TERMS
Here is a list of some terms and words that are used in the field of Paranormal Investigation. If you have any questions or comments, just click the email address. stlouisghosthunter@sbcglobal.net
Agent The apparition, or ghost, seen by a human being
Anomaly - Something that cannot be explained or is difficult to classify.
Apparition - A supernatural manifestation of a spiritual body of a deceased person or animal.
Banshee – A wailing spirit or “death omen” that will appear to be in two different places at the same time.
Cold Spot - An area in which an apparition's energy is said to have manifested itself. This usually results in a temperature change.
Collective Apparition - A rare type of sighting in which more than one person sees the same apparition or phenomena.
Crisis Apparition – A crisis apparition is a specific type of out-of-body experience in which the agent projects his or her astral body at a time of crisis or death to a particular percipient, usually a loved one.
Demon - An inferior deity often spoken of in religious text as pure evil.
Dejavu - The experience of having the feeling that you have experienced a situation or event before.
Dematerialization - The disappearance of or fading of a physical object.
Discarnate - Having no physical form or body.
Disembodied - separated from the body
Doppelganger – An exact spirit double or mirror image of a person which is considered to be very negative.
Ectoplasm - A product of a psychic energy that usually forms like a fog, mist or solid mass. The ectoplasm also can take a vortex shape.
Electromagnetic Field Meter (EMF) - This tool is widely used by paranormal investigators to detect changes in the electromagnetic field.
Elementals – Spiritualists commonly refer to this term to describe mean or angry spirits sometimes also called “Earth Spirits”.
ESP - Extrasensory perception is the knowledge of external events with the aid of senses.
EVP - Electronic Voice Phenomena is the recoding of a spirit voice or sound on tape or a digital recorder. It is common to report that nothing may be heard at the initial time of the recording but is later discovered upon review of the playback.
Exorcism - The banishment of an entity or entities i.e. spirits, ghosts and demons that is thought to possess or haunt a location or human being or animal. The ritual, which can be religious in nature, is conducted by an exorcist who will call upon a Higher Power to cast away any evil forces that may reside there.
Ghost -Usually this is the visual appearance of a spirit energy or soul of a deceased person or animal. A ghost may make their presence known through strange smells, noises, cool breezes or even the movement of objects.
Ghost Sickness- The belief that ghosts can cause illness and death.
Gray Lady - A gray lady is the ghost of a woman whose death has been caused by a loved one or who died while waiting for her lover to return or appear.
Haunt - A ghost that returns to the same location is said to haunt it. Ghosts generally haunt places, not people, however it is not unusual for a spirit to attach itself to a particular individual or family due to a familial connection.
Haunting - The repeated manifestation of strange and inexplicable sensory phenomena said to be caused by ghosts or spirits.
Hypnosis - An artificially induced altered state of consciousness, characterized by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction.
Intelligent Haunting - A spirit that seems to live in a specific area and acts with it s own free will while showing some type of intelligence. This type of spirit is aware of your presence and on occasion will interact with you in some fashion.
Ley Lines
Alignments of ancient sites, these are considered to be earth's natural energy lines and also that spirit may use these lines as a way of traveling quickly from one place to another. It has also been suggested that where two Ley Lines cross there is a possible chance of a portal opening to other dimensions.
Manifestation - If a spirit or entity actually takes form and makes its presence known. This can result in a constant outbreak of paranormal activity.
Marian apparition - The appearance of the ghostlike figure of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
Materialization - The deliberate, though usually temporary, visible formation of a spirit or energy
Matrixing - a term used to describe the misidentification of something ordinary as something unusual. Often, it is a face or figure and seems to be human.
Medium - Someone who professes to be able communicate with spirits on behalf of another living being, acting as a midway point halfway between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Metaphysics A field of study dedicated to the nature of reality.
Necromancy/Necromancer - A form of prophecy, in which the seer or sorcerer/sorceress raises the spirit (though not usually the corporal remains) of the dead in order to have the wraith foretell future events. It was thought that upon entering eternity, the spirit would have full knowledge of the past, present, and future.
