After-death Communications (ADC): Also called Post-mortem Communication;
literally communication from the deceased.

* Induced After-death Communication (IADC): In Allan Botkin’s book, Induced ADC's
for Grief Therapy (2005), he reveals his secret for hypnosis in which the patient
experiences a deceased loved one again.

Afterlife: Life after our physical bodies die.


Agent: In poltergeist phenomena, parapsychologists use this term to indicate the
supposed source, usually a young girl.

Allotriophagy: Once referring to vomiting up strange objects such as stickpins,
toads, rings, etc. during an exorcism.

Altered States of Consciousness (ASC): Also Altered States of Awareness; a
common condition where the mind becomes more relaxed and many
parapsychologists believe this state of awareness makes receiving psychic
impressions easier. An article on ASC from Wikipedia lists the stages in relation to
trance mediumship:

* Alpha: 12.39 - 9.9 Hz: Start of Meditation

* Low Alpha: 9.89 - 8.2 Hz: Inspiration, Mental Mediumship, Clairvoyance, etc.

* Alpha/Theta: 8.19 - 7.7 Hz: Light Trance, Overshadowing

* High Theta: 7.69 - 7.1 Hz: Partial Loss of Awareness

* Theta: 7 - 4.9 Hz: Further Loss of Awareness

* Low Theta: 4.89 - 4.3 Hz: Deeper Trance

* Theta/Delta: 4.29 - 3.9 Hz: Out of Body Feeling

* High Delta: 3.89 - 3 Hz: Spirit Guides Controlling

* Delta: 2.9 - 1.5 Hz: Passive Body

* Low Delta: 1.49 - 0.5 Hz: Full Deep Trance

* Panning: 0.49 - 0.01 Hz: Where Have You Gone?

Amorphous: Having no definite form or shape, spirits and ghosts often appears in
mist-like forms or shapes.


Anomalistic Psychology: In A Dictionary of Ghosts, Peter Haining writes that, with
their interest in the paranormal, Leonard Zusne and Warren Jones coined this
phrase in 1982 to describe an area of psychology that investigates seemingly
paranormal phenomena.

Anomalistics: The study of unusual phenomena; replaced Fortean Phenomena.

Anomalous Cognition: In his book A Glossary of Terms Used in Parapsychology,
author Michael A. Thalbourne explains that this phrase was invented by
researchers at the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as an
umbrella term to describe the transfer of information without use of the five senses.

Anomalous Operation: Also Anomalous Perturbation; an umbrella term author
Michael A. Thalbourne uses in his book, A Glossary of Terms Used in
Parapsychology, to describe the use of alleged psychic abilities to influence the
physical world.

Apophenia: An article on apophenia from Wikipedia describes these phenomena
as seeing patterns when there really are none.

Apparition: The phenomenon where a spirit takes on a physical form that can be
seen.

Apparitional Experience: The experience of seeing an apparition.

Apport: The Historical Terms Glossary of the Parapsychological Association
explains this word is French meaning, “to bring.” This is a term used to define an
object that appears during a séance.

Arrival Case: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003),
Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. explains this is a situation where someone has a
hunch or dream they will meet someone and actually do soon after.

Asport: The Historical Terms Glossary of the Parapsychological Association
explains this word is French meaning, “to send.” This is a term used to define an
object that disappears during a séance.

Astral Projection: The alleged ability to separate the consciousness from the
physical body. This seems to be reported most when people are undergoing a
crisis, are in extreme pain or under anesthesia, leading some skeptics to believe
this is simply a dissociative process of the brain to protect the mind from stress.

Aura: A multicolored luminous that raditates from all objects. An article on auras
from Wikipedia states that people who suffer migrane headaches and epilepsy
often report seeing a halo around living people. However, W. E. Butler was one of
the first to assign seeing auras to clairvoyant facilities. He believed that the colors
that appear to hover around people are a direct indication of their physical and
emotional well being.

Automatism: Automatic behavior without conscious self-control, such as automatic
writing.

Autoscope: A term proposed by parapsychologist Sir William Barrett in his book
On the Threshold of the Unseen (1917), to describe an instrument that facilitates
undetectable automatism of the wrist to facilitate clearer movements. For instance:
the planchette from an Ouija board or one used for automatic writing, dowsing rods,
pendulums, etc.

Autosuggestion: The influence of the senses by belief and expectation.

Automatic: A term given to inspired actions by alleged spirits. Automatic writing, for
instance, is thought to be because of the influence of a spirit.

Automatic Writing: Also called direct writing: messages written on paper allegedly
by spiritual interference with the hand. In Mediums' Book, author Allan Kardec calls
the technique psychography, and separates it into two categories:

* Indirect Psychography: The use of an Ouija Board to receive spiritual messages.

* Direct Psychography: Communications written on paper allegedly under the
influence of a deceased person. Kardec goes further and separates this into
subcategories:

* Mechanical Psychography: Allegedly when a spirit controls someone’s hand while
his or her attention is elsewhere.

* Semi-mechanical Psychography: Allegedly when a spirit is writing a message but
the person has complete control of their arm and hand the whole time and is able to
stop the communication, turn the page, etc.

* Intuitive Psychography: Alleged spirit messages that are contained in the
automatic writing of a person, though the messages are usually from the
subconscious mind.

* Inspirational Psychography: Messages written down by a person who feels
inspired by an alleged connection with a spirit.

* Presentient Psychography: Receiving a communication that a person is unable to
understand when it is written down.

Automatism: Uncontrolled muscular twitches all over the body that many
Spiritualists attribute to the inspiration of spiritual entities. In the wrist, this is used to
explain automatic writing, dowsing rods, Ouija boards, planchettes, pendulums, etc.

Autophany: Also called heautoscopy: seeing your double.

Autoscopy: The belief that one is seeing their physical form while having an out-of-
body experience.

B

Banshee: A death omen in Irish folklore that manifests to herald an upcoming
death. Often heard singing and wailing.

Benign Spirit: A spirit that is not harmful.


Bigfoot: A mythical bulky, hair covered, humanoid which appears to possess both
human and ape-like characteristics.


Billet Reading: In Introduction to Parapsychology, author Harvey J. Irwin defines
this as a clairvoyant’s ability to perceive information sealed in an envelope. Crafty
fraudulent mediums were once able to perpetrate this trick by soaking the envelope
in rubbing alcohol when given an opportunity. The alcohol will make the envelope
temporarily translucent, but dries quick enough not to indicate any mischief.

Bilocation: Also called multiplication: the alleged ability to appear in two places at
one time.

Biolocation: A Soviet term for dowsing.

Bio-perception: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003),
Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. explains this is a Japanese term used to describe a
person who “feels things others can’t.”

Book Test: A once popular method of testing mediums was to read a passage from
a book and discover if the medium could recite the same passage without having
any knowledge of the book in particular.

Brutch: An area of supposed psychic disturbance.

C

Card Test: Also called a Card-guessing Experiment; a standard test
parapsychologists use to test for potential extrasensory perception with special
cases called Zener cards. There are several techniques used by different
institutions:

* Basic Technique: The parapsychologists takes a card from the deck and without
looking at it places it face-down on the table and waits for the subject to guess the
symbol.

* Before Technique: The test subject calls out their impressions of what symbol is
on the card before the parapsychologist pulls it out of the deck.

* Blind Matching Technique: The subject is seated across from five sealed
envelopes, each with a card with a different symbol on it. The subject is then asked
to place the cards with corresponding symbols onto the envelopes.

