Psychic / Spiritual l Dictionary B

B

Ancient Egyptian concept of a person's essence, believed to be be immortal. Cf. Ka. See also Soul.

In Gaelic belief, a female entity who heralds a death by groaning and screaming.

In Tibetan Buddhism, an intermediate state of existence, usually referring to the state between life and rebirth.

Basic Technique Psychic Dictionary Index

Term used in card-guessing tests of clairvoyance, in which the top card of the deck is placed to one side after each guess.

Billet Reading Psychic Dictionary Index

Procedure in which a question is secretly written on a piece of paper which is folded or sealed in an envelope, and handed to the psychic who attempts to answer the question. Various trickery can be employed by fraudulent psychics and mentalists.

Bilocation Psychic Dictionary Index

Being (or appearing to be) in two different places at the same time. See also autoscopy.

Biofeedback Psychic Dictionary Index

A general term for techniques that involve giving a person information about their current physiological state (e.g., heart rate, EEG). Biofeedback is used to enable people to control consciously their physiological processes.

Bio-PK Psychic Dictionary Index

Psychokinetic effects on biological processes. See also DMILS.

Black Art Psychic Dictionary Index

Conjuring technique of concealing objects using black covers against a black background. Also used by fraudulent mediums.

Black Magic Psychic Dictionary Index

Magical spells or rituals practiced with the intention of harming others. Cf. white magic .

Blind Psychic Dictionary Index

An experimental control in which subjects are not informed of certain key features of the experiment. Also used to refer to a procedure where a judge is asked to compare targets and responses without knowing which responses were made to which targets. See also double blind.

Blind Matching (BM) Psychic Dictionary Index

An identical procedure to open matching, except that the key cards are unseen by the subject.

Book Test Psychic Dictionary Index

(a) A communication in which the sitter is asked to look at a specific book and page in order to receive a significant message.

(b) An effect in which the psychic or mentalist divines the words written on a particular page of a book.

C

Cabinet Psychic Dictionary Index

A box or curtained enclosure in which a physical medium is secured and from which various phenomena may manifest (e.g., lights, objects moving, instruments played). Certain stage magicians can simulate this procedure with great effect.

Call Psychic Dictionary Index

Response made by a subject in a card-guessing or other ESP test.

Candomble Psychic Dictionary Index

A Brazilian spiritist religion. See also Umbanda, Voodoo.

Card Guessing Psychic Dictionary Index

An experimental test for ESP in which subjects guess the identity of a set of cards (e.g., playing cards or Zener cards).

Cartomancy Psychic Dictionary Index

Fortune telling using cards. See also tarot.

Cerebral Anoxia Psychic Dictionary Index

Lack of oxygen to the brain, often causing sensory distortions and hallucinations. Sometimes used to explain features of the near-death experience.

Chance Psychic Dictionary Index

Random, unpredictable influences on events.

Channeling Psychic Dictionary Index

Receiving messages and inspiration from discarnate entities. See also medium. See also Medium Directory entry

Charm Psychic Dictionary Index

A spell or object possessing magic power.

Christian Science Psychic Dictionary Index

A religious healing movement founded by Mary Baker Eddy. Rejects orthodox medical practice.

Cipher Test Psychic Dictionary Index

A coded message left by a person who intends to communicate the cipher after death.

Circle Psychic Dictionary Index

A group of people who hold seances. See also mediumship.

Clairaudience Psychic Dictionary Index

The paranormal obtaining of information by hearing sounds or voices. See also clairvoyance, clairsentience.

Clairsentience Psychic Dictionary Index

An archaic term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information using faculties other than vision or hearing. Cf. clairaudience, clairvoyance, empathy, intuition.

Clairvoyance Psychic Dictionary Index

A general term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information about an object or event. In modern usage, this does not necessarily refer to obtaining information visually. Cf. clairaudience, clairsentience, ESP, psi. See Also Clairvoyance Definition

Clairvoyant Psychic Dictionary Index

See clairvoyant medium.

