Want to-
Share photo's?
Share evps with us?
Talk about-
the Paranormal-
with us or others?
Meet us for trips?
Then click
on the
link below and
Join our meet up!

Help keep us running by making a donation to our group!

Every little bit helps!
You can make a donation using Pay Pal by clicking the donation button below!

Useful Definitions

Paranormaltrip  - An intense, exciting experience that is not within the range of normal  experience or scientifically explainable phenomena.

A

Afterlife - The terms afterlife, life after death, and hereafter refer to the continued existence of the soul, spirit or mind of a being after physical death. The major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual or immaterial realm. Deceased persons are usually believed to go to a specific realm or plane of existence after death, usually determined by their actions during life. By contrast, the term reincarnation refers to an afterlife that is a second, physical life in this world.

                       Those who are skeptical of the existence of the afterlife may believe that it is absolutely impossible, such as the materialist-reductionists, who state that the topic is supernatural, and therefore either does not exist or is unknowable.

Agent - An entity that is capable of action .

Alchemy - In the history of science, alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art all as parts of one greater force.

Altered state of consciousness (ASC) - also named altered state of mind is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1969 by Charles Tart and describes induced changes in one's mental state, almost always temporary. A synonymous phrase is "altered states of awareness".

Amorphous Solid - is a solid in which there is no long-range order of the positions of the atoms. (Solids in which there is long-range atomic order are called crystalline solids or morphous). Most classes of solid materials can be found or prepared in an amorphous form. For instance, common window glass is an amorphous ceramic, many polymers (such as polystyrene) are amorphous, and even foods such as cotton candy are amorphous solids.

                        In principle, given a sufficiently high cooling rate, any liquid can be made into an amorphous solid. Cooling reduces molecular mobility. If the cooling rate is faster than the rate at which molecules can organize into a more thermodynamically favorable crystalline state, then an amorphous solid will be formed. This is where we get that spirits or ghosts appear in a mist like form.

Angel - is a transcendental being found in many religions. Although the nature of angels and the tasks given to them vary from tradition to tradition, in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, they typically act as messengers from God. Other roles in religious traditions include acting as warrior or guard; the concept of a "guardian angel" is popular in modern Western culture.

                        Angels are usually viewed as emanations of a supreme divine being, sent to do the tasks of that being. Traditions vary as to whether angels have free will or are merely extensions of the supreme being's will. While the appearance of angels also varies, many views of angels give them a human shape.

Animism - (from Latin anima (soul, life)) commonly refers to belief systems that attribute souls or spirits to animals, plants and other entities, in addition to humans. Animism may also attribute souls to natural phenomena, geographic features, everyday objects, and manufactured articles. Religions which emphasise animism in this sense include Shinto, Hinduism and "pagan" faiths such as folk religions and Neopaganism.

Anomaly - is an irregularity, a mis proportion, or something that is strange or unusual, or unique.

 Apparition - is an act or instance of appearing, particularly including a religious vision such as a Marian apparition or any paranormal or supernatural apparitional experience as of  a  ghost,
                     doppelgänger or  bilocation.  

Apport - is the paranormal transference of an article from one place to another, or an apperance of an article from an unknown source. Apports are often associated with poltergeist activity,
                        and on  rare occasions are said to be witnessed landing on the floor, in a person's lap or dropping from the ceiling. Flowers are a well known  form of apport at spiritualistic
                        séances but tar and mud  have also been reported.

                        Conversely, an asport is the transference of a small object from a known location to an unknown location via paranormal means. As with all paranormal phenomena, apports are
                        highly controversial.                      

Asport - is the transference of a small object from a known location to an unknown location via paranormal means.



Astral Projection - (or astral travel) is an esoteric interpretation of a type of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and
                         capable of traveling outside it. Astral projection is experienced as being " out of the body".

                        
                         The idea of astral travel is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife in which the soul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an...out-of body
                         experience,  wherein the spiritual traveler leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or dreambody or astral body) into ‘higher’ realms."

Astrologer - A practitioner of astrology

Astrology - is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs in which knowledge of the apparent relative positions of celestial bodies and related details is held to be useful in understanding, interpreting, and organizing information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer, or, rarely, an astrologist. Numerous traditions and applications employing astrological concepts have arisen since its earliest recorded beginnings in the 3rd millennium BC.  It has played a role in the shaping of culture, early astronomy, and other disciplines throughout history.

 Audio Matrixing - When the mind attempts to manifest audio into something it is not. I.e. - making words out of sound.

Aura - Aura (paranormal), a field of luminous multicolored radiation around a person or object

Automatic behavior - from the Greek automatismos or self action, is the spontaneous production of often purposeless verbal or motor behavior without conscious self-control or self-censorship. This condition can be observed in a variety of contexts, including schizophrenia, psychogenic fugue, epilepsy (in complex partial seizures and Jacksonian seizures), narcolepsy or in response to a traumatic event. The individual does not recall the behavior. According to the book 'The Mind Machine' by Colin Blakemore, hypoglycemia usually leads quickly to unconsciousness, but as blood glucose level falls, there is 'a window of experience between sanity and coma in which self-control is lost', and the body 'behaves on its own'.

                        Automatic Behavior can also be exhibited whilst in the REM state, subjects can hold conversations, sit up and even open their eyes. This act is considered sub-conscious as most of the time the event cannot be recalled by the subject. It is most common when the subject has had under 10 hours sleep within a 36 hour period.

Automatic Writing - the process, or product, of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer. People who believe in "automatic writing" say that the writer's hand forms the message, with the person being unaware of what will be written. In some cases, it is done by people in a trance state. Other times the writer is aware (not in a trance) of their surroundings but not of the actions of their writing hand.

Automatism - Automatic behavior, spontaneous verbal or motor behavior; an act performed unconsciously.

