Paranormal Glossary

After-Death Communication: Communications received from a person who has died.

Agent: The person who is the focus of poltergeist activity.

Amorphous: Having no form or shape. Sounds more technical than “blob”.

Angel:  A celestial being which appears in human form with abilities such as healing powers and knowledge of future events.  Angels typically appear to people in times of crisis.  Also a messenger of God. 

Anomaly: An unusual event that does not fit a standard rule or can be explained adequately through scientific theories. We use this word many times when we are not 100% sure something is paranormal in nature, but we do not feel that this event or feature is not normal.

Apparition:  The form of a ghost or spirit either seen or captured on film. 

Apport:  A physical object (for example, jewelry, tools, etc.) that can appear within a haunting.  When a spirit attempts communication with the living, they can manipulate these items to appear and disappear at will to make themselves known. 

Archangel: An angel of high rank.

Astral Body: What we call the spirit or soul, the part of a body that survives the death of a physical body. It is also the portion of a person that can travel among the astral plane, creating what we call astral travel, or crisis apparitions.

Astral Projection: When the astral body of a living person travels outside of the physical body to the astral plane or another location in the physical world. The most famous projection is a crisis apparition or an out-of-body experience.

Aura:  The energy associated with living people.  Hauntings can at times tap someone’s aura for energy leaving the living person tired. 

Automatic Writing: Process by which an individual writes without conscious thought.

Autoscopy: During an Out-of Body Experience (OBE) or Near-Death Experience (NDE), the ability to see one’s own physical body when one’s astral body separates from their physical body.

Ball Lightning: A rare and controversial phenomenon in which a small sphere of light is witnessed for a short period of time. Some researchers have claimed they were able to duplicate it in a lab environment. This is a possibility of some ghost lights.

Banishing: Procedure to cast a paranormal entity from a location. 

Benign Spirit:  A spirit that is harmless or has no ill-intentions.

Bilocation: A phenomenon where a person seems to be at more than one location at the same time.

Clairaudience: The ability to hear things outside of normal hearing ranges.

Clairgustance: The ability to taste something without putting it in one’s mouth or without contact with the tongue.

Clairoleofactor: The ability to smell scents before it occurs or outside of normal smelling ranges.

Clairsentient: The ability to feel things or emotions not normally felt by most people.

Clairvoyance: The ability to see things, people or events from the past. Also the ability to be able to read someone’s aura.

Cleansing: Process to remove spirits – not to be confused with an exorcism.

Cold Spot:  A small area where the temperature is cooler than its surrounding area.  Believed to be an indicator of a paranormal entity drawing energy from the area in order to manifest. 

Collective Apparition: This is an apparition who appears to several individuals either simultaneously or independently.

Crisis Apparition: An image or sound of a living person who is seen or heard by another, often quite the distance away. The person whose image or voice is heard is typically in a crisis situation, extreme danger, or close to death.

Death Warning:  News or indication of the death of another person received outside of the normal sensory channels.

Deathbed Visitations:The phenomenon where a dying person sees or hears the presence of dead loved ones (deathbed apparitions). These spirits help comfort the dying or help them cross into the light.

Debunk: Find evidence that a claim of paranormal activity is not due to paranormal activity, but another reason.

Dematerialization:  The sudden disappearance of a spirit or object. 

Demon: Entity that was cast out of Heaven.

Demonic Haunting: Relatively rare phenomenon. A haunting caused by a demon where the events are typically severe.

Demonologist: A person who pursues demons in order to remove them from people’s lives. This is an undertaken not to be taken lightly. Serious consequences can occur and is not meant for the faint of heart or for those without deep faith. It is not a game, nor is it fun!

Discarnate: A spirit without a physical body.

Disembodied: Without a physical body.

Disembodied Voice: A voice that is heard with human ears whose source comes from someone without a physical body. This is different than an EVP as the voice is actually heard by human ears, while EVPs are only heard through the use of a recorder.

Divination:  The act of seeking knowledge or communicating with the dead to foretell the future.  A Ouija board is an instrument that can be used for divination.  Automatic writing is another such method.  Divination is not recommended because it can summon evil entities that are difficult and dangerous to remove. 

Doppelganger:  A double of a living person created by energy, or the astral body of a person appearing to someone outside of their physical body.  Very uncommon, but there are records of this phenomenon

Dowsing: The action of using a pair of rods held in the hands to located energy sources that may be paranormal in nature.

Dream Communication:  Phenomenon where a spirit can manifest itself within one’s dreams to communicate.  These events usually occur when the spirit attempts to notify the living of their death.

Ectoplasm: Older definition is the substance that was emitted through openings of a medium supposedly as the result of a spirit’s communication. Generally, they were hoaxes (if not all). Nowadays, the word is incorrectly used to describe the mist or fog-like anomalies that can appear on photographs.

Electromagnetic Field Recorder:  A device used to measure data on electromagnetic fields (EMFs).  Common belief is paranormal entities can disrupt natural electromagnetic fields. 

Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP):  Voices and sounds captured on audio recorders that were not heard by human ears at that time.  If the voice was heard at that time it is called a disembodied voice. 

Empathic Abilities: The ability of some people to feel the emotions a paranormal entity gives off.

Epicenter:  The person that a ghost or poltergeist centers on.  Paranormal activity is at its greatest when that person is in the vicinity. 

Etheric Body: The lowest layer in the aura (human energy field). It is thought to be in immediate contact with the physical body in order to connect it with the “higher” bodies.

Evocation: Summoning of spirits by ritual or incantation.

Exorcism: The process or ritual where prayers are used to drive out evil entities or spirits from a possessed person or a place. 

Extra Sensory Perception (ESP): The ability to receive information about either the past, present or future that are not obtained by the five senses – either through precognition, clairvoyance or telepathy.

Fear Cage: A phenomenon where very high electromagnetic fields, usually in a confined location, caused panic to set in as the high EMF promotes uneasiness, paranoia, anxiety, and fear. The high EMF can be the result of faulty wiring or appliances or electronic devices and appliances.

Ghost:  A recording of the energy of deceased people.  This paranormal activity is not intelligent in nature, meaning that it is not aware of its surrounding nor can it interact with the living.  We call the haunting by a ghost a residual haunting. 

Ghost Hunter:  A person who attempts to gather evidence of paranormal activity.  Also called a Paranormal Investigator.   

Ghost Lights:  Strange forms of light that appear in locations that have no logical explanation.  These lights are usually found by fault lines, railroad tracks, or sources of water.  Many believe (including us) that there are natural explanations for this phenomenon. 

Globule:  A ball-shaped light, often seen in groups of two or more, that is visible to the naked eye.  These are different than orbs because orbs cannot be seen by the eye but appear in a photo or video footage.  Globules are a form generally associated with paranormal activity. 

Haunting:  A repeated appearance of paranormal activity associated with ghosts, spirits, poltergeists, or entities. 

Hypnagogia: The transitional state between being awake and asleep.

Hypnopompia: The transitional state between being asleep and being awake.

Imprint: Events, energy, and strong feelings or emotions that are left on an object, a location, or even a specific person.

Incubus:  An entity who preys on women.  It is thought that the incubus attempts sexual intercourse.  Many report the feeling of being pinned down to a bed; however, sleep paralysis commonly occurs and can easily be mistaken for this type of entity.  Most real incubus phenomenon is not caused by demons, but by spirits with addictions that try to fulfill their addictions.

Induced After-Death Communications: Messages received from the dead through the use of a practice that was originally designed to by a therapeutic technique for those that are grieving the loss of a loved one. Some claim that they can communicate with the spirits of loved ones in order to conclude their grieving process. 

Infestation: We use this term to describe a haunting that is either repetitive or persistent and by more than one spirit or energy.

Infrared Digital Thermometers:  A device used to monitor the presence of cold or hot spots that occur during paranormal events. 

Infrasound:  Any sound that is lower in frequency that 20 Hertz (Hz) or cycles per second. This is the “typical” limit of human hearing. 

Inhuman Entities:  As the name suggests, these entities were never human.  (We’re not talking about cats and dogs).  We’re talking about potentially evil entities.  They can be an annoyance to potentially very dangerous.  The only way to remove these entities is by cleansing one’s house or business.  These entities on rare occasion can cause possessions.

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC):  ITC is simply the use of modern electronic devices in an attempt to communicate with spirits. ITC can be attempted on radios, televisions, computers, telephones, and audio recorders.

  
Intelligent Haunting:   A haunting caused by a spirit that is aware of its surroundings and is aware of the living.  They can answer questions and move things.  Most intelligent hauntings are human and will cause no harm.  Most intelligent hauntings are just trying to get your attention about something because they have something to say or have unfinished business.

Intuition: The ability of obtaining information beyond the typical learning processes. Some believe it is based partly on subconscious pattern association of information already known, plus impressions caused by the subconscious psi. 

Kinetic Energy: The energy required to force an object at rest into motion. As kinetic energy diminishes it changes into potential energy as energy is neither created nor destroyed.

Levitation: During hauntings (especially Poltergeist activity), a phenomenon where solid objects, including people, float in the air as if they have been lifted by an unseen force.

Light: Term used to represent the divine presence (God) or Heaven. Describes the knowledge, truth, illumination, comfort and love originating from God.

Living Apparition: The manifestation of an image of a living person that appears in a different location (often many miles away). This can occur in moments of danger or pain (crisis apparition) of related to astral projection and out-of-body experiences.

Lucid Dream: A dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming

Malevolent Spirit: A spirit who has ill-intent.

Manifestation:  The real signs of a haunting which can include visual, audio, touching, or smell. 

Materialization:  The sudden appearance of a spirit, ghost, or object. 

Matrixing:  The phenomenon of the mind to complete a picture that is not there.  For example, tricks of shadow can make your mind create a face that is not there. 

Medium: One who communicates with human spirits.