* Down Through (DT) Technique: Trying to guess cards from the top to the bottom
of the deck.

* Open Deck Test: An ESP test where the cards are chosen at random.

* Up Through (UT) Technique: Trying to guess cards from the bottom to the top of
the deck.


Of course, there were differences with each test subject that turned up some
interesting observations:

* Consistent Missing: This is when the tester notices the subject consistently
mistakes one card symbol for another.

* Displacement: some subjects will call out a symbol on the next card. Michael A.
Thalbourne, Ph.D. separates this anomaly into two categories:

* Systematic Displacement: The distance between the actual card and the symbol
mentioned by the test subject is consistent.

* Unsystematic Displacement: The distance between the actual card and the symbol
mentioned by the test subject is inconsistent, but curious nonetheless.

They also find certain patterns in the majority of the test subjects:

* Decline Effect: Subjects score lower the longer the test runs, leading some
researchers to suggest boredom plays an important role in failure.

* Incline Effect: Subjects seem to score higher when they know the end of a test is
coming soon.


Call Case: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003),
Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. explains that this is an instance when someone hears
a phantom voice calling their name.

Cancellation Effect: A phrase popularized with the work of Doctors Rex G.
Stanford and Robert Brier in the book A Brief Manual for Work in Parapsychology
(1999) to designate a study where low scores in one section of a test brings down
the average of the high scores of another test.

Chair Test: A once-popular test for precognitive abilities where the test subject
would be asked to predict what chair a certain individual would sit in once in the
room.

Change Effect: A term coined by parapsychologist Robert H. Thouless to describe
the temporary drop in a test subjects scores when rules were changed halfway
through the run; K. Ramakrishna Rao called this the Differential Effect.

Channeling: The alleged ability to receive and convey spiritual messages.

Chupacabra: Spanish for Goat sucker.

Circle: A group of people attending a séance.

* Development Circle: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology
(2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. uses this phrase to describe a group of
people that gather together in hopes of attaining the spiritual gift of mediumship.

* Home Circle: An informal group that gathers together without the use of a medium
in hopes of communicating with the deceased in a home-like setting.


Clairaudience: A French phrase that means, “clear hearing;” the alleged ability to
actually hear voices of discarnate beings, conversations going on over long
distances, etc.

Claircognizance: This is a French phrase that means, “clear knowing;” the
phenomena when someone “just knows” something.

Clairhambience: A French phrase that means, “clear tasting;” the alleged ability to
literally taste foods being eaten by someone else.

Clairkinesthesia: A French phrase that means, “clear feeling;” the alleged ability
to literally feel physical contact with discarnate entities, experience physical
sensations of someone else, etc.

Clairolefactor: A French phrase that means, “clear smelling;” the alleged ability to
literally smell scents that are associated with spirits or past experiences, scents
being experienced over long distances, etc.

Clairsentience: A French phrase that means, “clear feeling;” he defines this as
the supposed ability to sense the presence of a spirit.

Clairvoyance: Once called Telaesthesia by psychical researcher Frederic Myers
and Telopsis by Henry Holt; a French phrase that means, “clear seeing;” the
alleged ability to see spirits, events taking place over long distances, the location of
a missing object, what others are doing outside of the field of vision, etc. The book
Psychic Exploration by Edgar D. Mitchell explains that the Soviet term for this is
introscopy. He also explains that there is a subclass of clairvoyance not generally
used anymore:

* Precognitive Clairvoyance: Quite literally seeing the future.

* Traveling Clairvoyance: A term once used to describe what is now called remote
viewing.

* Waking Clairvoyance: Alleged clairvoyant facilities that can be accessed without
slipping into a trance.

Cleansing: A less religious form of exorcism that is done to remove spirits.


Cognitive Error Hypothesis: The more psychical researcher Joseph Banks
Rhine heard test subjects say, “I should have went with my first instinct,” the more
he wondered if the subjects ignore their first impressions because they assume it
couldn’t be that easy; he coined this phrase to describe this error in judgment.

Cold Reading: An article on cold reading from Wikipedia explains this is a process
fraudulent psychics and mediums use where they offer vague evidence that can
relate to anyone’s life and interpreting the reaction.

Cold Spot: A localized area that is much cooler than its surrounds that are
believed to signal the presence of a discarnate being.

Collective: A term given to a paranormal experience that is shared by two or more
persons. For instance, a collective apparition is an apparition seen by two or more
percipients.

Collective Phenomena: A paranormal event experienced by more than one
person.

Communicator: In Quest For the Unknown: Ghosts and Hauntings by Reader’s
Digest, this is a spirit that speaks through a medium.

* Drop-in Communicator: The same Reader’s Digest book explains that Canadian-
American psychiatrist, Doctor Ian Pretyman Stevenson, to describe a spirit who
appears unbidden to a séance, first coined this term.


Confabulation: Confusing imagination and experiences someone hears about for
personal memories. Some skeptics believe this plays a part in alleged past-life
experiences.

Conjurer: Once used to describe a fraudulent medium.

Control: Also called a gatekeeper, spirit operator, communicator or a guardian;
allegedly a spirit that communicates with sitters through a trance medium and acts
as intermediary between the medium and the spirit world.

Cotard's Delusion: Also called the Cotard syndrome or the walking corpse
syndrome; an article on Cotard’s Delusion from Wikipedia sites that it is a rare
psychological disorder in which a person believes they are dead, rotting, has no
blood or has lost one or more major organs. This derealization disease was named
after the French neurologist, Jules Cotard (1840 - 1889) who described the
condition in a lecture in Paris, France in 1880.

Crop circles: is a term used to describe patterns created by the flattening of crops
such as wheat, barley, rapeseed (also called "canola"), rye, corn, linseed and soy.
The term was first used by researcher Colin Andrews to describe simple circles he
was researching. Since 1990 the circles evolved into complex geometries, but by
then the term had stuck. Examples can be found worldwide. Various hypotheses
have been offered to explain their formation, ranging from the naturalistic to the
paranormal. Naturalistic explanations include man-made hoaxes or geological
anomalies, while paranormal explanations include formation by UFOs. Many circles
are known to be man-made, such as those created by Doug Bower, Dave Chorley,
and John Lundberg, and a 2000 study into circle hoaxing concluded that 80
percent of UK circles were definitely man-made.


Cryptomnesia: A Greek phrase meaning, “concealed recollection,” and describes
the event where something has already been learned or experienced but has been
forgotten. When someone is confronted with the information again, they seem to
inherently already know it and think they are experiencing déjà vu.

Cryptoscopy: Rudolph Tischner used this term to describe someone receiving
words in a sealed envelope or in another location via extrasensory perception.

Cryptozoology: A Greek phrase that literally means, “hidden animals;” the study of
animals thought to be extinct or non-existent by zoology

D

Death Compact: A deal two friends make, that the first one who dies will try to
contact the other from beyond the grave.

Deathbed Vision: Sir William Barrett coined this term for his book Death-bed
Visions (1926); this is a fairly common occurrence where someone who is deathly ill
will begin staring into a corner or suddenly begin having conversations with people
no one else can see or hear.

Decline Effect: This was noticed by American parapsychologist Joseph Banks
Rhine when he was testing subjects with alleged psychic abilities to describe the
drop off in hits (correct responses) the longer a test went on and the more times
the test was performed.

