GLOSSARY OF PARANORMAL TERMS
Agent - The ghost seen by a human observer.
Afterlife - The next stage of progression, existence, and growth for a disembodied soul after death.
Animal Spirit - The visible, audible, olfactory, or tactile electrostatic energies of once living animals.
Anniversary Imprint - A spirit or haunting that seems most active during a specific calendar period (day, week, month,
etc.). This date may coincide with known dates of a death or other eventful emotional discharges associated with dead
entities during their human lifetimes.
Anomaly - Any paranormal experience or event documented through photography that once captured on film cannot be
explained by normal means or standards.
Apparition - Any visible, manifested spirit seen after death. This may take many forms, the rarest being a full body
apparition.
Apport - A material (solid) object that inexplicably disappears.
Asport - A material (solid) object that inexplicably reappears.
Astral Body - The ethereal duplicate of the physical body.
Astral Plane - also called the astral world or desire world, is a plane of existence according to esoteric philosophies,
some religious teachings and New Age thought. In the context of Unicode, astral planes refer to planes above the Basic
Multilingual Plane.
Astral Projection - The ability of the astral body to separate from the physical body and to act independently of it.
Astral Travel - The same as astral projection.
Auditory - Of or relating to the sense, organs, or experience of hearing.
Aura - The invisible and colorful energy field surrounding the outer bodies of all living things.
Automatic Writing - Unconscious writing produced by a person channeling spirit energies and allowing them to possess
their body for a brief period of time in order to communicate.
Banshee - Known from Scotland and Ireland (bean sidhe) as a wailing woman whose voice at the windowsill of a house
foretells of danger or death.
Barghest - A large black dog apparition considered a harbinger of doom.
Bilocation - The ability of a person or spirit to appear to be in two places at the same time. Especially during incidents of
astral projection.
Bugaboo - A trickster or prankster ghost.
Bugbear - A terrifying bear apparition that eats children.
Chakra - In Yoga, this is one of the seven spiritual energy centers in the human body.
Channeler - A person who "channels" spirit energy through themselves in an attempt to communicate with the dead. A
medium.
Chi - Asian term for "Life Force".
Clairaudient - The psychic ability to hear spirit communications or noises beyond the normal range of human perception.
Clairsentient - The psychic ability to feel tactile sensations of spirit presence beyond the normal range of human
perception.
Clairvoyant - A person with the unexplained ability of knowing about people, things, places or events before they appear
or happen. Future sight or knowledge.
Cold Spot - An unexplainable, cold area in an environment with an otherwise warm, stable, and natural temperature
gradient and associated with other paranormal phenomena.
Demon - An evil, nonhuman entity or spirit often determined to torment human beings.
Dimensional Discontinuity - A parallel universe out-of-phase with the one we live in. When this universe aligns with ours,
gateways may form which could be portals for spirits.
Doppleganger - A body double spirit who is identical to a still living person.
Dowsing - Using a dowsing rod (divining rod) to locate water, minerals, or spirit energies.
Dowsing Rods - A pair of metal rods used to locate spirit energies through psychic abilities. Often considered more
reliable than EMF devices.
Dream Communication - A method by which recently passed spirits may communicate with their surviving loved ones.
Through such dreams, spirits relay their goodbyes, important messages, or other concerns.
Dybbuk - A Jewish ghost that takes possession of people.
Earthbound Souls - Human spirits that chose to remain on an earthly plain rather than move forward into the Light or
other dimensions.
Ectoplasm - Spirit energy appearing in the form of a wispy white vapor, fog or mist containing swirls, contrails, or streaks.
This may manifest as cloud-like masses, contrails left behind from fast-moving orbs, vortices, and as apparitions.
Appears to the naked eye or later on developed film.
Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)- This occurs when an originally inaudible spirit voice communicating with humans is
recorded and becomes audible when played back on an audio recorder.
Entity - A human, animal, or nonhuman spirit.
Epicenter - A focal point or origin of activity. Used in relation to poltergeist phenomena where a single person,
unconsciously projecting strong negative energies, may be creating the poltergeist activity through psycho kinesis.
Etheric Body - The elastic and massless electromagnetic body double energy of a living thing.
Exorcism - A religious ceremony used to expel evil spirits or demons.
