Glossary
Below is a glossary of paranormal terms:
A
Afreet - A powerful evil spirit or gigantic or monstrous demon in Arabic mythology which rises from the blood of the victim.
Afterlife - Life after our physical bodies die. Every culture in the world has their own ideas and beliefs of what the afterlife consist of.
Agent - A living 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).
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 do not necessarily have paranormal features.
Amorphous - No definite form or shape, often a ghost will appear as a mist or shape.
Amulet - An object that is thought to bring good luck or have the power to protect from ghosts or spirits and ward off evil.
Ankou - Also known as graveyard watcher. In parts on Europe, when a new graveyard was created, it was customary to bury an unfortunate victim alive in the first grave so that a ghostly gaurdian was created. This tormented soul would frighten off others -alive or dead- so that the peace of the departed would not be disturbed.
Anomaly - An irregular or unusual event which does not fit a standard rule or law. An anomaly is something which cannot be explained by currently accepted scientific theories. Anything weird, abnormal, strange, odd, or difficult to classify is considered an anomaly.
Ancestor Worship Religious practices involving the veneration of dead ancestors.
Angels - Benevolent spiritual beings who help people in need.
Animal Magnetism - A term coined by F.A. Mesmer to refer to a putative force or fluid capable of being transmitted from one person to another, producing healing effects.
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.
Apparition - This is a spectral image of a person that materializes when a ghost/spirit takes on a physical form that can be seen or photographed. They are often transparent, faint, and sometimes deformed, and they do not last for a long period of time. A visual appearance, often of a person or scene, generally experienced in a waking or hypnagogic / hypnopompic 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 seance room and physical mediumship.
Artefact - In parapsychology, false evidence of paranormal phenomena, due to some extraneous normal influence.
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 Plane - A world that is believed to exist above and beyond our physical plane of existence.
Astral Projection – It is an intentional act of separating the astral body (spirit or consciousness) from the physical body and its journey into the universe. This is not to be confused with Out-Of-Body Experience (OBE), which is involuntary.
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 - An invisible emanation of light that surrounds all living things, including people, which is often thought to reflect a person's personality. Many with psychic abilities are able to see and interpret this energy. It is also considered to be able to be viewed through the use of Kirlian photography.
Automatic Writing - The ability to write intelligible messages without conscious control or knowledge of what is being written.
Automatism - Physical activites (e.g., arm movements, writing, drawing, musical performance) that occur without the automatist's conscious control or knowledge. Also known as motor automatism.
Autoscopy - The visual hallucination or image of one's body looking back at themselves from a position outside the body (Out Of Body Experience).
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B
Ba - Ancient Egyptian concept of a person's essence, believed to be immortal.
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.
Banish - the expulsion of a ghost, spirit, demon, or entities thought to be possessing or haunting a person or location.
Banshee - In Gaelic belief, a female entity which will appear to be in two diferent places, who heralds a death by groaning and screaming (singing).
Bardo - In Tibetan Buddhism, an intermediate state of existence, usually referring to the state between life and rebirth.
Battlefield Ghost - These are often residual ghosts that are in areas of great battle. There are not many battle fields that are not haunted.
Benign Spirit - a spirit that is not harmful or evil to man.
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 (e.g., heart rate, EEG). Biofeedback is used to enable people to control consciously their physiological processes.
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.
Bogeyman - A generic term used to encompass and describe any tormenting or frightening spirit. Many ghost stories center around this particular aspect, a monstrous imaginary figure used in threatening children.
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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.
Candomble - A Brazilian spiritist religion.
Case Study - An in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
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.
Charm - A spell or object possessing magic power.
Cipher Test - A coded message left by a person who intends to communicate the cipher after death.
Circle - A group of people who hold seances.
Clairaudience - The paranormal obtaining of information by hearing sounds or voices.
Clairsentience - An archaic term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information using faculties other than vision or hearing.
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.
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 Spot - An area that has a large temperature drop from the surrounding area. They are often believed to be made when a ghost or spirit is present or attempting to manifest themselves.
Collective Apparition - A rare type of or phenomena seen simultaneously by more than one person.
Collective Unconscious - Concept put forward by C.G. Jung to refer to a level of unconscious thought and experience shared collectively by humans.
Communication - To have a special rapport or understanding with humans, spirits, animals, plants, or alien beings.