Déjà vu: Also called paramnesia; a French phrase that means, “already seen,” and
describes the eerie feeling that you have already experienced things before when
you are confronted with them for the first time. An article on Déjà vu from Wikipedia
explains that French psychical researcher Émile Boirac coined the term in 1917 and
that 70% of people have reported it. He divided the experience into four
classifications:

* Déjà vécu: A French phrase that means, “already lived.” This is actually what most
people consider to be Déjà vu.

* Déjà senti: A French phrase that means, “already felt;” believing you remember
something someone is talking about.

* Déjà visité: A French phrase that means, “already visited;” belief that you have
seen a new landscape before.

* Déjà rêvé: A French phrase that means, “already dreamed;” belief that you had
had the same dream before.


Most skeptics believe an excess of serotonin in the brain causes this sensation.

Delusion: A false belief that is usually an apperception: reflecting the inner turmoil
of the mind of the percipient.

Dematerialization: In Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications, author Raymond
Buckland defines this as the disappearance of an object during a séance.

Depossession: The release of an earthbound, obsessing spirit from the
human host.

Derma-optical Perception (DOP): Literally, “skin sight;” in Psychic
Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain, Sheila Ostrander devotes a large
section to the phenomena where presumably someone can be blindfolded
and touch colors and guess them accurately.

Dermography: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology
(2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. explains that this term is used when
scratches and even writing inexplicably appears on someone’s skin.


Dice Test: Also called a Dice-throwing Experiment; a standard test
parapsychologists use to test for potential psychokinesis. There are
several techniques used by different institutions:

* Around-the-die Technique: A test where subjects are asked to influence
dice to land on the same number again and again.

* Placement Test: A subject is instructed to try to influence dice in to a
certain area; introduced by W. E. Cox.


Direct: A term given to the seemingly direct presence of a spirit. For
example, a direct voice is supposedly the actual voice of a ghost.

Direct Painting: In Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications, author
Raymond Buckland defines this as an instance where allegedly a spirit
literally paints a portrait.

Direct Voice: Also called independent voice; in On the Edge of the Etheric
(1931), by J. Arthur Findlay, readers learned that during some séances, a
disembodied voice sounds from somewhere in the room or through a
trumpet to communicate to the sitters.

Direct Writing: Also called Autography; in Buckland’s Book of Spirit
Communications, author Raymond Buckland defines this as an instance
where allegedly a spirit literally writes a message.

Discarnate: Without a body.


Disembodied: A spirit that is functioning without a body.

Disembodied Voice: A voice that is heard that comes from no physical
body, also known as EVP.

Displacement Effect: A phrase used in extrasensory perception (ESP) tests
to describe an instance when a test subject picks the next card in the
deck, not the one the sender is concentrating on.

Divination: Also called fortune telling.

Doorway Test: Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D., author of A Glossary of Terms
Used In Parapsychology (2003), described this as a cunning test some
parapsychologists use to verify whether or not someone that claims to see
auras can actually do so. The subject is asked behind which unattached
door a person is standing.

Double: Paul Roland writes intelligently about doubles in his book The
Complete Book of Ghosts. In Germany, this phenomenon is labeled a
doppelganger; in Norway it is called vardoger; in Greece it is called larva;
in Wales it is called fye or waft; in England it is called fetch; in Tibet it is
called delok; in Scotland it is called taslach. It is seeing an exact copy of
yourself and usually foretells of impending disaster or death. It is different
from astral projection in that the body is unaware of their copies actions.

Down Through (DT) Technique: This experiment was started by American
parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine to test clairvoyant abilities in test
subjects. Instead of trying to read the mind of a “sender” about the image
on a Zener Card, the subject would lay their hand on the deck and guess at
each card’s symbol, starting from the top and working their way down.

Dowsing: Using a forked stick or two L-shaped metal rods to facilitate
automatism to discover underground water or ore.

* Map Dowsing: Holding a pendulum over a map to try to locate out-of-sight
objects. This method became very popular during the Vietnam War, where
it was useful in discovering secret tunnels and landmines.


Dracontology: This term was said to have been coined by a monk from the
monastery in St. Benoit-du-Lac in a letter to Jacques Boisvert of Quebec,
as the "study of lake monsters."

E

Ectenic Force: The alleged force surrounding a physical medium that
allows objects to move in his or her presence.

Effluviography: More commonly known as “aura photography.”

Ectomist: A term some paranormal investigators prefer over ectoplasm to
describe unexplainable fog or mist in pictures or on video.

Ectoplasm: A Greek phrase that means, “externalized substance” and
sometimes called teleplasm; once used to describe an odd substance
mediums allegedly produced that would take the form of disembodied
spirits. More recently, this describes a fog or mist that appears on film and
cannot be explained as naturally occurring.

Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Detector: A device that registers
electromagnetic fields that most parapsychologists believe indicate the
presence of a spirit.

Electronic Voice Phenomena (EMF): Also called Psychophonia by
Ferdinando Bersani; The alleged voices of discarnate souls caught on an
audio recorder. This phrase originally appeared in the book Breakthrough:
An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication with the Dead (1968),
by Dr. Konstantin Raudive. He was in Sweden recording bird songs and
when he played them back he supposedly heard the voices of deceased
individuals.

Electrophotography: A word used to describe so-called Kirilian
photography.

Empath: Also called telempath; the alleged ability to perceive the emotions
of others far beyond what is capible by empathy alone. Most skeptics,
however, believe a person who claims this facility is simply projecting their
own emotions onto others.

Ethereal: Of Heaven.

Etherialization: In Buckland’s Book of Spirit Communications, author
Raymond Buckland defines this as an apparition having no lower body.

Evocation: The summoning of spirits by usage of ritual, gesture, or verse
of incantation.

Exorcism: The expulsion of ghosts, demons, spirits or other entities that
are believed to be disturbing or possessing a person or a place that
people frequent.

Extrasensorymotor Phenomena: Information received outside of the
normal scenes or muscular capabilities.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP): Called Anomalous Cognition by Edwin C.
May, Ph.D., Cryptaesthesia by French physiologist Charles Robert Richet
and Supernormal Cognition by French psychical researcher Eugene Osty.
It is known as Metagnomy in France and Paragnosia in the Netherlands.
Also called the sixth sense; this term was coined by Joseph Banks Rhine
for his book Extra Sensory Perception (1934). This is the alleged ability to
receive information outside of the five senses. The book Psychic
Exploration by Edgar D. Mitchell explains that the Soviet term for this is
bioinformation. He also describes a sub-classification:

* General Extrasensory Perception (GESP): The alleged ability to use
telepathy and clairvoyance in combination and coined by American
parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine. In China, the phrase Exceptional
Fluctuations of the Human Body (EFHB) is used instead.


Experient: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003),
Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. used this term to indicate a person who is the
agent of psychokinesis.

Extraterrestrial (ET): Another name for aliens.

F

Falsidical: Parapsychologists use this to indicate a false or mistaken
statement or experience.

Forced-choice Experiment: In The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your
Psychic Potential, author Douglas G. Richards explains this is test where
the subject must chose from a small number of choices.

Free Response Test: The method of testing clairvoyance devised by
psychical researcher Charles E. Stuart, detailed in the book Extra-sensory
Perception After Sixty Years: A Critical Appraisal of the Research in Extra-
sensory Perception (1940), where subjects are welcome to draw any
impression from a huge number of possible targets has many times come
under fire, since it is quite possible for any abstract drawing to be
considered a hit to a particular piece.

