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Psychic Dictionary of Definitions - Mediums Dictionary - Paranormal terms defined.
Psychic Dictionary & Mediums Dictionary - Glossary Definition and paranormal directory of terms and topics. Psychic & Mediums Dictionaries includes in-depth definitions and short define articles glossary of terms listings and divination thesaurus. |
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PSYCHIC & MEDIUMS' DICTIONARY
OF
PARANORMAL TERMS & DEFINITIONS
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Welcome to our Psychic Definitions, Medium Definitions and Paranormal Definitions.
This is a PSYCHIC & MEDIUMS DICTIONARY of terms used within Spiritualism, Parapsychology and Paranormal Research. Some of the definitions link to detailed articles about the specific subjects. You may also enjoy our PSYCHIC FAQS where you can get advice about some of the issues mentioned here, or you can visit our PSYCHIC FORUM where you can post questions to our experts.
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DICTIONARY DETAILED DEFINITIONS:
In-depth
Definitions and short articles:
PSYCHIC
DICTIONARY A-Z
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PSYCHIC
DICTIONARY FULL GLOSSARY
Short Definition
A
- Absent
Healing Psychic Dictionary Psychic Dictionary Index
- Healing that takes place when the healer is not in direct contact with the person
to be healed.
- Absent
Sitter
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person,
not present during a sitting, on whose behalf readings are given. See also Proxy Sitting.
- Acupuncture
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Traditional
Chinese medical practice that involves sticking needles
into specific locations on the body. An ancient medical procedure that originated in China more than 2000 years ago. It is based on the theoretical concept of balanced Qi (pronounced 'chee') or vital energy that flows throughout the body via certain pathways that are accessed by puncturing the skin with hair-thin needles at particular locations called acupuncture points. Stimulation of acupuncture points is believed to stimulate the brain and spinal cord to release chemicals that change the experience of pain or cause biochemical changes that may stimulate healing and promote general well-being.
See also healing.
- Agent
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
Person who attempts to communicate information to another
in an ESP experiment. Cf. percipient.
- (b)
The subject in a psychokinesis experiment.
- (c)
Person who is the focus of poltergeist activity.
- Akashic
Records
Psychic Dictionary Index
- "Memories"
of all experiences since the beginning of time, believed
by some mystical doctrines to be stored permanently in a
spiritual substance (Akasha). Psychic Dictionary Index
The Akashic Records (Akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning "sky", "space" or "aether") are said to be a collection of mystical knowledge that is stored in the aether; i.e. on a non-physical plane of existence. The concept is common in some New Age religious groups. The Akashic Records are said to have existed since the beginning of Creation. Just as we have various specialty libraries (e.g., medical, law), there are said to exist various Akashic Records (e.g., human, animal, plant, mineral, etc). Most writings refer to the Akashic Records in the area of human experience. (Wilkipedia)
-
- Alchemy Psychic Dictionary Index
- See full article on Alchemy and Alchemists
Alien
Abduction Experience Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also temporal lobe activity.
- Alpha
Rhythm
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Electrical
activity in the brain (about 10 cycles per second) associated
with a state of mental relaxation. See also EEG.
- Altered
State of Consciousness (ASC)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Ancestor
Worship Psychic Dictionary Index
- Religious
practices involving the veneration of dead ancestors.
- Angels
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Benevolent
spiritual beings who help people in need. See also guardian angel.
- Animal
Magnetism Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also Mesmerism.
- Animal
Mutilation Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 (e.g., genitals).
- Animal
Psi Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
abilities exhibited by animals. Also known as "Anpsi".
- Animism Psychic Dictionary Index
- Religious
practices based on the belief that all living things and
natural objects have their individual spiritual essence
or soul.
- Announcing
Dream Psychic Dictionary Index
- A dream
believed to announce an individual's rebirth. See also reincarnation.
- Anomalous
Experience Psychic Dictionary Index
- A general
term referring to unusual experiences that cannot be explained
in terms of current scientific knowledge. Cf. psi.
-
- Anomalous
Phenomena
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Natural
phenomena that cannot be explained in terms of current scientific
knowledge. See also Fortean phenomena.
- Anoxia
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
cerebral anoxia.
- Anpsi
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Animal Psi
- Apparition Psychic Dictionary Index
- A visual
appearance (cf. hallucination), often of a person or scene, generally
experienced in a waking or hypnagogic / hypnopompic state. See also crisis apparition, ghost, haunting.
- Apport Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf. deport. See also materialization, teleportation.
- Artefact Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
parapsychology, false evidence of paranormal phenomena,
due to some extraneous normal influence.
- ASC
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
altered state
of consciousness.
- Astral
Body Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also Ka.
- Astral
Projection Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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). See
also Astrology Directory
- Atavism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Re-emergence
of ancestral characteristics; a genetic throwback.
- Augury
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Divination.
- Aura
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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, coloured halo). See also Kirlian photography.
- Automatic
Art Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
automatism.
- Automatic
Writing Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
ability to write intelligible messages without conscious
control or knowledge of what is being written. See also
automatism, dissociation.
- Automatism Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See
also automatic writing, dissociation.
- Autoscopy Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
Seeing one's "double". See also astral body.
- (b)
Looking back at one's own body from a position outside of
the body. See also out of body
experience.
- Ba
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Ancient
Egyptian concept of a person's essence, believed to be be
immortal. Cf. Ka. See also Soul.
- Banshee
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
Gaelic belief, a female entity who heralds a death by groaning
and screaming.
- Bardo
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
Tibetan Buddhism, an intermediate state of existence, usually
referring to the state between life and rebirth.
-
- Basic
Technique
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Being
(or appearing to be) in two different places at the same
time. See also autoscopy.
- Biofeedback Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- Psychokinetic effects on biological processes.
See also DMILS.
- Black
Art
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Conjuring technique of concealing objects using
black covers against a black background. Also used by fraudulent mediums.