Autosuggestion - The term autosuggestion is used for positive or negative physical symptoms explained by the thoughts and beliefs of a person. For example, some will experience more pain when they think it will hurt. Headaches sometimes go away after taking a painkiller, but before the painkiller could actually start acting on its own. Related to this is the placebo-effect. This influence of the mind on the body can be used in a positive way to improve the way a person feels (mentally or physically).

                       Autosuggestion (or the related autogenic training) is a process by which an individual trains the subconscious mind to believe something, or systematically schematizes the person's own mental associations, usually for a given purpose. This is accomplished through self-hypnosis methods or repetitive, constant self-affirmations, and may be seen as a form of self-induced brainwashing. The acceptance of autosuggestion may be quickened through mental visualization of that which the individual would like to believe. Its success is typically correlated with the consistency of its use and the length of time over which it is used. Autosuggestion can be seen as an aspect of prayer, self-exhorting "pep talks", meditation, and other similar activities.

B

Banshee - The banshee, from the Irish bean sí ("woman of the síde" or "woman of the fairy mounds") is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. Her Scottish counterpart is the bean shìth (also spelled bean-shìdh).

                        The aos sí ("people of the mounds", "people of peace") are variously believed to be the survivals of pre-Christian Gaelic deities, spirits of nature, or the ancestors. Some Theosophists and Celtic Christians have also referred to the aos sí as "fallen angels". They are commonly referred to in English as "fairies", and the banshee can also be described as a "fairy woman".

Bigfoot - also known as Sasquatch, is an alleged ape-like creature said to inhabit remote forests, mainly in the Pacific northwest region of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia. In northern Wisconsin, Lakota Indians know the creature by the name Chiye-tanka, a Lakota name for "Big Elder Brother." Bigfoot is sometimes described as a large, hairy bipedal hominoid, and some believe that this animal, or its close relatives, may be found around the world under different regional names, such as the Yeti of Tibet and Nepal, the Yeren of mainland China, and the Yowie of Australia.

Bilocation - or sometimes multilocation, is a term used to describe the ability/instances in which an individual or object is said to be, or appears to be, located in two distinct places at the same instant in time. Bilocation is said to be a physical, rather than spiritual, phenomenon, and a person experiencing it is supposedly able to interact with their surroundings as normal, including being able to experience sensations and to manipulate physical objects exactly as if they had arrived through natural means. This makes it distinct from astral projection. In most instances, bilocation is said to be involuntary and not to have been directed by the individual concerned in terms of time or space.

Black magic - or dark magic is a type of magic that draws on malevolent powers. It may be used for malevolent acts or to deliberately cause harm in some way. It is alternatively spelt with a 'k' (magick), this term is also known as black magic, dark magic, the dark arts of magic and dark side magic.

C

Cereology - is the study of the crop circle phenomena.

Channeling - a term used in reference to the claimed process of receiving messages or inspiration from invisible beings or spirits.

Clairvoyance - Power to perceive things that are naturally beyond the range of human senses, acute intuitive insight

Clairalience - (smelling) - In the field of parapsychology, clairalience [presumably from late 17th century French clair (clear) & alience (smelling)] is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of smelling.

Clairaudience - (hearing/listening) - In the field of parapsychology, clairaudience [from late 17th century French clair (clear) & audience (hearing)] is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires information by paranormal auditory means. It is often considered to be a form of clairvoyance. Clairaudience is essentially the ability to hear in a paranormal manner, as opposed to paranormal seeing (clairvoyance) and feeling (clairsentience). Clairaudient people have psi-mediated hearing. Clairaudience may refer not to actual perception of sound, but may instead indicate impressions of the "inner mental ear" similar to the way many people think words without having auditory impressions. But it may also refer to actual perception of sounds such as voices, tones, or noises which are not apparent to other humans or to recording equipment. For instance, a clairaudient person might claim to hear the voices or thoughts of the spirits of persons who are deceased. Clairaudience may be positively distinguished from the voices heard by the mentally ill when it reveals information unavailable to the clairaudient person by normal means (including cold reading or other magic tricks), and thus may be termed "psychic" or paranormal.

Claircognizance - (knowing) In the field of parapsychology, claircognizance [presumably from late 17th century French clair (clear) & cognizance (< ME cognisaunce < OFr conoissance, knowledge)] is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of intrinsic knowledge. It is the ability to know something without knowing how or why you know it.

Clairgustance - (tasting) In the field of parapsychology, clairgustance is defined as a form of extra-sensory perception that allegedly allows one to taste a substance without putting anything in one's mouth. It is claimed that those who possess this ability are able to perceive the essence of a substance from the spiritual or ethereal realms through taste.

Clairsentience - (feeling/touching) In the field of parapsychology, clairsentience [From the French clair, “clear,” + sentience, “feeling,” ultimately derived from the Latin clarus, “clear,” + sentiens, derived from sentire, “to feel”] is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of feeling. In addition to parapsychology, the term also plays a role in some religions. For example: clairsentience is one of the six human special functions mentioned or recorded in Buddhism. It is an ability that can be obtained at advanced meditation level. Generally the term refers to a person who can feel the vibration of other people. There are many different degrees of clairsentience ranging from the perception of diseases of other people to the thoughts or emotions of other people. The ability differs from third eye in that this kind of ability cannot have a vivid picture in the mind. Instead, a very vivid feeling can form. Psychometry is related to clairsentience. The word stems from psyche and metric, which means "to measure with the mind".

Clairvoyance -  (from 17th century French with clair meaning "clear" and voyance meaning "visibility") is the apparent ability to gain information about an object, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception. A person said to have the ability of clairvoyance is referred to as a clairvoyant ("one who sees clear").

 Cleansing - A less religious form of exorcism that is done to remove spirits. 

Clinical lycanthropy - is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome which involves a delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an animal, or that he or she is an animal. Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into wolves. The word zoanthropy is also sometimes used for the delusion that one has turned into an animal in general and not specifically a wolf.