G

Ganzfeld Experiment: In The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your Psychic
Potential, author Douglas G. Richards explains that this is a German word
that means “whole field.” It was initiated by Charles Honorton’s
Psychophysical Research Laboratories in Princeton, New York. Subjects
are tested lying down with eye coverings and white noise hissing through
headphones to put them in a sort of altered state of consciousness that is
believed to leave one open to telepathic suggestion.

Gestalt Impression: Drawing a picture that matches up with a picture
previously sealed in an envelope of which the subject had not seen.

Ghost: A ghost is believed to be the soul or the life force of a person.


Ghost Lights: Closely resembling orbs, but are much larger and brighter in
appearance.  


Ghost Ship: The appearance of a ship that has been know to have wrecked
or disappeared years or centuries before to fore warn of a pending
disaster.


Globule: A larger "Glob" of orb.


Glossolalia: “Speaking in tongues” during ecstatic trances.

Gravity Hill: Also called gravity road; an article on gravity hills from
Wikipedia explains that this is a convincing optical illusion where a road
looks like it is sloping one way when it is actually gently sloping the other.

H

Haint: A Southern Appalachian term for a ghost, derived from the word
“haunt.”

Hallucination: Perception of stimuli that aren’t actually present, but are
believed to be genuine:

* Auditory Hallucination: Hearing things that aren’t really there.

* Gustational Hallucination: Tasting something that really isn’t there.

* Olfactory Hallucination: Smelling things that aren’t really there.

* Tactile Hallucination: Being touched by something that isn’t really there.

* Visual Hallucination: Seeing things that are not really there.


Paul Devereux, author of the book Haunted Land: Investigations into
Ancient Mysteries and Modern Day Phenomena, is willing to concede that
many apparitions are due to hallucinations, but questions why some seem
to be experienced only in certain places regarded to be haunted; he calls
them Place-related Hallucinations.

Haunted: A place that is allegedly plagued by frequent supernatural
occurrences.

Haunting: Frequent visitation by seeming paranormal phenomena:

* Person-centered Haunting: Once used to describe poltergeist
phenomena.

* Place-centered Haunting: Used to describe a location where alleged
paranormal events frequently take place.


Heteraesthesia: A term coined by psychical researcher Frederic W. H.
Myers in his book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death
(1907) to describe a sensitivity that is seemingly outside of the normal
means.

Hit: In parapsychology, this word is used to indicate a correct response.

Home Circle: A séance held in someone’s home without the used of a
professional medium.

Hot Reading: An article on hot reading from Wikipedia states that this is
when a fraudulent psychic or medium has foreknowledge of someone’s
history and claims the knowledge comes from otherworldly
communications.

Hot Spot: Some “ghost hunters” use this term to indicate an area of
alleged paranormal activity.

Hypermnesia: An uncanny ability to vividly or completely recall information
filtered by the conscious mind but still contained in the subconscious. In
parapsychology, this could account for seemingly past-life experiences
and psychic information when a person isn’t aware that their subconscious
has retained bits and pieces of information and pieced them together.

Hypnagogia: An article on hypnagogia from Wikipedia explains this
common condition of hallucinations that occur upon falling asleep or
waking up. The most common is the feeling of falling before falling asleep,
called a hypnic jerk. However, this condition can create auditory and visual
hallucinations, feelings of impending disaster or doom, perceiving a
malevolent presence, the inability to breath or move, etc. People who
suffer a severe episode cannot be convinced that it wasn’t real.

I

Ideomotor Effect: Uncontrolled muscular movements that many skeptics
believe is the reason a planchette moves across an Ouija Board. When
table tipping became a popular pastime, Reverend Edward Gillson seized
the opportunity to write a prejudice book called Table-Talking: Disclosures
of Satanic Wonders & Prophetic Signs: A Word for the Wise (1853),
exposing the spiritualist beliefs as downright diabolical. He maintained
that when a table began to move under the alleged direction of a spirit to
communicate with the living, it was actually a demon moving the table and
by placing a copy of the Holy Bible on it, the table would instantly stop all
movement.

Illusion: Parapsychologists use this to indicate naturally occurring
phenomena that can be mistaken as paranormal.

Incombustibility: A term used to describe a person who is flame-retardant.

Incorporeal Personal Agency (IPA): A phrase used by psychical researcher
Frederic W. H. Myers in his book Human Personality and Its Survival of
Bodily Death (1907) to describe a discarnate human consciousness.

Indirect Voice: Mediumistic phenomenon in which the discarnate entity
appears to speak using the vocal apparatus of the medium.

Inedia: A term used to describe the amazing ability some Buddhist monks
possess to live without food for prolong periods of time.

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC): Anomalous phenomena that are
allegedly evidence of spiritual activity through electronic devices, such as
telephones, televisions, cameras, camcorders, audio recorders,
thermometers, electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors, etc.

Invocation: Summoning spirits.

Intelligent Haunting: Paranormal activity that takes place around a person
or location that is caused by an intelligent or conscious spirit.  

Intersubjective Phenomena: Experienced by more than one individual.

Intelligent Haunting: Allegedly a spirit that interacts with its surroundings
and with people and is no longer reserved to playing out a role as with
residual hauntings.

Interpenetration of Matter: A phenomena where it seems an object has
passed through another solid object.

Intra-mediumistic: Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D., author of A Glossary of
Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003), uses this term to describe
information that could have only been obtained through a medium actually
in contact with a deceased individual, not by ESP or telepathy.

Intrasomatic Hypothesis: An idea published by Karlis Osis and Donna
McCormick that states that the soul doesn’t actually leave the body during
a so-called out-of-body experience, but that the information is gained via
extrasensory perception.

Intuition: To know something without reasoning.

L

Liminality: An article on liminality from Wikipedia defines this as a state of
dissociation, where a person becomes disoriented and loses their sense
of self. Self-proclaimed trance mediums often describe this ambiguous
state before they begin to allegedly channel a spirit.

Linger Effect: When an object moves after the agent of psychokinesis has
been removed form the area.

Linkage Hypothesis: Maurice Clement Marsh believed that in order for a
sensitive to “tune-in” to another person, they must have a personal object
from that person, called Linkage Material.

Lithoboly: The book Exploring the Unknown by Reader’s Digest defines
this as the strangest phenomenon in poltergeist cases where rocks
inexplicably fall from the sky or from the ceiling in a house.

Luminous Phenomena: Also called Thoughtgraphic Appearance; anomalous
light that appears in pictures or video.

Luminosity: In Poltergeists and the Paranormal: Fact Beyond Fiction,
Doctors Philip Stander and Paul Schmolling mention luminosity as a sort of
poltergeist phenomena. They are small bright lights that suddenly appear
and hover, with no scientific explanation or logical cause.

M

Malevolent: A malevolent spirit is one that wishes to do harm.

Malicious: These spirits will destroy or damage things of a personal or
financial value for the sake of hurting others.

Manabee: A term that comes from the Southern Appalachian Mountains
that describes a ghost that haunts a small, inanimate object.

Manifestation: A spirit allegedly taking form.

Materialization: An object supposedly appearing out of thin air.

Medium: Literally, a channel for alleged discarnate spirits to use to
communicate with the living. An article on mediumship from Wikipedia
places mediums into three separate categories:

* Mental Medium: A medium that allegedly conveys messages from
deceased individuals.

* Mixed Medium: Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D., author of A Glossary of
Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003) used this to designate a medium that
seems to actually retrieve veridical information at times, but often times
does not, suggesting this ability is not under the medium’s control.