Exorcist - A person who expels an evil spirit or demon.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP) - Perceptions coming from other than the normal senses and originating by supernatural
means.
False Anomalies - Any unexplained phenomena captured by instrumentation or film that appears to be a true paranormal
manifestation but which, in fact, can be readily explained by natural, environmental conditions.
Gauss - A scientific measurement denoting magnetic energy strength.
Ghost - Originally derived form the Flemish "gheest". This is a human, animal, or nonhuman essence, soul, or spirit
which survives after death.
Ghost buster - Slang for ghost hunter or a person who removes spirit energies from a specific locale.
Ghost Hunter - A person who actively searches for ghosts, spirits, apparitions or other paranormal phenomena in order to
study or identify them.
Ghost Lights - Floating spectral lights resembling flames or balls.
Ghost Ship - Any ocean-going vessel that suddenly appears than inexplicably disappears.
Ghost Vehicle - A land vehicles that suddenly appears than suddenly disappears in the blink of an eye. Ghost cars and
ghost trains are often seen and heard speeding past before evaporating into thin air.
Goblin - A malevolent trickster spirit.
Ghoul - An Arabic demon that haunts burial grounds.
Guardian - Spirits who return to warn family members of imminent danger. These may be deceased relatives who offer
messages or aid during moments of distress to their loved ones.
Haint - Slang for a haunted locale or ghost.
Haunting - A specific location where a paranormal activity occurs regularly.
Hoax - Anything deliberately faked or being passed off as legitimate paranormal phenomena for the purpose of notoriety,
money, or other personal gain.
Hot Spot - Any area where a higher than average temperature inconsistent with the environs is recorded along with
paranormal phenomena. Could also refer to a very active haunted locale.
Hunt - A group of people with or without equipment in search of paranormal phenomena.
Instrumental Transcommunication - communication from the dead via a device such as a phone, radio, television, walkie-
talkie, etc.
Investigation - An organized group of researchers in search of paranormal phenomena to document with scientific
instrumentation.
Kobald - A German malicious spirit who haunted metal-bearing mines.
Manifestation - The appearance of a spirit energy, ghost, or apparition visible to the naked eye or caught on film.
Marion Apparition - Materializations of what is believed to be the Virgin Mary.
Medium - A person who communicates with the dead. A medium may accomplish this through a séance.
Metaphysics - The study of events beyond or outside of man's understanding of classical physics.
Olfactory - Of or relating to the sense of smell.
Orb - A circular-shaped ball of spirit energy believed to contain the soul, personality, and emotions of a deceased person
or animal. These may be visible to the naked eye or invisible until caught on film. They
may also have streaking tails of ectoplasm or glowing energy.
Ouija Board - A game board with an alphabet and planchette that when touched with the fingers will move to spell out
spirit messages or telepathic writings.
Paranormal - The word "para" means beyond. Something that is beyond logical or scientific explanation.
Para physical - The human body's physical reaction to being exposed to paranormal phenomena. This includes
phenomena felt as cold spots, hot spots, electric tingles, goose bumps, hair raising sensations, nausea, vertigo,
headaches, etc.
Parapsychology - The study of unexplainable phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and psycho kinesis.
Pendulum - A small dowsing tool composed of a dangling crystal or metal plumb which is used to answer questions or
find things through psychic energies.
Percipient - The person who sees a spirit manifestation.
Phantasm - A phantom. A French derivation.
Phantom - A term for an apparition. Derived from French cultures.
Phantom Traveler - A human or animal spirit that haunts a particular road or highway. Often this is a
hitchhiker who rides with living people, then inexplicably disappears.
Poltergeist - Means "noisy ghost" in German and, despite the name, refers to a psychokinetic manifestation rather than a
spirit manifestation. Psycho kinesis is psychic phenomena generated by a living person, usually a child, with unvented
negative energies. These energies produce loud, destructive results which mimic true paranormal events.
Portal - A multi-dimensional gateway which spirits of the dead may enter or exit from their world into ours. This may be
accomplished via a vortex.
Possession - The act of a malevolent spirit or demon taking over the body of a human or animal, manipulating it, and
using it for its own purposes.
Post cognition - Same as retro cognition.
