A
|
Absent Healing
Healing that takes place when the
healer is not in direct contact with the person to be healed.
Absent Sitter
A
person, not present during a sitting, on whose behalf
readings are given.
Acupuncture
Traditional
Chinese medical practice that involves sticking needles into specific
locations on the body.
Agent
Person
who attempts to communicate information to another in an ESP experiment.
A subject in a psychokinesis experiment. A
person who is the focus of poltergeist activity.
Akashic Records
"Memories"
of all experiences since the beginning of time, believed by some mystical
doctrines to be stored permanently in a spiritual substance (Akasha).
Alien Abduction
Experience
Reported
experiences of being abducted by alien creatures, often into spacecraft.
Abductees often experience lost time and suffer loss of memory. When
memories are recovered, often using hypnotic
regression, abductees may report that surgical operations were performed on
them.
Alpha Rhythm
Electrical
activity in the brain (about 10 cycles per second) associated with a state
of mental relaxation.
Altered State of
Consciousness (ASC)
A
term used to refer to any state of consciousness that is different from
"normal" states of waking or sleeping. ASCs include hypnosis, trance,
ecstasy, psychedelic
and meditative
experience. ASCs may not necessarily have paranormal features.
Ancestor Worship
Religious
practices involving the veneration of dead ancestors.
Angels
Benevolent
spiritual beings that help people in need.
Animal Magnetism
F.A.
Mesme's term to refer to a putative force or fluid capable
of being transmitted from one person to another, producing healing effects.
Animal Mutilation
Refers
to cases in which animal corpses (often cattle) have been found with
bizarre injuries that do not seem to have a normal explanation in terms of
illness, accident or action of predators. Cuts and injuries often appear
to have been carried out with surgical precision. Typically the corpse is
drained of blood. Certain body parts may be absent
Animal Psi
Paranormal
abilities exhibited by animals.
Animism
Religious
practices based on the belief that all living things and natural objects
have their individual spiritual essence or soul.
Announcing Dream
A
dream believed to announce an individual's rebirth.
Anomalous Experience
A
general term referring to unusual experiences that cannot be explained in
terms of current scientific knowledge.
Anomalous Phenomena
Natural
phenomena that cannot be explained in terms of current scientific
knowledge.
Anpsi
The
ability of animals to employ Psi tendencies such as clairvoyance,
precognition, and telepathy.
Apparition
A
visual appearance , often of a person or scene, generally experienced in a waking
or hypnotic state.
Apport
A
physical object which appears in a way that cannot be explained (seeming
to come from nowhere). Apports are often associated with the séance room and
physical mediumship.
Artifact
In
parapsychology, false evidence of paranormal phenomena, due to some
extraneous normal influence.
ASC
A
mental state in which the balance between the conscious and unconscious
mind is profoundly changed, most often in a state of hypnosis or the dream
state.
Astral Body
A
term used by occultists, spiritualists and theosophists to refer to a supposed "double" of the
person's physical body. The astral body is believed to be separable from
the physical body during astral projection (out of body experience)
and at death.
Astral Projection
A
term used by occultists, spiritualists and theosophists for the out of body
experience. It is believed to
result when the astral body separates from the physical body.
Astrology
A
theory and practice which attempts to identify the ways in which
astronomical events are correlated with events on earth (e.g., with an
individual's personality and biography, or with social and political
trends).
Atavism
Re-emergence
of ancestral characteristics; a genetic throwback.
Aura
A
field of energy believed by some to surround living creatures. Certain clairvoyants
claim to be able to see the aura (generally as a luminous, colored halo).
Automatic Writing
The
ability to write intelligible messages without conscious control or
knowledge of what is being written.
Automatism
Physical
activities (e.g., arm movements, writing, drawing, musical performance)
that occur without the automatist's conscious control or knowledge.
Autoscopy
Looking
back at one's own body from a position outside of the body.
|
B
Ba
Ancient
Egyptian concept of a person's essence, believed to be immortal.
Banshee
In
Gaelic belief, a female entity who heralds a death by groaning and
screaming.
Bardo
In
Tibetan Buddhism, an intermediate state of existence, usually referring to
the state between life and rebirth.
Basic
Technique
Term
used in card-guessing tests of
clairvoyance, in which the top card of the deck is placed to one side after
each guess.
Billet Reading
Procedure
in which a question is secretly written on a piece of paper, which is
folded or sealed in an envelope, and handed to the psychic who attempts to answer the question. Various trickery can be
employed by fraudulent psychics and mentalists.
Bilocation
Being
(or appearing to be) in two different places at the same time.
Biofeedback
A
general term for techniques that involve giving a person information about
their current physiological state
Bio-PK
Psychokinetic effects on biological processes.
Black Art
Conjuring technique of concealing objects using black covers against a
black background. Also used by fraudulent mediums.
Black Magic
Magical spells or rituals practiced with the intention of harming
others.
Blind
An
experimental control in which subjects are not informed of certain key features of the experiment. Also
used to refer to a procedure where a judge is asked to compare targets and
responses without knowing which responses were made to which targets.
Blind Matching (BM)
An
identical procedure to open matching, except that the key cards are unseen by the subject.