- Black
Magic Psychic Dictionary Index
- Magical spells or rituals practiced with the
intention of harming others. Cf. white magic .
- Blind
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also double blind.
- Blind
Matching (BM) Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
identical procedure to open matching,
except that the key cards
are unseen by the subject.
- Book
Test
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
A communication in which the sitter is asked to look at a specific book and
page in order to receive a significant message.
- (b)
An effect in which the psychic or mentalist divines the words written on a particular
page of a book.
- Cabinet
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Response
made by a subject in a card-guessing or other ESP test.
- Candomble Psychic Dictionary Index
- A Brazilian
spiritist religion. See also Umbanda, Voodoo.
-
- Card
Guessing Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
experimental test for ESP in which subjects guess the identity of a
set of cards (e.g., playing cards or Zener cards).
- Cartomancy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Fortune telling using cards. See also tarot.
- Cerebral
Anoxia Psychic Dictionary Index
- Lack
of oxygen to the brain, often causing sensory distortions
and hallucinations. Sometimes used to explain features of
the near-death experience.
- Chance Psychic Dictionary Index
- Random,
unpredictable influences on events.
- Channeling Psychic Dictionary Index
- Receiving
messages and inspiration from discarnate entities. See also medium. See
also Medium Directory entry
- Charm
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A spell or object possessing magic power.
- Christian
Science
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A religious
healing movement founded by Mary Baker Eddy.
Rejects orthodox medical practice.
- Cipher
Test
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A coded
message left by a person who intends to communicate the cipher after death.
- Circle
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A group
of people who hold seances. See also mediumship.
- Clairaudience Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal obtaining of information by hearing sounds or
voices. See also clairvoyance, clairsentience.
- Clairsentience Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
archaic term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of
information using faculties other than vision or hearing.
Cf. clairaudience, clairvoyance, empathy, intuition.
- Clairvoyance Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf.
clairaudience, clairsentience, ESP, psi. See
Also Clairvoyance Definition
- Clairvoyant
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
clairvoyant medium.
-
- Clairvoyant
Medium Psychic Dictionary Index
- Or
clairvoyant. A person who obtains information paranormally
(often by spirit communication) without the need to enter into
a trance state. Cf. trance medium.
- Closed
Deck Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also synchronicity.
- Cold
Reading Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 (e.g., physical appearance,
clothes, tone of voice, statements made). Cf. hot reading.
- Collective
Apparition
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
apparition seen simultaneously by more than one
person.
- Collective
Unconscious
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Concept
put forward by C.G. Jung to refer to a level of unconscious
thought and experience shared collectively by humans.
- Communication Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
mediumship, a message purported to be from a
discarnate entity.
- Communicator Psychic Dictionary Index
- A discarnate entity from whom the medium receives messages. See also drop-in communicator.
- Confederate
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who secretly provides information to a fraudulent psychic or mentalist.
- Conjuring Psychic Dictionary Index
- Using
trickery to simulate paranormal effects, generally for the
purpose of entertainment.
- Contact
Mind Reading Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Also known as muscle reading, Cumberlandism
or Hellstromism.
- Control Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
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. See also control group, artefact.
- (b)
In spiritualism, a discarnate entity who communicates with a trance medium and who generally controls the
trance state.
- Control
Group Psychic Dictionary Index
- A group
of people whose performance is compared with that of experimental
subjects. Cf. experimental group.
- Corn
Circle Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
association between two or more events or variables.
- Correlation
Coefficient
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A mathematical
Psychic Dictionary Index of the degree of association between two or more measures.
- Cosmic
Consciousness
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A blissful
experience in which the person becomes aware of the whole
universe as a living being. See also altered state
of consciousness, mystical experience.
- Coven
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A group
of witches
- Crisis
Apparition Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
Separate items of information, received independently by
two or more mediums, which make sense only when pieced together.
- (b)
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
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- Staring
into a reflecting surface (e.g., mirror, glass, crystal,
liquid) in order to obtain paranormal information. Also
known as scrying. See also divination.
- Cumberlandism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
contact mind reading.
- Curse
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Words
spoken or written in order to influence others paranormally,
causing them harm. See also spell, hex.
- Daemon
(Daimon)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A guardian
spirit who communicates inspiration and advice.
See also guardian angel.
- Death
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Generally
understood to be the extinction of an organism's life. Many
doctrines assert some form of mental or spiritual survival of physical death. See also deathbed experience, haunting, mediumship, near-death experience, reincarnation.
- Deathbed
Experience Psychic Dictionary Index
- A dying
person's awareness of the presence of dead friends or relatives.
See also near-death experience.
- Decline
Effect Psychic Dictionary Index
- A decrease
in performance on a psi test when the test is repeated. Cf. incline effect.
- Deja
Experience
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
deja vu.
-
- Deja
Vu Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person's
feeling that current events have been experienced before.
-
- Delta
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A term
used to refer to any kind of anomalous experience.
- Dematerialization Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal fading or disappearance of a physical object.
See also deport.
- Demonic
Possession Psychic Dictionary Index
- Possession by evil spirits. See also exorcism.
-
- The
paranormal movement of objects out of a secure enclosed
space. Cf. apport. See also dematerialization, teleportation.
- Dice
Test Psychic Dictionary Index
- Experimental techniques for investigating psychokinesis, in which a subject attempts to influence the fall of dice.
- Direct
Voice Psychic Dictionary Index
- A voice
heard in a seance 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. Cf.
indirect voice.
- Discarnate
Entity Psychic Dictionary Index
- A spirit or non-material entity. Often used to
refer to the personality of a deceased individual. See also
channeling, communication, mediumship, possession, survival.
- Displacement
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Responses
on a psi test that correspond systematically to targets other than the intended one (e.g., those
before or after).
- Dissociation Psychic Dictionary Index
- Activity
performed outside of normal conscious awareness, or mental
processes that suggest the existence of separate centres
of consciousness.
- Divination Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- A forked
rod (or sometimes a pair of L-shaped rods) used in dowsing.