Precognition - Clairvoyant knowledge of something prior to its happening.
Premonition - A psychic forewarning of a foreboding event.
Psychic - A person with abilities of extrasensory perception or metal telepathy.
Psychic Impressions - Intuitive knowledge gained through psychic abilities.
Psychic Imprint - Believed by some to be a replayed psychic event which is ”recorded" in space and time and continues
to loop the same scene over and over again in a particular location. This view portrays the repeating events of a residual
haunting as mindless, soulless imprints of past lives, not as the active, intelligent movements of spirit energies.
Psychic Photography - Another word for spirit photography.
Psychic Protection - Any deliberate metaphysical method by which a person attempts to ward of spirits.
Psycho kinesis - Using the mind to produce motion of inanimate and remote objects.
Psychometry - The ability to perceive information about people, places, or things from touching objects associated with
them.
Rappings - Loud knocks or hits against surfaces often produced by spirits. May be associated with boisterous energies
seeking attention or recognition by humans. Also may occur during poltergeist phenomena.
Residual Haunting - Any haunting where spirits are seen repeating the same actions, behaviors, or movements over and
over again in the exact same way.
Retro cognition - Occurs when a person (percipient) is transported through time and experiences past surroundings and
feelings. This is reported in some paranormal phenomena.
Revenant - A recently departed spirit who returns very briefly to make contact with loved ones. This may serve as an act of
closure before going on to the Afterlife.
Séance - A metaphysical ritual performed by a Medium with a gathering of people to make contact with the dead.
Sensitive - A person who can feel the presence of spirit energy through any of the five senses: sight, smell, touch,
hearing, and taste.
Shadows - An apparition appearing as a flickering black or smoky gray mass of any size or shape. Often seen out of the
corner of the eye before disappearing completely or may be caught on film.
Sleep Paralysis - A sleep disorder (apnea) where a person half-awakens during the night feeling they are being watched
or being choked, pressed upon the chest, or otherwise paralyzed by an evil, invisible force attacking them. A ghost may be
falsely accused of trying to harm them.
Smudging - An ancient spiritual cleansing ceremony using natural herbs and spices to ward off negative spirit energies. A
smoky fire is produced in a smudge pot and distributed throughout an area and over people.
Soul - The continuing electromagnetic energy field of a human or animal retaining all the characteristics of the once living
soul, body, and mind.
Space-Time Anomaly - A residual haunting caused by strong emotional feelings embedded within a departed spirit.
Negative emotions developed during life become a force holding a spirit earthbound to perform repetitious behavior. This
view holds that residual hauntings are caused by active, intelligent spirits consciously repeating their actions while trying
to resolve past emotional issues.
Spirit - The electromagnetic and electrostatic energies containing the soul, personality, and intelligence which survives
after the death of a human or animal.
Spirit Voices - Capturing the voices of spirits on audio tape. EVPs.
Spiritualism - The belief that the dead communicate with the living, usually through a medium. Emphasizing the spiritual
over the material.
Spiritualist - A person with the philosophy, doctrine, or belief that the dead communicate with the living.
Spook - A ghost who haunts a particular place. The word's origins are Dutch.
Synchronicity - The state of being synchronous. A chronological series of events that indicates parallel existences and
occurrences. A coincidence in time or rate.
Table-tipping - A method of communication by spirits where people sit or stand around a table, touch fingertips upon its
top, and then invite spirits to come forth. Yes and no questions are asked and floor taps generated by the bouncing table
legs indicate the answers. One tap for "yes." Two taps for "no." This may invite malevolent spirits into your home.
Telekinesis - The unexplained, supernatural movement of objects by the use of psychic powers.
Telekinetic - A person with the ability to move objects with their mind.
Telepathy - Communication between minds by exercising psychic powers and without the use of the normal five senses.
Telepathic - A person who uses telepathy.
Thanatology - The study of Near-Death Experiences.
Vapor Apparition - A misty, white ghost.
Vortex - A white tornado-shaped, ectoplasmic form that usually appears during family gatherings or celebrations. They
may also be the transport mechanisms through which orbs travel in and out of our dimension.
Wraith - A legendary ghost that brings misfortune or death to anyone who sees it. Sometimes a cloak-hooded figure with
glowing red eyes
Agent - The ghost seen by a human observer.