Book Test
A
communication
in which the sitter is asked to look at a specific book and page in order to receive
a significant message. An effect in which the psychic or mentalist divines the words written on a particular page of a book.
C
Cabinet
A
box or curtained enclosure in which a physical medium is secured and from which various phenomena may manifest (e.g.,
lights, objects moving, instruments played). Certain stage magicians
can simulate this procedure with great effect.
Call
Response
made by a subject in a card guessing or other ESP test.
Candomble
A
Brazilian spiritist religion.
Card Guessing
An
experimental test for ESP in which subjects guess the identity of a set of cards.
Cartomancy
Fortune telling using cards. See also
tarot.
Cerebral Anoxia
Lack
of oxygen to the brain, often causing sensory distortions and
hallucinations. Sometimes used to explain features of the near-death
experience.
Chance
Random,
unpredictable influences on events.
Channeling
Receiving
messages and inspiration from discarnate
entities. See also medium.
Charm
A
spell or object possessing
magic power.
Christian Science
A
religious healing movement founded by Mary Baker Eddy. Rejects orthodox medical
practice.
Cipher Test
A
coded message left by a person who intends to communicate the cipher after death.
Circle
A
group of people who hold séances.
Clairaudience
The
paranormal obtaining of information by hearing sounds or voices. See also clairvoyance, clairsentience.
Clairsentience
An
archaic term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information using
faculties other than vision or hearing. Cf. clairaudience,
clairvoyance, empathy, and intuition.
Clairvoyance
A
general term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information about
an object or event. In modern usage, this does not necessarily refer to
obtaining information visually.
Clairvoyant Medium
Or
clairvoyant. A person who obtains information paranormally (often by
spirit communication)
without the need to enter into a trance state. trance medium.
Closed Deck
A
set of cards used in a card-guessing test where each card appears a fixed number of times.
Statistical
analysis of research data using a closed deck differs from statistical
analysis of data using an open deck.
Coincidence
The
occurrence, within a short space of time, of two or more meaningfully
related events and without any apparent causal connection between them.
Coincidences are sometimes bizarre and extraordinarily improbable.
Cold Reading
A reading given with no prior
knowledge of the sitter. Often a mixture of very general statements, which could apply
to anyone, together with inferences, made from cues presented by the
sitter.
Collective Apparition
An
apparition
seen simultaneously by more than one person.
Collective
Unconscious
C.G.
Jung to refer to a level of unconscious thought and experience shared
collectively by humans.
Communication
In
mediumship,
a message purported to be from a discarnate entity.
Communicator
A
discarnate entity
from which the medium receives messages.
Confederate
A
person who secretly provides information to a fraudulent psychic or
mentalist.
Conjuring
Using
trickery to simulate paranormal effects, generally for the purpose of
entertainment.
Contact Mind Reading
A
technique simulating telepathy, in which the "mind reader" (who generally holds a
hand or arm) responds to slight muscle movements produced unconsciously by
the person whose mind is apparently being read.
Control
In
experimental parapsychology a procedure undertaken in order to ensure that the experiment is
conducted in a standard fashion and so that results are not unduly
influenced by extraneous factors.
Control Group
A
group of people whose performance is compared with that of experimental
subjects.
Corn Circle
Circular
(or more elaborate) formations found in growing crops, most commonly in
Southern Britain. Sometimes they are associated with UFO sightings. Many
formations appear to have been intelligently created and to have some
symbolic meaning. Despite several "confessions" made by various
individuals and groups, the crop circle mystery remains unsolved.
Correlation
An
association between two or more events or variables.
Correlation
Coefficient
A
mathematical index of the degree of association between two or more
measures.
Cosmic Consciousness
A
blissful experience in which the person becomes aware of the whole
universe as a living being.
Coven
A
group of witches
Crisis Apparition
An
apparition
in whom a person is seen within a few hours of an important crisis such as
death, accident or sudden illness.
Cross-correspondence
Separate
items of information, received independently by two or more mediums, which make sense
only when pieced together.
Cryptomnesia
Knowledge
(acquired in normal ways) that may be revealed without the person
remembering its source. Such memories may falsely appear to be paranormal
revelations. Sometimes cryptomnesia is used as an explanation for
apparently paranormal experiences such as xenoglossy or past-life
memories.
Crystal Gazing
Staring
into a reflecting surface (e.g., mirror, glass, crystal, liquid) in order
to obtain paranormal information. Also known as scrying.
Cumberlandism
A
technique used to simulate telepathy, in which the reader holds the
subject's hand or arm to gauge slight muscle movements unconsciously
produced by the subject in response to the reader's statements. Also
referred to as Cumberlandism, Hellstromism, or 'muscle reading'
Curse
Words
spoken or written in order to influence others paranormally, causing them
harm.
D
Daemon
(Daimon)
A
guardian spirit who communicates
inspiration and advice.
Death
Generally
understood to be the extinction of an organism's life. Many doctrines
assert some form of mental or spiritual survival of physical death.
Deathbed Experience
A
dying person's awareness of the presence of dead friends or relatives.
Decline Effect
A
decrease in performance on a Psi test when the test is repeated.
