|
Agent A living
person who is the focus of poltergeist activity.
Amulet - An object that is thought to bring good luck or have the
power to protect from ghosts or spirits and ward off evil.
Apparition - a spectral image of a person that materializes even
though a physical bidy is not present.
Apport A physical object that can materialize and appear at will
in the presence of a medium.
Asport A physical object that a spirit teleports to another
location or makes disappear.
Astral Body The body that a person occupies during an out-of-body
experience.
Astral Plane A world that is believed to exist above our physical
world.
Astral Projection The intentional act of having the spirit leave
the body, whereas an out-of-body experience will happen
involuntarily. (See out of body experience).
Astrology - The theory and practice of the positions and aspects of
celestial bodies in the belief that they have an influence on the
course of natural earthly occurrences and human affairs.
Aura An invisible emanation of light that seems to surround a
person or thing which is often thought to reflect a persons
personality.
Automatic Writing This method of obtaining information from
disembodied spirits is used by mediums in which the spirit takes
control over the medium causing them to translate unconscious
information on paper without being aware of the contents.
Automatism An unconscious or involuntary muscular movement caused
by spirits. (See automatic writing)
Autoscopy The visual hallucination or image of one's body looking
back at themselves from a position outside the body. (See out of
body experience).
Ball Lightning - A rare form of lightning in the shape of a glowing
red ball that can last anywhere from a few seconds to several
minutes. Typically associated with Thunderstorms, these spheres are
thought to consist of ionized gas.
Banshee A wailing spirit or death omen that will appear to be in
two different places at the same time.
Call A call is the response that is made by a subject during a
card-guessing test or during any other type of ESP test.
Card Guessing Card guessing is used as an experimental test for
ESP in which a subject tries to guess the identity of a set of
cards.
Case Study An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
Channeling In this modern day method of spirit communication, a
spirit will pass information directly to a medium or channeler who
will then relay the information on to the listener(s).
Clairaudience An auditory form of ESP paranormal information is
received outside the range of normal perception through voices,
whispers and auditory impressions.
Clairsentience A general term for clairvoyance and clairaudience.
Clairsentience typically occurs in the form of ESP through physical
sensations or smells.
Clairvoyance An acute insight or perceptiveness that enables you
to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses in
the form of mental imagery and intuition. (See ESP)
Closed Deck A set of cards used in a card guessing deck in which
each card will appear a fixed number of times. The statistical
analysis obtained from a closed card deck differs from that of an
open card deck. (See Card Guessing).
Cold Reading This is a technique commonly used by fake mind
readers, mediums and magicians which allows them to obtain
previously unknown information about a person by asking a general
series of statements, questions and answers.
Control This is a procedure in paranormal psychology that ensures
that the experiment is conducted in a standard fashion so that the
results will no be influenced by any extraneous factors.
Control Group A group of outside subjects whose performance or
abilities are compared with the experimental subjects.
Collective Apparition - A rare type of sighting in which more than
one person sees the same apparition or phenomena.
Crisis Apparition An apparition that is seen when a person is
seriously ill, seriously injured or at the point of death.
Dematerialization This word is used to describe a spirit or
specter meaning to deprive of or lose apparent physical substance or
in simpler terms, without flesh.
Dιjΰ vu - An impression or dull familiarity of having seen or
experienced something before.
Demon - An inferior deity often spoken of in religious text as pure
evil.
Direct Voice Phenomenon (DVP) An auditory spirit voice that is
spoken directly to the sitters at a sιance.
Dice Test An experimental test in which a subject attempts to
influence the fall of dice. This study is used for the investigation
of psychokinesis.
Doppelganger An exact spirit double or mirror image of a person
which is considered to be very negative.
Earthbound A term referring to a ghost or spirit that was unable
to cross over to the other side at the time of death and is
therefore stuck on earth.
Ectoplasm An immaterial or ethereal substance associated with
spirit manifestations.
Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) Voices and sounds from beyond
that are captured and recorded on magnetic tape.
Elementals Spiritualists commonly refer to this term to describe
mean or angry spirits sometimes also called Earth Spirits.
EMF Detector (See Magnetometer)
Extra Sensory Perception (ESP) - Communication or perception by
means other than the physical senses.
Exorcism - The banishment of an entity or entities i.e. spirits,
ghosts and demons that is thought to possess or haunt a location or
human being or animal. The ritual, which can be religious in nature,
is conducted by an exorcist who will call upon a Higher Power to
cast away any evil forces that may reside there.
False Awakening The event in which a person believes they are
awake but are actually dreaming.
Ghost A generic term referring to a form of apparition or
supernatural entity which is typically the visual appearance of a
deceased human's spirit soul.
Ghost Hunting A carefully controlled research project in which
various methods and equipment are used to investigate reports of
ghosts and hauntings.
Goat An experiment in which the subject does not believe in the
ability for which they are being tested.
Ghoul Demonic or parasitic entity that feeds upon human remains.
Hallucination The perception of sights and sounds that are not
actually present.
Haunting Reoccurring ghostly phenomena that returns to a location
where no one is physically present. Ghosts generally haunt places
and not people.
Hellhound / Black Shuck A spectral death omen in the form of a
ghostly dog.
Hot Reading A devious or fraudulent reading in which the reader
has been given prior knowledge of the sitter.
Hypnosis A technique that induces a sleep like state in which the
subject acts only on external suggestion.
Ignis fatuus - A phosphorescent or spectral light that that is
alleged to be an indication of death. This phenomenon is thought to
be caused by spontaneous combustion of gases emitted by rotting
organic matter.
Illusion A delusional perception between what is perceived and
what is reality.
Intuition Non-paranormal knowledge that is gained through a
perceptive insight.
Levitation To lift or raise a physical object in apparent defiance
of gravity.
Life Review A flashback of a persons life that is typically
associated with near-death experiences.
Lucid Dreaming - A dream state in which one is conscious enough to
recognize that one is in the dream state and is then able to control
dream events.
Magnetometer (EMF, gaussmeter) - An instrument for measuring the
magnitude and direction of a magnetic field typically used by
paranormal researchers to detect a ghosts magnetic energy.
Marian Apparitions The event in which the Virgin Mary is seen.
Materialization The act of forming something solid from the air.
One of the most difficult and impressive materializations is when
part or all of a ghost or spirit can be seen, especially if the face
is recognizable.
Medium - Someone who professes to be able communicate with spirits
on behalf of another living being, acting as a midway point halfway
between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Mesmerism A hypnotic induction of a sleep or trance State (See
Hypnotism).
Mist A Photographed anomaly that appears as a blanket of light.
There is no substantial proof that these are related to paranormal
phenomenon.
Motor Automatism Bodily movement or functions that are accompanied
but not controlled by consciousness (See automatic writing).
Near Death Experience (NDE) An experience that is reported by
people who clinically die, or come close to actual death and are
revived. These events often include encounters with spirit guides,
seeing dead relatives or friends, life review, out-of-body
Experiences (OBE), or a moment of decision where they are able to
decide or are told to turn back.
Old Hag Syndrome A nocturnal phenomena that involves a feeling of
immobilization, suffocation, odd smells and feelings and is
sometimes accompanied my immense fear (See Sleep Paralysis).
Orb A photographed anomaly that theoretically represents the
spirit of a deceased person. It will appear as a ball of light on
film though is some cases; they are not seen at the time of the
photo. Since there are many reasonable circumstances (dust, snow,
rain, insects, reflection, lens flare, etc.) orbs still remain a
highly controversial subject.
Ouija Board - A pre-printed board with letters, numerals, and words
used to receive spirit communications. Typically a planchette is
employed to spell out words and point out numbers or letters.
