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LEVITATION
The raising or suspension of persons or objects into the air without any
apparent agency as required by known physical laws of motion and
gravity.
LUCID DREAM
A dream in which the dreamer is conscious of the fact that they are
dreaming.
LUMINOUS PHENOMENA
The paranormal production of light phenomena, generally in the
presence of certain physical mediums.
MACRO-PK
See under Psychokinesis.
MEDITATION
A broad term embracing a number of techniques for achieving various altered
states of awareness, with some of these altered states resulting in
the ecstatic qualities of so-called “peak experience;” most
meditative techniques are ways of learning to still the agitation of the
mind so that more subtle and valuable aspects of self and reality may be
perceived; some techniques involve concentration, in which attention is
focused on a particular object and restrained from wandering, while
others involve giving one’s total attention to whatever spontaneously
happens, with no attempt to control or focus attention.
MENTALISM
The practice of simulating telepathy, performed for the purpose of
entertainment.
METAL-BENDING
See Psychokinetic Metal-bending.
MICRO-PK
See under Psychokinesis.
MINI-GELLER
A child or young person who can to some extent duplicate by paranormal
means the metal-bending feats of Uri Geller. See also Geller
Effect.
MUSCLE-READING
A phenomena which mimics telepathy, in which a person is able,
for example, to find a hidden object by means of physical contact with
the person who knows its whereabouts, probably due to subtle muscular
cues that the latter provides unconsciously; also known as “Cumberlandism,”
after Stuart Cumberland, a nineteenth century practitioner of this art.
MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE
An experience which, according to Michael A. Thalbourne (1991a, 1991b),
consists of a majority of the following features: it tends to be sudden
in onset, joyful, and difficult to verbalize; it involves a sense of
perceiving the purpose of existence; an insight into “the harmony of
things;” a perception of an ultimate unity — of oneness;
transcendence of the ego; an utter conviction of immortality; and it
tends to be temporary, authoritative and to be attributed supreme value.
Some people interpret the mystical experience as an experience of unity
with God.
NDE
See Near-Death Experience.
NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE (NDE)
Term applied to experiences undergone by persons who either seem to be
at the point of death (or who are even formally declared dead) but then
recover, or who narrowly escape death (as in a motor car accident)
without being seriously injured; it has been suggested that there is,
upon coming close to death, a “core” NDE made up of certain common
elements, such as a feeling of indescribable peace, a sense of being out
of one’ s body, a movement into a dark void or down a tunnel, seeing a
brilliant light, and entering that light; there may also be reported the
experience of so-called “panoramic memory” (the “life review”),
the encountering of an “unseen presence,” or being greeted by
deceased relatives or religious figures.
OBE
See Out-of-[the]-Body Experience.
OCCULT
Term referring to certain reputed sciences and practices such as magic,
astrology, witchcraft, sorcery, and so on, involving esoteric knowledge
or the employment of mysterious agencies; not to be confused with
scientific parapsychology. [From the Latin occultus,
“covered over, concealed”]
OUT-OF-[THE]-BODY EXPERIENCE (OBE, or OOBE)
An experience, either spontaneous or induced, in which one’s center of
consciousness seems to be in a spatial location outside of one’s
physical body; Celia Green distinguishes two types of such
“ecsomatic” [From the Greek ek, “out of,” + soma,
“body”] experiences: the “parasomatic” [From the Greek para,
“along side of”] in which the person appears to themselves to
possess a duplicate body, sometimes connected to the physical body by a
“silver cord;” and the “asomatic” [From the Greek a-,
“without”] in which they feel themselves to be entirely bodiless; in
either case, many experients claim to perceive their physical bodies
lying inert, to see and hear people while remaining unperceived
themselves, and to perceive objects and events normally beyond the range
of their physical senses; of special interest to parapsychologists on
account of its alleged connection with clairvoyance, and to
students of survival as providing an example of what disembodied
existence could be like. The term “OBE” is preferred by
parapsychologists for the phenomena also known as “astral
projection,” “traveling clairvoyance.” See also Astral
Body. [Dale & White, 1977]
ESP PROJECTION
Term coined by Hornell Hart to refer to a type of OBE in which
the person “projecting” their consciousness out of their body
actually feels that they are out of their body, may be seen by other
people at a distant point, and afterwards reports a veridical
description of what he or she observed at that point.
PARANORMAL
Term applied to any phenomenon which in one or more respects exceeds the
limits of what is deemed physically possible on current scientific
assumptions; often used as a synonym for “psychic,”
“parapsychological,” “attibutable to psi,” or even
“miraculous” (although shorn of religious overtones). [From the
Greek para, “beside, beyond,” + normal]
PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL
Involving or pertaining to parapsychology or paranormal
processes.
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
Term coined in German by Max Dessoir (1889) and adopted by J. B. Rhine
in English to refer to the scientific study of paranormal or
ostensibly paranormal phenomena, that is, psi; except in Britain, the
term has largely superseded the older expression “psychical
research;” used by some to refer to the experimental approach to
the field. [From the Greek para, “beside, beyond,” +
psychology, derived from the Greek psyche, “soul, mind,” + logos
“rational discussion”]
PAST-LIFE REGRESSION
A process in which a hypnotized person is mentally “taken
back” (or “regressed”) by the hypnotist to one or more apparent
previous life-times, thus suggesting reincarnation.
