G.R.I.M Union Paranormal Glossary

A – F | G – L | M – R | S – Z

A

Abominable Snowman

- A legendary large, hairy, humanoid creature said to inhabit the Himalayas. Also known as Yeti.

Acheri

- In Indian mythology an Acheri is the ghost, or spirit, of a little girl who comes down from mountains and hilltops at night to bring sickness to humans, particularly children. The only defense against an Acheri was thought to be a red ribbon tied around one’s neck.

Afrit

- Also spelled Ifrit, Efreet, Ifreet, and Afreet. The Afrit comes from Arabian and Muslim folklore and is alleged to be a spirit demon who rises up like smoke from the spilt blood of murder victims. They are said to inspire unspeakable terror and, because of the unjust, brutal nature of their demise, they are ruthless towards their victims. Sometimes they are said to appear in the form of desert whirlwinds, and it has also been said that hey can take on a form similar to the Christian Devil, with hooves for feet and horns on their head. Driving a new nail into the blood-stained ground is thought to prevent their formation.

Afterlife

- Also called future life, life after death. A life or existence believed to follow death.

Akashic Records

- (Akasha is a Sanskrit word meaning “sky”, “space” or “aether”) A term used in Theosophy (and Anthroposophy) to describe a compendium of mystical knowledge encoded in a non-physical plane of existence. These records are described as containing all knowledge of human experience and the history of the cosmos. They are metaphorically described as a library; other analogues commonly found in discourse on the subject include a “Universal Computer” and the “Mind of God”. People who describe the records assert that they are constantly updated and that they can be accessed through Astral Projection. The concept originated in the theosophical movements of the 19th century. It is frequently used in New Age discourse.

Alchemy

- A medieval philosophy and early form of chemistry whose aims were the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of a cure for all diseases, and the preparation of a potion that gives eternal youth. The imagined substance capable of turning other metals into gold was called the philosophers’ stone.

Alien

- A creature from outer space; extraterrestrial.

Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)

- The term was coined by parapsychologist Charles Tart (b.1937), and it refers to a shift in the pattern of consciousness or normal waking state, for example during hypnosis, trance or dream state, when the conscious mind is subdued and the unconscious takes over.

Amulet

- An object, drawing, inscription or symbol believed to have supernatural or magic power to ward off evil spirits, the evil eye, disease, poor health and other misfortunes. Amulets are also worn to bring good luck as a kind of mascot or lucky charm.

Angel

- One of a class of spiritual beings; a celestial attendant of God. In medieval angelology, angels constituted the lowest of the nine celestial orders (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominations or dominions, virtues, powers, principalities or princedoms, archangels, and angels).

Angelology

- A doctrine or theory concerning angels.

Animism

- Rare today, but this very ancient way of perceiving the world may once have been universal. At the root of magic beliefs and practice, Animism is the belief that every natural object, both living and non-living, has a spirit or life force and is endowed with reason and intelligence.

Ankou

- Part of the Fairy lore of the Celtic countries. He is thought to be the personification of death, who comes to collect the souls of humans when they die. Ankou, who appears as a man or skeleton wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe, often atop a cart for collecting the dead. According to some he was the first child of Adam and Eve. Other versions have it that the Ankou is the first dead person of the year (though he is always depicted as adult, and male), charged with collecting the others before he can go to the afterlife.

Anomaly

- An odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.

Apparition

- A supernatural appearance of a person or thing, esp. a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith: a ghostly apparition at midnight.

Apport

- The paranormal transference of an article from one place to another, or an appearance of an article from an unknown source that is often associated with Poltergeist Activity or Spiritualistic Séances. Spiritualists and Mediums explain Apport as a process involving dematerialization and subsequent reintegration of the objects. Although numerous instances of Apport have been reported, many have been proven to be fraudulent.

Arrival Cases

- The appearance of a person before their actual arrival. Frequently the arriving phantom appears in the same clothing the individual is wearing at the same time. The individual is usually not aware of appearing in a distant location until told about it.

Asport

- The opposite of Apport, Asport refers to psychic phenomena involving the disappearance or transportation of objects, supposedly accomplished with the help of the spirits of the dead.

Astral Body

- A subtle body posited by many religious philosophers, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the physical body, composed of a subtle material. Noting a super-sensible substance pervading all space and forming the substance of a second body belonging to each individual. It accompanies the individual through life, is able to leave the human body at will, and survives the individual after death.