Cold reading - is a technique used by mentalists and fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums to determine details about another person in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than he or she actually does. Even without prior knowledge of a person, a practiced cold reader can still quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by carefully analyzing the person's body language, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. Cold readers commonly employ high probability guesses about the subject, quickly picking up on signals from their subjects as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, and then emphasizing and reinforcing any chance connections the subjects acknowledge while quickly moving on from missed guesses.

Cold Spot - is a term used to describe an unexplained area of localized coldness, or sudden drops in temperature, that are said to be the result of paranormal activity.

Collective Apparition - is an apparition seen by several people at the same time.

Consciousness - defies definition. It may involve thoughts, sensations, perceptions, moods, emotions, dreams, and an awareness of self, although not necessarily any particular one or combination of these.

Crop circles - is a term used to describe patterns created by the flattening of crops such as wheat, barley, rapeseed (also called "canola"), rye, corn, linseed and soy. The term was first used by researcher Colin Andrews to describe simple circles he was researching. Since 1990 the circles evolved into complex geometries, but by then the term had stuck. Examples can be found worldwide. Various hypotheses have been offered to explain their formation, ranging from the naturalistic to the paranormal.

Cryptozoology - (from Greek, kruptos, "hidden" + zoology; literally, "study of hidden animals") is the study of and search for animals which fall outside of contemporary zoological catalogs. It consists of two primary fields of research: the search for living examples of animals taxonomically identified through fossil records, but which are believed to be extinct. and the search for animals that fall outside of taxonomic records due to a lack of empirical evidence, but for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, legends, or undocumented sightings.

D  

Debunk - The finding of a discredit by the debunker in the act of debunking.

Debunker - is is an individual who discredits and exposes claims as being false, exaggerated, unscientific or pretentious. Debunkers often focus on topics such as U.F.O.s,  claimed 
                       paranormal phenomena, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine,religion, research outside mainstream science or pseudoscientific subjects. The term debunker is applied when
                       a person functions as an activist and performs research, writes articles, gives speeches, conducts seminars, or engages in other activities with the specific intent of discounting
                       the validity of a dubious, bizarre, or abnormal claim.



Debunking - is the act of disproving a proposal or hypothesis, generally in an academis or scientific sense.



Déjà vu - (French "already seen"; also called paramnesia, from Greek, "near" + mneme, "memory") is the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation 
                       previously (an individual feels as though an event has already happened or has happened in the near past).

                       The experience of déjà vu is usually accompanied by a compelling sense of familiarity, and also a sense of "eeriness", "strangeness", or "weirdness". The "previous" experience is most frequently attributed to a dream, although in some cases there is a firm sense that the experience "genuinely happened" in the past. The experience of déjà vu seems to be quite common among adults and children alike; in formal studies 70% of people report having experienced it at least once. References to the experience of déjà vu are also found in literature of the past, indicating it is not a new phenomenon. It has been extremely difficult to evoke the déjà vu experience in laboratory settings, therefore making it a subject of few empirical studies. Recently, researchers have found ways to recreate this sensation using hypnosis.

Demon - In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon (or daemon, dæmon, daimon from Greek: [ðaïmon]) is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit, and in Christian terms it is generally understood as a fallen angel, formerly of God. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled.

Demonic haunting - A haunting by a nonhuman entity. Demonic hauntings often start out with subtle and relatively simple paranormal activity, and can quickly increase to stronger activity. Most often affects people or families that are already under great personal stress from conditions such as alcohol or drug use, psychological or emotional problems, family or marital problems, etc. It is believed the nonhuman entity takes advantage of people in such weaken psychological and emotional condition. Persons who believe they and/or their families are the subject of a demonic haunting should immediately seek both professional paranormal assistance and counseling help.

Demonic possession - is often the term used to describe the control over a human form by Satan himself or one of his assigned advocates. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include: erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying. Unlike in channelling or other benign forms of possession, the subject has no control over the possessing entity and so it will persist until forced to leave the victim, usually through a form of exorcism. Many cultures and religions contain some concept of demonic possession, but the details vary considerably. Some cultures, in particular the Roma people believe that demons can also possess animals, plants, deceased persons or inanimate objects.

Demonology - is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons. Insofar as it involves exegesis, demonology is an orthodox branch of theology. It is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods. It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent beings of all kinds. It may be noted that the original sense of "demon," from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being; but in English the name now holds connotations of malevolence. Demons, when regarded as spirits, may belong to either of the classes of spirits recognized by primitive animism; that is to say, they may be human, or non-human, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body.

Discernment - is a term used in Christian tradition to describe the process of discerning God's will for one's life. In large part, it describes the interior search for an answer to the question of one's vocation, namely, determining whether or not God is calling one to the married life, single life, religious life; ordained ministry or priesthood (Roman Catholic or Anglican/Episcopal) or any other ministerial calling by virtue of Baptism. The concept is not limited to ordination or vowed life. All moral conduct may be summed up in the rule: avoid evil and do good. In the language of Christian asceticism, spirits, in the broad sense, is the term applied to certain complex influences, capable of impelling the will, the ones toward good, the others toward evil.

Disembodied - Term that refers to voices, and spirits. A disembodied spirit describes a spirits that has no physical body, also known as a ghost. A disembodied voice refers to an audible voice that has no connection to a physical body or source.

Divination - (from Latin divinare "to be inspired by a god", related to divine, diva and deus) is the attempt of ascertaining information by interpretation of omens or an alleged supernatural agency, either by or on behalf of a querent. If a distinction is to be made between divination and fortune-telling, divination has a formal or ritual and often social character, usually in a religious context; while fortune-telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Divination is often dismissed by skeptics, including the scientific community, as being mere superstition.

Divining rod - (also known as dowsing rod) is an apparatus used in dowsing. There are many types of divining rods including two brass "L" shaped wire rods (commonly made of brazing or welding rod, but glass or plastic have also been accepted) that are to be held one in each hand. When something is found, they cross over one another making an "X" over the found object. If the object is long and straight, such as a water pipe, the wires will point in opposite directions, showing the direction the object is pointing. Brass is commonly used. And a forked (or "Y" shaped) branch of a tree or bush. The two ends on the forked side are to be held one in each hand with the third pointing straight ahead. Often the branches are grasped palms down. The pointing end turns up or down when water is found. This method is sometimes known as 'Willow Witching'. Hazel or willow branches were commonly used; these were called virgula divina.