Conjuring - Using trickery to simulate paranormal effects, generally for the purpose of entertainment.
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.
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.
Crier - A person who is employed by a town council to make public announcements in the streets.
Crisis Apparition - An apparition in which 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. THE cross-correspondences is a classic case of highly complex cross-correspondences which continued from 1901 to 1932 among a group of automatists associated with the Society for Psychical Research.
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.
Curse - Words spoken or written in order to influence others paranormally, causing them harm.
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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.
Deja Vu - A person's impression or feeling that current events of certain situations have been experienced before, and he/she are unable to recall nor figure out when they happened.
Delta - A term used to refer to any kind of anomalous experience.
Dematerialization - The paranormal fading or disappearance of a physical object. Deprive of or lose apparent physical substance with involvement from a spirit or specter.
Demon - An inferior deity often spoken of in religious text as pure evil, evil spirits, and the minions of the Devil.
Demonic Possession - Possession by evil spirits.
Demonic Spirit - An entity or spirit spawned from the devil that is of this earth. They have the capability of human possession and inhuman.
Demonology - One who studies and practices the art of demonology. An individual who specializes in the removal of evil or demonic forces from a given environment using the art of demonology. One who brings demonic forces out of their slumber to be cast away. Someone who uses the art of demonology to incantate demons for ones use in battling them.
Deport - The paranormal movement of objects out of a secure enclosed space.
Direct Voice Phenomenon (DVP) - 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.
Direct Writing - Direct writing is when spirits actually write using any means. This can be done by slate writing or by pen and paper.
Discarnate Entity - A spirit or non-material entity. Often used to refer to the personality of a deceased individual.
Disembodied - A spirit function without a body
Disembodied Voice - A voice that is heard but that comes from no physical body.
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 tea leaves.
Divining Rod - A forked rod (or sometimes a pair of L-shaped rods) used in dowsing, supposed to be useful in locating underground water, metal deposits, and paranormal entities.
DMILS - "Direct Mental Interaction with Living Systems". Psychokinetic influences on physiological processes.
Doppelganger - An exact spirit double or mirror image of a person which is considered to be very negative.
Double - A duplicate of one's own body.
Dowsing - The paranormal detection of underground water or mineral deposits (or lost persons and objects) using a divining rod or pendulum.
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E
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.
Ecstasy - An altered state of consciousness in which the person experiences great rapture and loss of self-control.
Ectoplasm - An immaterial or ethereal substance that is the product of psychic energy most commonly seen as a fog like mist, solid white mass, or vortex. It commonly marks transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost.
EEG (Electro-encephalography) - A method of recording variations of electrical activity in the cortex of the brain.
Electromagnetic Field (EMF) - The field of force associated with electric charge in motion, having both electric and magnetic components and containing a definite amount of electromagnetic energy.
Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Detector - (See Magnetometer) Electromagnetic field meter, (sometimes referred to as an EMF Detector) is a scientific instrument for measuring electromagnetic radiation.
Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) - Sections of noise on an electronic recording that reveal sounds resembling voices speaking words. These sounds are undetectable to the human ear. The human ear is commonly only able to detect sound within the 20Hz to 20kHZ range. Many EVP's have been recorded in the -40 to -90 Hz range. The human voice does not even register in that range.
Elemental Spirit - A associated with one of the classical four elements (fire, earth, air and water), often associated with mean or angry spirits which are called "Earth Spirits."
Empath - Someone who shows considerable empathy, especially of the apparently psychic type.
Empathy - The ability, which is rarely used in modern parapsychology, 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.
Evocation - The summoning of (often evil) spirits using a magical incantation or ritual.
Exorcism - A religious or quasi-religious rite to drive out (banish) an evil entity or entities (i.e. spirits, ghosts, or 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.
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 - Parapsychological 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 behaviour may have on the results of an experiment.
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F
False Awakening - An experience in which a person believes he or she has woken up, but actually is still dreaming.
False Orb - While looking like that of a true orb, they are merely refractions of light from the camera lens or even bugs, dust, moisture, pollen, rain, or any other millions of other particles. Often seen on film or video.
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.
Focal Person - Person who is at the centre of poltergeist activity.
Fortean Phenomena - Strange phenomena, especially those which challenge conventional scientific knowledge. Named after the American researcher and writer Charles Fort. Fortean phenomena include those generally considered paranormal, but also bizarre non-paranormal events such as monsters and prodigies, extraordinary coincidences, and unusual rains.
