F

fallen angels : The rebellion of Satan/Lucifer/Iblis against God, prompted by the creation of the first human being in the divine image and the command that the angels give it homage led to their expultion from heaven.

faith healing : 1. Method wherein one makes an appeal to God or a spirit to participate in healing others. 2. A group of methods that encompasses absent healing, Christian Science, the laying on of hands, mesmerism, and shamanism.

fate : The preordained result of life. Kismet, Karma, destiny are other names.

feldenkrais : A two branched system: Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration. Attempts to offset the effects of gravity, making the participant more aware of their body. It has an emotional component, attempting to return the participant to an early childhood state, undoing emotional/cultural programming.

feng shui : Ancient Chinese art of orienting objects and towns to promote a healthy flow of chi.

fire walking : A ritual means of demonstrating an individual's possession of extraordinary powers by appearing unharmed after walking barefoot across a bed of hot coals. Fire walking serves as a religious ordeal or test.

five flements (five fhases): Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire as manifestations ("phases" or "transformations") of chi.

flower essences : Vibrational remedies, taken internally (or rubbed on the skin, or added to bathwater). They help to re-balance the body's etheric electrical system.

folk medicine : practices based on common sense, superstition, and tradition.

food combining : Any practice postulating that the degree of a meal's healthiness depends chiefly (a) on the proportion of carbohydrate, fat, protein, and acid in each of its components, or (b) on nonmaterial attributes of these components.

foot reflexology : A cousin of acupuncture. Involves pressing reflex areas on the feet. Foot Reflexology cleanses the mind and body and revitalizes energy.

fortune telling : predicting the future using paranormal powers.

four noble truths : The essential teaching of early Buddhism. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha proclaimed his insight into the nature of existence in a sermon on the Four Noble Truths: 1. Suffering. 2. The Origin of Suffering (craving). 3. The Cessation of Suffering (nirvana). 4. The Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering (accessible to all who follow the way set forth by the Buddha).

gall bladder : Muscular organ serving as a reservoir for bile. It is a pear-shaped sac on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver just below the lower ribs.

gassho (Japanese) : A Mudra (hand posture) seen in Bodhisattvas. In the Gassho Mudra you place the palms and fingers together in a prayerlike position in front of the mouth with the fingertips at a point just short of the bottom of the nose.

gem therapy : The wearing of precious and semiprecious stones for healing, for example, bloodstones for hemorrhages and rubies for chills.

gemstone-reiki therapy : One of the postulates of Gemstone-Reiki Therapy is that gemstones concentrate "light-filled powers" and "color vibrations" into chakras.

geomancy : Divination by the earth. A system of divination by means of designs drawn randomly on the ground with sand or similar powders or by detecting, through calculations and signs, the forces in the landscape.

goji :small red berry thought to contain an excellent anti-aging agent.

grace : God's freely given Love, no matter what you do or who you are.

grounding : Sending excess energy generated during a ritual into the earth back to the God or the Goddess from which it came.

guardian angel : A supernatural being that acts as a guide and protector for individuals or nations.

guardian spirit : A supernatural helper.

guided imagery : An process with a therapist in which patients evoke their own images and feelings to relax. It augments treatment for a range of ailments from chronic stress and high blood pressure to major diseases like AIDS and cancer.

guru : Literally a teacher or spiritual advisor. However, in India and Tibet it means one at a very high level of consciousness.

H

hair analysis (hair element analysis, hair mineral analysis, hair-shaft analysis) : An diagnostic technique that involves laboratory analysis of a sample of hair. It allegedly can be a "useful guide" to bodily well-being.

halo : Light, usually in the shape of a circle, around head of a holy person.

hand reflexology : Form of reflexology whose focus is the hand. It is one of the two basic modes of zone therapy.

hara : The vital energy center of the human body. It is located at the second chakra, (2 fingers below the navel) internally.

hatha yoga : A major Hindu discipline. Akin to kundalini yoga, hatha yoga . The word "hatha" combines two Sanskrit words: ha, which means "the breath of the sun" (prana), and tha, "the breath of the moon" (apana).