                        Divining rods are used in dowsing, a type of divination that claims to be able to find ground water, oil, and other mineral resources by non-scientific means. Expert dowsers are allegedly capable of dowsing exact depth measurements of water veins, electromagnetism, currents and telluric phenomena. They are also allegedly capable of measuring blood toxicity, white cells, and sugar levels, and detecting human illness and health. Expert dowsers are allegedly not limited to any specific time and space, claiming the ability to dowse any material at any given time from any location.

Doppelgänger - or fetch is the fictional ghostly double of a living person, a sinister form of bilocation.In the vernacular, "Doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person. The literal translation of the German word is "double–goer," meaning someone who is acting (i.e. going) the same way as another person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection.^{[citation needed]} They are generally regarded as harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person; the double is seen performing the living person's actions in advance.

Dowsing - sometimes called divining or water witching, is the practice which dowsers say permits them to detect hidden water wells, or buried metals, gemstones, or other such objects as well as currents of earth radiation without the use of scientific apparatus. A Y- or L-shaped twig or rod is used during dowsing, but some dowsers use other equipment or no equipment at all.

Dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) - starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that he or she is dreaming

E.

Earthbound - may refer to being on the Earth

Ectoplasm - generally refers to the outer part of a cell's cytoplasm. Ectoplasm may also refer to: Ectoplasm (paranormal), a physical substance that supposedly manifests as a result of "spiritual energy" or "psychic phenomenon"

Electromagnetic field (EMF) - is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field. The electromagnetic field extends indefinitely throughout space and describes the electromagnetic interaction. It is one of the four fundamental forces of nature (the others are gravitation, the weak interaction, and the strong interaction). The field can be viewed as the combination of an electric field and a magnetic field. The electric field is produced by stationary charges, and the magnetic field by moving charges (currents); these two are often described as the sources of the field.  The field is said to be able to be manipulated by spirits.

Electromagnetic (EM) radiation - is a self-propagating wave in space or through matter. EM radiation has an electric and magnetic field component which oscillate in phase perpendicular to each other and to the direction of energy propagation. Electromagnetic radiation is classified into types according to the frequency of the wave, these types include (in order of increasing frequency): radio waves, microwaves, terahertz radiation, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays. Of these, radio waves have the longest wavelengths and Gamma rays have the shortest. A small window of frequencies, called visible spectrum or light, is sensed by the eye of various organisms, with variations of the limits of this narrow spectrum. The word 'light' is sometimes used in a broader sense, referring to EM radiation. EM radiation carries energy and momentum, which may be imparted when it interacts with matter.

Electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) - are sections of static noise on the radio or electronic recording media that are interpreted by paranormal investigators as voices speaking words usually attributed to ghosts or spirits. Recording EVP has become a technique of those who attempt to contact the souls of dead loved ones or during ghost hunting activities. In addition to deceased spirits, various paranormal investigators say that EVP could be due to psychic echoes from the past, psychokinesis unconsciously produced by living people, and the thoughts of aliens. EVPs are typically brief, usually the length of a word or short phrase.

EMF Detector/Meter - is a device that measures and detects changes in the electromagnetic field.

Empath - In the paranormal and some works of science fiction and fantasy, empathy is described as a paranormal or psychic ability to sense the emotions of others, as opposed to telepathy, which allows one to perceive thoughts as well. A person who has that ability is also called an empath or telempath in this context. Occasionally these empaths are also able to project their own emotions, or to affect the emotions of others. As a result, empath is a term coming into common usage to refer to a person with a feeling expanded sensitivity or clairsentience.

Energy - In physics and other sciences, energy (from the Greek- energeia, "activity, operation", from- energos, "active, working") is a scalar physical quantity that is a property of objects and systems which is conserved by nature. Energy is often defined as the ability to do work. Several different forms of energy, including kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound energy, light energy, elastic, electromagnetic, chemical, nuclear, and mass have been defined to explain all known natural phenomena.

Entity - is something that has a distinct, separate existence, though it need not be a material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is animate. Entities are used in system developmental models that display communications and internal processing of, say, documents compared to order processing. Sometimes, the word entity is used in a general sense of a being, whether or not the referent has material existence; e.g., is often referred to as an entity with no corporeal form, such as a language. It is also often used to refer to ghosts and other spirits. Taken further, entity sometimes refers to existence or being itself.

Esoteric - knowledge is that which is available only to a narrow circle of "enlightened", "initiated", or specially educated people. Esoteric items may be known as esoterica. In contrast, exoteric knowledge is knowledge that is well-known or public; or perceived as informally canonic in society at large.

Esotericism - or, more neatly, Esoterism, the holding of esoteric opinions, derives from the Greek (esôterikos), a compound of (esô): "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is exoteric.

Evocation - is the act of calling or summoning a spirit, demon, god or other supernatural agent, in the Western mystery tradition.

Exorcism - (from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkizein - to adjure) is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed. The practice is quite ancient and part of the belief system of many countries.

Exorcist - The person performing the exorcism, known as an exorcist, is often a member of the clergy, or an individual thought to be graced with special powers or skills. The exorcist may use prayers, and religious material, such as set formulas, gestures, symbols, icons, amulets, etc.. The exorcist often invokes God, Jesus and/or several different angels and archangels to intervene with the exorcism. In general, possessed persons are not regarded as evil in themselves, nor wholly responsible for their actions. Therefore practitioners regard exorcism more as a cure than as a punishment. The mainstream rituals usually take this into account, making sure that there is no violence to the possessed, only that they be tied down if there is potential for violence

Exoteric - refers to knowledge that is outside of and independent from anyone's experience and can be ascertained by anyone. It is distinguished from esoteric knowledge. Exoteric relates to "external reality" as opposed to one's own thoughts or feelings. It is knowledge that is public as opposed to secretive or cabalistic. It is not required that exoteric knowledge come easily or automatically, but it should be referenceable or reproducible.