Occult - relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena; often used to refer to such practices as magic, astrology, witchcraft, etc., but not to be confused with parapsychological events.
Orb – A photographed anomaly that theoretically represents the “spirit” of a deceased person. It will appear as a ball of light on film though is some cases; they are not seen at the time of the photo. Since there are many reasonable circumstances (dust, snow, rain, insects, reflection, lens flare, etc.) orbs still remain a highly controversial subject. FOR A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF ORB'S click ORB
Ouija Board - A board with the alphabet and other symbols on it which is used to communicate with the deceased. The operator uses a planchette, which in turn moves across the board spelling out messages to the operator.
Pagan - A worshiper of a polytheistic religion, although some sects of Christianity consider all non-Christians to be pagan.
Paredolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse.
Paranormal - Something that is beyond the range of normal human experience or scientific explanation.
Paranormal Researcher - Ant person that investigates unexplained phenomena of the supernatural kind. This individual or group of individuals makes a valiant attempt to prove or disprove paranormal occurrences through various research methods.
Parapsychology - The scientific study of paranormal phenomena.
Phantom - Something that is seen, heard, or sensed, but has no physical reality (See Ghost).
Phenomenon - A term used to collectively describe anything that cannot be explained in scientific terms.
Poltergeist - Poltergeist is a german word that means "noisy ghost".
Possession - The idea that a person’s mind and soul can be possessed by a departed spirit.
Precognition - Knowing something in advance of the situation. To know the future.
Premonition - A feeling or impression that something, usually dire in nature, is about to happen and about which no normal information is available.
Physic - A person that uses or appears to be gifted with a sixth sense. The ability to be able to tap into the past, present or future.
purgatory In Roman Catholic doctrine, the place where souls of people who have died in grace must suffer while being cleansed of their sins before they can be admitted into heaven.
Residual Haunting - This type of haunting can occur at the same time every time or during the same conditions every time. It is often thought of as if you were watching the same movie clip over and over. It could be considered an imprint on the walls of time. With this type of haunting, the spirit has no idea that you or anyone else is there.
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.
recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK) Paranormal physical effects occurring repeatedly over time; a neutral description of poltergeist occurrences.
Reincarnation - The belief that the human soul, or some aspect of self, transcends death and is reborn, usually into a new physical body, with the journey being repeated through many lifetimes.
Remote Viewing – Used by some psychics, this is a procedure in which the percipient or psychic attempts to become physically aware of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown location through ESP.
Seance - This involves communicating with the dead. A medium is usually the contact person for the spirit world.
Sensitive - Someone who can sense a paranormal presence.
Shadow People - Theses ghosts usually appear as a shadow and are very quick. They are normally the type of spirits that are seen out of the corner of your eye or maybe in a mirror.
Shaman – A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events.
Sixth Sense - See ESP
Soul - While difficult to define due to the different definitions of soul among various religions, it is often thought to be the life-force of an individual.
Spirit - A discarnate being, essence or supernatural force of nature. While a ghost is a manifestation of a spirit that has existed in human form, not all spirits have resided on earth. Spirits can manifest themselves in the forms of orbs, mist, vortexes, or shadows.
Spirit Attachment - A type of possession. While the spirit does not actively possess the individual it does become attached to it. Much like haunting a person rather than a place.
Specter – A ghostly apparition; a phantom.
Stigmata – Unexplained bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain corresponding in location to the crucifixion wounds of Christ.
Supernatural - This is something that exists or happens through some means other than any known force in nature. As opposed to paranormal, the term, supernatural, often denotes divine or demonic intervention.
Telekinesis - The ability to move objects with your mind just by the thought process. One may be able to knock an object over or move the object by concentrating on the matter.
Telepathy - To know what others are thinking. To read ones mind.
Vortex - In photography, this is the appearance of an unexplained object such as an unexplained line, swirl, twist of light, striped rope, or tube shaped object.