- DMILS
Psychic Dictionary Index
- "Direct
Mental Interaction with Living Systems". Psychokinetic influences on physiological processes.
See also Bio-PK.
- Doppelganger
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A mirror
image or double of a person. See also astral body.
- Double
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A duplicate
of one's own body. See also astral body
- Double
Blind Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
experimental procedure in which neither the subject nor experimenter is aware of key features of the
experiment.
- Down
Through Technique (DT)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
Cf. up through technique.
- Dowsing
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal detection of underground water or mineral deposits
(or lost persons and objects) using a divining rod or pendulum.
- Dream
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
paranormal dream.
- Drop-in
Communicator Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
uninvited communicator who 'drops in' at a sitting.
- Earthquake
Effect
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A phenomenon
produced by the physical medium D.D. Home, involving the room
shaking as if there was an earthquake.
- Ecstasy Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
altered state
of consciousness in which the person
experiences great rapture and loss of self-control. Cf.
trance.
- Ectoplasm
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A semi-fluid
substance exuded by a physical medium from which materializations may form.
- EEG
(Electro-encephalography)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A method
of recording variations of electrical activity in the cortex
of the brain.
- Electronic
Voice Phenomena (EVP)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Raudive voices.
- Elemental
Spirit
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A spirit associated with one of the classical four
elements (fire, earth, air and water). See also animism.
- Elongation Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
extension of the physical body, reported in some mystics and physical mediums.
- Empath
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Someone
who shows considerable empathy, especially of the apparently psychic type.
-
- Empathy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf. clairsentience, intuition.
- Entity
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
discarnate entity.
- ESP
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Extrasensory Perception.
- ESP
Cards
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Zener Cards.
- Etheric
Body
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Similar
to astral body.
- Evil
Eye
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Alleged
ability of some people to harm others by looking at them.
- EVP
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Electronic
Voice Phenomena. See Raudive voices.
-
- Evocation Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
summoning of (often evil) spirits using a magical incantation or ritual. Cf. invocation.
- Exorcism Psychic Dictionary Index
- A religious
or quasi-religious rite to drive out evil spirits. See also
possession.
- Experiment Psychic Dictionary Index
- A test
carried out under controlled conditions.
- Experimental
Group Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- Parapsychological
research involving experimental methods rather than survey techniques or the investigation of spontaneous cases.
- Experimenter Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
person who conducts the experiment.
- Experimenter
Effect
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Influence
that the experimenter's personality or behaviour may have
on the results of an experiment.
- Extradimensional Psychic Dictionary Index
- Originating
outside our normal space-time reality. Cf. extraterrestrial.
- Extrasensory
Perception (ESP)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
acquisition of information. Includes clairvoyance, telepathy and precognition. See also psi.
- Extraterrestrial Psychic Dictionary Index
- Originating
beyond planet Earth. Not normally considered to be extradimensional.
- Fairy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Small,
human-like mythical being. May be benevolent or malevolent.
- Faith
Healing Psychic Dictionary Index
- Healing that is associated with prayer or belief
in Divine power.
- False
Awakening Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
experience in which a person believes he or she has woken
up, but actually is still dreaming.
- Faraday
Cage
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A wire
mesh enclosure that provides a shield to radio waves.
- Feedback
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
giving of information to subjects about their performance on a test. See
also biofeedback.
- Fire
Walking
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Walking
on red-hot coals, without pain or damage to the feet.
- Flying
Saucer
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A term,
coined in 1947, to refer to unknown disk-like aerial objects,
often believed to be extraterrestrial spacecraft. The term has now
been largely superseded by "UFO".
- Focal
Person
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Person
who is at the centre of poltergeist activity.
- Forced-Choice
Test Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
ESP test in which the subject guesses from a predetermined list of
alternative targets.
- Fortean
Phenomena Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Fortune
Telling Psychic Dictionary Index
- Various
practices which aim to divine future events. See also divination.
- Fraud
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
deliberate faking of paranormal phenomenena, 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.
- Free-Response
Test Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
ESP test in which the subject responds freely (does not choose from
a fixed list of targets). For example, the subject may write
down or draw their impressions, or may talk freely into
a tape recorder. In order to assess the accuracy of the
responses, they are compared with various targets (including
the actual target) by a judge. See also preferential matching.
- Ganzfeld Psychic Dictionary Index
- A technique
for investigating ESP in which the person experiences an absence
of patterned stimulation. This generally involves the subject
wearing halved table-tennis balls over the eyes while listening
to hiss (white noise) through headphones.
- General
Extrasensory Perception (GESP)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- ESP in which it is unclear whether the results
are due to clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition or retrocognition.
- Geomancy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A system
of divination involving the interpretation of lines
or figures.
- GESP
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
general extrasensory perception
- Ghost
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Popular
term for an experience believed to indicate the presence
of the spirit of a deceased person. See also apparition, haunting, poltergeist. Full definition
- Gimmick
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
conjuring, any small concealed apparatus that
is used to produce a magical effect. Also used by fraudulent mediums.
-
- Glossolalia Psychic Dictionary Index
- Unintelligible
speech generally uttered in a dissociated or trance state. Also known as "speaking in tongues".
See also xenoglossy.
- "Goat"
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Name
given to a subject in a psi test who does not believe in the phenomenon.
See also "sheep", sheep-goat effect.
- Guardian
Angel Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
angel believed to protect the individual. See
also guide.
- Guide
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A spirit who is believed to assist a person's spiritual
journey. See also angel, guardian angel
- Hallucination Psychic Dictionary Index
- A sensory
experience that does not correspond to physical reality.
See also apparition.
- Haunting Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
phenomena such as apparitions, unexplained sounds, smells or other
sensations that are associated over a lengthy period of
time with a specific location. Cf. poltergeist.
- Healer Psychic Dictionary Index
- Someone
who claims the power of healing.
- Healing
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Generally
indicates cures that cannot be explained in terms of accepted
medical principles. See also faith healing,
psychic healing,
spirit cures.