Extra-Terrestrials - Extraterrestrial life is life originating outside of the Earth. It is the subject of astrobiology, and its existence remains hypothetical. There is no credible evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by the scientific community. There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of extraterrestrial life if it exists. One proposes that it may have emerged, independently, in different places in the universe. An alternative hypothesis is panspermia, which holds that life emerging in one location then spreads between habitable planets. These two hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. The study and theorization of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology, exobiology or xenobiology. Speculative forms of extraterrestrial life range from sapient beings to life at the scale of bacteria.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP) - is the purported ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience. The term was coined by Duke University researcher J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, the sensing of thoughts or feelings without help from the 5 known senses, precognition, the knowledge of future events, and clairvoyance, the awareness of people, objects or events without the help of the 5 known senses. ESP is also sometimes casually referred to as a sixth sense, gut instinct, a hunch, a weird vibe or an intuition. The term implies sources of information currently unexplained by science. Popular belief in ESP is widespread, but skeptics are still not persuaded that there truly is a sixth sense because of the lack of reliable theories and information.

F

Faith Healing - Defined broadly, faith healing is the attempt to use religious or spiritual means such as prayer to prevent illness, cure disease, or improve health. Those who attempt to heal by prayer, mental practices, spiritual insights, or other techniques say they can summon divine or supernatural intervention on behalf of the ill. According to the varied beliefs of those who practice it, faith healing may be said to afford gradual relief from pain or sickness or to bring about a sudden "miracle cure", and it may be used in place of, or in tandem with, conventional medical techniques for alleviating or curing diseases. Faith healing has been criticized on the grounds that those who use it may delay seeking potentially curative conventional medical care. This is particularly problematic when parents use faith healing techniques on children.

Fetch - A ghost, doppelgänger or other apparition. A fetch or fæcce in Theodism is one's guardian or attendant spirit or familiar and is held to appear or take the form of an animal or chimera resembling one's disposition, quality or propensity

Fortune-telling - is the practice of predicting the future, usually of an individual, through mystical or supernatural means and often for commercial gain. It often conflates with the religious practice known as divination.

G

Ganzfeld - (German for “complete field”) is a term used to describe a particular phenomena of visual perception. It is used most commonly in relationship to, Ganzfeld experiment, a technique in parapsychology. 
                        Ganzfeld effect, the psychological result of staring at an actual Ganzfeld.

Gauss Meter - A device that is used to measure the Electromagnetic field (EMF), also referred to as an EMF detector or magnetometer.

Ghost - is said to be the apparition of a deceased person, frequently similar in appearance to that person, and usually encountered in places she or he frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings. The word "ghost" may also refer to the spirit or soul of a deceased person, or to any spirit or demon. Ghosts are often associated with hauntings.

Ghost hunting - is the process of investigating locations said to be haunted. Typically, a ghost "hunting party" will involve 4-8 individuals who work as a team to collect evidence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters often employ electronic equipment of various types, such as; EMF Meters, digital thermometers, infrared, thermographic, and night vision cameras, handheld video cameras, digital audio recorders, and computers. Organized teams of ghost hunters are also called paranormal investigation teams.

Ghost Lights - or spooklights are another name for sightings of will-o'-the-wisps in the United States.

Ghost Ship - In modern English, the term ghost ship has come to denote at least one of three separate (though occasionally overlapping) definitions, all of which involving, in one respect or other, unexplained circumstances. Historically, the term has been used to refer to reported sightings of apparitions over water that have appeared in the form of maritime sailing ships, often after having previously been known to have sunk, or to derelict vessels found floating with no crew. In fiction, ghost ships have often been vessels crewed by some manner of spectral or non-living beings.

H

Haunted - believed to have supernatural occurrences and ghostly activity

Haunted house - a building believed to be a centre for supernatural occurrences

Haunted locations - sites of reported ghostly activity

Hot reading - is the use of foreknowledge when giving a "psychic" reading in stage magic performances. The reader can gain information about the sitter (person getting the reading) through a variety of means, such as research or overhearing a conversation. Hot reading is commonly used in conjunction with cold reading (where no foreknowledge is available) and can explain how a psychic reader can get a specific claimed "hit" of accurate information.

Hot spot - is a region of high or special activity within a larger area of low or normal activity

Hypnosis - (from the Greek hypnos, "sleep") is often thought to be "a trance-like state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject." The technique is sometimes used for medical purposes to relieve anxiety, or otherwise improve or alter behavior. Its effectiveness has been clinically demonstrated in many areas, most notably in the area of acute pain relief. It is also used in popular stage acts in which subjects are persuaded to perform bizarre feats. Other variations include so-called "mass-hypnosis," in which crowds are simultaneously influenced, and autosuggestion in which subjects persuade themselves. However, these phenomena are unlike those typically associated with the classical phenomena of hypnosis.

I

Incubus - A demon in a male form that sexually assaults sleeping women.

Infrared (IR) -  radiation is electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength is longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of terahertz radiation and microwaves. The name means "below red" (from the Latin infra, "below"), red being the color of visible light with the longest wavelength. Infrared radiation has wavelengths between about 750 nm and 1 mm, spanning three orders of magnitude. Humans at normal body temperature can radiate at a wavelength of 10 microns. At the atomic level, infrared energy elicits vibrational modes in a molecule through a change in the dipole moment, making it a useful frequency range for study of these energy states. Infrared spectroscopy examines absorption and transmission of photons in the infrared energy range, based on their frequency and intensity.

Intelligent Haunting - Paranormal activity that takes place around a person or location that is caused by an intelligent or conscious spirit that can usually interact with its surroundings.  

