Know Your Vocabulary in the Paranormal Field With the Paranormal GlossaryThis paranormal glossary contains popular terms and “lingo” that the professional investigators use daily. As I said before knowledge is power and knowing your vocabulary can mean the difference between a good reputation and closing the doors for all investigators. Having a good vocabulary and knowing what those terms mean can help you show your clients that you are the ones they need to help them. This paranormal glossary will prove to be an invaluable resource in not only showing your clients your extensive knowledge but training your group as well. A well trained and versed group will help you maintain your reputation within your area. If you know the paranormal terminology (and you should) and your group members don’t that will hurt your reputation and credibility, tip of the day; always train your group with everything you know.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Apparition: the visible form of a ghost or spirit. Can be full or partial bodied, see Ghost Anniversary Imprint: an event or spirit that usually manifests around the same time each year (i.e. the spirit or activity only happens on Tuesday or only on the Fourth of July). Astral Projection: the conscious initiation of an out-of-body experience. Aura: a field of energy that emanates from matter, An invisible breath, emanation, or radiation. A distinctive but intangible quality that seems to surround a person or thing; atmosphere. Anomaly: An irregular or unusual event which does not fit a standard rule or law. An anomaly is something which cannot be explained by currently accepted scientific theories. Anything weird, abnormal, strange, odd, or difficult to classify is considered an anomaly. Apport/Asport: Apport is when a physical object has been transported into a closed space or container, suggesting the passage of "matter through matter'. Asport is any object the spirits or medium makes disappear or teleports to another location.
Astral Plane: Believed by some to be a world that exists above the physical world. Authentication: to establish the authenticity of; prove genuine. The verification of facts and details surrounding an occurrence of paranormal phenomenon. This can be independent statements from witnesses, written documentation, or other corroborative evidence supporting the report made by the subject concerning their experience and the events to which was apparently related. Automatic Writing: this is when you write something without being aware of the contents. Some people use this method to receive messages from Spirit. Automatism: the theory that the body is a machine whose functions are accompanied but not controlled by consciousness. Physical activities (e.g., arm movements, writing, drawing, musical performance) that occur without the automatist's conscious control or knowledge, also known as motor automatism. Autoscopy: this is when someone sees their 'double', or when they're looking back at their self from a position outside their body.
Bilocation: (pronounced bye-loh-k-shun) appearing to be in two different places at the same time.
Claim: a statement of truth without concrete proof; a report of a personal experience with the paranormal Clairvoyance: the ability to obtain knowledge based on unexplainable intuition, vision or various psychic senses. Cold Spot: A self-contained patch of cold air strewn about haunted locations; they may be ghosts that can't fully materialize.
Doppelganger: A ghost of the present day that looks identical to a living person but behaves differently or in a way that which the living person wouldn’t. Double: A ghost of the present that looks and behaves identically to a living person. Dowsing: Interpreting the motions of brass rods, sticks, pendulums and other such instruments to obtain information on the level of paranormal activity(also called divining). Debunked: (or debunking) evidence that has been scientifically explained or proven to be a natural normal occurrence, the act of scientifically explaining or proving claimed activity to be natural or normal, to be able to recreate the claim normally or naturally. Ectoplasm: any physical substance created by, or accompanying a spirit's materialization or a white film like presence on a photograph. Electromagnetic Energy: An invisible force located almost everywhere in nature; it is theorized that ghosts are made up of energy, since all energy puts out an electromagnetic signature, it is thought that a ghost might register on a scientific instrument designed to detect such energy Entity: A disembodied "consciousness" commonly referred to as a ghost or spirit ESP: A acronym for extrasensory perception; obtaining information from a source other than the five physical senses Etheric Body: A layer of the physical body, mimicking its design, but composed entirely of energy EVP: A acronym for electronic voice phenomena; ghostly sound and or words caught on an audio recording device Exorcism: the act of ridding a person or a location of evil spirits by using religious rites
False Positive: a piece of evidence with environmental or equipment malfunction contamination giving the appearance of paranormal activity. Fun House: A fun house is (not to be confused with the carnival attraction) a location in which the "Client" prior to the investigation sets up the location with booby traps in order to present false positives. This is common among skeptics who want to discredit Paranormal Investigators.
Ghost A paranormal aspect of the physical form and/or mental presence that appears to exist apart from the original physical form Ghost Hunter: One who seeks to experience, document and/or debunk ghostly activity.