Fraud - The deliberate faking of paranormal phenomenon, generally for the purpose of financial gain, psychological manipulation, or notoriety. Faking for the purpose of entertainment (e.g., by stage magicians and mentalists) is not normally classed as fraud.
G
Ghost - The soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons. A mere shadow or semblance; a trace. "He's a ghost of his former self."
Ghostcriers - A paranormal investigative group founded in 2009 and licensed in the state of Iowa as a non-profit organization. www.ghostcriers.org
Ghost Hunter - Slang term for Paranormal Investigator.
Ghost Hunting - A carefully controlled research project in which various methods and equipment are used to investigate reports of ghosts and hauntings.
Gimmick - In conjuring, any small concealed apparatus that is used to produce a magical effect. Also used by fraudulent mediums.
Glossolalia - Unintelligible speech generally uttered in a dissociated or trance state. Also known as "speaking in tongues".
Guardian Angel - An angel believed to protect the individual.
Guide - A spirit who is believed to assist a person's spiritual journey.
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H
Hallucination - A sensory experience that does not correspond to physical reality. It is the distorted or false perception of sights and sounds of an object or event that are not actually present.
Haunt - A ghost or spirit that returns to a place is said to haunt it.
Haunted - A person, place and/or object that a spirit is attached to.
Haunting - Paranormal phenomena such as apparitions, unexplained sounds, smells or other sensations that are associated over a lengthy, Reoccurring, period of time with a specific location. It is a non-interactive experience that re-plays itself in specific situations. Ghosts generally haunt places and not people.
Hellhound (Black Shuck) - Most commonly they are known to be a spectral death omen in the form of a ghostly dog from Hell. Found in mythology, folklore and fiction; they typically are of an unnaturally large size, black fur, glowing red eyes, super strength and speed, with ghostly or phantom characteristics, and sometimes even the ability to talk. They are often associated with fire, and may have fire-based abilities and appearances. Often their duties include guarding the entrance to the world of the dead or undertake other duties related to the paranormal, such as hunting down lost souls or guarding a supernatural treasure. As legend goes, if one happened to see the hellhound three times, he or she will die an abrupt and unseen death.
Hyperaesthesia - Exceptionally acute sensory awareness.
Hypnagogic Imagery - Imagery occurring in the hypnagogic state (occuring while dropping off to sleep).
Hypnopompic Imagery - Imagery occurring in the hypnopompic state (occurring while waking up).
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I
Illusion - An appearance that leads the person to draw mistaken conclusions, as well as, a delusional perception between what is perceived and what is reality.
Imagery - The ability to perceive images in the mind. These may be visual, auditory, tactile, etc.
Immortality - Various beliefs based on the assumption that some aspect of personal existence survives death.
Incorruptibility - Inexplicable lack of decay in a corpse.
Indirect Voice Phenomenon (IDVP)- Mediumistic phenomenon in which the discarnate entity appears to speak using the vocal apparatus of the medium. Often the voice will sound very different from the medium's normal voice.
Infestation - Repeated paranormal activity focused around a specific place.
Inner Voice - Receiving guidance and assistance from inside of you. It is also considered by many to be the ‘conscience’.
Instrumental Transcommunication - Use of recording equipment to produce evidence interpreted as communication from deceased persons or other entitites.
Intelligent Haunting - Considered to be a haunting by a responsive entity and is dynamic in nature. The entity is believed to have free will or make conscious decisions.
Intuition - The non-paranormal ability to grasp the elements of a situation or to draw conclusions about complex events in ways that go beyond a purely rational or intellectual analysis.
Invocation - Summoning benevolent spiritual beings.
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J
Jersey Devil- A creature with glowing, red eyes, a pointed tail, horse like head and bat like wings who supposedly pierces the air with an eerie wail. It allegedly inhabits the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.
K
Karma - A cosmic principle seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation. Also known as the "What Comes Around Goes Around" theory.
Kirlian Photography - A photographic process, discovered in the 1970’s by Semyon and Valentina Kirlian, that supposedly records electrical discharges naturally emanating from living objects, producing an auralike glow surrounding the object on a photographic plate or film with which the object is in direct contact.
Knowingness - Intuition
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L
Lepke - A spiritual apparition who appears like a living person then vanishes.
