 4) all living beings; 5) vayu, or ether; 6) death, or breath of destruction -- Siva; 7) earth; 8) heaven; 9) Agni, the immaterial fire; 10) Aditya, the immaterial and invisible sun; 11) mind; and 12) the great infinite cycle, "which is not to be stopped." Brahma in one of his phases therefore is the visible universe, every atom of which is essentially himself.

Brahma "symbolizes personally the collective creators of the World and Men -- the universe with all its numberless productions of things movable and (seemingly) immovable. He is collectively the Prajapatis, the Lords of Being; and the four bodies typify the four classes of creative powers or Dhyan Chohans . . ." (SD 2:60), these four bodies being ratri (night) associated with the creation of the asuras; ahan (day) associated with the gods; sandhya (evening twilight) associated with the pitris; and jyotsna (dawn or light) associated with the creation of men.

In the beginning Brahma was Purusha (spirit) and also prakriti (matter). It is later that he separated himself into two halves -- Brahma-Vach (female) and Brahma-Viraj (male). The term Brahma is not found in the Vedas. Blavatsky correlates Adam-Qadmon, Brahma, and Mars as symbols for primitive or initial generative and creative powers typifying water and earth; also all three are associated with the color red (cf SD 2:43, 124-5).

See also BRAHMA'S DAY

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

Wading [237]

• If you wade in clear water while dreaming, you will partake of evanescent, but exquisite joys. If the water is muddy, you are in danger of illness, or some sorrowful experiences.
• To see children wading in clear water is a happy prognostication, as you will be favored in your enterprises.
• For a young woman to dream of wading in clear foaming water, she will soon gain the desire nearest her heart.

[237] See also: Meaning of Dreams about Bathing.

Source: 10 000 Dream Interpretations, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Wading , Meaning of Dreams about Wading , Dream Interpretation Wading )

Ab-e-Hayat or Ab-e-Zendegi (Persian) (from Persian ab, Avestan ap, Pahlavi av, water, purity, brilliance, honor, bliss, fortune)

Water of life or immortality; it is believed that the Water of Life is hidden in the most northern part of the earth in the dark. He who finds and drinks of it will become immortal. Some Persian allegories say that Alexander the Great sought after it in vain. It is also said Khezr, the prophet, found it and that is how he became immortal. Esoterically it represents the universal self and life's principal substance. It corresponds to the use of "water" in Genesis 1:2. The ancient Iranians believed that the first created was Mithra (Mehr), the reflection of Being, the essence of light, in the water of life; so the creation was the synthesis of these two, named Mehrab. Mehrab later became the sacred place of worship in mosques among Moslems. It is noteworthy that the same letters are used in the words Abraham (ABRHM), Bahram (BHRAM), and Brahma (BRHMA).

The water of life is also called Ab-e-Bagha (water of immortality), Ab-e-Heyvan (water of animation), and Ab-e-Khezr (water of Khezr).

(See also: Ab-e-Hayat, Ab-e-Zendegi , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Role of Taste

It is as important to realise that every food's unique combination of attributes will influence its taste and the action it causes in the body. With every taste having a different action – as detailed below. Astanga Hrdayam clearly describes the characteristics of each of the six tastes and problems that might be experienced from its habitual over-consumption. Most foods being a combination of two or more of these tastes e.g. coffee is bitter and pungent.

Sour

Comprised of the elements earth & fire, it increases pitta and kapha and is good for heart and digestion. Stimulates agni, moves inactive Vata energy down the pelvic cavity, sets the teeth on edge and increases salivation. Excess use may cause looseness and flabbiness, loss of strength, giddiness, itching, irritation, a whitish yellow pallor, herpetiform lesions, swelling thirsts and fever, and diseases arising from excess pitta and kapha.

Sweet

Related to earth & water, it mitigates pitta and vata, producing greater strength in the tissues and of value to the aged, wounded, emaciated and children. Universally liked, it often adheres to the inside of the mouth, giving a feeling of pleasure, contentment and comfort. Good for the complexion, hair, senses and ojas, it also increases breast milk and helps unite broke parts like bones. By its virtue it prolongs life and helps life activities. In excess however it may cause diseases arising from fat and excess kapha e.g. obesity, dyspepsia, unconsciousness, diabetes, enlargement of neck glands or malignant tumors.

Salt

The water & fire in salty taste increases pitta and kapha. It clears obstruction of channels and pores and increases the digestive activity and salivation. Also responsible for lubrication and sweating, it penetrates the tissues. An excess of it may cause baldness and graying of the hair, wrinkles, thirst, skin diseases, blood disorders, herpetiform leisons and loss of body strength

Pungent

Fire & air in pungent increases vata and pitta and mitigates kapha. Increases hunger, is digestive, causes irritation, brings secretion from the eyes, nose & mouth, and gives a burning sensation to the mouth. Dilating the channels and breaking up the hard masses. But an excess use of it may cause thirst, depletion of reproductive tissue and strength, fainting, contracture, tremors, pain in the waist and back, and other disorders related to excess of pitta and kapha.

Bitter

Air & space being its elements, it mitigates pitta and kapha. Drying up moisture from fat, muscles, faeces and urine. It cleans the mouth and destroys the perception of taste. It is said to cure anorexia, worms, bacteria, parasites, thirst, skin diseases, loss of consciousness, fever, nausea, burning sensation. But in excess, it increases vata, causing diseases of vata origin and depletion of tissues.