Harbinger: an entity which brings warning of impending events. Haunting: appearance of phenomena commonly associated with ghosts, spirits or poltergeists. usually a combination of cold spots, apparitions, missing or moving objects and other forms of paranormal activity that tend to be witnessed by more than one person over and extended period of time. There are five types of hauntings as follows:
(Non human entities demons, angels and deities are of a religious nature and really cant be proven scientifically. Remember your clients personal religious beliefs may be different that your own. These classifications are extremely rare if at all, using these classifications could damage your credibility and your reputation, see Non Human) Hot Spot: Not to be confused with "Warm Spot" a Hot Spot is an area of an allegedly haunted location that a lot of activity is focused in.
Imprint: ghostly activity that appears non-conscious and redundant, see Anniversary Imprint. Ion: an electrically charged atom or molecule
Levitation: To rise or cause to rise into the air and float in apparent defiance of gravity. This is a form of telekinetic activity, sometimes associated with poltergeist type hauntings. It is when a person or object is raised off of the ground and sometimes thrown by an unseen force.
Materialization: the process by which a spirit creates a visible representation of itself in the physical world Medium: a person who claims to possess an ability to communicate with spirits and is sensitive to paranormal activity, see also Sensitive. Matrixing: Is where your optic nerve and the brain's pattern recognition center formulate familiar shapes and figures from popular patterns. This natural phenomenon is also known as “Man on the Moon syndrome” made popular by the shadows and craters that form a “face” on the moon
Natural: a rare phenomenon that appears paranormal but in fact is created by some scientifically unknown property of nature, see also False Positive Necromancy: interacting with the dead, particularly for the purpose of communication or resurrection Non Human: a spirit that exists never having been human ever. Usually referencing Deities, demons and angels this classification of haunting is extremely controversial as it is unable to be proven scientifically.
Orb(s): natural balled up collections of Electromagnetic Energy floating through the air. Usually associated with dust and bugs this piece of evidence is usually debunked quickly and discarded. Out of Body Experience: the experience that the self is in a different location than the physical body.
Paranormal: phenomena currently considered unexplained and out of the ordinary by mainstream sciences Poltergeist: German for noisy ghost; an entity or energy that displays sensational interaction with the physical environment, and manifests only when a specific individual or individuals are present Possession: the act of being physically or mentally controlled by spiritual forces, usually negative
Revenant: an entity that comes back only a few times after death RSPK: Recurrent Spontaneous Psycho Kinesis Believed to be one theoretical source of poltergeist activity, with RSPK the person projecting such energy is doing so sub-consciously and therefore not aware of their doing so.
Spiritualism: a belief in a spiritual world and/or the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead Sensitive: a person who claims to be more attuned to the spiritual world. A person claiming to be capable of sensing paranormal activity not realized by other investigators or residents.
Telepathy: the process by which a mind can communicate directly with another without using normal, physical interaction or ordinary sensory perception Telekinesis the ability to control the physical environment without using physical manipulation or force (also known as psycho kinesis, TK, or PK)
Vortex (Vortices): A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it. A photographed anomaly that appears as a funnel or rope-like image (sometimes creating a shadow) that is not seen at the time of the photograph that is thought to represent spirit. Other theories include; a collection of orbs, a 'gateway' to where orbs originate or travel to or a wormhole in time-space. Sometimes camera straps in the way of the lens can produce what looks like a vortex, so to not have false evidence it's best to remove you camera strap.
Warm Spot: An area or place that for an unknown reason seems to be warmer than the surrounding areas. Paranormal investigators usually use thermometers to detect the fluctuations of temperature in a location. White Noise: Acoustical or electrical noise of which the intensity is the same at all frequencies within a given band. A hiss-like sound, formed by compiling all audible frequencies. Wraith: An apparition of a living person that appears as a portent just before that person's death.
Xenoglossy: The ability to speak or write in a language that has not been learned.
This paranormal glossary may never be truly finished, as new terms and theories are born this list will grow. In order to educate you fully in terminology and vocabulary I strongly urge you to continue to check this page regularly to keep up to date with all the new terms. A good tip I can give you is, professionalism is ninety percent show and ten percent experience so the more confident you look and the more knowledgeable you sound the more credibility you will gain.
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