Levitation - The paranormal act of raising or suspension of an object or person into the air without any visible means and in apparent defiance of gravity (Telekinesis).
Life Review - Flashback memories of the whole of a person's life, often associated with the near-death experience.
Lucid Dreaming - Dreaming in which the person is aware that the experience is a dream. Often associated with feelings of aliveness and freedom, and with the ability to control dream events.
Luminous Phenomena - The experience of strange lights or glows, often around objects or people.
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M
Macro-PK - Psychokinetic effects that can be directly observed rather than only inferred from statistical analysis.
Magnetometer (EMF, gaussmeter) - An instrument for measuring the magnitude and direction of a magnetic field typically used by paranormal researchers to detect a ghost’s magnetic energy.
Manifestation - The appearance or form of an entity.
Materialization - The formation of a visible and tangible object or human shape forming 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.
Matrixing- A natural tendency for the mind to interpret visual, audible, or tactile sensory input as something more familiar or readily understood and accepted.
Meditation - Mental or physical-mental techniques which aim to produce spiritually desirable states of consciousness.
Micro-PK - Psychokinetic effects that cannot be directly observed, but only inferred from the statistical analysis of data.
Miracle - A beneficial event attributed to supernatural intervention.
Mist - A Photographed anomaly that appears as a blanket of light. There is no substantial proof that these are related to paranormal phenomenon.
Mnemonist - A person who has learned techniques that enable extraordinary feats of memory.
Morphic Resonance - A term coined by Rupert Sheldrake to refer to the way in which the "morphogenetic field" (underlying form) of an object or organism may influence distant fields.
Multiple Personality - A psychiatric condition in which the person manifests two or more distinct and separate personalities at different times.
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N
Near-Death Experience (NDE) - Experiences of people after they have been pronounced clinically dead, or been very close to death. Typical features of the NDE are an OBE, life review, a tunnel experience, light, coming to a boundary (marking death), seeing dead friends and relatives, experiencing a loving or divine presence, and making a choice (or being told) to return. Occasionally NDEs can be frightening and distressing. NDEs often have profound effects on the person's later life.
Newspaper Test - A communication in which the spirit forecasts an item in a future day's newspaper.
Nexus - The point where physical matter and energy connect.
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O
Occam's Razor - The principle that we should always prefer the simplest explanation of events.
Occult - Beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding and/or pertaining to magic, astrology, or any system claiming use or knowledge of secret or supernatural powers or agencies.
Occultism - Esoteric systems of belief and practice that assume the existence of mysterious forces and entities.
Old Hag Syndrome - A nocturnal phenomena that involves a feeling of immobilization, suffocation, odd smells and feelings and is sometimes accompanied by immense fear.
Omen - A sign that foretells events.
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 messaging board with letters, numerals, and words on which messages are spelled out by unconsciously moving (with the fingers) a glass or used in spirit communication. It is also believed by some that it is used to conjure evil spirits and elements into our plain of existence.
Outward Manifestation - A physical manifestation of paranormal activity which is visible to those around.
Out of Body Experience (OBE, OOBE) - An involuntary sensation or experience in which ones self or spirit travels to a different location than their physical body. This is not to be confused with Astral Projection which occurs intentionally.
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P
Paranormal - Meaning "beyond-normal" But what is "normal"? Normal is defined as phenomena that can be explained by known physical laws of nature. Inexplicable in terms of our ordinary understanding or current scientific knowledge. Most people fear the unknown and what they don't understand which is why many fear the paranormal.
Paranormal Dream - Dreams in which the dream imagery provides paranormal knowledge (e.g., ESP or precognition).
Paranormal Investigator - Also known as a Ghost Hunter. An impartial professional that visits locations that are believed to have paranormal activity and attempts to find out what is causing the activity whether it’s paranormal in nature or not.
Parapsychology - Literally meaning beyond psychology. Term coined by J.B. Rhine to refer to the experimental and quantitative study of paranormal phenomena. The study of apparent new means of communication and/or interaction between organisms and their environment (commonly referred to as psi, or psychic ability) that are beyond those presently understood by the scientific community. Now generally used instead of "psychical research" to refer to all scientific investigation of the paranormal.
Pareidolia - Psychological tendency to interpret a random stimulus (especially a sound or visual pattern) as meaningful.