- Hellstromism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
contact mind reading.
- Hex
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
An evil spell or magical curse.
- (b)
To practice witchcraft.
-
- Hit
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A response that accurately matches the target. Cf. miss.
- Hot
Reading Psychic Dictionary Index
- A reading given in which prior knowledge of the
sitter has been obtained, often using devious
or fraudulent means. Cf. cold reading.
-
- Huna
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
Hawaiian religious practice involving clairvoyance, precognition, healing, miracles and magic.
- Hyperacuity
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
hyperaesthesia.
- Hyperaesthesia Psychic Dictionary Index
- Exceptionally
acute sensory awareness.
- Hypnagogic
Imagery Psychic Dictionary Index
- Imagery occurring in the hypnagogic state (occuring
while dropping off to sleep).
- Hypnopompic
Imagery Psychic Dictionary Index
- Imagery occurring in the hypnopompic state (occurring
while waking up).
- Hypnosis Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
ASC involving a heightened degree of suggestibility.
See also Mesmerism.
- Hypnotism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
hypnosis.
- I
Ching Psychic Dictionary Index
- Ancient
Chinese "Book of Changes". It describes 64 hexagrams (patterns
of 6 broken and unbroken lines) which are used in a divinatory practice involving the throwing of
yarrow stalks or coins.
- Illusion
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
An appearance that leads the person to draw mistaken conclusions.
- (b)
In conjuring, a perceptual trick.
- Imagery
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
ability to perceive images in the mind. These may be visual,
auditory, tactile, etc.
- Immortality
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Various
beliefs based on the assumption that some aspect of personal
existence survives death.
- Incline
Effect Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
increase in performance on a psi test when the test is repeated. Cf. decline effect.
- Incorruptibility
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Inexplicable
lack of decay in a corpse.
- Indirect
Voice Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf. direct voice.
- Intuition Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf.
clairsentience, empathy.
-
- Invocation Psychic Dictionary Index
- Summoning
benevolent spiritual beings. Cf. evocation.
- Judge
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Person
who compares targets and responses in an psi experiment.
- Ka
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Ancient
Egyptian term for the double or astral body. See also Ba.
- Karma
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Hindu
and Buddhist ethical doctrine of "as one sows, so shall
one reap". See also reincarnation.
- Key
Cards Psychic Dictionary Index
- Reference
cards used to indicate each target alternative in a card-guessing test.
- Kirlian
Photography Psychic Dictionary Index
- A photographic
method involving high frequency electric current, discovered
by S.D. & V. Kirlian in the Soviet Union. Kirlian photographs
often show coloured halos or "auras" surrounding objects.
- Kundalini Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
Yogic belief, a source of tremendous vital energy
that may be stimulated by various practices. Kundalini,
or the "Serpent Power", is believed to provide energy for
paranormal phenomena.
- Laying
on of Hands Psychic Dictionary Index
- A healing practice, in which the healer's hands are placed on or near the body
of the sick person.
- Levitation Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal raising or suspension of an object or person.
- Life
after Death
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
survival.
- Life
Review Psychic Dictionary Index
- Flashback
memories of the whole of a person's life, often associated
with the near-death experience.
- Lucid
Dreaming Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Lucidity
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
An early term for clairvoyance.
- (b)
Lucid dreaming.
- Luminous
Phenomena
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
experience of strange lights or glows, often around objects
or people. See also aura.
-
- Lycanthropy Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
supposed magical transformation of a person into the form
of a wolf. See also shape-shifting, therianthropy, werewolf.
- Macro-PK Psychic Dictionary Index
- Psychokinetic effects that can be directly observed
rather than only inferred from statistical analysis. Cf. micro-PK.
- Magic
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
Practices that aim to use paranormal or spiritual means
to influence events. See also white magic, black magic.
- (b)
The art of conjuring.
- Magician Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who practices magic.
- Majority
Vote Technique
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
ESP procedure in which several subjects guess a target (or one subject makes several guesses).
The most frequent guess is used as the response.
- Mantra Psychic Dictionary Index
- A sacred
sound or sacred syllables used in meditation. See also transcendental meditation.
- Match
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
alternative term for hit.
- Matching Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
preferential matching, matching tests.
- Matching
Tests Psychic Dictionary Index
- Card guessing tests in which the subject uses
key cards when making guesses. See also blind matching, open matching,
screen touch
matching.
- Materialization Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
formation of a visible and tangible object or human shape
during a seance. Cf. apport.
- Mean
Chance Expectation (MCE)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
most likely chance score in a psi test.
- Medicine
Man / Medicine Woman
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A witchdoctor
or shaman.
- Meditation Psychic Dictionary Index
- Mental
or physical-mental techniques which aim to produce spiritually
desirable states of consciousness. See also ASC, Yoga.
- Medium Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
believed to act as an intermediary between discarnate entities and the living. See also
clairvoyant medium, trance medium,
mental mediumship,
physical mediumship.
- Mediumship
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Activity
of a medium.
- Mentalism Psychic Dictionary Index
- A branch
of conjuring involving the simulation of psi.
- Mental
Mediumship Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal obtaining of information by a medium. Cf. physical mediumship.
- Mesmerism Psychic Dictionary Index
- A system
of healing developed by F.A. Mesmer, involving the
induction of trance states and the supposed transfer of animal magnetism. People in Mesmeric trance often
showed paranormal abilities such as clairvoyance.
- Message Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
communication.
- Metal
Bending
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Psychokinetic ability to bend metal objects.
A phenomenon popularised by Uri Geller.
- Metamorphosis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
shape-shifting.
-
- Metempsychosis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Another
term for reincarnation.
- Micro-PK Psychic Dictionary Index
- Psychokinetic effects that cannot be directly
observed, but only inferred from the statistical analysis of data. Cf. macro-PK.
- Mind
Reading
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
telepathy.
- Miracle Psychic Dictionary Index
- A beneficial
event attributed to supernatural or divine intervention.