Internal monologue - also known as inner voice, internal speech, or stream of consciousness is thinking in words. It also refers to the semi-constant internal monologue one has with oneself at a conscious or semi-conscious level.

Intuition - has many related meanings, usually connected to the meaning "ability to sense or know immediately without reasoning", including: understanding without apparent effort, quick and ready insight seemingly independent of previous experiences or empirical knowledge.

Invocation - (from the Latin verb invocare "to call on, invoke")

J

Jamais vu - In psychology, the term jamais vu (from the French, meaning "never seen") is used to describe any familiar situation which is not recognized by the observer. Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before. Jamais vu is more commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn't recognize a word, person, or place that he/she already knows. The phenomenon is often grouped with déjà vu and presque vu (together, the three are frequently referred to as "The Vus").

K

Karma - (Sanskrit: kárma , kárman- "act, action, performance"; Pali: kamma) is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called sa?sara) originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies. The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.

Kinetic energy - The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its current velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes. Negative work of the same magnitude would be required to return the body to a state of rest from that velocity.

L

Levitation - (from Latin levare, to raise) is the process by which an object is suspended against gravity, in a stable position, without physical contact. It is also a conjuring trick, apparently raising a human being without any physical aid. The illusion can be produced by clever mechanics, lighting arrangements and other means.

Life - is a condition that distinguishes organisms from non-living objects, such as non-life, and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism and reproduction. Some living things can communicate and many can adapt to their environment through changes originating internally.

Light - or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye (about 400–700 nm). In a scientific context, the word light is sometimes used to refer to the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Moreover, in optics, the term "visible light" refers to electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths of ~300 nm (near UV) through ~1400 nm (near infrared). Light is composed of elementary particles called photons. Three primary properties of light are: Intensity; Frequency or wavelength and; Polarization. Light can exhibit properties of both waves and particles. This property is referred to as wave–particle duality. The study of light, known as optics, is an important research area in modern physics.

Lucid dream - is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream. When the dreamer is lucid, he or she can actively participate in the dream environment without any of the inhibitions or limitations that otherwise would feel natural to persons who incorrectly believe they are in the "real" waking world. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of self-awareness during the lucid dream. A lucid dream can begin in one of two ways. A dream-initiated lucid dream (DILD) starts as a normal dream, and the dreamer eventually concludes that he or she is dreaming, while a wake-initiated lucid dream (WILD) occurs when the dreamer goes from a normal waking state directly into a dream state with no apparent lapse in consciousness.

Lycanthropy - is the ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a wolf, or wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from the Greek. The word lycanthropy is sometimes used generically for any transformation of a human into animal form, though the precise term for that is technically "therianthropy". Sometimes, "zoanthropy" is used instead of "therianthropy". The word has also been linked to Lycaon, a king of Arcadia who, according to Ovid's Metamorphoses, was turned into a ravenous wolf in retribution for attempting to serve human flesh (his own son) to visiting Zeus in an attempt to disprove the god's divinity.

                       There is also a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly. This is sometimes referred to as clinical lycanthropy to distinguish it from its use in legends.

M

Malevolence - Malice, Sadism, or Evil.

Malevolent Spirit - An intelligent spirit which is negative in nature and generally wishes to cause harm.

Malice - is a legal term referring to a party's intention to do injury to another party. Malice is either expressed or implied.

Manifestation -The appearance or taking of form of an entity. A way of making thoughts reality.

Materialization (parapsychology) - a concept, in parapsychology, is the creation or appearance of matter from unknown sources.

Matrixing - When the mind attempts to manifest images as something they are not including visual or audio.

Medium - Mediumship, a practice in which a person acts as an intermediary between the physical world and the spiritual world.

Mediumship - is a form of relationship with spirits

Mentalism - is an ancient performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, use mental acuity, cold reading, warm reading, hot reading, principles of stage magic, hypnosis and/or suggestion to present the illusion of mind reading, psychokinesis, extra-sensory perception, precognition, clairvoyance or mind control.

Metaphysics - The study of phenomena not accounted for by known physical laws.

Mist - is a phenomenon of small droplets suspended in air. It can occur as part of natural weather or volcanic activity, and is common in cold air above warmer water, in exhaled air in the cold, and in a steam room of a sauna.

N

Near-death experience (NDE) - refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations ranging from detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, extreme fear, total serenity, security, or warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light, which some people interpret as a deity or spiritual presence. Some cultures and individuals revere NDEs as a paranormal and spiritual glimpse into the afterlife.

                        Such cases are usually reported after an individual has been pronounced clinically dead, or otherwise very close to death, hence the entitlement near-death experience. Many NDE reports, however, originate from events that are not life threatening. With recent developments in cardiac resuscitation techniques, the number of NDEs reported is continually increasing.

Necromancy - [nek-ruh-man-see](Greek, nekromantía) is a form of divination in which the practitioner seeks to summon "operative spirits" or "spirits of divination", for multiple reasons, from spiritual protection to wisdom. The word necromancy derives from the Greek  (nekrós), "dead", and (manteía), "divination".

Night vision - is the ability to see in a dark environment. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range.

Numerology - is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things. Today, numerology is often associated with the occult, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts. The term can also be used for those who, in the view of some observers, place excess faith in numerical patterns, even if those people don't practice traditional numerology.

O

Occult - The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to "knowledge of the hidden". The word has many uses in the English language, popularly meaning "knowledge of the paranormal", as opposed to "knowledge of the measurable", usually referred to as science. The term is sometimes popularly taken to mean "knowledge meant only for certain people" or "knowledge that must be kept hidden", but for most practicing occultists it is simply the study of a deeper spiritual reality that extends beyond pure reason and the physical sciences,

Occultism - Occultism is the study of occult or hidden wisdom. To the occultist it is the study of "Truth", a deeper truth that exists beneath the surface: 'The truth is always hidden in plain sight'. It can involve such subjects as magic (alternatively spelled and defined as magick), extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, numerology and lucid dreaming.