PERCIPIENT
Broadly speaking, someone who perceives or who has a perception-like
experience, in particular, the person who experiences or “receives”
an extrasensory influence or impression; also one who is tested for ESP
ability. Compare Agent. [From the Latin percipiens (percipientis),
derived from percipere, “to receive, understand”]
PHOTOGRAPHY, PARANORMAL
The paranormal production of images on photographic film; also
known as “thoughtography,” a term used to describe the experiments
of Tomokichi Fukurai (1931) but adopted by Jule Eisenbud to describe the
phenomena produced by Ted Serios, as if mental images were
“projected” onto the film. See also Thoughtography; Spirit
Photography.
PK
See Psychokinesis.
POLTERGEIST
A disturbance characterized by bizarre physical effects of paranormal
origin, suggesting mischievous or destructive intent: these phenomena
include the unexplained movement or breakage of objects, loud raps, the
lighting of fires, and occasionally personal injury to people; in
contrast to a haunting, the phenomena often seem to depend upon
the presence of a particular living individual, called the “focus,”
frequently an adolescent or child; and apparitions are rarely
seen. [German: literally, “noisy ghost”]
PRECOGNITION
A form of extrasensory perception in which the target is some
future event that cannot be deduced from normally known data in the
present. Compare Retrocognition. [From the Latin præ-,
“prior to,” + cognitio, “a getting to know”]
PREMONITION
A feeling or impression that something is about to happen, especially
something ominous or dire, yet about which no normal information is
available. See Precognition. [From the Latin præ,
“prior to,” + monitio, “warning”]
PSI (Ψ)
A general blanket term, proposed by B. P. Wiesner and seconded by R. H.
Thouless (1942), and used either as a noun or adjective to identify paranormal
processes and paranormal causation; the two main categories of psi are
psi-gamma (paranormal cognition; extrasensory perception) and
psi-kappa (paranormal action; psychokinesis), although the
purpose of the term “psi” is to suggest that they might simply be
different aspects of a single process, rather than
distinct and essentially different processes. Strictly speaking
“psi” also applies to survival of death. Some thinkers prefer
to use “psi” as a purely descriptive term for anomalous
outcomes, as suggested by Palmer (1986, p. l39), who defines it as “a
correspondence between the cognitive or physiological activity of an
organism and events in its external environment that is anomalous with
respect to generally accepted basic limiting principles of nature such
as those articulated by C. D. Broad.” [From the Greek, psi,
twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek psyche,
“mind, soul”]
PSI-CONDUCIVE
Favorable to, or facilitative of, the occurrence of psi, whether it be
manifested as psi-hitting or psi-missing.
PSI-HITTING
The use of psi in such a way that the target at which the subject is
aiming is “hit” (that is, correctly responded to, in a test of extrasensory
perception; or influenced, in a test of psychokinesis), more
frequently than would be expected if only chance were operating;
the term is also sometimes used, misleadingly, to refer merely to
nonsignificant positive scoring. Hence, “psi-hitter,” a subject who
exhibits a tendency to psi-hit. Compare Psi-Missing. [Abbreviated to
Ψ H by James Carpenter]
PSI-MISSING
The use of psi in such a way that the target at which the subject is
aiming is “missed” (that is, responded to incorrectly, in a test of extrasensory
perception; or influenced in a direction contrary to aim, in a test
of psychokinesis) more frequently than would be expected if only chance
were operating; the term is also sometimes used, misleadingly, to refer
simply to nonsignificant negative scoring. Hence, “psi-misser,” a
subject who displays a tendency to psi-miss. Compare Psi-Hitting.
[Abbreviated to Ψ M by James Carpenter]
PSI PHENOMENON
Any event which results from, or is an instance of, the operation of psi;
examples are the forms of extrasensory perception and psychokinesis.
PSYCHIC(AL)
As a noun, “psychic” refers to an individual who possesses psi
ability of some kind and to a relatively high degree; as an adjective,
it is nowadays applied to paranormal events, abilities, research,
and so on, and thus means “concerning or involving psi,” or “parapsychological.”
[From the Greek psychikos, “of the soul, mental,”
derived from psyche, “soul, mind”]
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH
The original term for “parapsychology,” still widely used,
especially in Britain.
PSYCHIC ARCHEOLOGY
Archeological research which is pursued with the assistance of a
sensitive or other source of paranormal information.
PSYCHIC HEALING
See Healing, Psychic.
PSYCHIC PHOTOGRAPHY
See Photography, Paranormal.
PSYCHIC SURGERY
A form of psychic healing practiced particularly in the
Philippines, in which diseased tissue are said to be removed without the
use of surgical instruments, and bleeding, infection, and the like, are
inhibited paranormally. The term is also used of surgery in which
the surgeon operates while in a trance, as performed by J. Arigo and
other Brazilian exponents of this practice, usually using unsterilized
knives as scalpels.