Past-Life Memories - Mental images that are believed to be memories of previous lives.
Pendulum - An object suspended by a thread. Movements of a pendulum are often used by dowsers to locate objects or answer questions.
Pentagram - The five pointed star which can present spiritual protection and diabolism.
Percipient - A person who sees (i.e., perceives) an apparition.
Phantom - Something that is seen, heard, or sensed, but has no physical reality.
Phenomenology - An approach to research that aims to describe and clarify a person's own experience and understanding of an event or phenomenon.
Pilot Study - A preliminary study, generally of modest scale.
Placebo - An inactive treatment often given to a control group.
Planchette - A small, heart-shaped, board supported by two casters on a platform generally used with a ouija board. Sometimes used with an attached pencil to produce automatic writing.
Pocomania - A Jamaican spiritist religion.
Poltergeist - German word meaning "noisy or troublesome spirit". Poltergeist activity may include unexplained noises, movements of objects, outbreaks of fire, floods, pricks or scratches to a person's body. Unlike hauntings, which are associated with specific locations, poltergeists typically focus on a person (the focal person or poltergeist agent) who is often a young child or adolescent. Many physical mediums experienced poltergeist activity in their childhood.
Possession - Refers to cases in which a person's body is apparently taken over by another personality or entity.
Precognition - The paranormal awareness of future events.
Prediction - A statement that claims to foretell future events.
Preexistence - Belief that the personality or soul exists prior to birth.
Premonition - An experience believed to foretell future events.
Presence - A subjective feeling that a person, animal or discarnate entity is present.
Probability - The likelihood that results in a test were due to chance.
Psyche - Generally refers to the mind.
Psychedelic - Literally "revealing mind". A class of plants and drugs (e.g., peyote, psilocybin, LSD) that can produce florid ASCs.
Psychical Research - Term coined in the late 19th century to refer to the scientific study of the paranormal. Now largely superseded by "parapsychology".
Psychic Photography - General term used to refer to paranormal photographic images.
Psychokinesis (PK) - The paranormal influence of the mind on physical events and processes.
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Q
Qualitative Method - A research method involving the collection of non-quantitative data (e.g., observations, interviews, subjective reports, case studies).
Quantitative Method - A research method involving the collection and statistical analysis of numerical data.
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R
Radiesthesia - Theories based on the assumption that living organisms emit some kind of radiation or emanation that is capable of being detected using instruments or by dowsing.
Radionics - Use of instruments to detect radiation from living organisms.
Radio Voice Phenomenon (RVP) - Receiving the voice of a deceased human being through a regular radio.
Random - Refers to events that are, in principle, haphazard and unpredictable.
Random Event Generator (REG) - An electronic device which uses a random physical process (e.g., radioactive decay) to generate random events or random numbers.
Random Numbers - Numbers generated in an unpredictable, haphazard sequence.
Raps/Rapping - The name given to unexplained knocking sounds associated with physical mediumship and poltergeist activity.
Raudive Voices - Intelligible voices recorded on magnetic tape under conditions of silence or white noise which are heard only when the tape is played. A phenomenon discovered by Konstantin Raudive.
Rebirth - In Buddhism, the belief that there is some continuty of mind from one life to the next. Buddhism, however, does not accept the existence of the individual soul and therefore does not view rebirth as the soul's literal re-incarnation.
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.
Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK) - A technical term for poltergeist activity.
Reincarnation - The belief that some aspect of a person's being (e.g., consciousness, personality, or soul) survives death and can be reborn in a new body at some future date. Reincarnation is often seen as a repeating cycle of death and rebirth in which future lives are influenced by past and present actions through the law of karma.
Residual Haunting - A type of haunting that is of the experiences from the former living imprinted in a specific location and continue to replay over and over with no regard to who or what is happening around it. Commonly it is of apparitions doing the same things or voices and sounds being heard at always the same time of the day. Many hauntings can be of this sort and are not necessarily animated by any conscious spirits.
Retrocognition - Paranormal knowledge of past events.
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S
Santeria - A Cuban spiritist religion.
Sceptic/Skeptic - A person inclined to discount the reality of the paranormal and to be critical of parapsychological research. Generally seeks rational or scientific explanations for the phenomena studied by parapsychologists.
Séance - 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.
Silky - A female spirit or ghost which performs domestic chores for a family after they have all retired for the night.