Orb - A spherical shaped, translucent mass of energy resembling a ball or globe of light.

Ouija board - (correctly pronounced "wee-jah" /although often pronounced "wee-gee") is any flat surface printed with letters, numbers, and other symbols, to which a planchette or movable indicator points, supposedly in answer to questions from people at a séance. The fingers of the participants are placed on the planchette that then moves about the board to spell out messages. Ouija is a trademark for a talking board currently sold by Parker Brothers. While the word is not considered a genericized trademark, it has become a trademark that is often used generically to refer to any talking board. In popular culture these boards are considered to be a spiritual gateway used to contact the dead; however, the only evidence for this is the various accounts of users.

Out-of-body experience - (OBE or sometimes OOBE), is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside of one's body and, in some cases, perceiving one's physical body from a place outside one's body (autoscopy). About one in ten people has an out-of-body experience at some time in their lives. Scientists know little about the phenomenon. OBEs are often part of the near-death experience, and reportedly may also lead to astral projection. It is claimed that those experiencing an OBE sometimes observe details which were unknown to them beforehand.

P

Paranormal - Not within the range of normal experience or scientifically explainable phenomena

Paranormaltrip - An intense, exciting experience that is not within the range of normal experience or scientifically explainable phenomena

Parapsychology - The study of phenomena, as telepathy, clairvoyance, and psycho kinesis that are not explainable by known natural laws

Paralysis - Partial or complete loss of the ability to move or have sensation in a bodily part as a result of injury to or disease of its nerve supply

Past life recall - To remember or have mental flashes about living in another life.

Phantom - A ghost or other apparition

Phenomena - That which appears real to the senses, regardless of whether its underlying existence is proved or it’s nature understood

Picture thinking - visual thinking or visual/spatial learning is the common phenomenon of thinking through visual processing. Thinking in pictures, is one of a number of other recognized forms of non-verbal thought such as kinesthetic, musical and mathematical thinking.

Planchette - is a triangular or heart-shaped board supported by castors which moves to spell out messages, or answer questions. Paranormal advocates believe that the planchette is moved by some extra-normal force. Skeptics attribute the motion to the ideomotor effect. In typical usage, a pencil would be attached to the planchette, printing letters or other designs on paper to be later interpreted by a medium. The most common use of the planchette is with a Ouija or spirit board. In this instance, it is sometimes referred to as an "indicator" or "pointer" to show where something is etc., like a Dowsing board. Used since the beginning of the Spiritualism movement of the mid-nineteenth century, planchettes predate the invention of spirit boards. Although speculation exists that the planchette was named after its inventor, the French word "planchette" translates to English as "little plank."

Poltergeist - (from German poltern, meaning to rumble or make noise, and Geist, meaning "ghost", "spirit", or "embodiment") denotes a demonic spirit or ghost that manifests itself by moving and influencing objects.

Possession - Spirit possession, belief in the control of the behavior of a living thing or natural object by a spiritual being  Demonic possession, belief in the control of a person by the Devil or other malevolent spirit

Precognition - (from the Latin præ-, “prior to,” + cognitio, “a getting to know”) denotes a form of extra-sensory perception where in a person is said to perceive information about places or events through paranormal means before they happen. A related term, presentiment, refers to information about future events which is said to be perceived as emotions. These terms are considered by some to be special cases of the more general term clairvoyance.

Precognitive dreams - are dreams that have been credited with foresight or precognition. It is a phenomenon that has fascinated and puzzled mankind for thousands of years. Precognition is typically defined as knowing or perceiving events before they actually occur.

Prediction - is a statement or claim that a particular event will occur in the future.

Premonition - refers to a situation when future events are foreknown or forecast. They are attributed by some people to the presence of supernatural or paranormal abilities.

Presence - The feeling that an unseen person, spirit or being is nearby.

Presque vu - see Tip of the tongue

Psychic - (from the Greek psychikos—"of the soul, mental") refers to the claimed ability to perceive things hidden from the senses through means of extra-sensory perception.

Psychic Attack - An attack that can either be physical or mental by a spirit.  

Psychic surgery - is a trick procedure typically involving the apparent creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the apparent removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision. Psychic surgery has been condemned in many countries as a form of medical fraud. It has been denounced by the US Federal Trade Commission as a "total hoax", and the American Cancer Society maintains that psychic surgery may cause needless death by keeping the ill away from life-saving medical care.

Psycho kinesis - Production or control of motion, especially in inanimate objects, purportedly by means of psychic powers

Psychometry - (Greek, psukhe, "spirit, soul"; + metron, "measure") is a form of extra-sensory perception in which a psychic is said to be able to obtain information about an individual through paranormal means by making physical contact with an object that belongs to them.

Psychosis - is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality." People suffering from it are said to be psychotic. People experiencing psychosis may report hallucinations or delusional beliefs, and may exhibit personality changes and disorganized thinking. This may be accompanied by unusual or bizarre behavior, as well as difficulty with social interaction and impairment in carrying out the activities of daily living.

R

Reading - An actual act of a cold, warm and hot readings by mentalists and fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums. Also see cold reading, warm reading and hot reading

Reciprocal apparition - An extremely rare type of spirit phenomenon in which both the agent and percipient are able to see and respond to each other.

Reincarnation - literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or metaphysical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. This essential part is often referred to as the spirit or soul, the "higher" or "true" self, "divine spark", or "I". According to such beliefs, a new personality is developed during each life in the physical world, but some part of the self remains constant throughout the successive lives.

 

Remote Viewing (RV) - refers to the attempt to gather information about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means or extra-sensory perception. Typically a remote viewer is expected to give 
                        information about an object that is hidden from physical view and separated at some distance.