PSYCHOKINESIS
Paranormal action; term coined by Henry Holt and adopted by J. B.
Rhine to refer to the direct influence of mind on a physical system that
cannot be entirely accounted for by the mediation of any known physical
energy. See also Psi-Kappa under Psi; Retroactive PK;
Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis. [From the Greek psyche,
“mind, soul,” + kinesis, “a moving, disturbance,”
derived from kinein, “to set in motion”]
PSYCHOKINETIC METAL-BENDING (PK-MB)
A psychokinetic effect in which metallic objects such as keys,
cutlery and so on are subjected to more or less permanent deformation or
other structural change.
PSYCHOMETRY
Term coined by Joseph Rodes Buchanan (1893) to refer to the practice in
which sensitives hold an object in their hands and obtain paranormal
information about the object or its owner; owing to the confusion with a
psychological term, “psychometry” has in recent years been
superseded by “token-object reading.” [From the Greek psyche,
“soul, mind,” + metrein, “to measure”]
PSYCHOTRONICS
Czech term for “parapsychology” (excluding the study of
survival), but embracing certain phenomena that are not now generally
accepted as parapsychological. According to (the late) Larissa Vilenskaya (1983, p.
107), the term was first pro-posed with the analogy of “bionics” in
mind, to refer to “the field dealing with the construction of devices
capable of enhancing and/or reproducing certain psi phenomena (such as
psychokinesis in the case of ‘psychotronic generators’ developed by
Robert Pavlita) and later embraced some other phenomena.” [Dale &
White, 1977]
QUALITATIVE EXPERIMENT
(i) Any test for extrasensory perception which uses target
material and forms of response which do not allow a definite
probability-value to be attached to the response items made; examples
are most free-response tests, tests of psychometry, mediumistic
utterances, and so on; statistical evaluation of such data must
therefore proceed in an indirect fashion, by assigning a
probability-value to the matching-performance of a judge; (ii) Any
attempt to demonstrate qualitative phenomena. Compare Quantitative
Experiment. [Ultimately derived from the Latin qualis,
“what kind of?”]
QUANTITATIVE EXPERIMENT
Any test for psi which uses targets each of which has a
specific prescribed value for the probability of its occurrence; such a
test therefore allows for direct statistical evaluation of the results
obtained. Compare Qualitative Experiment. [Ultimately derived
from the Latin quantus, “how great,how much?”]
RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR (RNG)
An apparatus (typically electronic) incorporating an element (based on
such processes as radioactive decay or random “noise”) and capable
of generating a random sequence of outputs; used in tests of psi
for generating target sequences, and in tests of psychokinesis
may itself be the target system which the subject is required to
influence, that is, by “biasing” the particular number or event
output; a binary RNG has two equally-probable outputs; the term
“RNG” is increasingly being used to refer to any system which
produces naturally random outputs, such as bouncing dice, radioactive
decay, or even, perhaps, the brain.
READING
The statements made by a sensitive (or as a result of the process
of divination) in the course of an attempt to obtain paranormal
information or “messages.”
RECEIVER
An expression which is less technical than “percipient,” used
to indicate the subject designated as the “recipient” of telepathic
information. Compare Sender.
RECURRENT SPONTANEOUS PSYCHOKINESIS (RSPK)
Expression coined by William G. Roll to refer to paranormal
physical effects which occur repeatedly over a period of time,
especially used as a neutral description of poltergeist
disturbances. See also Psychokinesis.
REINCARNATION
A form of survival in which the human soul, or some aspects of self, is,
after the death of the body, reborn into a new body, this process being
repeated throughout many lives. From the Latin re-,
“again,” + in-, “into,” + caro (carnis),
“flesh”]
REMOTE VIEWING
A neutral term for general extrasensory perception introduced
Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff (1974), especially in the context of an
experimental design in which a percipient attempts to describe
the surroundings of a geographically distant agent.
ASSOCIATIONAL REMOTE VIEWING (ARV)
As described by Targ (1983), a form of remote viewing in which
the area where a desired item might be located is divided up into a
finite number of discrete locations; each of the possible locations,
or addresses, is associated or linked with a laboratory-based token
object or picture (such as of the Golden Gate Bridge); the viewer is
then asked to describe the associated target-object, thereby
indirectly choosing a particular target-location or address.
RETROACTIVE PK
Psychokinesis occurring in such a way as to be an instance of
retroactive causation; to say that event A was caused by retroactive PK
is to say that A would not have happened in the way that it did had it
not been for a later PK effort exerted so as to influence it. Sometimes
abbreviated to “retro-PK;” also referred to as “backward PK” or
“time-displaced PK.”
RETROCOGNITION
Term coined by Frederic Myers to refer to a form of extrasensory
perception in which the target is some past event which could not
have been learned or inferred by normal means. Compare Precognition
[From the Latin retro, “backward, behind,” + cognitio,
“a getting to know”]
RSPK
See Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis.
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