Astral Doorways

- Symbols and pictures that are used to help individuals in Astral Projection reach the Astral Plane. Tarot cards can be used but the definitive doorways are the Tattwas of the Eastern esoteric tradition.

Astral Plane

- Also called the Astral World, is a plane of existence postulated by classical (particularly neo-Platonic), medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions. It is the world of the planetary spheres, crossed by the soul in its Astral Body on the way to being born and after death, and generally said to be populated by Angels, Spirits or other immaterial beings.

Astral Projection

- The intentional act of having the spirit leave the body, whereas an Out-of-Body Experience happens involuntarily (such as while dreaming, or in a near-death experience).

Aumakua

- In Hawaiian mythology, an ʻAumakua is a family god, often a deified ancestor. The appearance of an animal one regarded as an ʻAumakua was often believed to be an omen (of good or ill). There are also many stories in an animal form intervening to save their descendants from harm. It was extremely bad luck to harm a manifested ʻAumakua.

Aura

- A distinctive but intangible quality that seems to surround a person or thing; atmosphere.

Automatic Writing / Automatic Art

- Writing performed without conscious thought or deliberation, typically by means of spontaneous free association or as a medium for spirits or psychic forces.

Autoscopy

- It refers to an experience in which a person, while believing him or her self to be awake, sees his or her body and the world from a location outside his or her physical body. Also known as an Out-of-Body Experience.

Avalon

- According to Celtic legend, a mystical island of immortal heroes where the enchanted sword Excalibur was forged and where a mortally wounded King Arthur was taken after a bloody battle.

B

Ba

- In Egyptian Mythology the Ba is in some regards the closest to the contemporary Western religious notion of a Soul, but it also was everything that makes an individual unique, similar to the notion of personality.

Bakechochin

- Translated as ‘haunted lantern’, in Japanese folklore a Bakechochin is a lantern inhabited by ghosts. If someone should light one of these ‘haunted lanterns’, it is thought that a hateful ghost may leap out of it and attack.

Ball Lightning

- The term refers to reports of luminous, usually spherical objects which vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. It is sometimes associated with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt.

Banshee

- (in Irish folklore) a spirit in the form of a wailing woman who appears to or is heard by members of a family as a sign that one of them is about to die.

Bhut

- The common word for ghosts in Bengali is Bhut. Also in Hindu Mythology, a Bhut is believed to be the restless ghost of someone who has died a violent death or committed suicide.

Bigfoot

- A very large, hairy, humanoid creature reputed to inhabit wilderness areas of the U.S. and Canada, esp. the Pacific Northwest. Also known as Sasquatch.

Bilocation

- Also known as as Multilocation, 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. One theory is that a person’s double or Doppelganger is somehow projected elsewhere and becomes visible to others either in solid form or ghostly form.

Black Magic / Black Arts

- Magic used for evil purposes; Witchcraft; Sorcery.

Black Shuck

- Alleged to be a phantom dog in British Folklore that has frequently been sighted in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Devon. His appearance is often considered a death omen.

Body Scanning

- The ability to look psychically into and around a human body in order to determine the person’s health and state of mind.

Bogeyman

- Also referred as Bogey, Boogyman, Bogyman, Boogieman and the Boogey Monster. In British Folklore, this is said to be an evil spirit who loves to cause trouble. Parents often say that if their child is naughty, the Bogeyman will get them, in an effort to make them behave.

Book of the Dead

- Refers to the funeral literature of Ancient Egypt. The texts consist of charms, hymns, spells and formulas developed to help the soul pass through the dangerous parts of the underworld.

Book of Shadows

- A book that contains rituals, laws, healing lore, chants, spells, divinatory methods, and other topics to guide Witches in practicing their craft.

Book Test

- The Book Test is a way for the deceased to communicate with the living and provide evidence of their survival after death. In the Book Test the deceased communicates through a Medium and provides the title of a book not known to the Medium. The deceased gives the book’s exact location and then specifies a page number, which is supposed to contain a message from the deceased.

Bridge of Souls

- Known in Mythology and Folklore as the heavenly road where souls of the dead must travel in order to get to the Afterlife.

