complete self-study spiritual thought system that was channelled through Helen Schucman between 1965 and 1972. It consists of a Text, Manual for Teachers and Workbook for Students and teaches that all humans share a capacity for love, forgiveness, compassion and peace. Rather than trying to change the world, it teaches, you must change yourself and your view of the world. Miracles are defined as a shift in perception from fear to love. It also emphasizes that it is but one version of the universal curriculum, of which there are ‘many thousands’. Consequently, even though its language is that of traditional Christianity, the course expresses a non-sectarian, non-denominational spirituality.
A Course in Miracles was dictated by a clear inner voice to Helen Schucman, a psychologist at Presbyterian Hospital in New York and an assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Schucman was born to a Jewish family in the early 1900s and was an atheist. For years she experienced mental images that came to her like photographs, and in the 1960s the images became so intense and meaningful that Schucman feared she was going mad.
In September 1965 a voice began dictating the course to Schucman with the opening words, ‘This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.’ Schucman was frightened and reluctant but felt compelled to write. She shared her experiences with her supervisor at work, William Thetford, who thought she might be having psychic visions.
In the days, weeks, months and years that followed, the voice, which never identified itself, dictated the course to Schucman, and by September 1972 the entire work was completed and arranged into chapters by Schucman and Thetford. The voice predicted that a woman would come along who would know what to do with it, and that woman turned out to be Judith Skutch, president of the Foundation for ParaSensory Investigation. Skutch and her husband, Robert, changed the name of their foundation to the Foundation of Inner Peace and dedicated it to publishing and distributing the course.
Information about the course spread quickly via word of mouth, and study groups independent of the foundation formed around the world and continue to flourish today. Schucman and Thetford chose to remain anonymous advisors to the foundation. The voice continued to speak to Schucman, who wrote down a collection of poems published by the foundation as The Gifts of God. As Schucman had wished, her identity was not revealed until after her death in 1981.
A Course in Miracles was first published in 1975. There are currently over one and a half million copies of the course in circulation worldwide.
ABACOMANCY
The art of foretelling the future by observing patterns of dust. The way the dust is blown, distributed or disturbed is read very much like tea leaves. The origins and precise method of this ancient type of divination are unknown. Sometimes the diviner uses the ashes of the recently deceased.
ABSENT HEALING
Healing that results from the sending of healing thoughts, visualization, prayers or energy towards some distant person or persons. It is based on the belief that all beings are interconnected by a universal life force or energy and that healing thoughts send out subtle energetic charges into this web of interconnection and out to the person being thought about.
Many psychics, spiritual healers, reiki practitioners and medical intuitives claim to be able to direct energy and perform absent healing. Typically healers will speak the name of the sick person or they will focus on a photograph of the person, or a candle or doll that represents the person. The healing energies are then directed to where they are needed.
How absent healing is accomplished, if it can be accomplished, remains an unproven mystery but there is compelling evidence to suggest that emotional and sometimes physical healing can take place from a distance. Aside from countless personal accounts from those who have benefited from absent healing, American doctor Larry Dossey conducted several double blind trials to test the effectiveness of absent healing in the early 1990s. At the end of the trials the groups that had been the object of prayer showed greater improvement in health than the control groups.
ACHERI
In Native American folklore Acheri is thought to be the ghost of a little girl who died of disease. Legend has it that Acheri is a frail and pale looking female spirit who lives on mountaintops and hills. At night she travels into the valleys to spread infection, disease and pain, usually to children, by casting her invisible shadow over innocent sleeping victims.
It is thought that the colour red affords protection against this entity and amulets of red thread worn as necklaces will protect children from the disease Acheri brings. Similarly, in European folklore, red charms are used to protect against harm from evil spirits.
ACUPRESSURE
An ancient Chinese healing method that involves applying pressure to selected points on the body to relieve pain and tension. It is based on the belief that the body has 14 ‘meridians’ that flow through the major organs and carry energy, called chi, throughout the body. Acupressure is an alternative medicine technique that deals with all the aspects of a person - body, emotions, mind and spirit - as one whole rather than as separate parts.
Practitioners believe that acupressure can help relieve stress and tension, relax mind and body, increase blood circulation, aid in the removal of toxic wastes from the body, provide relief from head, neck and shoulder aches, promote the healing of injuries, increase energy levels and increase overall feelings of well-being. In a typical session the client lies fully clothed on a soft massage table while the practitioner presses gently on points on various parts of the client’s body. The session is non-invasive and gentle and generally lasts for about one hour. However, most clients normally require a number of sessions to complete a treatment.
ACUPUNCTURE
An ancient Chinese healing system and alternative medicine technique that involves inserting and stimulating particular points on the body with fine needles. Acupuncture, like acupressure, is built on the theory that there are special ‘meridian’ points on the body connected to the body’s internal organs and that ‘vital life energy’ (chi) flows along these meridian lines. According to this theory, disease is caused by interrupted energy flow; inserting the needles restores normal flow
Acupuncture needles may be twirled, heated or stimulated with a weak electric current, with ultrasound and sometimes even with wavelengths of light. Acupuncture is used to treat pain, depression, allergies, asthma, arthritis, bladder problems, digestive upsets, colds, flu, smoking, fatigue, gynaecologic disorders, headaches, migraines, high blood pressure, low libido, stress, stroke, drug addiction, vision problems and even AIDS.
ADELPHI THEATRE, GHOST OF
The Adelphi Theatre in London is thought to be haunted by the ghost of a celebrated Victorian actor called William Terriss. Terriss was a stylish and popular actor highly regarded in his day and seldom seen without his trademark pale gloves.
On the night of 16 December 1897, during a run of Secret Service, a thriller staring Terriss and leading lady Jessie Mil-ward, Terriss was murdered by an out-of-work actor, Richard Prince, who had been fired due to alcoholism and ever after bore a grudge against the profession. Prince especially resented the success and charisma of Terriss.