Out-of-body experience (OBE) A sensation or experience in which
ones self or spirit travels to a different location than their
physical body (See Astral Projection).
Paranormal Referring to something that is beyond the range of
normal human experience or scientific explanation.
Parapsychology - The study of the evidence for psychological
phenomena that are inexplicable by science.
Percipient - A person who sees (i.e., perceives) an apparition.
Phantom - Something that is seen, heard, or sensed, but has no
physical reality (See Ghost).
Poltergeist - a non-human spirit entity which literally means "noisy
ghost" but is usually more malicious and destructive than ghosts of
dead human beings. Traditional poltergeists activities are thumping
and banging, levitating or the moving of objects, stone throwing and
starting fires. It is thought that poltergeist activity in some
instances may be brought on subconsciously by an adolescent agent or
females under the age of 25.
Precognition The ability to predict or have knowledge of something
in advance of its occurrence, especially by extrasensory perception
(See Clairvoyance).
Psi A letter in the Greek alphabet that denotes psychic phenomena.
Psychic - A person who is responsive to psychic forces with above
average ESP abilities.
Psychokinesis (PK) - The power of the mind to affect matter without
physical contact, especially in inanimate and remote objects by the
exercise of psychic powers.
Psychometry - The ability or art of divining information about
people or events associated with an object solely by touching or
being near to it.
Pyrokinesis The ability to unconsciously control and sometimes in
rare cases produce fire with their mind only.
Radio Voice Phenomenon (RVP) - Receiving the voice of a deceased
human being through a regular radio.
Reciprocal Apparition - An extremely rare type of spirit phenomenon
in which both the agent and percipient are able to see and respond
to each other.
Remote Viewing Used by some psychics, this is a procedure in which
the percipient or psychic attempts to become physically aware of the
experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown location through
ESP.
Retrocognition An experience in which a person finds themselves in
the past and is able to see and experience events in which they had
no prior knowledge.
Sιance - A meeting or gathering of people, usually lead by a medium
to receive spiritualistic messages, manifestations or communication
with the dead.
Shaman A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium
between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who
practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and
control over natural events.
Sheep An experiment in which the subject believes in the ability
in which they are being tested.
Simulcra This is a word used to describe the seeing of faces,
figures and images in ordinary, everyday object such as rocks,
foliage, etc.
Specter A ghostly apparition; a phantom (See Ghost).
Spiritualism - The belief system that the dead are able to
communicate with the living, through an intermediary or medium.
Stigmata Unexplained bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain
corresponding in location to the crucifixion wounds of Christ.
Subjective Apparitions Hallucinations of apparitions or other
phenomena that are created by our own minds.
Supernatural - Of or relating to existence outside the natural
world. As opposed to paranormal, the term "supernatural" often
connotes divine or demonic intervention.
Tarot Cards - A set of (usually 72) cards that include 22 cards
representing virtues and vices, death and fortune etc. used by
fortunetellers to help predict future events.
Telekinesis - The paranormal movement of objects by scientifically
inexplicable means.
Telepathy Communication from one mind to another through means
other than the senses.
Teleportation - A method of transportation in which matter or
information is dematerialized, usually instantaneously, at one point
and recreated at another.
Thought Form An apparition produced solely by the power of the
human mind.
Trance - A hypnotic, cataleptic, or ecstatic state in which one
becomes detached from their physical surroundings.
Vortex An anomaly that appears as a funnel or rope-like image in
photographs. These images are sometimes thought to represent ghosts,
collections of orbs or gateways which travel to a wormhole in
time-space. There has been no substantial scientific evidence to
support any of these theories.
White Noise An Acoustical or electrical noise of which the
intensity is the same at all frequencies within a given band.
Zener Cards A set of 25 cards for use in card-guessing tests of
ESP. Each set contains 5 of each of the following cards:
Circle
Square
Greek Cross
Three Wavy Lines
Five-pointed Star
|