Brownie

- In Scottish Folklore, Brownies are kindly spirits believed to look like small men about 3 feet high and wild in appearance. Also known as a Bwca.

Buruburu

- A terrible ghost from Japanese Folklore that for reasons unknown is said to lurk in forests and graveyards in the form of an old person, who is sometimes one-eyed.

Bwca

- See Brownie.

C

Cairn

- A heap of stones set up as a landmark, monument, tombstone, etc.

Cauld Lad of Hilton

- A spirit of a stable boy in English Folklore who is half Brownie and half Ghost and who is alleged to have haunted the Hilton Castle in Northumbria. He was an unhappy spirit who could be heard singing sadly.

Cerebral Anoxia

- The medical term for a lack of oxygen to the brain, which sometimes triggers sensory distortions and hallucinations. Some say rationally explaining the NDE & OBE phenomena.

Channeling

- The practice of professedly entering a meditative or trancelike state in order to convey messages from a spiritual guide.

Charms

- From the Latin word meaning song or chant, but today it is associated with magic and spells.

Chiang-Shih

- In Chinese Folklore, also known as “hopping ghost”, it is a combination of spirit monster and unburied corpse, which vaguely resembles a Western Vampire; it comes to life and wreaks death and misfortune.

Chupacabra

- A purported creature resembling a gargoyle, said to exist in parts of Mexico and on Puerto Rico. The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats.

Churel

- In India, Churels are thought to haunt graveyards or squalid places and take the form of a young woman with reversed feet and no mouth.

Clairvoyance

- A form of ESP (From 17th century French with clair meaning “clear” and voyance meaning “vision”). Is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses. Other related terms:

• Clairalience / Clairolefactor (smelling) – Also known as Clairescence. A person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of smelling.
• Clairaudience (hearing/ listening) – A person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by auditory means.
• Claircognizance (knowing) – A person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of intrinsic knowledge.
• Clairgustance (tasting) – 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) – A person acquires psychic knowledge primarily by means of feeling.

Close Encounter

- A purported observation of an Unidentified Flying Object or Extraterrestrial being(s).

Cloud Busting

- Also known as Cloud Dissolving, this is the psychokinetic ability to make clouds disappear by thought or will.

Cold Reading

- A psychic reading made for someone the psychic has never met.

Control

- A discarnate entity or spirit of the dead that is thought to communicate through a trance medium.

Corpse Candles

- In British Folklore, Corpse Candles are mysterious candles that float through the air by night and hover near locations where death is imminent.

Cross Correspondences

- A method used in the early twentieth century to test the powers of mediums.

Cross-Species Communication

- To have a special rapport and understanding with animals, plants or alien beings.

Cryptid

- A term which is used in Cryptozoology to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested but that is unrecognized by a scientific consensus, and whose existence is moreover often regarded as highly unlikely.

Cryptomnesia

- Information that is forgotten or repressed but which comes to the surface in medium-ship or contact with spirits of the dead.

Cryptozoology

- The study of evidence tending to substantiate the existence of, or the search for, creatures whose reported existence is unproved, as the Abominable Snowman or the Loch Ness monster.

Crystal Ball / Crystal Globe

- A tool used to help diviners go into a psychic trance, the Crystal Ball is perhaps the classic and best-known method of divination.

Crystalomancy

- Also known as Scrying. The art of gazing into a Crystal Ball, a pool of water, a mirror, or any transparent object. The person may put him/her self into a hypnotic state to see visions or to summon forth spirits or demons.

D

Day of the Dead

- A festival held every year (in Latin America) that brings the living and the dead together for a great feast and celebration, to remember the dead and placate them for another year.

Deathbed Visions

- Visions experienced by the dying. Most are visions of the afterlife, glowing entities of light and apparitions.

Death Omens

- In folklore a Death Omen is a sign of an impending death. Every culture has its own unique Death Omens.

Deja Vu

- The illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.

Demon

- An evil spirit; devil, fiend or supernatural being.

Demonology

- One who studies and practices the art of demonology. An individual who specializes in the removal of evil or demonic forces from a given environment using the art of demonology. One who brings demonic forces out of their slumber to be cast away. Someone who uses the art of demonology to incantate demons for ones use in battling them.

Depossession

- See Exorcism.