- Misdirection
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Techniques
used by conjurers and mentalists to distract a person's attention or
confuse their thinking.
- Miss
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A mismatch
between the target and response. Cf. hit.
- Mnemonist
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who has learned techniques that enable extraordinary feats
of memory.
- Morphic
Resonance
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Motor
Automatism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Automatism
- Multiple
Personality Psychic Dictionary Index
- A psychiatric
condition in which the person manifests two or more distinct
and separate personalities at different times. Cf. possession.
- Muscle
Reading
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
contact mind reading.
- Mystic Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
A person who has mystical experiences.
- (b)
Used loosely to refer to psychics, mediums or romantics.
- Mystical
Experience Psychic Dictionary Index
- ASCs involving experiences of ecstasy, unity, timelessness, loss of self, divine
revelation, etc.
- Mysticism Psychic Dictionary Index
- Religious
or spiritual doctrines which argue that the human mind or
soul can directly experience the divine. See also mystical experience,
transpersonal psychology.
- NDE
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
near-death experience.
-
- Near-Death
Experience (NDE)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also cerebral anoxia, survival.
- Necromancy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Black magic practices involving communicating
with the dead.
- Newspaper
Test Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
A communication in which the spirit forecasts an item in a future day's newspaper.
- (b)
An conjuring effect in which a magician or mentalist predicts a future newspaper item.
- Null
hypothesis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
hypothesis that experimental results are due to chance.
- Numerology
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A system
of divination involving the interpretation of numbers.
- OBE
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
out of body
experience.
-
- Object
Reading
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
psychometry.
- Occam's
Razor Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
principle that we should always prefer the simplest explanation
of events.
- Occultism Psychic Dictionary Index
- Esoteric
systems of belief and practice that assume the existence
of mysterious forces and entities.
- Omen
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A sign
that foretells events.
- One-Ahead
Principle
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
mentalism, a procedure for sequentially revealing
information where the revealing of one item gives the mentalist
the next answer. Also used by fraudulent clairvoyants.
- OOBE
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
out of body
experience.
-
- Open
Deck Psychic Dictionary Index
- A series
of cards used in a card guessing
test where each card is chosen randomly and independently.
This enables each target to be selected any number of times. Statistical analysis of research data using an
open deck differs from statistical analysis of data using
a closed deck.
- Open
Matching (OM) Psychic Dictionary Index
- A card guessing
procedure in which key cards
are placed face up on the table. The subject then places the unseen target cards in piles in front of each key card,
according to their guesses. See also blind matching.
- Oracle Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
An answer to a question, believed to come from the gods.
- (b)
a shrine at which these answers are given.
- Orgone
Energy Psychic Dictionary Index
- A term
used by Wilhelm Reich to refer to a universal life force,
associated with sexuality.
- Ouija
Board Psychic Dictionary Index
- A board
with letters and numbers on which messages are spelled out
by unconsciously moving (with the fingers) a glass or planchette. See also automatism. See also our full article about OUIJA BOARDS
Ouija (pronounced wee-juh or wee-jee) refers to the belief that one can receive messages during a séance by the use of a Ouija board (also called a talking board or spirit board) and planchette. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette which then moves about a board covered with numbers, letters and symbols so as to spell out messages. (Wikepedia)
- Out
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
conjuring and mentalism, a convincing explanation for an apparent
failure, or a convincing alternative ending to an effect
that has not worked as planned. Also used by fraudulent clairvoyants and mediums.
-
- Out
of Body Experience (OBE, OOBE)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A fully
conscious experience in which the person's centre of awareness
appears to be outside of the physical body. See also autoscopy, near-death experience.
- Palmistry
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
art of assessing a person's character and forecasting life
events by examining features of the hand. See also divination.
- Paranormal Psychic Dictionary Index
- Beside
or beyond the normal. Inexplicable in terms of our ordinary
understanding or current scientific knowledge.
- Paranormal
Dream Psychic Dictionary Index
- Dreams
in which the dream imagery provides paranormal knowledge
(e.g., ESP or precognition). See also announcing dream, lucid dreaming.
- Parapsychology Psychic Dictionary Index
- Term
coined by J.B. Rhine to refer to the experimental and quantitative
study of paranormal phenomena. Now generally used instead
of "psychical research" to refer to all scientific
investigation of the paranormal. Cf. transpersonal psychology.
- Past-Life
Memories Psychic Dictionary Index
- Mental
images that are believed to be memories of previous lives.
See also reincarnation, past-life regression.
- Past-Life
Regression Psychic Dictionary Index
- A technique
of hypnosis involving regressing people to supposed previous lives.
See also reincarnation.
- Pendulum Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
object suspended by a thread. Movements of a pendulum are
often used by dowsers to locate objects or answer questions.
- Percipient Psychic Dictionary Index
- Person
who receives impressions in an ESP test. See also agent, subject.
- Phantasm
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
apparition.
- Phenomenology
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
approach to research that aims to describe and clarify a
person's own experience and understanding of an event or
phenomenon.
-
- Phrenology
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
reading of character and mental ability from the shape of
a person's skull.
- Physical
Mediumship Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
production of paranormal physical phenomena (lights, sounds,
materialization, elongation, levitation, etc.) by a medium. Physical mediumship often (but not always)
involves a state of trance. See also mental mediumship.
- Picture
Drawing Psychic Dictionary Index
- A free-response ESP test in which the subject attempts to draw impressions of the target.
- Pilot
Study
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A preliminary
study, generally of modest scale.
- PK
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
psychokinesis
- Placebo
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
inactive treatment often given to a control group.
- Placement
Test
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A test
for PK in which the subject attempts to influence
the place in which dice or other objects land. See also
dice test.
- Planchette Psychic Dictionary Index
- A small
platform on casters generally used with a ouija board.
Sometimes used with an attached pencil to produce automatic writing.
- Plant
Psi Psychic Dictionary Index
- ESP exhibited by plants.
- PMIR
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
psi-mediated instrumental response.
