Glossary
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Simplified explanations were taken or adapted from different sources. For a complete definition, please refer to the link at the end of each term.
If you have a sugestion on something thats not here, please let us know.
Apparition - is an act or instance of appearing.
Apophenia – is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. The term was coined in 1958 by Klaus Conrad, who defined it as the “unmotivated seeing of connections” accompanied by a “specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness”. (www.wikipedia.org)
Asbestos - a fibrous inosilicate mineral; used for making fireproof articles; WARNING inhaling fibers can cause asbestosis or lung cancer. A really great article about this can be found here (Killer Warning-by TRIPRG)
Banishing – refers to one or more rituals intended to remove non-physical influences ranging from spirits to negative influences.
Cemetery – is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. Cemeteries in the Western world are the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed. These ceremonies or rites differ according to cultural practice and religious belief.
Channel - The medium through which a spirit guide purportedly communicates with the physical world. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
Charles Fort(1874-1932) - is perhaps the best known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences, though there were no doubt many more than these. (www.wikipedia.org)
Debunk – to expose a claim as being false or exaggerated. In our case to find the scientific reason for what going on.
Demon – In religion and mythology, occultism and folklore, a demon (or daemon, daimon) is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit or unclean spirit. (www.wikipedia.org)
Demonology - is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons.(www.wikipedia.org)
Disembodied Voice – a voice lacking a body or freed from the body. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
Ectoplasm – is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy “exteriorized” by physical mediums. Ectoplasm is said to be associated with the formation of ghosts, and asserted to be an enabling factor in psychokinesis. (www.wikipedia.org)
Electronic Audio Phenomena(EAP) - are electronically captured sounds that can not be classified as speech and are not the result of intentional voice/audio recordings. One example would be bells ringing that were captured on tape or digital media where none were physically heard.
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.
Electronic voice phenomena(EVP) - are electronically captured sounds that resemble speech but are not the result of intentional voice recordings.
Essence – the undying part of a human.
Ghost - the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person. Often described as immaterial and partly transparent, ghosts are reported to haunt particular locations or people that they were associated with in life or at time of death.
Haunted- location reportedly inhabited by ghosts or other supernatural beings. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghost lore, which is a form of folk lore.(For now.) (www.wikipedia.org)
Hypnagogic State – The hypnagogic state is that state between being awake and falling asleep. For some people, this is a time of visual and auditory hallucination. (www.wikipedia.org)
Ideomotor effect – is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. As in reflexive responses to pain, the body sometimes reacts reflexively to ideas alone without the person consciously deciding to take action. For instance, tears are produced by the body unconsciously in reaction to the emotion of sadness. (www.wikipedia.org)
Infestation – The presence of a large number of pest organisms in an area or field. In the paranormal usually referring to a malevolent spirit or a large number of spirit in an area or home.(www.wiktionary.org)
Intelligent haunting – a haunting in which a spiritual entity is aware of the living world and interacts with or responds to it. Ghost hunters and paranormal writers say that such a ghost or spirit may be able to communicate with the living, not just by talking, but by moving inanimate objects such as furniture or toys.(www.wikipedia.org)
Investigation - is the process of inquiring into a matter through research, follow-up, study, or formal procedure of discovery.
Karma - the principle of retributive justice determined by a person’s state of life or the effects of his past deeds, also the doctrine of inevitable consequence known as destiny or fate. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
Kirlian photography - Refers to a form of photogram made with a high voltage. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a source of high voltage, small corona discharges (created by the strong electric field at the edges of the object) create an image on the photographic plate. The image looks very much like an aura and in instances where the subject being photographed is missing an appendage the aura of the missing appendage still appears. (www.wikipedia.org)
Ley Lines – Refers to alleged alignments of ancient sites or holy places, such as stone circles, standing stones, cairns, and churches which are alleged sources of mystical energy. The alleged energy is connected to changes in magnetic fields. None of this has been scientifically verified. Maps have been produced, however, with lines on them which allegedly mark off special energy spots on earth. (www.skepdic.com)
Lucidity – Clearness of thought or style. A presumed capacity to perceive the truth directly and instantaneously; Clairvoyance. (www.merriam-webster.com)
Malevolent - Wishing evil or harm to another or others, showing ill will, or a inclination to destroy the happiness of others. An evil or malign in influence. (www.dictionary.com)
Medium – A person thought to have the power to communicate with the spirits of the dead or with agents of another world or dimension.(www.thefreedictionary.com)
Meter – is a piece of electronic equipment used to measure different fields, according to the specific type of equipment used.
Micro-PK(Micro Psychokinesis) – the supposed ability of the human mind to affect machines. (www.mind-energy.net)
Observation – is either an activity of a living being (such as a human), consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. (www.wikipedia.org)
Occult – comes from the Latin word occultus, 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. The terms esoteric and arcane can have a very similar meaning, and the three terms are often interchangeable. (www.wikipedia.org)
Orb – describes unexpected, typically circular artifacts in photographs, sometimes with trails, indicating motion. (www.wikipedia.org)
Ouija Board - also known as spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, and other symbols, theoretically used to communicate with spirits. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood) or movable indicator to indicate the spirit’s message by spelling it out on the board during a seance.(www.wikipedia.org)
Paranormal – is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science’s current ability to explain or measure.
Pareidolia – 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
Phenomenon – any event that is observable, however commonplace it might be, even if it requires the use of instrumentation to observe it.
Planchette - is a square or round-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”. Used since the beginning of the Spiritualism movement of the mid-nineteenth century, planchettes predate the invention of spirit boards. (www.wikipedia.org)
Research - the search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts and collect information.
Residual Haunting – are repeated playbacks of auditory, visual, olfactory, and other sensory phenomena which are attributed to a traumatic event, life-altering event, or a routine event of a person or place, like an echo of a videotape of past events replaying over and over.
Seance – is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word “seance” comes from the French word for “seat” “session” or “sitting” In English, however the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from spirits or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits; many people, including skeptics and non-believers, treat it as a form of entertainment. (www.wikipedia.org)
Sensitive – a person who can perceive and interpret the psychic energy or spirits around them. (www.thefreedictionary.com)
Shadow People – are supernatural shadow-like figures that appear as dark humanoid forms or evasive specters seen mostly in peripheral vision.(a.k.a. shadow figures, shadow beings, shadow men, or shadow folk)
Soul – the spiritual, innate essence, or eternal part of a living being
Spirit – refers to a a type of supernatural being, essence, or energy.
TMPRG- The Massacusets Paranormal Research Group 
TRIPRG – The Rhode Island Paranormal Research Group
Voice Stress Analysis(VSA) – is a lie detection technology, which is newer than the polygraph, but still controversial. VSA technology records psychophysiological stress responses that present in human voice, when a person suffers psychological stress in response to a stimulus question and where the consequences of lying may be dire for the subject being ‘tested’. In the Detection Of Deception (DOD) scenario, the voice-stress produced in response to a relevant question “did you do it?” is referred to as deceptive stress. In other words, the technique does not detect truth per se, but fear, unease, or other emotional stress about the question asked. Voice Stress Analysis is only applied as a type of lie detector.(www.thefreedictionary.com)
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