Metaphysics: The field of study of phenomenon that is best described as being beyond the laws of physics.

Near-Death Experience (NDE): Experiences of people that have been pronounced medically dead or very close to death.

Necromancy: The practice of communicating with spirits in order to obtain knowledge of the future or other’s secrets.

Negative Entity:  Inhuman entity, demonic in nature. 

Nonhuman Entity: An entity that was never a human on Earth. Nonhuman entities consist of angels and demons.

Olfactory Apparition:  Smells or odors associated with the ghost or spirit.  These smells can be cigars, lotions, or perfume/cologne closely associated with the deceased person.  Can also be called a phantom smell. 

Orb:  A spherical shape captured by a camera that is usually light in color.  Many believe an orb is an indicator of paranormal activity.  This may be true; however, any natural floating item (dust, bugs, moisture, pollen, etc.) can produce a reflection from a camera's flash and result in an orb.  An orb is easily duplicated by experimentation using everyday material. 

Outward Manifestation: The physical manifestation of any paranormal activity.

Paranormal:  Anything that is impossible to explain or understood in a scientific manner. 

Parapsychology: The study of paranormal phenomenon. It is the study of communication or interaction between individuals outside of standard communication methods.

Poltergeists:  (German word for “Noisy Ghost”) – A phenomenon that makes its presence known by causing disturbances.  Poltergeists usually center on an individual (most likely a youth going through puberty).  Poltergeists are believed to manifest around people dealing with a high levels of physical and emotional stress.  If a poltergeist is allowed to strengthen too much, it could cause dangerous conditions. 

Portal: A location where spirits can enter the physical realm.

Possession:  The entry of a spirit or entity into a human host, willing or unwilling, in which the spirit or entity controls a person’s functions. 

Precognition: The ability to gain knowledge of future events.

Precognitive Dreams: Dreams that foretell events before they actually occur.

Premonition: The ability to obtain a feeling or warning about future events.

Psi:  Another term for soul, psyche, or personality

Psychic:  A person who claims sensitivity and can communicate with the paranormal.

Psychic Attack: An attack by a spirit or entity.

Psychic Trigger:  Objects used to attract ghosts to a location in order to enhance activity.  The trigger is usually an object that belonged to the ghost or spirit or an item commonly used during their time. 

Psychometry: The ability to touch an object and obtain information about that object and its history as well as someone who may have owned or used the item.

Religious Provocation:  The process in which prayers, holy water, crucifixes, or any religious relic is used to make an inhuman entity make its presence known in order to expel it.  This is a very dangerous procedure and must only be done by those very experienced in this type of matter. 

Remote Viewing: The ability to acquire information about a distant or shielded item or information via the mind (ESP).

Residual Haunting:   trapped energy that has no awareness of its surroundings or you.  These can be noises or a vision of a spirit that replays over and over like a recording. 

Sensitive:  Another word for a psychic, medium, or clairvoyant.  A person who can see or feel spirits or ghosts or any other entity. 

Shadow Figure: Paranormal apparition which appears as a black mass, most often taking the shape of a human figure.

Shape-shifting: The ability of a paranormal entity to assume the form of another person, mass or animal.

Soul: The essence of a person or animal. The soul is often called a spirit, mind, or self.

Speaking in Tongues: The ability for a person to speak a language unknown to the speaker.

Specter: An apparition that appears in a form that is considered frightening to the observer. The entity can unintentionally or intentionally let themselves be seen in this manner.

Spirit: The soul of a deceased individual that remains in the living realm.  The cause of an intelligent haunting.

Spirit Realm: Also called a “spirit world”, this is the world inhabited by spirits. The spirit realm is independent form the natural world, both the spirit realm and the natural world are in constant interaction. 

Spontaneous Human Combustion: Rare phenomenon in which a person is badly burned in which the cause of the fire is unexplained.

Stigmata: Phenomenon in which wounds appear on people that correspond to the wounds of Jesus during his crucifixion.

Stone-Tape Theory: Theory in which certain qualities of stone can absorb and release energy, used to explain residual hauntings.

Succubus: A spirit that sexually assaults men.

Telekinesis:  A phenomenon in which objects can be moved by the power of one's mind.  Some believe spirits are able to manipulate physical objects through telekinesis.

Telepathy: The ability to communicate directly through mind-to-mind contact. 

Teleportation: Transportation of objects from one location to another without a living person.

Vortex (plural vortices):  The center of paranormal activity, thought to be an actual portal to the spirit realm.  A vortex is an area with a cold/hot spots, electromagnetic anomalies, and an increase in paranormal activity.

Wandering Spirit: A spirit who on their travel to a certain area become distracted about energy and briefly stay at a location until their curiosity abates. These spirits will then leave and never heard from again (at that location).

White Noise: A repetitive sound (usually static) used in an attempt to hear spirits.

Wraith:  The apparition of a person that appears just before or after death.

The above glossary was written by: Manchester Paranormal Investigations. All Rights Reserved.