* Physical Medium: A medium that produces certain physical phenomena
that claim to be spiritual in origin, such as objects levitating, musical
instruments playing of their own accord, emitting ectoplasm, the
materialization of full-bodied apparitions, etc.

* Trance Medium: Also called trans-medium; a medium that slips into a
trance and supposedly communicates messages from deceased
individuals.

* Part Trance Mediumship: The medium is fully aware of what they
communicate to sitters.

* Full Trance Mediumship: The medium is completely unaware of what they
communicate to sitters.

The book Psychic Exploration by Edgar D. Mitchell also gives two more
classifications for mediums:

* Clairvoyant Medium: A medium that allegedly sees spirits.

* Direct-voice Medium: A medium that slumps into a trance and the voice of
a supposed spirit can communicate with the living.


Psychic Medium is a newer term that describes some who allegedly has
psychic abilities and is a medium. A Trumpet Medium is one that can
allegedly produce the direct voice of a spirit through a trumpet during a
séance.

Mentalism: Stage magic that simulates telepathy.

Metaphysical Levitation: Levitation by supernatural means.

* Autolevitation: The alleged ability to levitate the self.


Metetherial: A term coined by Frederic William Henry Myers, one of the
founders of the Society for Psychical Research in London, used to
describe an invisible world “behind our own” where spirits reside.

Minition: A word coined by psychical researcher Frederic W. H. Myers to
describe a message the offers council or a warning about a disaster.

Miss: In parapsychology, this word is used to indicate an incorrect
response.

N

Near-death Experience (NDE): This phrase became popular after Raymond
Moody wrote his book, Life After Life (1975). It is a personal experience
where a person has a brush with death and returns with awesome tales of
a glimpse of an afterlife. Moody collected many tales and finally set down
some common characteristics reported, such as clicking noises before
actual death, the feeling of leaving the body behind, hearing beautiful
music, traveling through a tunnel towards a brilliant white light, meeting
already deceased family, friends and pets, a fast review of their life,
judgment of some sort and finally the return to the body.

Necromancy: The practice of communicating with the dead to obtain
knowledge of the future, others' secrets, and so forth.


O

Occult: Literally, “hidden.” Most parapsychologists prefer to distance
themselves from this word and all things connected with it.

Operator: Some parapsychologists use this to indicate a test subject in a
test of psychokinesis.

Orb: An orb is a glowing sphere of light that sometimes appears on camera
and film that some believe to indicate the presence of spirits. However, an
article on orbs from Wikipedia stresses that most of these are probably
naturalistic orbs, such as dust, raindrops, snow, etc. caught in the flash of
a camera.

Osmosis: In the world of parapsychology, this word describes the alleged
ability to absorb information from a book just by physical contact. Psychic
Edgar Cayce was said to be able to absorb information from a book just by
sleeping with one under his pillow.

Ostensible: Used by parapsychologists to indicate a possible paranormal
event.

Out-of-body Experience (OBE): Also called an Ecosomatic Experiences by
parapsychologist Celia E. Green; this term became popular after the
release of Celia Elizabeth Green’s book, Out-of-the-body Experiences
(1968). It is the phenomena of the consciousness leaving the body behind,
most frequently reported in near-death experiences.

Outward Manifestation:  The physical manifestation of paranormal activity.

Ownership Resistance: In the book The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology
and Psychical Research (1991), authors Arthur S. Berger and Joyce Berger
explain that this is a theory proposed by parapsychologist Kenneth J.
Batcheldor that most people would reject the idea that they may have
psychic facilities.

P

Paranormal: Literally, “not normal;” an article on paranormal from Wikipedia
states that paranormal research has five different approaches:

* Anecdotal Approach: Research dependant on percipients of paranormal
experiences.

* Experimental Approach: Applying scientific methods to paranormal
phenomena.

* Participant-observer Approach: Also the anecdotal approach; researching
anomalies and basing facts on your own personal experiences and
feelings; this would include psychic investigation.

* Debunking Approach: Trying to discover any factors that could lead to the
illusion of paranormal phenomena.

* Survey Approach: Research by survey to get statistical information on
people’s opinions of anomalistic phenomena.


Parapsychology: Called Psychobiophysics in Brazil; an article on
parapsychology from Wikipedia states that German psychologist Max
Dessoir coined the term in 1889 to replace the term psychical. The term is
Greek and means, “alongside psychology,” and is an umbrella term used to
describe anomalistic phenomena that cannot be readily explained in the
context of conventional science including: psychic facilities, ghosts,
poltergeists, psychokinesis, etc. Some parapsychologists now prefer the
term paraphysics. The book Psychic Exploration by Edgar D. Mitchell
explains that the Czechoslovakian term for this is Psychotronics.

Percipient: A term used by parapsychologists to indicate the subject of
supposed paranormal experiences.

Perispirit: In The Mediums' Book (1861), founder of Brazilian Spiritualism
(called Spiritism), Allan Kardec uses this term to describe a spiritual body,
or apparition.

Phantasm: A term parapsychologists use to describe an imagined
apparition.

Phantasmagoria: An article on phantasmagoria from Wikipedia explains that
this was a show where ghost-like forms were projected on stage with
performers. For a while, parapsychologists used this term to describe a
large number of apparitions, now it is called mass-phantom appearance.

Phantom:  An apparition or a specter.  Existing only as an energy form.

Phantomania: Paralysis that occurs when someone is under attack from
supernatural or preternatural forces, also known as psychic paralysis.

Planchette: The triangular instrument used as a pointer to answer
questions on a Ouija board.

Pneumatographers: A direct writer.

Possession: The event where it seems an outside entity has invaded the
body and has taken control of someone’s personality completely.

Posthumous Letters: Letters allegedly from the deceased.

Precognition: Literally, “prior knowledge;” knowing something before it
actually happens. The book Psychic Exploration by Edgar D. Mitchell
explains that the Soviet term for this is proscopy.

Prediction: Foretelling the future.

Preferential Effect: In his book Basic Research in Parapsychology (2001),
Indian Parapsychologist K. Ramakrishna Rao explains test subjects do
better when they are aloud to pick the test for psychic facilities.

Premonition: A “vision” about a future crisis or disaster.

Presentiment: An emotional response that can only be described as
precognitive, such as a feeling of dread before an impending disaster.

Projection Bias: A phrase that basically means someone has influenced
another’s ideas about their experiences.

Provocation: In parapsychology, this term is used to describe a method of
provoking a response from assumed spirits, such as: holding an audio
recorder and asking questions to elicit a response.

Pseudopod: A “false limb” created from ectoplasm produced by a physical
medium.

Psi: An article on psi from Wikipedia explains this term comes from the
twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet, meaning, “mind/soul.”
Parapsychologists usually divide this into two separate categories:

* Psi-Gamma: Also called passive psi; cognitive paranormal abilities such
as extrasensory perception and remote viewing.

* Psi-Kappa: Also called active psi; seemingly uncanny abilities such as
psychokinesis.


Experiments in psi have created two terms to describe evidence, both
coined by American parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine:

* Psi-hitting: Achieving higher than chance results in a parapsychological
test.

* Psi-missing: Achieving lower than chance results in a parapsychological
test.


Other terms used in parapsychology:

* An-Psi: Shortened from Animal Psi, used to describe animals that
allegedly have psychic abilities, such as: birds fleeing before a natural
disaster, dogs warning owners of impending health problems, etc.