Residual Haunting - AKA a restligeist (German loan word) from restlich (residual) and Geist (ghost), is thought by some to be a replayed haunting in which no intelligent ghost, spirit, or other entity is directly 
                        involved. Much like a video tape, residual hauntings are playbacks of auditory, visual, olfactory, and other sensory phenomenon which are attributed to a traumatic event, life-altering event, or a 
                        common event of a person or place, like an echo of past events. Alleged residual hauntings often center on moments of intense emotion: someone's beheading, a great battle, a murder, or even a
                        celebration. Paranormal researchers theorize that residual hauntings are the result of discharged personal energy of a person or group of people being imprinted on the surrounding environment.

Retrocognition - (also known as postcognition), from the Latin retro meaning "backward, behind" and cognition meaning "knowing", is the purported paranormal transfer of information about an event or object in the past.

S

Scientific Community - consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science (for example, there is a robotics community within the field of computer science). Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method. Peer review, through discussion and debate within journals and conferences, assists in this objectivity by maintaining the quality of research methodology and interpretation of results.

Scrying - (also called crystal gazing, crystal seeing, seeing, or peeping) is a magic practice that involves seeing things psychically in a medium, usually for purposes of obtaining spiritual visions and more rarely for purposes of divination or fortune-telling. The media used are most commonly reflective, translucent, or luminescent substances such as crystals, stones, glass, mirrors, water, fire, or smoke. Scrying has been used in many cultures as a means of divining the past, present, or future. Depending on the culture and practice, the visions that come when one stares into the media are thought to come from God, spirits, the psychic mind, the devil, or the subconscious. Although scrying is most commonly done with a crystal ball, you can also use any smooth surface, such as a bowl of liquid, a pond, a crystal, or, as expert scryers can, a thumbnail. Scrying is actively used by many cultures and belief systems and is not limited to one tradition or ideology.

Senses - are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system, or organ, dedicated to each sense.

Sensitive - like an empathy is described as a paranormal or psychic ability to sense the emotions of others, the also ability to sense the emotions of an item or location.

Shadow people - (also known as shadow men, shadow folk, or shadow beings) are supernatural shadow-like creatures of both modern folklore and traditional native American beliefs. According to folklore, they appear as dark forms in the peripheries of people's vision and disintegrate, or move between walls, when noticed. Reports of shadow people occupy a similar position in the popular consciousness to ghost sightings, but differ in that shadow people are not reported as having human features, wearing modern/period clothing, or attempting to communicate. Witnesses also do not report the same feelings of being in the presence of something that 'was once human'. Some individuals have described being menaced, chased, or in some rare instances, attacked by shadow people. There have also been reports of shadow people appearing in front of witnesses, of which they stay there or lingering for several seconds before disappearing. Witnesses report that encounters are typically accompanied by a feeling of dread.

Shadow objects - like shadow people but in a shape or shapes of objects.

Shapeshifting - is a common theme in folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a change in the physical form or shape of a person or animal. Other terms include metamorphosis, morphing, transformation, or transmogrification. There is no settled agreement on the terminology. Shapeshifting is distinguished from natural processes such as aging or metamorphosis (despite shared use of the term), the body contortions of animals such as the Mimic Octopus, and illusory changes. Instead, shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal, plant, or inanimate object.

Sixth sense - see Extra-sensory perception (ESP), commonly called the sixth sense

Skeptic - One who uses skepticism.

Skepticism or scepticism - (Greek: skeptomai, to look about, to consider) refers to an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object.

Sleep Paralysis - a common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles and areflexia that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep. Stimuli such as touch or sound may terminate the episode, which usually has a duration of seconds to minutes. This condition may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. More or less it is a state of seeming to be awake but unable to move.

Spectre - or specter may refer to a ghost, or another kind of spiritual being or sprite.

Sprite - The term sprite is a broad term referring to a number of preternatural legendary creatures. The term is generally used in reference to elf-like creatures, including fairies, dwarves, and the likes of it; but can also signify various spiritual beings, including ghosts. The word "sprite" is derived from the Latin "spiritus" (spirit).

Spirit - The English word "spirit" comes from the Latin "spiritus" (breath). The term is commonly used to refer to a substance which is transcendent and therefore metaphysical in nature. Some people refer spirits to ghosts

Spirit guide - "Spirit guide" is a term used by the Western tradition of Spiritualist Churches, mediums, and psychics to describe an entity that remains a disincarnate spirit in order to act as a spiritual counselor or protector to a living incarnated human being.

Spirit possession - is a concept of paranormal, supernatural and/or superstitious belief in which spirits, gods, daemons, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behavior.

Spiritualism - is a religion that began in the United States and flourished from the 1840s to the 1920s—especially in English-language countries. By 1897, it is said to have had more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes. Spiritualism is theistic, believing in God, but the distinguishing feature is belief that spirits of the dead can be contacted by "mediums" and provide information about the afterlife.

Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC) - refers to the belief that the human body sometimes burns without an external source of ignition. There is much speculation and controversy regarding SHC, for it is not a proven natural phenomenon. Many theories and hypotheses have attempted to explain how SHC might occur, but those which rely on current scientific understanding say that instances mistaken for spontaneous combustion actually required a source of ignition. One such hypothesis is the "wick effect", in which the clothing of the victim soaks up melted human fat and acts like the wick of a candle. Another possibility is that the clothing is caused to burn by a discharge of static electricity. The likelihood that truly spontaneous human combustion actually takes place is remote, due to the presence of water and the lack of highly flammable compounds and oxygen in the human body.

Stigmata - are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus.

Subconscious - is defined as existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond conscious awareness.

Subjective consciousness - refers to a state of consciousness, in which a person is constantly aware of himself as well as outside factors.

Subliminal message - is a signal or message embedded in another medium, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. These messages are unrecognizable by the conscious mind, but in certain situations can affect the subconscious or deeper mind and later actions or attitudes.

Succubus - A female demon which seduces men in dreams 

Supernatural - or supranatural (Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature") pertains to entities, events or powers regarded as beyond nature, in that they cannot be explained by the currently understood laws of the natural world.

Synchronicity - is the experience of two or more events which occur in a meaningful manner, but which are causally unrelated.