Afterlife - The next stage of progression, existence, and growth for a disembodied soul after death.
Animal Spirit - The visible, audible, olfactory, or tactile electrostatic energies of once living animals.
Anniversary Imprint - A spirit or haunting that seems most active during a specific calendar period (day, week, month,
etc.). This date may coincide with known dates of a death or other eventful emotional discharges associated with dead
entities during their human lifetimes.
Anomaly - Any paranormal experience or event documented through photography that once captured on film cannot be
explained by normal means or standards.
Apparition - Any visible, manifested spirit seen after death. This may take many forms, the rarest being a full body
apparition.
Apport - A material (solid) object that inexplicably disappears.
Asport - A material (solid) object that inexplicably reappears.
Astral Body - The ethereal duplicate of the physical body.
Astral Plane - also called the astral world or desire world, is a plane of existence according to esoteric philosophies,
some religious teachings and New Age thought. In the context of Unicode, astral planes refer to planes above the Basic
Multilingual Plane.
Astral Projection - The ability of the astral body to separate from the physical body and to act independently of it.
Astral Travel - The same as astral projection.
Auditory - Of or relating to the sense, organs, or experience of hearing.
Aura - The invisible and colorful energy field surrounding the outer bodies of all living things.
Automatic Writing - Unconscious writing produced by a person channeling spirit energies and allowing them to possess
their body for a brief period of time in order to communicate.
Banshee - Known from Scotland and Ireland (bean sidhe) as a wailing woman whose voice at the windowsill of a house
foretells of danger or death.
Barghest - A large black dog apparition considered a harbinger of doom.
Bilocation - The ability of a person or spirit to appear to be in two places at the same time. Especially during incidents of
astral projection.
Bugaboo - A trickster or prankster ghost.
Bugbear - A terrifying bear apparition that eats children.
Chakra - In Yoga, this is one of the seven spiritual energy centers in the human body.
Channeler - A person who "channels" spirit energy through themselves in an attempt to communicate with the dead. A
medium.
Chi - Asian term for "Life Force".
Clairaudient - The psychic ability to hear spirit communications or noises beyond the normal range of human perception.
Clairsentient - The psychic ability to feel tactile sensations of spirit presence beyond the normal range of human
perception.
Clairvoyant - A person with the unexplained ability of knowing about people, things, places or events before they appear
or happen. Future sight or knowledge.
Cold Spot - An unexplainable, cold area in an environment with an otherwise warm, stable, and natural temperature
gradient and associated with other paranormal phenomena.
Demon - An evil, nonhuman entity or spirit often determined to torment human beings.
Dimensional Discontinuity - A parallel universe out-of-phase with the one we live in. When this universe aligns with ours,
gateways may form which could be portals for spirits.
Doppleganger - A body double spirit who is identical to a still living person.
Dowsing - Using a dowsing rod (divining rod) to locate water, minerals, or spirit energies.
Dowsing Rods - A pair of metal rods used to locate spirit energies through psychic abilities. Often considered more
reliable than EMF devices.
Dream Communication - A method by which recently passed spirits may communicate with their surviving loved ones.
Through such dreams, spirits relay their goodbyes, important messages, or other concerns.
Dybbuk - A Jewish ghost that takes possession of people.
Earthbound Souls - Human spirits that chose to remain on an earthly plain rather than move forward into the Light or
other dimensions.
Ectoplasm - Spirit energy appearing in the form of a wispy white vapor, fog or mist containing swirls, contrails, or streaks.
This may manifest as cloud-like masses, contrails left behind from fast-moving orbs, vortices, and as apparitions.
Appears to the naked eye or later on developed film.
Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)- This occurs when an originally inaudible spirit voice communicating with humans is
recorded and becomes audible when played back on an audio recorder.
Entity - A human, animal, or nonhuman spirit.
Epicenter - A focal point or origin of activity. Used in relation to poltergeist phenomena where a single person,
unconsciously projecting strong negative energies, may be creating the poltergeist activity through psycho kinesis.
Etheric Body - The elastic and massless electromagnetic body double energy of a living thing.
Exorcism - A religious ceremony used to expel evil spirits or demons.
