Paranormal Glossary

Paranormal investigators often use different terms to describe hauntings, equipment or different kinds of phenomena.  When you are starting out, it can be really overwhelming not knowing what all these terms mean.  To get you started, here is a glossary of some of the more common terms you may come across in paranormal research. Of course, we can always add more, but this is a great place to get you started.

Apparition: A visible appearance of a spirit, ghost, or entity. This can be anything from a shadowy outline to a full-bodied figure.

Automatic Writing: A form of spirit communication where a person writes words or messages without consciously controlling their hand.

Clairaudience: The ability to “hear” voices or sounds from the spirit world that others cannot.

Claircognizance: A sudden knowing or awareness of something without any logical explanation.

Clairgustance: The ability to taste something without a physical source, often linked to spirit contact.

Clairsentience: The ability to sense or feel emotions or energy around you.

Clairvoyance: The ability to “see” beyond the normal senses, often visions of spirits, places, or events.

Cold Spot: A sudden patch of cold air. Some believe that this occurs when a spirit draws in energy from the environment around us to manifest.

Collective Apparition: When more than one person sees the same apparition at the same time.

Crisis Apparition: A spirit appearing at the time of or shortly after a person’s death, often to loved ones.

Demonic: A negative entity believed to be a demon that can influence or harm a person.

Debunk: To explain or dismiss an experience by finding a natural or logical explanation.

Direct Voice Phenomenon (DVP): A spirit voice heard in real time with your ears, not just through recordings.

Doppelgänger: A physical double of a living person that is not a relation or known to the person. Some people see it as an omen.

Dowsing Rods: Rods used for divination, often repurposed by investigators to detect energy changes or spirit presence. also used to detect water in the ground.

Electromagnetic Field (EMF): A physical field created by electrically charged objects. Investigators measure EMF to look for unusual spikes as they believe spirits can manipulate this to communicate with us.

EM Pump: A device that emits a low-level magnetic field. Some believe spirits can use this energy to manifest. Some investigators refer to this as ‘food’ for spirits. It can also be used to induce feelings in people to make them think they are having a paranormal experience.

Empath: A person who can sense or absorb the emotions of others, including spirits.

Ectoplasm: A mysterious substance said to be produced by mediums during séances in the spiritualist era, often appearing as mist, gauze, or slime.

Evidence: Data gathered during an investigation (photos, video, audio, personal experience) used to support claims of paranormal activity.

Extra Sensory Perception (ESP): Also referred to as the ‘sixth sense’. This is when a person can access information outside of using the known five senses.  Things like telepathy and clairvoyance fall under this category.

EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena): A voice or sound captured on a recording that was not heard by the human ear at the time.

Faraday Pouch: A bag or container that blocks electromagnetic fields, used to test or rule out interference in devices.

Full-Bodied Apparition: A spirit that appears in full form and looks like a solid living person.

Ghost: A general term for the spirit or soul of a deceased person.

Haunting: Recurring paranormal activity linked to a location, object, or person.

Hot Spot: A location or specific area known for reported paranormal activity.

Infrared (IR): A spectrum of light we cannot see with our eyes. IR cameras are used in investigations to capture what the naked eye might miss.

Intelligent Spirit: A spirit that seems aware of its surroundings and able to interact or respond to questions.

K-II Meter: A handheld device that detects electromagnetic fields, often used by investigators to look for energy spikes.

Medium/Psychic/Sensitive: A person who believes they can communicate with spirits through intuition, visions, or messages.

Orb: A ball of light, most often captured in photos. Usually caused by dust, insects, or moisture reflecting light. Some people believe they represent spirit energy.

Ovilus: A device that uses environmental changes to select words from a built-in database, which some believe spirits manipulate to communicate.

Paranormal: Anything that is beyond normal scientific explanation, including ghosts, cryptids, UFOs, and psychic phenomena.

Poltergeist: From the German word for ‘noisy ghost’. This is a type of haunting linked with movement of objects, loud noises, and disruptive activity. 

Portal: A supposed doorway or gateway that allows spirits or entities to pass between realms.

Possession: When a spirit or entity takes control of a person’s body or behaviour.

Precognition: Knowing about an event before it happens, usually through dreams or visions.

Projection (Astral Projection): The idea that a person’s spirit or consciousness can leave their body and travel elsewhere while their living body remains in a relaxed meditative state.

Psychokinesis (PK): The supposed ability to move or affect objects with the mind.

Residual Haunting: Energy that replays like a recording, often tied to traumatic or emotional events. The spirit is unaware of the living and does not interact.

Sceptic/Skeptic: Someone who questions or disbelieves paranormal phenomena. They seek validated scientific explanations.

Séance: A gathering of people attempting to contact spirits in an intimate setting, usually led by a medium. Common during the Victorian Era.

Shadow Person: An entity appearing as a dark, human-shaped shadow with no clear features.

Singapore Theory: This is a method investigators use to recreate something familiar to a spirit, like playing their favourite music, to encourage interaction.

Spirit Box: A modified radio that scans quickly through frequencies. Some people believe spirits can use it to form words or sentences.

Spirit Guide: A spirit or being that is believed to guide and protect a person throughout their life. Mediums report relying on their spirit guide to assist with their communication to the other side.

Stone Tape Theory: The idea that environments (especially stone) can absorb emotional energy and “replay” it under certain conditions, like a recording.

Third Eye: A spiritual concept referring to an inner eye that allows psychic sight or intuition.

Trigger Object: An item used to encourage spirit interaction, such as a toy for a child spirit.

Vortex: A swirling energy field that some believe spirits use to manifest or travel.

White Noise: A steady sound (like static) sometimes used in EVP experiments as a carrier for spirit voices.