- Pocomania Psychic Dictionary Index
- A Jamaican
spiritist religion. See also Voodoo.
-
- Poltergeist Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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 Psychic Dictionary Index
- Refers
to cases in which a person's body is apparently taken over
by another personality or entity. Cf. multiple personality. See also demonic possession,
discarnate entity.
- Prayer
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A sincere
attempt to communicate with a spiritual being or power.
- Precognition Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal awareness of future events. See also prediction, premonition, prophecy.
- Prediction Psychic Dictionary Index
- A statement
that claims to foretell future events. Cf. premonition, precognition, prophecy.
- Preexistence
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Belief
that the personality or soul exists prior to birth. Cf. survival. See also reincarnation.
- Preferential
Matching Psychic Dictionary Index
- Technique
in which a judge ranks a subject's free responses
in terms of their similarity to various possible targets.
- Premonition Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
experience believed to foretell future events. See also
prediction, precognition, prophecy.
- Presence
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A subjective
feeling that a person, animal or discarnate entity is present.
- Probability
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
likelihood that results in a test were due to chance. See also significance.
- Process
research Psychic Dictionary Index
- Research
that aims to investigate factors affecting psi. Cf. proof research.
- Proof
research Psychic Dictionary Index
- Research
that aims to demonstrate the existence of psi. Cf. process research.
- Prophecy Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
A prediction, usually resulting from a sense of
spiritual revelation.
- (b)
The ability to receive prophetic revelations.
- Proxy
Sitting Psychic Dictionary Index
- A seance in which another person sits in on behalf
of the person receiving a communication.
- Pseudo-Random
Numbers
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Numbers
generated by an electronic calculator or computer using
a complex mathematical algorithm that simulates a random
process. Although the numbers generated are essentially
unpredictable, they are not strictly random. See also random numbers,
random event
generator.
- Psi
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A term
used to encompass all paranormal abilities. Includes both
ESP and PK abilities.
- Psi-Hitting
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Significantly better than chance performance on a psi test.
- Psi-Mediated
Instrumental Response (PMIR)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Theory
put forward by Rex Stanford that psi activity is used to serve an organism's needs.
- Psi-Missing
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Significantly worse than chance performance on a psi test. Psi-missing is also evidence for psi,
because a target can only be missed consistently if the
person "knows" what it is.
- Psyche
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Generally
refers to the mind.
- Psychedelic Psychic Dictionary Index
- Literally
"revealing mind". A class of plants and drugs (e.g., peyote,
psilocybin, LSD) that can produce florid ASCs.
- Psychic Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who exhibits psi ability (also used as an adjective).
SEE FULL DEFINITION FOR THE WORD PSYCHIC
- Psychical
Research Psychic Dictionary Index
- Term
coined in the late 19th century to refer to the scientific
study of the paranormal. Now largely superseded by "parapsychology".
- Psychic
Healing Psychic Dictionary Index
- Forms
of healing using psychic powers. See also laying on of hands, psychic surgery.
- Psychic
Photography Psychic Dictionary Index
- General
term used to refer to paranormal photographic images. See
also Kirlian photography, spirit photography, thoughtography.
- Psychic
Surgery Psychic Dictionary Index
- Actual
or simulated surgical procedures carried out by healers.
- Psychokinesis
(PK) Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
paranormal influence of the mind on physical events and
processes.
- Psychometry Psychic Dictionary Index
- Obtaining
paranormal knowledge using a physical object as a focus.
Also known as object reading.
- Pyramid
Power
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Belief
that pyramid shapes can produce paranormal effects.
- Qualitative
Method Psychic Dictionary Index
- A research
method involving the collection of non-quantitative data
(e.g., observations, interviews, subjective reports, case
studies). Cf. quantitative method.
- Quantitative
Method Psychic Dictionary Index
- A research
method involving the collection and statistical analysis of numerical data. Cf. qualitative method.
- Radiesthesia Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. See also aura, radionics.
- Radionics Psychic Dictionary Index
- Use
of instruments to detect radiation from living organisms.
See also radiesthesia.
- Random
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Refers
to events that are, in principle, haphazard and unpredictable.
See also chance.
- Random
Event Generator (REG) Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
electronic device which uses a random physical process (e.g.,
radioactive decay) to generate random events or random numbers.
- Random
Number Generator (RNG)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
random event
generator.
- Random
Numbers Psychic Dictionary Index
- Numbers
generated in an unpredictable, haphazard sequence.
-
- Random
Number Tables
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A printed
table of random numbers, usually made up of several rows
and columns of computer-generated numbers. To use the table
a starting value is chosen by randomly selecting a row and
column (e.g., by throwing a dice). Successive numbers are
then chosen by working through the table using any previously
chosen systematic rule. Suitable rules might be (1) moving
horizontally to the right, skipping alternate numbers, or
(2) moving vertically down, selecting every fifth number.
The selected random numbers may then be used, for example,
to determine target sequences.
- Raps
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
name given to unexplained knocking sounds associated with
physical mediumship and poltergeist activity.
- Raudive
Voices Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
-
-
- Real Psychics - find out what makes for a real psychic and medium. Real psychic readings and how to spot a fake.
- Reading
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Information
given by a psychic or medium to a sitter. See also cold reading,
hot reading.
- Rebirth Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf. reincarnation. See also bardo.
- Receiver
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
percipient.
- Recurrent
Spontaneous Psychokinesis (RSPK)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A technical
term for poltergeist activity.
- Regression Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
a statistical technique that enables predictions
to be made from a set of data.
- (b)
a technique used in hypnosis, involving suggesting to hypnotized
persons that they are returning to an earlier time. Sometimes
the regression occurs spontaneously, without suggestion.
See also past-life regression.
- Reincarnation Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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. Cf. rebirth.
- Remote
Viewing (RV) Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
ESP procedure in which a percipient attempts to become aware psychically
of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown target location.
- Response Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
action made by a subject in an experiment.