* Proximal Psi: In his book Spontaneous Psi, Depth Psychology and
Parapsychology (1992) Doctor Vernon M. Neppe believes that “psychic
forces” are better received the closer the sensitive is to the source.

* Psi Dexterity: Success in a test that indicates an earthbound spirit
providing assistance to a test subject. This term was coined by Elsie Anna
Grace for the article "Report on the Susceptibility of Manually Operated
Random Selector to Psi Dexterity," appearing in the Journal of
Parapsychology Volume 16, Number 1 (March 1952).

* Psi-afferentation: A term coined by Doctor Vernon M. Neppe in his book
Spontaneous Psi, Depth Psychology and Parapsychology (1992) to describe
anomalous phenomena that seem to indicate extrasensory perception.

* Transcendent Psi: In The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your Psychic
Potential, author Douglas G. Richards uses this to indicate a psychic
experience that leaves the percipient more spiritual.


The setting has also been noted to affect the outcome of experiments:

* Psi-conducive: An environment that has a positive impact on the test
subject and results in higher than average test scores.

* Psi-inhibiting: An environment that has a negative impact on the test
subject and results in lower than average test scores.


Parapsychologist Sharon Solfuin from John F. Kennedy University in
California introduced the phrase Post-psi Distress Syndrome (PPDS) to
describe the psychological impact terrifying psychic events can have on a
person.

Psi-field Hypothesis: An idea popularized by parapsychologist William G.
Roll that all objects are surrounded by a “psychic field” that can influence
some and can provide information to sensitives.

Psi-mediated Instrumental Response (PMIR): The book Psychic Exploration
by Edgar D. Mitchell explains that this phrase was coined by Rex G.
Stanford to explain clairvoyance without conscious awareness to fulfill life’
s needs.

Psi-trailing: The book Exploring the Unknown by Reader’s Digest defines
this as the amazing capacity some animals have when they are able to
travel long distances to be reunited with a family.

Psionic: An article on psionic on Wikipedia explains that science-fiction
writer John W. Campbell coined this word to describe a person with
numerous psychic talents; the term has not been used too often in
parapsychology.

Psychic: A person who regularly uses extrasensory perception (ESP).

* Parapsychic: A term used by psychical researcher Joseph Banks Rhine to
indicate a high-scoring subject in psychic tests.


Psychic Archaeology: Archaeology done by self-acclaimed psychics.

Psychic Detective: A self-proclaimed psychic that uses their facilities to
help police in investigations. This term has replaced paragnost.

Psychic Diagnosis: The alleged ability to receive information about
someone’s health problems via extrasensory perception (ESP).

Psychic Dream: A dream that seemingly contains information about future
events. Douglas G. Richards divides these dreams into three separate
categories in his book, The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your Psychic
Potential:

* Displaced Psychic Dream: These dreams usually contain precognitive
information but it seems the person, place and/or times are completely
wrong.

* Literal Psychic Dream: These dreams are usually very vivid, analytical and
the dreamer tends to be aware that they are indeed precognitive.

* Symbolic Psychic Dreams: Dreams that contain information in the future,
only the message is wrapped into dream symbolism and is very hard to
discern.


Psychic Healing: Psychic Healing: Also called Parapsychosomatic; healing
allegedly done with the power of another’s mind alone.

* Absent Healing: Also called Remote Healing; psychic healing not done in
the presence of the patient.


Psychic Noise: In The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your Psychic
Potential, author Douglas G. Richards uses this term to describe
interference with supposed psychic abilities because of the interference
of rational thinking.

Psychic Pathology of Everyday Life: Proposed by Doctor Jule Eisenbud and
featured in A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology (2003) by Michael
A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. that describes slip-of-the-tongue statements that
turns out to be seemingly precognitive in nature.

Psychic Profiler: A self-proclaimed psychic who works with the police by
providing specific details about a suspect.

Psychic Research: The study of alleged psychic facilities.

Psychic Rod: Irish-born psychical researcher William Jackson Crawford
(1881 – 1920) coined the term in his book The Reality of Psychic
Phenomena (1916) while he was investigating the Spiritualist group, the
Goligher Circle. He theorized that an invisible force he called a “psychic
rod,” issued from a physical medium in order to move objects in the
environment.

Psychical: Pertaining to the spirit world.

Psychic Surgery: An article on psychic surgery from Wikipedia explains that
this is a form of faith healing where a person allegedly makes a mental
incision, removes matter and seals the wound with mental abilities.

Psychobolie: Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D., author of A Glossary of Terms
Used In Parapsychology (2003) explains this is the belief that the “evil eye”
is actually malicious psychokinesis.

Psychokinesis (PK): Also called Psychoenergetics in Russia; this term was
coined in 1914 by American author-publisher Henry Holt and adopted by his
friend, American parapsychologist Joseph Banks Rhine and is more
favored that the previous term telekinesis (“mind movement”), coined in
1890 by British psychical researcher Frederic William Henry Myers, one of
the founders of the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR). This is
the alleged ability to move objects with the mind. An article on
psychokinesis from Wikipedia explains that Rhine divides this ability into
two separate classifications:

* Macro-PK: Psychokinetic effects that can be seen with the naked eye.
Most parapsychologists now prefer to use the phrase Directly Observable
Psychokinesis.

* Micro-PK: Subtle psychokinetic influence that influences seemingly
random events, such as causing dice to roll to high numbers.


Other terms used by parapsychologists:

* Collective Psychokinesis: Supposed psychokinesis by a group to perform
what is known as table tipping, when a spirit allegedly moves a table
during a séance. Count Agenor de Gasparin coined this phrase in 1854.

* Isolated Spontaneous Psychokinesis (ISPK): Also Non-recurrent
Spontaneous Psychokinesis and Spontaneous Psychokinesis; an isolated
incident of alleged psychokinesis.

* PK-LT: "Psychokinesis on Living Targets" is sometimes called Bio-PK, but
the term has fallen out of use and has been replaced with Direct Mental
Influence on Living Systems (DMILS).

* Static-PK (PK-ST): A term coined by psychical researcher Frederic W. H.
Myers to describe the alleged movement of stationary objects by the
power of the mind alone.


In his book Spontaneous Psi, Depth Psychology and Parapsychology (1992),
Doctor Vernon M. Neppe uses the term Psi-efferentation to describe
anomalous phenomena that seem to indicate psychokinesis.

Psychokinetic Metal-bending (PK-MB): In his book, A Glossary of Terms
Used In Parapsychology (2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. uses this to
describe the seemingly paranormal ability to bend metal through mind
power alone.

Psychomanteum: In his book Reunions, Raymond Moody describes this as
a room where the walls are mirrors. It is believed that by sitting in a
darkened room like this will cause the mind to hallucinate an apparition.

Psychometry: Also called Psychoscopy by W. H. E. Tenhaeff; Joseph Rodes
Buchanan coined this term for his book Manual of Psychometry (1889) to
replace the phrase token-object reading. It is a Greek phrase that means,
“soul measure” and is the alleged ability to receive impressions or past
events from physical objects.

Psychophony: In The Mediums' Book (1861), founder of Brazilian
Spiritualism (called Spiritism), Allan Kardec uses this term to describe a
spirit using a mediums voice to speak.

Psychorrhagic Diathesis: A term coined by psychical researcher Frederic
W. H. Myers in his book Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death
(1907) to describe a person who for no reason lets their soul wander about
without any consciousness of doing so.