White Noise - A hiss like sound formed by combining all audible frequencies. This is often used as back ground for EVP recordings.
Agent The apparition, or ghost, seen by a human being
Anomaly - Something that cannot be explained or is difficult to classify.
Apparition - A supernatural manifestation of a spiritual body of a deceased person or animal.
Banshee – A wailing spirit or “death omen” that will appear to be in two different places at the same time.
Cold Spot - An area in which an apparition's energy is said to have manifested itself. This usually results in a temperature change.
Collective Apparition - A rare type of sighting in which more than one person sees the same apparition or phenomena.
Crisis Apparition – A crisis apparition is a specific type of out-of-body experience in which the agent projects his or her astral body at a time of crisis or death to a particular percipient, usually a loved one.
Demon - An inferior deity often spoken of in religious text as pure evil.
Dejavu - The experience of having the feeling that you have experienced a situation or event before.
Dematerialization - The disappearance of or fading of a physical object.
Discarnate - Having no physical form or body.
Disembodied - separated from the body
Doppelganger – An exact spirit double or mirror image of a person which is considered to be very negative.
Ectoplasm - A product of a psychic energy that usually forms like a fog, mist or solid mass. The ectoplasm also can take a vortex shape.
Electromagnetic Field Meter (EMF) - This tool is widely used by paranormal investigators to detect changes in the electromagnetic field.
Elementals – Spiritualists commonly refer to this term to describe mean or angry spirits sometimes also called “Earth Spirits”.
ESP - Extrasensory perception is the knowledge of external events with the aid of senses.
EVP - Electronic Voice Phenomena is the recoding of a spirit voice or sound on tape or a digital recorder. It is common to report that nothing may be heard at the initial time of the recording but is later discovered upon review of the playback.
Exorcism - The banishment of an entity or entities i.e. spirits, ghosts and demons that is thought to possess or haunt a location or human being or animal. The ritual, which can be religious in nature, is conducted by an exorcist who will call upon a Higher Power to cast away any evil forces that may reside there.
Ghost -Usually this is the visual appearance of a spirit energy or soul of a deceased person or animal. A ghost may make their presence known through strange smells, noises, cool breezes or even the movement of objects.
Ghost Sickness- The belief that ghosts can cause illness and death.
Gray Lady - A gray lady is the ghost of a woman whose death has been caused by a loved one or who died while waiting for her lover to return or appear.
Haunt - A ghost that returns to the same location is said to haunt it. Ghosts generally haunt places, not people, however it is not unusual for a spirit to attach itself to a particular individual or family due to a familial connection.
Haunting - The repeated manifestation of strange and inexplicable sensory phenomena said to be caused by ghosts or spirits.
Hypnosis - An artificially induced altered state of consciousness, characterized by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction.
Intelligent Haunting - A spirit that seems to live in a specific area and acts with it s own free will while showing some type of intelligence. This type of spirit is aware of your presence and on occasion will interact with you in some fashion.
Ley Lines
Alignments of ancient sites, these are considered to be earth's natural energy lines and also that spirit may use these lines as a way of traveling quickly from one place to another. It has also been suggested that where two Ley Lines cross there is a possible chance of a portal opening to other dimensions.
Manifestation - If a spirit or entity actually takes form and makes its presence known. This can result in a constant outbreak of paranormal activity.
Marian apparition - The appearance of the ghostlike figure of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
Materialization - The deliberate, though usually temporary, visible formation of a spirit or energy
Matrixing - a term used to describe the misidentification of something ordinary as something unusual. Often, it is a face or figure and seems to be human.
Medium - Someone who professes to be able communicate with spirits on behalf of another living being, acting as a midway point halfway between the worlds of the living and the dead.
Metaphysics A field of study dedicated to the nature of reality.
Necromancy/Necromancer - A form of prophecy, in which the seer or sorcerer/sorceress raises the spirit (though not usually the corporal remains) of the dead in order to have the wraith foretell future events. It was thought that upon entering eternity, the spirit would have full knowledge of the past, present, and future.