Deja Vu
A
person's feeling that current events have been experienced before.
Delta
A
term used to refer to any kind of anomalous
experience.
Dematerialization
The
paranormal fading or disappearance of a physical object.
Demonic Possession
Possession by evil
spirits.
Deport
The
paranormal movement of objects out of a secure enclosed space.
Dice Test
Experimental techniques for investigating
psychokinesis,
in which a subject attempts to influence the fall of dice.
Direct Voice
A
voice heard in a séance, which does not seem to emanate from any person. The voice may
seem to come out of thin air, or from a trumpet used specifically for this purpose.
Discarnate Entity
A
spirit or non-material
entity. Often used to refer to the personality of a deceased individual.
Displacement
Responses
on a Psi test that correspond systematically to target other than the
intended one.
Dissociation
Activity
performed outside of normal conscious awareness, or mental processes that
suggest the existence of separate centers of consciousness.
Divination
Practices
involving the interpretation of signs or symbols that seek to obtain oracular
knowledge of events. Examples of divinatory practices are geomancy, tarot,
I Ching, sortilege,
and reading tealeaves.
Divining Rod
A
forked rod (or sometimes a pair of L-shaped rods) used in dowsing.
Doppelganger
A
mirror image or double of a person.
Double
A
duplicate of one's own body.
Double Blind
An
experimental procedure in which neither the subject nor experimenter
is aware of key features of the experiment.
Down Through
Technique (DT)
An
experimental test for clairvoyance in which the person guesses the order of a stacked series of
target symbols (e.g.,
cards) from top to bottom.
Dowsing
The
paranormal detection of underground water or mineral deposits (or lost
persons and objects) using a divining rod or pendulum.
Drop-in Communicator
An
uninvited communicator who 'drops in' at a sitting.
E
Earthquake Effect
A
phenomenon produced by the physical medium
D.D. Home, involving the room shaking as if there was an
earthquake.
Ecstasy
An
altered state of consciousness in which the person experiences great rapture and loss of
self-control.
Ectoplasm
A
semi-fluid substance exuded by a physical medium from which materializations may form.
EEG
(Electro-encephalography)
A
method of recording variations of electrical activity in the cortex of the
brain.
Electronic Voice
Phenomena (EVP)
Named
for its pioneering researcher, Konstantin Raudive, these are intelligible
voices recorded onto magnetic audio tape under strict conditions of
silence, or with the assistance of "white noise". The voices are
only heard when the recording is played back. The general conception is
that these voices are those of "discarnate entities" such as
ghosts
Elemental Spirit
A
spirit associated with one
of the classical four elements (fire, earth, air and water).
Elongation
Paranormal
extension of the physical body, reported in some mystics and physical mediums.
Empath
Someone
who shows considerable empathy, especially of the apparently psychic type.
Empathy
The
ability to understand the experience or emotional state of another person
or animal. Often used to refer to an apparently psychic ability to experience another person's sensations, pain or
emotions.
Entity
A
spirit, ghost, or other non-physical, non-material intelligence or
personality.
ESP
Communication
or perception by means other than the physical senses.
ESP Cards
Zener
cards or symbolic cards used for the clinical testing of ESP or related
psi abilities.
Ethereal
Light,
airy, heavenly or celestial
Etheric Body
Also
known as an aura, this term used to denote vital forces which permeate the
physical body. .
Evil Eye
Alleged
ability of some people to harm others by looking at them.
EVP
(Electronic
Voice Phenomena.)
Named
for its pioneering researcher, Konstantin Raudive, these are intelligible
voices recorded onto magnetic audio tape under strict conditions of
silence, or with the assistance of "white noise". The voices are
only heard when the recording is played back. The general conception is
that these voices are those of "discarnate entities" such as
ghosts
Evocation
The
summoning of (often evil) spirits using a magical incantation or
ritual or invocation.
Exorcism
A
religious or quasi-religious rite to drive out evil spirits.
Experiment
A
test carried out under controlled conditions.
Experimental Group
A
group of subjects
who undergo a specific experimental procedure. Often results from this group are compared with those
of a control group.
Experimental
Parapsychology
Para
psychological research involving experimental methods rather than survey techniques or the investigation of
spontaneous cases.
Experimenter
The
person who conducts the experiment.
Experimenter Effect
Influence
that the experimenter's personality or behavior may have on the results of an
experiment.
Extradimensional
Originating
outside our normal space-time reality.
Extrasensory
Perception (ESP)
Paranormal
acquisition of information. Includes clairvoyance,
telepathy and precognition.
Extraterrestrial
Originating
beyond planet Earth. Not normally considered to be extra dimensional.
F
Fairy
Small,
human-like mythical being. May be benevolent or malevolent.
Faith Healing
Healing that is associated with prayer or belief in Divine power.
False Awakening
An
experience in which a person believes he or she has woken up, but actually
is still dreaming.
Faraday Cage
A
wire mesh enclosure that provides a shield to radio waves.
Feedback
The
giving of information to subjects about their performance on a test.
Fire Walking
Walking
on red-hot coals, without pain or damage to the feet.
Flying Saucer
| 
