That seems to conflict with this ingame dialogue:
"What is aether you ask? Why, only the source of all being! Though it cannot be seen, it is everywhere... or should I say, it is everything.Aether flows around us and within us, and without it we would cease to exist. When we die, it is believed that the shock separates our spirits from our corporal forms. Our bodies are then broken down and are absorbed back into the aetherial river, while the soul is left to journey to its final destination in the afterlife. Some call this "returning to the Lifestream." However, our ancestors discovered ways in which, through meditation and focus of spiritual energies, one could reduce her body to aether without losing the grip on her soul, in turn allowing us to travel upon the Lifestream. These methods have been given the names Return and Teleport."
Source, the first bit of dialogue here :Â http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Nicia
"What is aether you ask? Why, only the source of all being! Though it cannot be seen, it is everywhere... or should I say, it is everything.Aether flows around us and within us, and without it we would cease to exist. When we die, it is believed that the shock separates our spirits from our corporal forms. Our bodies are then broken down and are absorbed back into the aetherial river, while the soul is left to journey to its final destination in the afterlife. Some call this "returning to the Lifestream." However, our ancestors discovered ways in which, through meditation and focus of spiritual energies, one could reduce her body to aether without losing the grip on her soul, in turn allowing us to travel upon the Lifestream. These methods have been given the names Return and Teleport."
Source, the first bit of dialogue here :Â http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Nicia