Simulcra – This is a word used to describe the seeing of faces, figures and images in ordinary, everyday object such as rocks, foliage, etc.
Simultaneous Dream - A dream whose elements correspond closely with those in the dream of another person.
Sleep Paralysis - it is closely related to the paralysis that occurs as a natural part of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is known as REM atonia. Sleep paralysis occurs when the brain awakes from a REM state, but the body paralysis persists. This leaves the person fully conscious, but unable to move.
Soul - The spiritual element of a person, generally believed to be immortal.
Specter - A ghostly apparition; a phantom.
Spirit - A discarnate entity, soul, divine essence. Can interact with the living, unlike ghosts.
Spirit Photography - Photographs of figures or faces, believed by some to be those of deceased persons. These photographs are generally revealed as fraudulent.
Spiritualism (Spiritism) - Religious doctrines that advocate communication betwen the living and the spirits of the dead using a medium as intermediary.
Spontaneous Cases - Paranormal phenomena that occur in everyday life, unsought and unexpected.
Statistics - Mathematical techniques for analysing and interpreting numerical data.
Subjective Apparitions - Hallucinations of apparitions or other phenomena that are created by our own minds.
Subliminal Perception - Perceiving without conscious awareness.
Supernatural - Of or relating to existence outside the natural world. As opposed to paranormal, the term "supernatural" often connotes divine or demonic intervention.
Survey - A method of data collection that involves interviewing (or giving questionnaires to) a representative and often large group of people.
Survival - The belief that some aspect of the person (e.g., consciousness, mind, personality, soul) lives on after death of the body.
Synchronicity - A term used by C.G. Jung to refer to coincidental events that are meaningfully but not causally connected.
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T
Talisman - An item worn to ward off evil or gather the aid of the spirits.
Teleportation - A method of transportation in which matter or information is dematerialized, usually instantaneously, at one point and recreated at another.
Temporal Lobe Activity - Electrical activity in the temporal lobes of the brain. Often associated with strange sensations, time distortions and hallucinations. Sometimes used as an explanation for seemingly paranormal experiences such as apparitions and alien abduction experiences.
Thought Form - An apparition produced solely by the power of the human mind.
Thoughtography - Paranormal ability to produce images on photographic film (e.g., by concentrating on a mental image). Most famously demonstrated by Ted Serios.
Time Travel - The ability to project the soul's consciousness out of the body and into a past or future time or event.
Transchanneling - To have a sudden, severe personality shifts.
Transpersonal Psychology - The study of experiences, beliefs and practices that suggest that the sense of self can extend beyond our personal or individual reality. The subject matter of transpersonal psychology overlaps to some extent with parapsychology, but the two disciplines tend to have different approaches and emphases. Parapsychology is primarily concerned to investigate evidence for and against the reality of paranormal phenomena. Transpersonal psychology, on the other hand, is more interested in investigating the transpersonal significance of such phenomena (i.e., the ways in which they may give people a sense of connectedness with a larger, more universal or spiritual reality).
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U
Umbanda - A Brazilian spiritist religion.
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V
Veridical - Information or experience that is confirmed by facts and events.
Veridical Dream - A dream that corresponds to real events (past, present or future) that are unknown to the dreamer.
Vision - A religious apparition.
Voodoo - A spiritist and ancestor religion, originating in Africa, and now found predominantly in Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba, syncretized from Roman Catholic ritual elements and the animism and magic of slaves from West Africa, in which a supreme God rules a large pantheon of local and tutelary deities, deified ancestors, and saints, who communicate with believers in dreams, trances, and ritual possessions. It is also called vodoun.
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.
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W
White Noise - An acoustical or electrical, hiss-like, noise of which the intensity is the same at all frequencies within a given band.
Wicca - A polytheistic Neo-Pagan nature religion inspired by various Pre-Christian western European beliefs, whose central deity is a mother goddess and which includes the use of herbal magic and benign witchcraft.
Wraith - A shadowy insubstantial apparition of a living person that appears as a portent just before that person's death.
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X
Xenoglossy - The ability to speak or write in a language that has not been learned.
Xenophobia - An aversion/fear to people or beings of a foreign or unknown origin.
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Y
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Z
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Call us at 309-948-6112 or email us at investigations@ghostcriers.org to look into any paranormal occurrences in the Quad Cities area