Clairvoyant Medium Psychic Dictionary Index

Or clairvoyant. A person who obtains information paranormally (often by spirit communication) without the need to enter into a trance state. Cf. trance medium.

Closed Deck Psychic Dictionary Index

A set of cards used in a card-guessing test where each card appears a fixed number of times. Statistical analysis of research data using a closed deck differs from statistical analysis of data using an open deck.

Coincidence Psychic Dictionary Index

The occurrence, within a short space of time, of two or more meaningfully related events and without any apparent causal connection between them. Coincidences are sometimes bizarre and extraordinarily improbable. See also synchronicity.

Cold Reading Psychic Dictionary Index

A reading given with no prior knowledge of the sitter. Often a mixture of very general statements which could apply to anyone, together with inferences made from cues presented by the sitter (e.g., physical appearance, clothes, tone of voice, statements made). Cf. hot reading.

Collective Apparition Psychic Dictionary Index

An apparition seen simultaneously by more than one person.

Collective Unconscious Psychic Dictionary Index

Concept put forward by C.G. Jung to refer to a level of unconscious thought and experience shared collectively by humans.

Communication Psychic Dictionary Index

In mediumship, a message purported to be from a discarnate entity.

Communicator Psychic Dictionary Index

A discarnate entity from whom the medium receives messages. See also drop-in communicator.

Confederate Psychic Dictionary Index

A person who secretly provides information to a fraudulent psychic or mentalist.

Conjuring Psychic Dictionary Index

Using trickery to simulate paranormal effects, generally for the purpose of entertainment.

Contact Mind Reading Psychic Dictionary Index

A technique simulating telepathy, in which the "mind reader" (who generally holds a hand or arm) responds to slight muscle movements produced unconsciously by the person whose mind is apparently being read. Also known as muscle reading, Cumberlandism or Hellstromism.

Control Psychic Dictionary Index

(a) In experimental parapsychology a procedure undertaken in order to ensure that the experiment is conducted in a standard fashion and so that results are not unduly influenced by extraneous factors. See also control group, artefact.

(b) In spiritualism, a discarnate entity who communicates with a trance medium and who generally controls the trance state.

Control Group Psychic Dictionary Index

A group of people whose performance is compared with that of experimental subjects. Cf. experimental group.

Corn Circle Psychic Dictionary Index

Circular (or more elaborate) formations found in growing crops, most commonly in Southern Britain. Sometimes they are associated with UFO sightings. Many formations appear to have been intelligently created and to have some symbolic meaning. Despite several "confessions" made by various individuals and groups, the crop circle mystery remains unsolved.

Correlation Psychic Dictionary Index

An association between two or more events or variables.

Correlation Coefficient Psychic Dictionary Index

A mathematical Psychic Dictionary Index of the degree of association between two or more measures.

Cosmic Consciousness Psychic Dictionary Index

A blissful experience in which the person becomes aware of the whole universe as a living being. See also altered state of consciousness, mystical experience.

Coven Psychic Dictionary Index

A group of witches

Crisis Apparition Psychic Dictionary Index

An apparition in which a person is seen within a few hours of an important crisis such as death, accident or sudden illness.

Cross-correspondence Psychic Dictionary Index

(a) Separate items of information, received independently by two or more mediums, which make sense only when pieced together.

(b) THE cross-correspondences is a classic case of highly complex cross-correspondences which continued from 1901 to 1932 among a group of automatists associated with the Society for Psychical Research.

Cryptomnesia Psychic Dictionary Index

Knowledge (acquired in normal ways) that may be revealed without the person remembering its source. Such memories may falsely appear to be paranormal revelations. Sometimes cryptomnesia is used as an explanation for apparently paranormal experiences such as xenoglossy or past-life memories.

Crystal Gazing Psychic Dictionary Index

Staring into a reflecting surface (e.g., mirror, glass, crystal, liquid) in order to obtain paranormal information. Also known as scrying. See also divination.

Cumberlandism Psychic Dictionary Index

See contact mind reading.

Curse Psychic Dictionary Index

Words spoken or written in order to influence others paranormally, causing them harm. See also spell, hex.