Dermography

- Skin Writing. Although Dermography is similar to Stigmata, the only difference is Dermography lasts only for a few minutes where as Stigmata could last for an entire lifetime.

Devas

- From the Sanskrit meaning ’shining’, in Hinduism and Buddhism, Devas are believed to be exalted beings with great powers. In Theosophy and Occult traditions they are a class of beings midway between Angels and Elemental Spirits, having special authority over the world of nature.

Devil

- The supreme spirit of evil; Satan. A subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.

Devil’s Mark

- A name given by Demonologists and Medieval Witch-Hunters to a scar, blemish or mark on the skin said to be imprinted by the devil as a seal or sign of his possession of the person.

Dice Test

- Experimental technique used for investigating Psychokinesis, in which a subject attempts to influence the fall of dice.

Direct Voice Mediumship

- The independent speaking of a Spirit voice that does not seem to emanate from any living person in a given environment and without using the Medium’s vocal cords.

Direct Writing

- Direct writing is when spirits actually write using any means. This can be done by slate writing or by pen and paper.

Discarnate Entity / Disembodied Spirit

- Terms used to describe a Spirit, Ghost, or other non-physical or non-material Entity who once had an earthly body (incarnate existence) but now are dead and have become Discarnate – from the Latin dis ‘without’ and caro, ‘flesh’.

Divination

- The practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means.

Divining Rod / Dowsing Rod

- A rod, esp. a forked stick, commonly of hazel, supposed to be useful in locating underground water, metal deposits, etc.

Domovik

- In Russian folklore meaning a Spirit with a grey beard referred to as the Grandfather. Known as the ancestor that founded the family and moves with the family from house to house..

Doppelganger/ Double

- A ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.

Dreamtime

- An Australian Aboriginal belief of a psychic realm that can be accessed in meditation, trance or in dreams and can be accessed by everyone.

Drop in Communicator

- A mysterious Entity, entirely unknown to a medium, sitter or anyone present, who appears without warning and without an invitation at a Seance.

Duppy

- A Ghost of West Indian tradition and unknown origin, regarded as evil, i.e the Devil. Operates at night and is required to return to the grave before dawn. The breath of a Duppy will make a victim violently ill, while the touch of the Spirit will induce epileptic fits and seizures.

Dybbuk

- A Hebrew term from a word meaning “cleaving” or “clinging”, and according to Jewish lore it is a wandering, disembodied, Evil Spirit which enters a person’s body and holds fast.

E

Earth Lights

- Also known as Ghost Lights, Earth Lights are mysterious patches of light reported to have been seen at more than a hundred or so sites in remote locations.

Ectoplasm

- The visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead. An immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost.

Elementals

- In certain occult systems, an inhabitant of one of the four elements first appearing in the alchemical works of Paracelsus. Traditionally, there are four types: Gnomes – Earth Elementals, Undines – Water Elementals, Sylphs – Air Elementals & Salamanders – Fire Elementals.

EMF (Electromagnetic Field)

– A physical field produced by electrically charged objects. It affects the behavior of charged objects in the vicinity of the field.

EMF Meter / EMF Detector

– A scientific instrument for measuring Electromagnetic Fields.

Entity

– A spirit who comes back to help, sometimes attaching to a human for influential purposes.

ESP (Extrasensory Perception)

– Involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind.

E.V.P (Electronic Voice Phenomena)

– Electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings.

Exorcise

- To seek to expel (an evil spirit) by adjuration or religious or solemn ceremonies: to exorcise a demon. Other related terms:

• Exorcism - The act or process of exorcising.
• Exorcist – A person who practices exorcism.

Extrasensory Perception

– See ESP.

Extraterrestrial

- Outside, or originating outside, the limits of the earth.

F

Fairy

- (In folklore) One of a class of supernatural beings, generally conceived as having a diminutive human form and possessing magical powers with which they intervene in human affairs.

Faith Healing

- Healing effected through prayer or religious faith.

Flying Saucer

- Any of various disk-shaped objects allegedly seen flying at high speeds and altitudes, often with extreme changes in speed and direction, and thought by some to be manned by intelligent beings from outer space. Compare to UFO.

A – F | G – L | M – R | S – Z

Definitions compliments of G.R.I.M Union Members, About.com, Dictionary.com, Wikipedia.com and The Element Encyclopedia of Ghosts & Hauntings.