Agent – A living person who is the focus of poltergeist activity.
Alchemy - The Science of turning the baser metals into gold or silver by chemical means. The byproduct, "Quicksilver," was thought to have magical powers. This was a very perfected science in Egyptian times and lasted all the way up into the 14th-16th Century A.D. when some of the alchemy methods were lost due to wars and fires that were amid in those times.
Amulet - An object that is thought to bring good luck or have the power to protect from ghosts or spirits and ward off evil.
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.
Apparition - a spectral image of a person that materializes even though a physical body 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.Â
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 person’s 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.
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 – 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.
Cross-Species Communication - To have a special rapport and understanding with animals, plants or alien beings.
Crystalomancy - The art of gazing into a crystal globe, a pool of water, a mirror, or any transparent object. The person may put him/her self into a hypnotic state to see visions or to summon forth spirits or demons.
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.
Déjà 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 séance.
Direct Writing - Direct writing is when spirits actually write using any means. This can be done by slate writing or by pen and paper.
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.
Divination - The obtain unknown knowledge or future events from omens. Astrology may be considered divination.
Divining Rod - A forked rod from a tree said to indicate the presence of water or minerals underground.
Dmils - Abbreviation of Direct Mental Interaction with Living Systems. Used to denote instances where one person is attempting to influence a distant biological system, usually the physiology of another person. As it is unclear whether this represents an influence , a case of ESP on the part of the influence or an opportunistic selection process, the term 'interaction' has been adopted.
Doppelganger - A spirit of a living person outside of the physical body.
Dowsing - To be able to find underground water and/or underground minerals.
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 Spiritsâ€.
EMF Detector – (See Magnetometer.Â
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.
ESP - Extrasensory perception (ESP) is the knowledge of external objects or events without the aid of the senses.
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.
Faith Healing - To know that you and others can heal yourselves by simply believing it.
False Awakening – The event in which a person believes they are awake but are actually dreaming.
Ganzfield - A state of mild sensory deprivation, characterized by the presentation of homogenous sensory fields. Thus, a person in Ganzfeld will have diffusive plastic hemispheres over their eyes while in a dimly red-lit room, be listening to white noise through headphones, and be seated in a comfortable, semi-reclined chair. Its use in parapsychology is based on a noise-reduction model.
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.
Inner Voice - Receiving guidance and assistance from inside of you.
Intuition – Non-paranormal knowledge that is gained through a perceptive insight.
Knowingness / Intuition - To get information without knowing where it came from.
Levitation – To lift or raise a physical object in apparent defiance of gravity.
Life Review – A flashback of a person’s 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 ghost’s 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.
Past Life Recall - To remember or have mental flashes about living in another century.
Percipient - A person who sees (i.e., perceives) an apparition.Â
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.Â
Psychic Surgery - The supposed ability to paranormally perform invasive surgery using no conventional medical tools. The psychic surgeon uses either an unsterilized knife, or his bare hands, to appear to make an incision and remove some internal matter. Once the operation is finished, there is no sign of an incision, nor are there any unpleasant aftereffects (e.g. infection). Many of the investigated cases have turned out to be fraudulent, involving sleight of hand tricks to make the operation appear convincing. However, it is possible that, in some circumstances, the ritual nature of the "surgery" could help effect a cure through the equally mysterious placebo effect.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Subliminal Perception - Sensory impressions below the threshold of 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.
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.
Tarot Cards - A set of 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.
Time Travel - To project your soul's consciousness out of your body and into a past or future time.
Thought Form – An apparition produced solely by the power of the human mind.
Tone Healing - Your tone of voice affects others by disturbing, catalyzing, soothing, lulling, inspiring and quite often healing them.
Touch Healing - To impart through your hands soothing and healing vibrations of energy.
Trance - A hypnotic, cataleptic, or ecstatic state in which one becomes detached from their physical surroundings.
Transmediumship, Transchanneling - To have severe personality shifts.
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.