Astringent

Air & earth increases vata and mitigates increased pitta and kapha. It cleans the blood and causes healing of ulcers. Like bitter, it too dries up moisture from fat. It absorbs water, causing constipation and hindering digestion of undigested food. Its excess use causes stasis of food without digestion, flatulance, pain in the cardiac region, emaciation, loss of virility, obstruction of channels and constipation.

(See also: Diet , Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Dictionary, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Ydromancy

Also known as hydromancy and hydrascopy, it is one of various different methods of predicting the future by means of water or rain. One technique supposedly involved a basin full of water which, at the command of the diviner, is activated by spirits in order to vibrate to a point where it appears to boil and give off meaningful sounds.

Methods of disturbing water (by means of suspended rings or by means of pebbles being dropped into the bowl) are also described as legitimate hydromantic techniques, and some diviners are supposed to read from the reflections on the surface or from the color of water, as well as from the movement of water in fountains or the pattern of ripples formed after an object is cast into the pool. Some of these techniques are Lecanomancy, Pegomancy, Eromanty and Castronomancy.

(See also: Ydromancy , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

ELEMENTS -

1.the four alchemical elements once thought to make up the entire universe. These are Earth, Air, Fire and Water plus the fifth element of pure spirit in, of, and outside them all. Each Pagan tradition has their own directions, tools and correspondences for each of these. (CMM)

2. Earth, Air, Water and Fire including also Spirit/Akasha. Each has a direction within a circle or working: East-Air, South-Fire, West-Water, North-Earth, Center-Spirit/Akasha. (TRASB)

3. fundamental constituents of the material world, earth, air, fire, water and sometime ether. Substance that cannot be separated into different substances except by nuclear disintegration. Frequencies of energy found in all living things. Atoms and compounds, the orderly manifestation of subatomic particles into spirallic atomic structures. (NAD)

(See also: ELEMENTS , Wiccan Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Rain

Interpretation is contingent on your current circumstances as well as the kind of rain that is falling. Rain naturally cleans, refreshes, and "provides life-giving moisture." Depending on the dreamer it could suggest a period of renewal and fertility (reproduction or creativity). However, dark clouds and a heavy downpour indicate feelings of isolation and helplessness. On the other hand, the heavy downpour could represent unconscious materials and emotions attempting to enter the dreamer's conscious mind.

See also: Meaning of Dreams about Water

Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Rain , Meaning of Dreams about Rain , Dream Interpretation Rain )

Bread

As a food, bread is a fundamental part of most diets. In poverty bread is the filler, and in jail the prisoner receives bread and water to keep from starvation. In Christianity, Christ is the "bread of life," and in popular jargon bread is used to refer to money. Crossculturaly in both physical and metaphysical references, bread is the basic sustenance of life. As a dream symbol it is rich in both meaning and message. The bread in your dreams could represent those positive and wonderful things that you have learned in your life's journey. It could be symbolic of "good" and most basic things in your life which will yield positive benefits in the future. The bread in your dream could be spiritually symbolic; it could represent a profound communion or connection with others and with God. Consider the details of your dream before interpreting, but know that bread has positive universal symbolism and that this dream should bring with it a level of positive feelings and peace.

Source: Dream Lover Incorporated, http://www.dreamloverinc.com

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Bread , Meaning of Dreams about Bread , Dream Interpretation Bread )

dosha: (Sanskrit) "Bodily humor; individual constitution."

Three bodily humors, which according to ayurveda regulate the body, govern its proper functioning and determine its unique constitution. These are

• vata, the air humor;
• pitta, the fire humor; and
• kapha, the water humor.

Vata has its seat in the intestinal area, pitta in the stomach, and kapha in the lung area. They govern the creation, preservation and dissolution of bodily tissue. Vata humor is metabolic, nerve energy. Pitta is the catabolic, fire energy. Kapha is the anabolic, nutritive energy.

The three doshas (tridosha) also give rise to the various emotions and correspond to the three gunas, "qualities:" sattva (quiescence- vata), rajas (activity- pitta) and tamas (inertia- kapha).

See: ayurveda, kapha, pitta, vata.

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

Padma (Sanskrit) The lotus, a flower which has been held sacred from remotest antiquity by the Aryan Hindus, as well as revered in other lands such as Egypt.

Mystically, it was looked upon as an emblem of productive nature growing between the spiritual sunlight above and the water or the astral light below; or in a more general sense between spirit and matter. It has also other meanings, such as in India, of the prolific earth, and even of Mount Meru.

The lotus is "a very ancient and favourite simile for the Kosmos itself, and also for man. The popular reasons given are, firstly, . . . that the Lotus-seed contains within itself a perfect miniature of the future plant, which typifies the fact that the spiritual prototypes of all things exist in the immaterial world before those things become materialised on Earth. Secondly, the fact that the Lotus plant grows up through the water, having its root in the Ilus, or mud, and spreading its flower in the air above.

The Lotus thus typifies the life of man and also that of the Kosmos; . . . The root of the Lotus sunk in the mud represents material life, the stalk passing up through the water typifies existence in the astral world, and the flower floating on the water and opening to the sky is emblematical of spiritual being" (SD 1:57-8).

(See also: Padma, lotus , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)