A
afterlife
Almost every society and religion has some belief in
life after death. The Christian version of the
afterlife involves some type of judgment upon the
body’s demise and the assignment of the soul to
either Heaven or Hell, while many societies believe
that life simply continues in another plane of
existence.
agent
The apparition,
or ghost, seen by a human being (or percipient).
amulet
Any object
that's thought to have the power to ward off ghosts
and evil spirits or to bring good luck.
angel
A supernatural
being that exists on the level between God and
mortals is said to be an angel. One of the duties of
the angels is thought to act as guardians over
humans.
anomalistic
psychology The
scientific study of anomalous phenomena, including,
but not limited to, such parapsychological events as
ESP, life-after-death experiences and alleged alien
abduction experiences.
anomaly
A term used to
denote phenomenon not behaving or occurring according
to conventional scientific knowledge; deviation from
that which is normal or common.
anpsi
Referring to psi
ability in non-human animals; a contraction of
“animal psi.”
apparition
The visual
appearance of a disembodied spirit. It doesn’t
necessarily take on a human shape or show signs of
personality or intelligence.
apport/asport
An apport is a solid object that seemingly appears
from nowhere in the presence of a medium. Some
apports are assembled from invisible material matter;
others are teleported from another often-distant
location. An asport is any object that spirits or the
medium makes disappear or teleports to another
location.
astral body
One’s soul, appearing as an exact double of the
person’s physical body, separated temporarily as
during a dream or out-of-body experience or
permanently as in death. Also see doppelganger.
aura
In scientific
terms, the normal electromagnetic field that
surrounds the body; in metaphysical terms, the life
force surrounding the body is presented in color,
with the color corresponding the body’s physical
and/or emotional state.
automatic
writing
Communication from a spirit in written form. The
medium holds a pen or pencil against paper and allows
the spirit to take possession or control of his or
her hand to write out a message.
automatism
Any unconscious and spontaneous muscular movement
caused by the spirits. Automatic writing and sleep
walking are forms of automatism.
autonographist
Professional automatic writer.
B
banish(ment)
The expulsion of a ghost, spirit, demon, or other
entity/entities thought to be possessing or haunting
a human being or location. The ritual, which may be
conducted by anyone but should ONLY be undertaken by
a professional, is usually secular in nature, but may
call upon some Higher Power to cast out the evil
force(s). Also see exorcism.
banshee
A female death omen spirit of Ireland and Scotland
that attaches itself to families -- especially those
whose surnames begin with "Mac" and "O" -- and
manifests to herald an approaching death in the
family.
bilocation
The phenomenon in which a person’s body is seen in
two places at the same time; also, the sensation of
one’s body being in a separate, distant place apart
from the true location
C
calling ghosts-
Spirits who call out the names of the living in order
to lure them to their deaths are called calling
ghosts. The sirens of Greek mythology were calling
ghosts.
caul-
A thin membrane of amniotic fluid that remains
covering the head of a newborn at birth. Those born
with a caul are said to be blessed with luck,
protection and supernatural powers. Such individuals
are thought to be able to see and speak with ghosts
and spirits.
chalcedony
A type of translucent quartz, usually a smoky blue in
color, that was used by the ancient Egyptians to
drive away ghosts, night visions and sadness.
channeling
A form of spirit communication, mostly popular in the
United States during the "New Age" fad of the 1970s.
During a channeling session, an unseen entity takes
possession of the medium (called a channeler) to
impart spiritual guidance or wisdom. The channeled
entity was seldom a deceased human; rather it was a
spiritual creature such as an angel, demon, the
Higher Self, or part of the universal mind.
clairalience
The ability to receive a spirit’s message through
smell.
clairambience
The ability to receive a spirit’s message through
taste.
clairaudience
The ability to receive a spirit’s message through
sound.
clairsentience
The ability to feel or sense a spirit’s presence
and/or message.
clairvoyance
A type of extrasensory perception (ESP), clairvoyance
is the ability to see objects, events, places and
people not visible through normal sight. Some
individuals are gifted with clairvoyance throughout
their lives while others may experience only one
clairvoyant event in their life.
collective
apparition An
unusual type of spirit sighting in which more than
one person sees the same apparition.
collective
unconscious From
the analytical psychology of Carl Jung, the
collective unconscious is the collective memory of
all of humanity's past, held in an individual's
unconscious mind.
confabulation
A term used to
describe when real-life experiences are mixed with
imagined ones.
control
A control lives
in the spirit world and is manifested by a medium,
usually in a séance, to act on the medium's behalf as
guide among the spirits. A control may appear as a
disembodied voice, speaking through the medium's own
voice, write with the medium's hand, be materialized
visually either partially or full-form, or take full
possession of the medium's body.
crisis
apparition A
crisis apparition is a specific type of out-of-body
experience in which the agent projects his or her
astral body at a time of crisis or death to a
particular percipient, usually a loved one.
cross-correspondences
Interrelated bits of information received from the
spirit world by different mediums at different times
and locations. The communications must be joined
together to form a complete message from the
spirit(s).