Paranormal Glossary
A-B
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.
ASTRAL PROJECTION - The act of separating the astral body (spirit or consciousness) from the physical body and its journey into the universe.
C-D
CLAIROLEOFACTOR - To have an extraordinary sense of smell, as if you could smell flowers before they bloom or smell trouble before it occurs or death before it happens.
CLAIRSENTIENCE - The ability to clearly feel yours and/or another's emotions and sensations.
CLAIRVOYANCE - To have lucid mental perceptions and keen insights about people and life situations and to have clear visual mental images, pictures, to "see" auras and other psychic phenomena.
DEJÀ VU - Certain events and experiences seem as if you are re-experiencing the event or situation that has happened at another time. As familiar as the experiences are, you cannot recall nor figure out when they happened.
DEMON - Hostile and resentful entity, supposedly of non-human origin, which some believe to be "fallen (from grace) angels."
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.
DIVINATION - The obtain unknown knowledge or future events from omens. Astrology may be considered divination.
E-F
ECTOPLASM - A filmy, quasi-solid substance which supposedly issues from the bodies of mediums (from the mouth, nostrils, eyes, ears, navel or nipples) during trance states. In photographs, this phenomenon seems to resemble soaked muslin fabric. Whether or not it has ever been genuine, curiously, virtually no ectoplasm has been reported in the past fifty years.
EMPATHY - Rarely used in modern parapsychology, the popular usage of this term refers to a low-level form of telepathy wherein the empath appears to be aware of the emotional state of a distant person. An empath may also be able to "broadcast" emotions to others.
ENTITY - A disembodied "consciousness" commonly referred to as ghost, spirit or (if of an apparently malicious or resentful nature) demon.
ESP - Extrasensory perception (ESP) is the knowledge of external objects or events without the aid of the senses.
EXORCISM - Ceremonial expulsion of invading spiritual/demonic entities from a person or dwelling, present in virtually every worldly culture. The Jewish and Catholic Christian faiths each have a formal 'Rite of Exorcism' to be conducted by the respective Rabbi or Priest.
G-H
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.
HAUNTING - The manifestation of a ghostly presence, or presences, attached to a specific locale. Hauntings can be categorized into four (usually) distinct types, these being Intelligent (responsive), Poltergeist (likely initiated by pent-up stress on a subconcious level), Residual (replay) and Demonic (non-human origin).
HYPNOSIS - A state of profound mental focus, actually self-induced although an external agent - a "hypnotist" - often acts as the catalyst, or director, for the subject entering this state. Also known as "Mesmerism" after Franz Anton Mesmer who first popularized this practice (utilizing magnets as his props) during the last two decades of the 18th century. As concerns paranormal investigation, hypnosis is sometimes used as a vehicle for "past lives regression" and memory restoration in suspected (alien?) abduction cases.
I-J
INTUITION - Act of knowing without the use of usual rational processes. Based partly on subconscious pattern association of known information, and partly on subconscious psi impressions.
K-L
LEVITATION - A phenomenon sometimes encountered in hauntings, particularly with Poltergeists, rare yet credibly reported, where solid objects (including persons) are moved and lifted by an unseen force. The first historcally documented occurance was that of St. Francis of Assisi in the 14th century.
LORE - Collective beliefs and legendry relating to a subject.
M-N
MATRIXING - The natural tendancy for the human mind to interpret sensory input, what is perceived visually, audibly or tactiley, as something familiar or more easily understood and accepted, in effect mentally "filling in the blanks."
O-P
PARANORMAL - of or pertaining to the occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other supernatural phenomena.
PARAPSYCHOLOGY - Literally beyond psychology. The study of apparent new means of communication, or interaction, between organisms and their environment (commonly referred to as psi, or psychic ability), beyond those presently understood by the scientific community.
POLTERGEIST - A general term applied to a variety of site-, or sometimes person-, specific physical phenomena. These can include temperature variations, anomalous sounds, and movement of physical objects. The word 'poltergeist' literally means 'noisy spirit' and was coined back when such phenomena were thought to be due to the presence of some sort of mischievous entity. Currently, poltergeist phenomena are usually considered to be related either to unusual physical conditions at the affected site, or to be related to psychokinesis. Anecdotal reports suggest that many poltergeist focus on an individual under some form of emotional stress.
POSSESSION - The term used to describe the control over a human form by a demon. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include: erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying. Unlike in channeling or other forms of possession, the subject has no control over the possessing entity and so it will persist until forced to leave the victim, usually through a form of exorcism.
PRECOGNITION - Pre-knowing; where nondeductible information about a future event is acquired.
PRECOGNITIVE DREAMS - To have dreams of events or incidents before they happen.
PREDICTION - To be able to predict future events before they occur.
PSI - A general term for parapsychological phenomena that includes informational (RV, ESP) and energetic (PK) effects. Psi, or Y, is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet.
PSYCHIC - Popular term used to denote a person who regularly uses, or who appears to be especially gifted with, psi abilities. Also refers to general phenomena related to the mind (from Greek psyche).
PSYCHOKINESIS - The purported ability to move or deform inanimate objects, as metal spoons, through mental processes.
PSYCHOMETRY - To touch an object with your hands and get information about the object, it's creator, its owner, or it's history.
Q-R
REMOTE VIEWING (RV) - Ability to access distant or shielded information primarily of visual character, such as natural or structural features, via an unknown mental process. RV can include other sensory modes, such as feelings, motion, or sound. Some individuals associate specific approaches, or protocols, with RV. Other similar terms: remote perception, enhanced perception, extrasensory perception (ESP).
RESIDUAL HAUNTING - Psychic imprint of a scene which is repeatedly played out, where the witness of such phenomenon essentially is peering into the past. The ghostly participants of these time-displacements often seem unaware of their living observers.
S-T
SCRYING - A term used to cover a wide range of divination techniques which parapsychology would tend to classify as types of ESP. Most scrying techniques involve some degree of fixation on a surface with a clear optical depth (e.g. a crystal ball, a pool of ink or deep water) or on an area which shows random patterns (e.g. flames in a fire, smoke), the idea being that subconscious information available to the scrying will be manifested in their interpretation of the imagery or random patterns they see. Techniques using a clear optical depth are actually very similar to the idea behind the homogenous visual field used in Ganzfeld ESP research.
SEANCE - A meeting in which a spiritualist attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead.
SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION - Sensory impressions below the threshold of conscious awareness.
SYNCHRONICITY - Meaningful coincidences that often are mediated by subconscious psi activity. Our intuitive/psi faculty nudges our paths into meaningful intersections in times of need.
TELEKINESIS , PSYCHOKINESIS, LEVITATION - To move an object or your body without physical means.
TELEPATHY - To know what others are thinking as if to hear thoughts in your head. Thought transference including the sending and receiving of thoughts.