hathor : Egyptian. Represented as a woman with cow's horns between which hangs a solar disc. Hathor is concerned with beauty, love and marriage, nurturing, and women giving birth. Mother and wife of Ra or Nurse and wife of Horus. Hathor is also a goddess of death and offers comfort to the newly dead.

healing : Creating space for people to feel comfortable about making changes in their life and bring it into harmony.

healing crisis : During the initial phase of healing, as your body begins to detoxify and your vital energy begins to repair and rebuild internal organs, you may experience headache, tiredness, flu-like symptoms, fatigue or other symptoms.

healing touch : Healing Touch balances and aligns the body's energy system. It increases relaxation and helps to decrease the stress response, which promotes positive changes in attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions.
healthcare : Systems whose goal is to improve human health.

heart : Hollow muscular organ that pumps blood through the body. The heart, blood, and blood vessels make up the circulatory system which is responsible for distributing oxygen and nutrients to the body and carrying away carbon dioxide and other waste products. The heart is the circulatory system's power supply.

heart disease : Any condition that adversely affects circulation.

heqet : (Heket) is the goddess of childbirth, creation and grain germination. She is epicted as a frog, or a woman with the head of a frog, connecting her with water.

herbalism : Ancient approach to "healing" using plants, or substances derived from plants, to treat a range of illnesses or to improve the functioning of bodily systems.

herbalism practitioners : exercise their knowledge of herbal synergy which is based on using plants which contain a mix of active ingredients for medicinal effect.

herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine) : The use of natural plant substances to treat illness.

herbology : Purported science and art of using plants for healing.
higher self : Non-physical, true self. The enlightened, "actual" persona of an individual as opposed to what the person seems to be.

hieroglyph : A pictographic character in ancient Egyptian writing system, invented before 3000 BC. Today almost any pictographic character. hinduism : A world religion of Indian origin. The gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) are commonly interpreted as representations of the various aspects of the divine (Brahman). Human beings progress to the ultimate realization of their oneness with rahman (often called Nirvana) through Reincarnation according to the law of Karma.

holistic healing : health care focusing on the "whole self" (body, mind and spirit) and natural or spiritual cures. The system embraces traditional and New Age therapy. holistic medicine : A healing approach that considers the person as a whole—body, mind and soul. Thus optimum health involves all three elements and their care.
holographic repatterning : based on the idea that we are an energetic system with frequency patterns. As we identify the non-coherent frequency patterns we are in phase with and the coherent frequency patterns we are out of phase with and return them to their optimal state of coherence, profound changes occur in our lives.

homeopath : A physician treating disease using minute doses of natural substancesthat would, in a healthy person, elicit the symptoms of the disease being treated.

homeopathy : Also known as the "way of similars", homeopathy is to give the patient a minute dose of a substance which is known to induce the condition. Medicines prepared homeopathically stimulate the body's own healing mechanism.

ho'oponopono : A putting to rights and achieving balance, Hawaiian Spiritual Practice of awakening and personal responsibility.

hormone : Chemical messengers produced by glands (e.g., adrenal, pituitary, etc.) having far-reaching effects throughout the body. Hormones regulate everything from growth and tissue repair to metabolism, reproduction and blood pressure.horoscope : A chart drawn up through the art of astrology.

horus : Pharaohs were incarnations of Horus, who conquered Seth the evil god of Upper Egypt. Seth was god of turmoil and confusion and murdered Osiris, Horus's father. Horus avenged his father's death and became the god of order and justice. The pharaoh became Horus on earth, the ruler Upper and Lower Egypt.

houses astrological : The twelve areas of your life in a birth chart or horoscope.

huna : Hawaiian for "secret." Huna, is ancient knowledge enabling a person to connect to his or her highest wisdom. The "seven principles" of Huna are intended to bring about healing and harmony through the power of the mind.

hydromancy : Divination by liquid, especially water.

hydrotherapy : 1.Use of water to treat diseases (e.g.,pain). 2. external hydrotherapies (e.g., whirlpool baths) and internal hydrotherapy (e.g., colonic irrigation).

hypertension : An arterial condition characterized by elevated blood pressure.

hypnotherapy : The use of hypnotism to treat chronic pain or changes in behavior.

hypothalamus : A region in the brain beneath the thalamus; consists of nerve cells and controls a variety of autonomic functions aimed at maintaining homeostasis.