- Response
Bias
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Tendency
of a subject to prefer particular responses.
- Retroactive
Psychokinesis Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
influence that an agent can have on an experiment after it has been completed.
- Retrocognition Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
knowledge of past events.
- Ritual
Magic
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Magical activity involving rites and ceremonies.
- RSPK
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis.
- Run
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A set
of trials in a psi test.
- Santeria Psychic Dictionary Index
- A Cuban
spiritist religion. See also Voodoo.
-
- Sceptic Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Score
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Number
of hits obtained by a subject in a psi test.
- Scoring
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
process of determining a subject's score.
- Screen
Touch Matching (STM) Psychic Dictionary Index
- A card-guessing procedure in which the subject and experimenter sit on opposite sides of a screen
which has a small gap at the bottom. Key cards
are hung on the screen in front of the subject (the faces
may be seen or unseen). Underneath each key card is a blank
card that can be seen by both subject and experimenter.
The experimenter holds the target cards and the subject indicates the guess
on each trial by pointing to the corresponding blank
card. The experimenter then places the card in a pile on
his or her side of the screen in a position corresponding
to that of the indicated blank card. See also blind matching,
open matching.
- Scrying
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
crystal gazing.
- Seance Psychic Dictionary Index
- A mediumistic session.
- Second
Sight
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Another
name for clairvoyance.
- Sender
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Another
name for agent.
- Sensitive
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Another
name for a psychic.
- Sensory
deprivation
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Conditions
of greatly restricted sensory input. See also ganzfeld.
- Series
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A sequence
of runs in a psi experiment.
- Serpent
Power
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
Kundalini.
- Shaman Psychic Dictionary Index
- A witchdoctor
or medicine (wo)man who communicates with spirits while in trance and who has the power of healing. May also show other paranormal abilities.
- Shape-Shifting Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
ability to assume the form of another person, an animal
or other entity. See also lycanthropy, therianthropy, werewolf.
- "Sheep" Psychic Dictionary Index
- Name
given to a subject in a psi test who believes in the phenomenon. See
also "goat", sheep-goat effect.
- Sheep-Goat
Effect Psychic Dictionary Index
- Effect,
discovered by the parapsychologist Gertrude Schmeidler,
in which "sheep" score higher than mean chance
expectation (MCE) on psi tests, while "goats" score lower than MCE.
- Siddhis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Name
given to paranormal powers associated with the practice
of Yoga.
- Significance Psychic Dictionary Index
- Results
of an experiment are said to be statistically significant when they are very
unlikely to be due to chance (and hence, in a psi test, are more likely to be due to psi).
The chance probability is reported as the "significance
level". To be considered significant, the chance probability
must generally be less than 1 in 20 (5%, or 0.05).
- Simultaneous
Dream
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A dream
whose elements correspond closely with those in the dream
of another person.
-
- Sitter Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who has a session with a medium.
- Sitting
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A seance.
- Sixth
sense
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Popular
term for ESP.
- Skeptic
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
sceptic.
- Slate-Writing
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Writing
that appears on a slate during a seance. Often produced by fraudulent mediums and mentalists.
- Sleep
Paralysis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
(often frightening) state of seeming to being awake but
unable to move. See also false awakening.
- Somnambule
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
a person who performs physical activity while asleep (e.g.,
sleep-walking).
- (b)
a person in a deep hypnotic state.
- Sorcery
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Black magic
- Sortilege Psychic Dictionary Index
- Divination by lots.
- Soul
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
spiritual element of a person, generally believed to be
immortal. See also Ba, spirit, survival.
- Space
Brothers
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Extraterrestrial entities, channeled by some mediums. See also discarnate entity.
- Speaking
in Tongues
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
glossolalia
- SPE
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
subjective paranormal experience.
-
- Spectre
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A ghost or apparition.
- Spell
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Written
or spoken words believed to have magical power.
- Spirit Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
a discarnate entity.
- (b)
soul
- (c)
Divine essence.
- Spirit
Communication
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
communication.
- Spirit
Cure Psychic Dictionary Index
- Healing that is believed to result from the intervention
of spirits.
- Spiritism
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
spiritualism.
- Spirit
Photography Psychic Dictionary Index
- Photographs
of figures or faces, believed by some to be those of deceased
persons. These photographs are generally revealed as fraudulent.
- Spiritualism
(Spiritism) Psychic Dictionary Index
- Religious
doctrines that advocate communication betwen the living and the spirits
of the dead using a medium as intermediary.
- Spontaneous
Cases Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
phenomena that occur in everyday life, unsought and unexpected.
- Spontaneous
Human Combustion (SHC)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Refers
to cases in which a badly burned human body has been discovered
in circumstances suggesting that the fire originated spontaneously
in or on the body of the victim.
- Statistics Psychic Dictionary Index
- Mathematical
techniques for analysing and interpreting numerical data.
- Stigmata Psychic Dictionary Index
- Unexplained
markings on a person's body that correspond to the wounds
of Christ.
- Stimulus
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
target.
- Subject
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
whose psi ability is being investigated.
-
- Subjective
Paranormal Experience (SPE)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Or
Subjective Psi Experience. An experience that the person
who has it believes to be paranormal.
- Subjective
Psi Experience (SPE)
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
subjective paranormal experience.
-
- Subliminal
Perception Psychic Dictionary Index
- Perceiving
without conscious awareness.
- Super-ESP
Hypothesis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
suggestion that people are capable of unlimited ESP. The super-ESP hypothesis is often presented
as an alternative to the survival hypothesis in explaining mediumistic phenomena (the medium is believed
to obtain information using super-ESP powers and not directly
from the spirit of a deceased person).
- Supernatural
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
- Survey Psychic Dictionary Index
- A method
of data collection that involves interviewing (or giving
questionnaires to) a representative and often large group
of people.
- Survival Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
belief that some aspect of the person (e.g., consciousness,
mind, personality, soul) lives on after death of the body.
