For many years, I have been fascinated by the idea that light is not simply something that shines upon us, but something that is also intimately connected with life itself.
When I speak about the Living Attributes Codex, I often use the language of light because, for me, light is more than a metaphor. It is a way of contemplating the qualities, intelligence and potential that are already present within us. What fascinates me is that science now gives us something tangible to consider alongside this spiritual understanding.
Living cells are dynamic systems in constant activity. As cellular metabolism unfolds, the chemical reactions involved in sustaining life can produce extremely faint emissions of photons. This phenomenon is known as ultraweak photon emission, or UPE, and is sometimes referred to as biophoton emission. These emissions are far too faint for the human eye to see, but they can be detected with sensitive scientific instruments.
This means that the chemistry of life is accompanied by light.
Much of this biophoton emission is associated with oxidative metabolic processes, including reactions involving reactive oxygen species and electronically excited molecules. Mitochondrial activity also appears to contribute to these emissions. Scientists can measure this phenomenon and investigate the biological processes associated with it, but much remains to be understood about what, if anything, these photons may do beyond being a consequence of cellular metabolism.
This is where I find the subject particularly fascinating.
There is a temptation, when science touches something that resonates with our spiritual understanding, to immediately turn a scientific observation into a spiritual conclusion. I do not believe we need to do that. Science gives us a measurable phenomenon, while spirituality invites us to contemplate its meaning. They do not need to make the same claims.
Researchers continue to investigate whether ultraweak photon emissions might have biological signalling or informational functions. These possibilities are intriguing, but they remain an area of scientific investigation rather than established fact. For me, the uncertainty does not diminish the wonder. If anything, it makes the question more interesting.
What does it mean that the processes of life are accompanied by light?
For more than three decades, I have explored the idea that we are not separate from the living intelligence moving through us. The Living Attributes Codex has grown from this exploration and from my own experience of observing the relationship between our physical, emotional, spiritual and celestial selves.
I call these qualities Living Attributes because I do not see them simply as abstract ideals. Strength, Courage, Integrity, Faith, Compassion, Beauty, Kindness, Forgiveness, Loving, Intuition, Kindness, Gratitude, and Divinity are qualities that we can embody through the way we live, which were named “Primary Light Attributes” many years ago in the Living Attributes framework.
The living cell offers me a beautiful image for this process. A cell is not static. It is continually transforming, responding to its environment, exchanging energy and participating in something much larger than itself. It has its own integrity while simultaneously belonging to a greater living system.
I see something of ourselves in this.
We are individual human beings, yet we are also participating in relationships, families, communities and the larger living system of which we are a part. Our lives are constantly shaped by what we receive, what we transform and what we give back.
Perhaps this is why the idea of cellular light speaks so deeply to me.
I’m not suggesting that science has demonstrated that our cells possess spiritual consciousness or that biophotons carry a spiritual message. We do not yet know that. What science does tell us is already extraordinary enough: living systems can produce measurable emissions of light as part of their metabolic activity.
For me, that simple fact opens a doorway to contemplation. We often speak about finding our light, awakening our light or becoming a light in the world. Yet perhaps we can also pause and recognise that life itself is already an extraordinary expression of energy, transformation and light.
The light does not have to be dramatic. It doesn’t have to be something we can see with our physical eyes. It can be incredibly subtle and still be real.
This brings me back to the heart of the Living Attributes Codex. My work is not about asking people to believe something simply because it sounds spiritual. It is about becoming curious about our own experience, learning to observe ourselves more deeply and discovering how the qualities and light within us can become evident in our everyday lives.
Science gives us a measurable phenomenon. Spirituality gives us a question.
If the “living process” within our cells is accompanied by light, what might that invite us to embrace about the extraordinary mystery of being alive? Let’s also ponder this for a moment: an average human body contains roughly 30 to 40 trillion cells, which suggests that we do, in total, have a significant amount of light doing its thing all the time.
Perhaps we don’t need to have the answer. Perhaps it’s enough to allow the question to expand our sense of wonder and to remind us that there is far more happening within us, and within life itself, than we can simply perceive. The cell is a vessel of living activity, continually transforming matter and energy as part of life. And within that activity, there is an expression of light. For me, that is not proof of a spiritual doctrine. But rather an invitation into wonderment.
And the deeper question is not whether science can prove that we are beings of light, but what we choose to do with the light that is already ours to embody.
That is where this beautiful scientific observation meets the heart of my life purpose: Use your Light, and Use it Well!
Heart to Heart, Elizabeth
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