Definition of Terms
ACUPUNCTURE MERIDIANS: Rivers of light that run along the surface of the skin connecting energy points of the body. They are the veins and arteries of the luminous body analogous to the circulatory system of the physical body.
ANAMCARA: Gaelic term meaning soul-friend. End-of-life midwife who journeys with the dying as a spiritual coach, giving comfort and support.
ANCESTRAL ALTAR: A designated place honoring family members who have passed on as a way of coming to peace with them. Usually photographs or personal articles symbolic of their lives are placed thereon.
ARCHETYPES: More than symbols, they are primordial energies or spirits representing the organizing principles of the Universe. Each has a life and powers of its own and when summoned assist us on our healing journey.
AROMATHERAPY: Certain fragrances or incenses known to have healing properties used therapeutically with the sick.
BARDOS: In Tibetan tradition, term commonly used to denote the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Domains of the afterlife where souls go through a life review and purge themselves of unfinished business or unresolved traumas that may be keeping their luminous bodies earthbound.
CELESTIAL BEINGS: Benevolent archetypes of a spiritual lineage who guide souls without judgment or expectations in the fulfillment of their original destinies.
CHAKRAS: Swirling disks of energy spinning clockwise several inches outside the body that link to our spine and central nervous system. Each has a unique frequency perceived as one of the seven colors of the rainbow. Through the chakras we are able to cross over from the world of matter into the sphere of energy.
CUSTOMARIES: Centuries-old library of records giving detailed information on the customs of Europe’s earliest hospices.
DEATH RITES: Birthing into the world of Spirit. Assist the dying find strength, guidance and spiritual fortitude to embark on the greatest journey of life, the return to infinity. (See rites)
DEATH SPIRAL: Rite performed after the person has died. The luminous body is released by disengaging the chakras, then sealing them to prevent the spirit from reentering the physical shell.
DESPACHO: Ancient ritual of prayer to create balance and harmony in the world as well as in all aspects of our lives. Prayer bundles containing symbolic elements are assembled and offered to the ceremonial fire of transformation. When done with the dying, representations of the person’s life are placed in the prayer bundle as an expression of gratitude and celebration.
ECOSPHERE: In this sphere of sacred space, we invoke the spirits of the four directions and step into a worldwide environment to embrace all of life.
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD: Generated by the nervous system and surrounding the body about an arm’s width. It is the primary glue that holds the luminous body to the physical body.
ENERGY MEDICINE: Healing practices of spirit and light on the Luminous Energy Field surrounding the physical body, not on the body itself. When healing takes place in the LEF, the physical body is transformed so that it ages differently, heals differently, and dies differently.
ENLIGHTENMENT: Awakening with radiant clarity to the reality that we are already essentially perfect. Accessible to all.
FATHER SKY: The Great Spirit or God, the creative life force.
FOUR CARDINAL DIRECTIONS: Literally, they enable us to get our bearings in the material world— north, south, east and west. In the shamanic tradition, these directions personalize qualities and energies represented by archetypal spirits. They hold respective meanings and wisdom teachings that comprise a map for the soul’s healing journey.
GLUES: Two binding forces that connect the luminous body to the physical body: the electromagnetic field and the chakras.
GNOSTIC BOOKS: Scriptures coming out of monastic communities of the third and fourth centuries in the regions from Syria to Egypt. Helpful in understanding our ancestors’ attitudes towards death. Never became part of the official Bible.
GREAT AWAKENING: Total and complete enlightenment.
HEART SCARAB: Ancient Egyptian amulet of carved brown soapstone placed on the heart of a mummy or around the neck. It provided assurance that the bearer would be accepted into the eternal afterlife.
HUNGRY GHOSTS: Psychological demons representing all unfinished business that “haunt” the consciousness of a person going through the dying process. Forgiveness dissolves them into thin air.
IMPRINTS: Records of our personal and ancestral memories stored in the Luminous Energy Field. When negative emotions that accompany trauma are not healed, they form imprints containing instructions that predispose us to repeat those events.
INFINITY: Prior to time itself and existing before time was born. A state of spiritual liberation as we no longer exclusively identify ourselves within time or with a physical form threatened by death.
LOWER WORLD: The primordial Eden which legend says we’ve all lost. Archetypal, energetic domain where our lost soul parts remain in grace and innocence and are protected.