Exorcist - A person who expels an evil spirit or demon.
Extrasensory Perception (ESP) - Perceptions coming from other than the normal senses and originating by supernatural
means.
False Anomalies - Any unexplained phenomena captured by instrumentation or film that appears to be a true paranormal
manifestation but which, in fact, can be readily explained by natural, environmental conditions.
Gauss - A scientific measurement denoting magnetic energy strength.
Ghost - Originally derived form the Flemish "gheest". This is a human, animal, or nonhuman essence, soul, or spirit
which survives after death.
Ghost buster - Slang for ghost hunter or a person who removes spirit energies from a specific locale.
Ghost Hunter - A person who actively searches for ghosts, spirits, apparitions or other paranormal phenomena in order to
study or identify them.
Ghost Lights - Floating spectral lights resembling flames or balls.
Ghost Ship - Any ocean-going vessel that suddenly appears than inexplicably disappears.
Ghost Vehicle - A land vehicles that suddenly appears than suddenly disappears in the blink of an eye. Ghost cars and
ghost trains are often seen and heard speeding past before evaporating into thin air.
Goblin - A malevolent trickster spirit.
Ghoul - An Arabic demon that haunts burial grounds.
Guardian - Spirits who return to warn family members of imminent danger. These may be deceased relatives who offer
messages or aid during moments of distress to their loved ones.
Haint - Slang for a haunted locale or ghost.
Haunting - A specific location where a paranormal activity occurs regularly.
Hoax - Anything deliberately faked or being passed off as legitimate paranormal phenomena for the purpose of notoriety,
money, or other personal gain.
Hot Spot - Any area where a higher than average temperature inconsistent with the environs is recorded along with
paranormal phenomena. Could also refer to a very active haunted locale.
Hunt - A group of people with or without equipment in search of paranormal phenomena.
Instrumental Transcommunication - communication from the dead via a device such as a phone, radio, television, walkie-
talkie, etc.
Investigation - An organized group of researchers in search of paranormal phenomena to document with scientific
instrumentation.
Kobald - A German malicious spirit who haunted metal-bearing mines.
Manifestation - The appearance of a spirit energy, ghost, or apparition visible to the naked eye or caught on film.
Marion Apparition - Materializations of what is believed to be the Virgin Mary.
Medium - A person who communicates with the dead. A medium may accomplish this through a séance.
Metaphysics - The study of events beyond or outside of man's understanding of classical physics.
Olfactory - Of or relating to the sense of smell.
Orb - A circular-shaped ball of spirit energy believed to contain the soul, personality, and emotions of a deceased person
or animal. These may be visible to the naked eye or invisible until caught on film. They
may also have streaking tails of ectoplasm or glowing energy.
Ouija Board - A game board with an alphabet and planchette that when touched with the fingers will move to spell out
spirit messages or telepathic writings.
Paranormal - The word "para" means beyond. Something that is beyond logical or scientific explanation.
Para physical - The human body's physical reaction to being exposed to paranormal phenomena. This includes
phenomena felt as cold spots, hot spots, electric tingles, goose bumps, hair raising sensations, nausea, vertigo,
headaches, etc.
Parapsychology - The study of unexplainable phenomena such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and psycho kinesis.
Pendulum - A small dowsing tool composed of a dangling crystal or metal plumb which is used to answer questions or
find things through psychic energies.
Percipient - The person who sees a spirit manifestation.
Phantasm - A phantom. A French derivation.
Phantom - A term for an apparition. Derived from French cultures.
Phantom Traveler - A human or animal spirit that haunts a particular road or highway. Often this is a
hitchhiker who rides with living people, then inexplicably disappears.
Poltergeist - Means "noisy ghost" in German and, despite the name, refers to a psychokinetic manifestation rather than a
spirit manifestation. Psycho kinesis is psychic phenomena generated by a living person, usually a child, with unvented
negative energies. These energies produce loud, destructive results which mimic true paranormal events.
Portal - A multi-dimensional gateway which spirits of the dead may enter or exit from their world into ours. This may be
accomplished via a vortex.
Possession - The act of a malevolent spirit or demon taking over the body of a human or animal, manipulating it, and
using it for its own purposes.
Post cognition - Same as retro cognition.
