Automatic Writing Phenomena in which people write without conscious thought, possibly spirits writing through the body of a living person.

Autoscopy The viewing of one's physical body while experiencing astral projection.

B

Banshee Female Irish entity that preempts a death, usually through groaning or screaming

Bi location Appearing to be in two locations at one time. Often associated with astral projection.

Black Arts Practicing rituals or religions with intent to harm others or rituals associated with Satan

Black Magic Magical spells or rituals practiced the the intent to harm others

C

Channeling Receiving messages from discarnate entities, common reference to how mediums communicate

Charm Object carried or worn to protect the wearer from harm or negative influence

Circle A group of participants that hold seances

Clair audience Receiving paranormal messages through sound or voices

Clairvoyant Having the supposed power to see objects or events that cannot be perceived by the senses.

Collective Apparition The witnessing of an apparition by two or more persons.

Conjuring Using trickery or deception to simulate paranormal occurrences

Coven A group of witches

Crisis Apparition The appearance of an apparition within moments of a crisis such as death, sudden illness or accident.

D

Death The extinction of a living organism

Deathbed Experience A dying persons sudden awareness of the presence of dead loved ones or friends arrival to escort them into the afterlife.

Death Coach In Irish folklore, a spirit rider guides a ghostly coach to transport the spirit of a dying person to the beyond

De materialization The disappearance or fading of a physical object

Discarnate Having no physical form or body.

Doppelganger A ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its fleshly counterpart.

E

Ectoplasm A semi-fluid product of psychic energy which usually forms as a fog like mist, solid white mass, or vortexes.

Elemental A spirit associated with on of the 4 basic elements, fire, earth, water or air. Also used to describe a very emaciated spector thought to be a very primitive ghost

EMF Detector This tool detects the changes in the Electromagnetic Field. This field is around everything, from TV’s to power boxes. The normal reading for paranormal activity is between 2.0 and 8.0. Above this is usually man-made in origin.

EVP Sounds or voices recorded on magnetic tape which are only heard upon playback. Discovered by Konstantin Raudive. Usually recorded in a range from 0 – 300 Hz (Human speech is generally within 500-2000 Hz, and has never been recorded below 300 Hz).

Exorcism A religious ritual used to drive out or banish evil entities or demons, usually performed by a Catholic Priest

G

Ghost The disembodied spirit or image of a dead person appearing to be alive. Ghosts are the most common of the paranormal phenomenon.

Ghost Hunter A person who uses standards set by researchers to search for haunted areas, in probable locations

such as cemeteries, abandoned buildings, old churches, battle fields, old schools, etc.

H

Haunting Paranormal experiences occurring over a period of time in a specific location. May include apparitions, sounds, smells, moving / disappearing objects, etc.

I

Intelligent Haunting When spirits seem to live in a specific area, and act with free will, as well as show intelligence (i.e., not residual). Spirits don't necessarily haunt the place they die at, but could haunt the most comfortable place for them to stay (i.e., their old home). We are not quit sure why these spirits are earthbound, yet.

K

Kinetic Energy When spirits use their energy to move objects, throw things, etc. This is very interesting phenomena, and personally, I have had rocks thrown at me by an unseen force, and have witnessed equipment actually being struck and broken by unseen forces

L

Levitation The paranormal elevating of a person or object in apparent defiance of gravity

M

Malevolent A malevolent spirit is one that wishes to hurt man

Malicious A spirit that is evil or spiteful. These spirits will destroy things of personal or financial value for the sake of hurting others.

Manifestation The appearance or taking form of an entity. Can also mean the outbreak of activity

Materialization The deliberate, usually temporary, visible and/or physical formation of a spirit.

Matrixing looking at a photograph and imaging seeing a picture such as looking at a cloud and seeing something

Medium A psychic through whom spirits can communicate. There are two types of mediums: light and deep trance.

Metaphysics Derived from the Latin word meta which means beyond. Literally means that which is beyond the laws

of physics.

N

Near Death Experience An occurrence of a person either clinically dead, or near death where they may view their mortal body and those around them or begin a journey towards a bright light source. Persons may also witness deceased relatives ready to greet them, a divine presence, or a message to return to their mortal bodies

O

Orbs This is the most common type of spirit energy to be captured on film. These will appear as solid or transparent "balls". They appear in many shapes and some colors, with white being the most common.

Ouija Board A board decorated with numbers and the alphabet used with a planchette to spell out supernatural messages. Can be associated with automatic writing

P

Paranormal Beyond the normal of human or scientific explanation

Paranormal Researcher Someone who uses their own theories/ideas to test new research methods, protocols, and equipment. A true researcher is not biased to an old idea, but works to disprove or prove further the old idea, to expand the knowledge of the community. Typically, a researcher does not work to prove a paranormal occurrence as genuine, but to disprove the occurrence legitimately. Only when all possible false-positive contaminants have been ruled out can something be defined as a true anomaly

Paranormal Investigation The act of going to a supposedly haunted location, gathering data such as photos, audio recordings, video, electromagnetic field monitoring, etc., and summarizing your data in reports (which does not exclude psychic impressions, but are subjective data until proven otherwise). A true investigator can't draw conclusions from one investigation, it may take several investigations to decide on a site's activity.

Parapsychology Derived from the Latin word para, which means beyond, parapsychology literally means beyond psychology. It is generally defined as the scientific study of paranormal phenomena. Term coined by J.B. Rhine.

Phantom An apparition or specter. Existing only as an energy form

Poltergeist "Noisy Ghost". Manifests as noises, moving objects, fires, marks on body, general disorder. Often purported to be associated with the release of kinetic or psychokinetic energy of pubescent adolescents

Portal Haunting   In this haunting there is a “doorway” to the spirit world involved. This is one of the newer theories. This type of haunting is most common in graveyards. Graveyards, having no traumatic history behind them to cause a haunting, are thought to be passages to another world. This theory is still being investigated, it does sound a little far fetched. We must stay open minded to this however.

Psycho kinesis Mind over matter. The ability to move physical objects utilizing only mental power.

R

Raps Unexplained knocking sounds associated with poltergeist activity

Research Site A true research site is one where a controlled environment can be established, and then visited frequented (normally on a regular basis, weekly, biweekly, etc.) to test new theories and research ideas. To a researcher, the benefits of a long-term research site is being able to find norms for that location, therefore deviations from that norm can be found recorded as data. This isn't possible on an investigation, where one may only visit a site only a few times.

Residual Haunting Not technically referred to as a haunting, but more of an energy imprint. When a spirit is seen doing the same thing at specific intervals constantly. Perhaps the spirit is trapped repeating a specific moment in life, or perhaps it is just a flash from the past during a traumatic moment in someone's life.

S

Skeptic - One who instinctively doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions. In parapsychology, one who insists on ruling out all possible natural causes for a phenomenon

Spirit The principle force within a living being. The soul. Also, a supernatural entity.

Supernatural Beyond what is considered normal, having to do with paranormal occurrences

V

Voodoo An ancient religion with it's origin in Africa, now found in the Caribbean region. Voodoo "Witch Doctors" may cast spells on enemies, or invoke harm to fall on enemies by use of rituals, potions or with the construction of a doll or symbol of the target