LUMINOUS BEINGS: Medicine people of the spirit world who lived on this planet many thousands of years ago - now part of the great matrix of life. They have risen to the level of angels and, as part of our medicine lineage, provide us with knowledge in how to become angels ourselves.LUMINOUS BODY: See Luminous Energy Field— terms interchangeable. “Luminous body” is the more poetic or anthropomorphic expression used in certain contexts.
LUMINOUS ENERGY FIELD: A translucent, multicolored orb surrounding and informing our physical body. It contains a template of how we live, how we age and how we might die. All our personal and ancestral memories are stored within it.
LUMINOUS THREADS: Fibers of energy and light extending out of and beyond the luminous body into other fields, such as the luminous matrix of the universe. They span the fabric of time, anchoring in infinity.
MOTHER EARTH: Archetype representing the life-giving earth and metaphorically residing deeply within it—the very personification of the earth.
NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE: Persons who have clinically died and returned to life due to resuscitation made possible with modern medicine. They give strikingly similar reports on a journey toward the light.
NEURAL NETWORK: The nervous system of the human body.
NOOSPHERE: In this sphere of Sacred Space, we share in global consciousness to envision the fulfillment of humanity’s highest potential.
ORIGINAL SELF: The perfect self that exists outside of time—never left the Garden of Eden, still speaks with God and does not die. It remembers all former incarnations but knows you are not any of those persons but much more. It informs you beyond genetics and personal histories, allowing access to possible destinies.
PHOWA: Tibetan meditation practice to merge one’s consciousness with the wisdom mind of the Buddha, thereby avoiding negative thinking.
PRACTIONER OF ENERGY MEDICINE: One who assists in the empowerment of persons to heal themselves and accompanies them in their healing journey.
PRAYER WHEEL: The touching or spinning of a prayer wheel, accompanied by visualization and meditation, is considered a powerful practice in the Tibetan tradition. Means of purifying the mind of negative karma in order to bring healing and peace, especially at the time of death.
PURGING: Process of cleansing and atonement the soul goes through in the bardo beyond death in order to return to the light.
RAINBOW BODY: Acquired when chakras are not dulled by illness or trauma but are clear, glowing with their original radiance and emitting the pure colors of the rainbow.
RECAPITULATION: Life-review made during the dying process or in the bardo beyond death.
RIGHT HAND RULE: Determines the direction of the magnetic field as it revolves clockwise around the body.
RITES: Accompany us on our journey to wholeness, bringing meaning to change as part of the healing process or to celebrate the seasons of our lives.
RITUAL: Symbolic practice having spiritual meaning and potential for healing. Helps us remain connected to nature, to each other, and to heaven and earth.
SACRED SPACE: Our quiet, inner world, a healing sphere that is pure, holy and safe. It is where we meet the Divine and access luminous healers and the archetypes of the four directions.
SAMADI: Yogic ecstasy, a state of bliss. In achieving this state, we regain our original self and attain liberation.
SHAMAN: Self-realized person, a seer and healer, who has discovered the ways of Spirit through inner awakening. His path is one of power and direct engagement with the forces of Spirit in its own domain.
SLUDGE: Toxic obstructions due to trauma that block the flow of energy in the Luminous Energy Field.
SPIRIT FLIGHT: Ritual in which one symbolically dies and journeys to the world beyond death. Way of learning the path to infinity while still having a body to return to, and of preparing for the final death from which there is no return. Called “out of the body” experience in the West.
SYMBOLIC DEATH: Requires that one no longer identifies with the mortal ego. Journey into a divine reality that has become an archetypal symbol of transformation—found in every culture of the world. (See Spirit Flight)
TONGLEN: Tibetan meditation practice to overcome fear of suffering through connecting with the suffering of others and thereby awakening inherent compassion.
TORUS: The Luminous Energy Field is shaped like a doughnut, known in geometry as a torus, with a narrow axis or tunnel in the center less than a molecule thick.
TOXIC ENERGY: Negative energy in the Luminous Energy Field due to unfinished business in this life or trauma that has not healed.
VAN ALLEN RADIATION BELT: Torus of high energy particles trapped by the earth’s magnetic field which streams out of the North Pole and circumnavigates the planet to reenter at the South Pole.