Pyrokinesis: An article on pyrokinesis from Wikipedia explains that this
term is Greek that means, “fire movement” and is the alleged ability to
control, ignite and extinguish fire using the mind alone. This term has all
but been replaced by Pyrogenesis.

Q

Qualitative Phenomena: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In
Parapsychology (2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. uses this to indicate a
feat that is so obviously paranormal that it needs to further analysis.

R

Radiesthesia: An article on radiesthesia from Wikipedia explains this is the
alleged sensitivity to subtle and undetectable radiation given off by living
things, underground water and ore, etc. Today, Radionics is used almost
interchangeably.

Reality Shift: An article on reality shifts from Wikipedia explains that this
term refers to a change in physical reality, disappearing objects, missing
time, etc.

Receiver: A person who allegedly is able to receive information through
extrasensory perception (ESP) from a sender.

Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK): A term used by
parapsychologists who do not prefer the earlier term of poltergeist,
believing such phenomena are the result of sudden and unconscious
discharges of psychokinetic energy.

Reincarnation: This term was coined by Allan Kardec in The Spirits’ Book to
replace metempsychosis and describes the Eastern philosophy that the
soul survives death only to enter a new body to live another life on a
journey of perfection. Kardec believed people recalled them in four ways:

* Spontaneous Episodes: The most common past-life recall is through
children who may unbidden speak of a former life, giving details that it is
assumed they could not possibly have obtained.

* Hypnotic Regression: At times, some people who are hypnotized
suddenly recall a past life.

* Mediums: Some alleged mediums specialize in channeling another’s past
lives.

* Dreams: Dream images that are historic in nature could, Moody suggests,
be past life memories.


Releasement: The exorcism of a ghost or spirit from a particular location.

Remote Viewing (RV): Also called Remote Perception; this phrase was
invented by Russell Targ and Harold Puttoff of the Stanford Research
Institute (SRI) to replace the phrase, traveling clairvoyance. An article on
remote viewing from Wikipedia defines this as the alleged ability to “see”
distant places. It separates the alleged ability into three separate
categories:

* Associative Remote Viewing (ARV): The clairvoyant describes the location
or person through “yes” or “no” questions asked by a parapsychologist.

* Outbounder Remote Viewing (ORV): A person who has a dominant, Type A
personality is sent to the location to “send” information to the clairvoyant.

* Predictive Remote Viewing (PRV): Developed by researchers Simon
Turnbull and Charles Scarf to predict future stock market fluctuations.


In The Psychic Quest: Understanding Your Psychic Potential, author
Douglas G. Richards adds Precognitive Remote Perception (PRP) to
explain experiments where a subject is asked to describe the place the
sender will visit in the near future.

Residual Haunting: Discarnate persons that can be perceived by sensitive
individuals and persons in altered states of consciousness that seem to
indicate a crisis or death that supposedly have imprinted on their
surroundings. In The Complete Book of Ghosts, Paul Roland explains that
this has also been called the Stone Tape Theory, coined by Nigel Kneale in
his 1972 television play “The Stone Tape.” In his book, A Glossary of Terms
Used In Parapsychology (2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. proposes the
Playback Theory. He explains that apparitions might actually be due to
psychic abilities in percipients projecting the image in front of them.

Retrocognition: Also called postcognition; the alleged ability to receive
information through extrasensory perception (ESP) about the past.

Reverant: An apparition of a deceased person.

Rods: sometimes known as Sky Fish or Solar Entities,  are a rather new
entry in the field of cryptozoology. They are said to be creatures which flit
about in the air at such a high speed as to not be seen by the naked eye.
However, rods appear to be observational artifacts produced by rapidly
flying animals. Practically all sightings of rods are based on video
evidence, due to the propensity of video cameras to produce
characteristic stroboscopic artifacts when imaging rapidly flying animals,
especially insects, but also including birds. Their recent popularity seems
to be a result of media exposure in television and in tabloids.


S

Séance: French for “sitting;” a group of people gathered together in an
attempt to contact the deceased.

Sender: A person who sends information to someone being tested for
extrasensory perception (ESP).

Sensitive: Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer called the subjects who
displayed psychic abilities under hypnotism sensitive. Today, a person who
is highly impressionable and is very sensitive to their environment and the
moods and feelings of others. Sometimes, this sensitivity includes feelings
form the spiritual world. In parapsychology, the term is used to indicate
someone who has infrequent and sometimes unreliable experiences with
extrasensory perception. At times, it is also used to indicate someone that
allegedly has the ability to “sense” spirits of the dead. In France, such a
person is called a Metagnome.

* Electrical Sensitive: A person who allegedly causes electrical
disturbances.


Silver Cord: Also called St. Paul’s Cord. The book Quest for the Unknown:
Life Beyond Death by Readers Digest explains that this is an ethereal cord
that supposedly attaches the soul to the physical body when a person is
astrally projecting. The book also explains that this belief comes from
Ecclesiastes 12, where “breaking of the silver cord” equals death.

Sitter: A person attending a séance.

* Proxy Sitter: A person representing someone else who could not attend a
séance.


Sitter Group: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In Parapsychology
(2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. claims this is a semi-personal
gathering of people in a séance-like setting in hopes of witnessing
physical phenomena.

Skotography: Also spelled Scotography; from the Greek skotos
(“darkness”) and graphein (“to write”), was coined by Felicia Scatcherd, a
member of the London chapter of the Society for Psychical Research. It
describes instances where spirits appear or write messages on
unexposed film.

Sleep Paralysis: A state of seeming to be awake but unable to move.

Somatography: Reading a human aura with dowsing rods of a pendulum.

Soul Loss: The belief that the soul leaves the body during extreme stress,
during a crisis, or proceeding an accident or death of the physical body.

Spectre: In A History of Ghosts and Hauntings (1930), C. J. S. Thompson
uses this term to describe a fake paranormal event.

Spirit Baby: In the Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, author Rosemary
Ellen Guiley explains this phrase as the alleged offspring of a medium and
a spirit, though this is an easy cover for adultery.

Spirit Photography: Photographs that are said to contain images of the
dead, called extras.

Spiritualism: A religion that believes that the soul survives bodily death
and can communicate with the living through human or electronic
mediums. In France and Brazil, it is called Spiritism.

Stigmatized Property: A piece of property, usually a dilapidated, abandoned
house, that is believed to be haunted for no reason other than looking
“creepy,” and is a frequent hangout for vagrants and persons of ill repute.
Such property is an insurance liability and usually a hard selling point.

Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC): An article on spontaneous human
combustion from Wikipedia defines it as the unthinkable event when a
person’s body bursts into flames for no reason whatsoever. Skeptics
believe that all cases of SHC are caused by a mishap with fire and that the
fat inside a person accelerates the flames to consume only the body of the
person.

Spontaneous Phenomena: The book Poltergeists and the Paranormal: Fact
Beyond Fiction by Doctors Philip Stander and Paul Schmolling uses this
term to describe a once in a lifetime paranormal encounter.

Stigmata: Unexplained markings on a person's body that correspond to the
wounds of Christ.

Subliminal Perception: Perceiving without conscious awareness.

Succubus: A demonic entity said to inspire lust in men and then assaulting
them.

Subjective Validation: In parapsychology, this is when a person connects
two or more odd or anomalous experiences to support a perceived
paranormal experience.

Super-ESP Hypothesis: This is a popular hypothesis in parapsychology that
states a person's natural clairvoyant ability will generated an internal
hallucination to create an apparition. This seeming interaction between a
spirit and subconscious mind is usually symbolic and explains why the
same type of spirit is seen wearing different clothing by different
percipients.