Occult - relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena; often used to refer to such practices as magic, astrology, witchcraft, etc., but not to be confused with parapsychological events.
Orb – A photographed anomaly that theoretically represents the “spirit” of a deceased person. It will appear as a ball of light on film though is some cases; they are not seen at the time of the photo. Since there are many reasonable circumstances (dust, snow, rain, insects, reflection, lens flare, etc.) orbs still remain a highly controversial subject. FOR A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF ORB'S click ORB
Ouija Board - A board with the alphabet and other symbols on it which is used to communicate with the deceased. The operator uses a planchette, which in turn moves across the board spelling out messages to the operator.
Pagan - A worshiper of a polytheistic religion, although some sects of Christianity consider all non-Christians to be pagan.
Paredolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon, and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse.
Paranormal - Something that is beyond the range of normal human experience or scientific explanation.
Paranormal Researcher - Ant person that investigates unexplained phenomena of the supernatural kind. This individual or group of individuals makes a valiant attempt to prove or disprove paranormal occurrences through various research methods.
Parapsychology - The scientific study of paranormal phenomena.
Phantom - Something that is seen, heard, or sensed, but has no physical reality (See Ghost).
Phenomenon - A term used to collectively describe anything that cannot be explained in scientific terms.
Poltergeist - Poltergeist is a german word that means "noisy ghost".
Possession - The idea that a person’s mind and soul can be possessed by a departed spirit.
Precognition - Knowing something in advance of the situation. To know the future.
Premonition - A feeling or impression that something, usually dire in nature, is about to happen and about which no normal information is available.
Physic - A person that uses or appears to be gifted with a sixth sense. The ability to be able to tap into the past, present or future.
purgatory In Roman Catholic doctrine, the place where souls of people who have died in grace must suffer while being cleansed of their sins before they can be admitted into heaven.
Residual Haunting - This type of haunting can occur at the same time every time or during the same conditions every time. It is often thought of as if you were watching the same movie clip over and over. It could be considered an imprint on the walls of time. With this type of haunting, the spirit has no idea that you or anyone else is there.
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.
recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK) Paranormal physical effects occurring repeatedly over time; a neutral description of poltergeist occurrences.
Reincarnation - The belief that the human soul, or some aspect of self, transcends death and is reborn, usually into a new physical body, with the journey being repeated through many lifetimes.
Remote Viewing – Used by some psychics, this is a procedure in which the percipient or psychic attempts to become physically aware of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown location through ESP.
Seance - This involves communicating with the dead. A medium is usually the contact person for the spirit world.
Sensitive - Someone who can sense a paranormal presence.
Shadow People - Theses ghosts usually appear as a shadow and are very quick. They are normally the type of spirits that are seen out of the corner of your eye or maybe in a mirror.
Shaman – A member of certain tribal societies who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events.
Sixth Sense - See ESP
Soul - While difficult to define due to the different definitions of soul among various religions, it is often thought to be the life-force of an individual.
Spirit - A discarnate being, essence or supernatural force of nature. While a ghost is a manifestation of a spirit that has existed in human form, not all spirits have resided on earth. Spirits can manifest themselves in the forms of orbs, mist, vortexes, or shadows.
Spirit Attachment - A type of possession. While the spirit does not actively possess the individual it does become attached to it. Much like haunting a person rather than a place.
Specter – A ghostly apparition; a phantom.
Stigmata – Unexplained bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain corresponding in location to the crucifixion wounds of Christ.
Supernatural - This is something that exists or happens through some means other than any known force in nature. As opposed to paranormal, the term, supernatural, often denotes divine or demonic intervention.
Telekinesis - The ability to move objects with your mind just by the thought process. One may be able to knock an object over or move the object by concentrating on the matter.
Telepathy - To know what others are thinking. To read ones mind.
Vortex - In photography, this is the appearance of an unexplained object such as an unexplained line, swirl, twist of light, striped rope, or tube shaped object.
White Noise - A hiss like sound formed by combining all audible frequencies. This is often used as back ground for EVP recordings.