- Synchronicity Psychic Dictionary Index
-
A term
used by C.G. Jung to refer to coincidental events that are
meaningfully but not causally connected.
The great Swiss psychologist, C. G. Jung, defines "synchronicity" as a meaningful coincidence. A classic example of synchronicity, told by Jung himself, concerns a crisis that occurred during therapy. Jung’s patient was a woman whose highly rational approach to life made any form of treatment particularly difficult. On one occasion, the woman related a dream in which a golden scarab appeared. Jung knew that such a beetle was of great significance to the ancient Egyptians, for it was taken as a symbol of rebirth. As the woman was talking, the psychiatrist in his darkened office heard a tapping at the window behind him. He drew the curtain, opened the window, and in flew a gold-green scarab—called a rose chafer, or Cetonia aureate. Jung showed the woman "her" scarab and from that moment the patient’s excessive rationality was pierced and their sessions together became more profitable. (Coming to terms)
- Table-Tilting Psychic Dictionary Index
- Mysterious
movements of a table, usually occurring in a seance when a group of people place their hands
on the surface of the table. Often the movements are interpreted
as spirit communications. Also known as table-turning or
table-tipping.
- Table-Turning
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See table-tilting.
- Target
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
object or event which the subject attempts to perceive (ESP tests) or influence (PK tests).
- Tarot
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A special
deck of cards (usually 78) used in fortune telling.
- Telekinesis
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
movement of objects.
- Telepathy Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
awareness of another person's experience (thoughts, feelings,
etc.). In practice it is difficult to distinguish between
telepathy and clairvoyance. See also ESP.
- Teleportation Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
transportation of objects to a distant place. See also apport, deport.
- Temporal
Lobe Activity Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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.
- Theosophy Psychic Dictionary Index
- Quasi-religious
and philosophical system of the Theosophical Society, founded
in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky. Its paranormal claims were
controversially and damningly reported upon by the Society
for Psychical Research in 1885.
- Therianthropy Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
supposed ability to change from human to animal form and
back. See also lycanthropy, shape-shifting, werewolf.
- Theurgy
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Magical practices which aim to contact and communicate
with the gods.
- Thoughtography Psychic Dictionary Index
- Paranormal
ability to produce images on photographic film (e.g., by
concentrating on a mental image). Most famously demonstrated
by Ted Serios. See also psychic photography.
- Thought
Transference
Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
telepathy
- Trance Psychic Dictionary Index
- A dissociated state of consciousness,
generally involving reduced awareness of surroundings and
external events.
- Trance
Medium Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who enters a state of trance in order to produce mediumistic phenomena.
- Transcendental
Meditation Psychic Dictionary Index
- A technique
of meditation taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, involving
the repetition of a sound (mantra).
- Transmigration
of Souls Psychic Dictionary Index
- See
reincarnation.
- Transpersonal
Psychology Psychic Dictionary Index
- 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). See
also mysticism.
-
- Travelling
Clairvoyance
Psychic Dictionary Index
- (a)
An early term for the out of body
experience.
- (b)
Clairvoyance exhibited when a subject travels in imagination to another location.
- Trial
Psychic Dictionary Index
- In
psi tests, a single attempt to demonstrate paranormal
ability (e.g., one attempt to guess a card or one attempt to influence the fall of
the dice).
- Trumpet Psychic Dictionary Index
- A conical
tube (often luminous) used in seances to produce direct voice communication.
- Ufology
Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
study of UFOs.
-
- Umbanda Psychic Dictionary Index
- A Brazilian
spiritist religion. See also Candomble, Voodoo.
- Unidentified
Flying Object (UFO) Psychic Dictionary Index
- Unexplained
sightings of lights or objects in the sky, often taken to
be evidence of extraterrestrial visitations.
- Up
Through Technique Psychic Dictionary Index
- An
experimental test for clairvoyance in which the subject guesses the order of a stacked series
of target symbols (e.g., cards) from bottom to top. Cf. down through
technique.
- Veridical
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Information
or experience that is confirmed by facts and events.
- Veridical
Dream
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A dream
that corresponds to real events (past, present or future)
that are unknown to the dreamer.
- Vision
Psychic Dictionary Index
- A religious
apparition.
- Voodoo Psychic Dictionary Index
- A spiritist and ancestor religion, originating in Africa, and
now found predominantly in Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba. Magical rites, trance states and possession all play a major role in Voodoo. See
also Candomble, Pocomania, Santeria, Umbanda, zombie.
- Werewolf Psychic Dictionary Index
- A person
who has been magically transformed into a wolf or other dangerous
beast. See also lycanthropy, therianthropy, shape-shifting.
-
- White
Magic Psychic Dictionary Index
- Magical spells or rituals to produce beneficial
effects. Cf. black magic.
- White
Noise Psychic Dictionary Index
- A hiss-like
sound, formed by combining all audible frequencies. See
also ganzfeld.
- Wicca
Psychic Dictionary Index
- System
of witchcraft, especially as practiced today in
western countries.
- Witch
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Someone
who practices witchcraft.
- Witchcraft Psychic Dictionary Index
- Folk
magic. See also wicca.
- Witchdoctor Psychic Dictionary Index
- A medicine
wo(man) or shaman.
- Xenoglossy Psychic Dictionary Index
- The
ability to speak or write in a language that has not been
learned. See also glossolalia.
- Yoga
Psychic Dictionary Index
- Religious
philosophy originating in India. It advocates the use of
physical and psycho-spiritual techniques to lead the person
to higher consciousness. See also meditation, siddhis.
- Zener
Cards Psychic Dictionary Index
- Set
of 25 cards (5 each of circle, square, Greek cross, five-pointed
star, three wavy lines) designed by the perceptual psychologist
Karl Zener for use in card-guessing tests of ESP. Also known as ESP cards.
-
- Zombie Psychic Dictionary Index
- A corpse
that has been partly brought back to (soul-less) life by magic. See also Voodoo.
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PSYCHIC DICTIONARY
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