Superconscious: A term used by “sleeping prophet” Edgar Cayce to
describe Swiss psychiatrists Carl Jung’s theory of the collective
subconscious, a reservoir of all human experiences and from where,
Cayce believed, psychic information was channeled from. In the
philosophy of Theosophy, this dimension was called the akashic records.

Supernatural: This word is almost always interchangeable with paranormal.

Supernormal: Used before parapsychology.

Survivalism: The belief that the consciousness or soul survives physical
death.

Synchronicity: A term coined by Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung, in his paper
Synchronicity (1952), to describe meaningful coincidences that seem to
have been arranged by the subconscious mind.

Synesthesia: An article on synesthesia from Wikipedia explains that this
Greek phrase means, “union of sensation.” It is a neurological conditional
where the senses are coupled. For instance, a person can perceive sound
as vivid colors (this sometimes happens on psychedelic drugs).

T

Table Tipping: Also table turning; this is where a small group of people
gather around, lay their hands on a table, and wait for it to move under
supposed spiritual influence. At times, one leg will tap out messages that
are assumed to come from beyond the grave; the former is called typtology.

Telepathy: Called Biocommunication in Russia; this term was coined in
1882 by Fredric W. H. Myers of the British Society for Psychical Research
(SPR) to replace the former phrase of thought-transference. This is a
Greek phrase that means, “distant feeling,” and is the alleged ability to
“hear” the thoughts of others. Terms used in parapsychology:

* Active-Agent Telepathy: Seems to indicate when the sender of
information accidentally causes an emotional or behavioral change in the
receiver.

* Latent Telepathy: Also Deferred Telepathy; the alleged ability to receive
information though extrasensory perception (ESP), though there is a
noticeable time difference in transmission and receiving the thoughts.

* Precognitive Telepathy: The alleged ability to receive information about a
person’s thoughts prior to the person actually thinking them.

* Unconscious Telepathy: A “message” fro the subconscious mind that
dictates a person’s actions.


In Telepathy In Dreams (1942), J. Ehrenwald separates telepathic dreams
into two categories:

* Catapsychic: Receiving fragmented visions.

* Anapsychic: Receiving clear visions.


Teleportation: An article on teleportation from Wikipedia explains that this
is a Greek phrase meaning, “distant moving,” the term was coined by
American writer Charles Fort (1874 – 1932) to describe an object or person
who moves through from one place to another instantly. The earliest
documented case is that of Gil Perez. Gil appeared in a confused state at
the city square in Mexico City on the evening of October 24, 1593 wearing
a uniform of a Philippine regiment. He said he was “just in Manila,” the
capital of the Philippines, and as soon as governor Don Gomez Perez
Dasmariñas had been assassinated, he suddenly found himself in Mexico.
The authorities placed Gil in jail, believing him to be in the “service of
Satan,” and the Most Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition questioned him. Two
months later, word arrived that he indeed had been present at the time of
the assassination, and he was released to return to duty in the Philippines.

Telepsychosis: Henry Holt uses this term to describe a telepathic
experience in his book of the same name, written in 1980.

Theta: An article on Theta from Wikipedia states that this is the eighth
letter of the Greek alphabet and since it vaguely resembled a skull, it was
synonymous with death. Parapsychologists used to use this symbol to
indicate survivalism, that the consciousness or soul services physical
death. Theta is also an altered state of consciousness (ranging from 4-8
Hz) complimentary to trances, when some mediums allegedly communicate
information from discarnate beings.

Third Eye: An article on the third eye from Wikipedia explains that the third
eye is associated with psychic abilities and is said to be located in the
center of the brow. The concept originated in Hinduism as the “eye of
wisdom,” associated with the ajna chakra, the sixth energy point, located
in the middle of the brow and associated with enlightenment; in Buddhism,
it is called the urna. Some scientists, such as Rick Strassman, believe that
the third eye is in fact the pea-sized pineal glad, located in the center of
the brain behind the center of the brow. This glad produces an
endogenous chemical known as dimethyltryptamine (DMT) that is known to
cause altered states of consciousness and audio-visual hallucinations.

Thorybism: Rene Sudre uses this term to describe poltergeist
disturbances.

Thoughtography: Thoughtography was first coined in the book
Clairvoyance and Thoughtography (1910) by psychology Professor
Tomokichi Fukurai at Tokyo University in Japan, which, as Quest For the
Unknown: Mind Power by Reader’s Digest explains, was until then known
as Dorchagraphy. This gift had already been documented by
parapsychologists in Japan, who called it nensha, the ability to “burn
images” from one’s mind onto an object. It was also studied in the 1960s by
psychiatrist, Jule Eisenbud after his work with the out-of-work, heavy-
drinking Ted Serious of Chicago. Ted was allegedly able to imagine an
image, cover the lense of a Polaroid camera, and impress the mental image
onto the instant film. All of this work was released to the public in 1967
when Jule Eisenbud published The World of Ted Serios:
"Thoughtographic" Studies of an Extraordinary Mind.

* Negative Thoughtography: In his book, A Glossary of Terms Used In
Parapsychology (2003), Michael A. Thalbourne, Ph.D. claims that the first to
notice this anomaly was C. T. K. Chari. The parapsychologist noticed that
some subjects could cause some sections of a picture not to be exposed.


Time Slip: Also time loop; allegedly when a person inadvertently travels
back in time to a previous time.

Transfiguration: is a form of physical mediumship which allows a spirit to
materialise and communicate through a medium. The idea is that the face
of a person who has died will appear on the face of another person. It’s
not as commonly practiced as other forms of mediumship as it’s supposed
to be very draining for the spirit involved, because they need to use a lot
of energy to be able to appear.


Transpersonal Psychology: An article on transpersonal psychology from
Wikipedia states this branch of psychology encompasses the whole being,
even the spiritual side. This field is more likely to think favorably of
anomalous, religious and parapsychological phenomena.


Trilocation: The image of a person appearing in two separate places away
form their physical body.

U

Unidentified Flying Object (UFO): An object in the sky that is believed to be
an alien spacecraft.


Unidentified Submarine Objects (USO): Underwater crafts that are believed
to be extraterrestrial in origin.

V



Veridical: Parapsychologists use this term to indicate a truthful statement
or event.

Veridical Apparition: The appearance of a ghost that has been described
the same way by different percipients over time.

Veridical Dream: A dream that allegedly provides information that the
dreamer had no way of obtaining through regular means.



Vibes: "Feeling vibrations" off of people, places and objects.



Vile Vortices: The term was coined by Ivan T. Sanderson to explain twelve
areas at sea where electronic and guidance systems fail, there are strange
sky and sea conditions and ships and planes mysterious vanish. The most
famous of theses is the so-called Bermuda Triangle.



Vortex: The appearance of a string of light or circular hole that seems to
be a spiritual nexus that spirits are able to freely pass through. The term
was coined by Graham Watkins, an associate of the Foundation for
Research on the Nature of Man at Duke University, to explain residual
haunting. He theorized that a vortex was created when a subject created a
"psychic field" in a fixed space that stayed for even centuries after the
person's death. This has successfully replaced the phrase
phantasmogenic center, coined by Frederic W. H. Myers in his 1903 book,
Human Personality and the Survival of Bodily Death.


W


White Noise: A hiss-like sound, formed by combining all audible
frequencies.


Wraith: The Scottish word for a