Precognition - Clairvoyant knowledge of something prior to its happening.
Premonition - A psychic forewarning of a foreboding event.
Psychic - A person with abilities of extrasensory perception or metal telepathy.
Psychic Impressions - Intuitive knowledge gained through psychic abilities.
Psychic Imprint - Believed by some to be a replayed psychic event which is ”recorded" in space and time and continues
to loop the same scene over and over again in a particular location. This view portrays the repeating events of a residual
haunting as mindless, soulless imprints of past lives, not as the active, intelligent movements of spirit energies.
Psychic Photography - Another word for spirit photography.
Psychic Protection - Any deliberate metaphysical method by which a person attempts to ward of spirits.
Psycho kinesis - Using the mind to produce motion of inanimate and remote objects.
Psychometry - The ability to perceive information about people, places, or things from touching objects associated with
them.
Rappings - Loud knocks or hits against surfaces often produced by spirits. May be associated with boisterous energies
seeking attention or recognition by humans. Also may occur during poltergeist phenomena.
Residual Haunting - Any haunting where spirits are seen repeating the same actions, behaviors, or movements over and
over again in the exact same way.
Retro cognition - Occurs when a person (percipient) is transported through time and experiences past surroundings and
feelings. This is reported in some paranormal phenomena.
Revenant - A recently departed spirit who returns very briefly to make contact with loved ones. This may serve as an act of
closure before going on to the Afterlife.
Séance - A metaphysical ritual performed by a Medium with a gathering of people to make contact with the dead.
Sensitive - A person who can feel the presence of spirit energy through any of the five senses: sight, smell, touch,
hearing, and taste.
Shadows - An apparition appearing as a flickering black or smoky gray mass of any size or shape. Often seen out of the
corner of the eye before disappearing completely or may be caught on film.
Sleep Paralysis - A sleep disorder (apnea) where a person half-awakens during the night feeling they are being watched
or being choked, pressed upon the chest, or otherwise paralyzed by an evil, invisible force attacking them. A ghost may be
falsely accused of trying to harm them.
Smudging - An ancient spiritual cleansing ceremony using natural herbs and spices to ward off negative spirit energies. A
smoky fire is produced in a smudge pot and distributed throughout an area and over people.
Soul - The continuing electromagnetic energy field of a human or animal retaining all the characteristics of the once living
soul, body, and mind.
Space-Time Anomaly - A residual haunting caused by strong emotional feelings embedded within a departed spirit.
Negative emotions developed during life become a force holding a spirit earthbound to perform repetitious behavior. This
view holds that residual hauntings are caused by active, intelligent spirits consciously repeating their actions while trying
to resolve past emotional issues.
Spirit - The electromagnetic and electrostatic energies containing the soul, personality, and intelligence which survives
after the death of a human or animal.
Spirit Voices - Capturing the voices of spirits on audio tape. EVPs.
Spiritualism - The belief that the dead communicate with the living, usually through a medium. Emphasizing the spiritual
over the material.
Spiritualist - A person with the philosophy, doctrine, or belief that the dead communicate with the living.
Spook - A ghost who haunts a particular place. The word's origins are Dutch.
Synchronicity - The state of being synchronous. A chronological series of events that indicates parallel existences and
occurrences. A coincidence in time or rate.
Table-tipping - A method of communication by spirits where people sit or stand around a table, touch fingertips upon its
top, and then invite spirits to come forth. Yes and no questions are asked and floor taps generated by the bouncing table
legs indicate the answers. One tap for "yes." Two taps for "no." This may invite malevolent spirits into your home.
Telekinesis - The unexplained, supernatural movement of objects by the use of psychic powers.
Telekinetic - A person with the ability to move objects with their mind.
Telepathy - Communication between minds by exercising psychic powers and without the use of the normal five senses.
Telepathic - A person who uses telepathy.
Thanatology - The study of Near-Death Experiences.
Vapor Apparition - A misty, white ghost.
Vortex - A white tornado-shaped, ectoplasmic form that usually appears during family gatherings or celebrations. They
may also be the transport mechanisms through which orbs travel in and out of our dimension.
Wraith - A legendary ghost that brings misfortune or death to anyone who sees it. Sometimes a cloak-hooded figure with
glowing red eyes
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