Qi synonyms

Life energy beliefs around the world

i is the Chinese term for life energy, or life spirit, a vital force that flows through all living things. Similar beliefs exist all over the world, in many cultures. Here is an encyclopedia of such beliefs - and of terms mistakenly believed to be such.
     You find an edited and expanded version of it in my book Life Energy Encyclopedia.

Dao-in see do-in.

Death see life.

Deity see gods.

Dielectric energy is a theory from the 1990's by the American physicist William A. Tiller, where an etheric field in crystals relates to the dielectric force in about the same way as magnetism does to electricity. The force is also called magneto-electricity. Tiller speculated about subtle energy as a source to paranormal phenomena, in the way that he supposed it to react to human intention.

Digi is the Apache expression for a force that permeates nature. See also manitou and orenda.

Divinity see gods.

Do-in is a Japanese method of self-massage, with ancient Chinese origin (in Chinese dao-in), where ki (qi) is of central significance. The exact meaning of the word is hard to interpret – the combination of do, lead or show the way, with in, pull to oneself, actually means something like ‘do it yourself’ or ‘show yourself the way’. See also qigong.

Dreams have by many anthropologists been used as explanations to the ideas in almost all cultures about gods, spirits, a world beyond the visible one, and life after death. In dreams we meet deceased people, and we experience things that feel real, although our bodies do not move at all. Thereby easily follows the idea about a kind of soul, an incorporeal part of the person. Many cultures have the idea that dreams have special powers, such as that of precognition or prophesy, and of seeing a truer depiction of the world than what is perceivable in the awake state. Many cultures also have rituals to induce a dreamlike state of mind, where visions appear, which are interpreted and used as basis for seeing beyond where the eyes reach. Also, the relation between dreams and reality has been a subject for much speculation, such as the question of what world is the real one. See also animism.

Drugs see inebriation.

Dynamis is within the alternative medicine discipline homeopathy the term for dynamics of the life force (German Lebenskraft). When it is in perfect balance, the person is healthy, and everything in the body takes care of itself, which is called autocracy (Greek for self-government). Disease is when it is out of balance. Homeopathy also claims that there is an inner collecting center, from which the life force flows. Homeopathy was founded in 1808 by the German physician Samuel Christian Frederik Hahnemann (1755-1843).

Stefan Stenudd