Although every group in the paranormal field has their own little twist on "paranormal terminology," our list is no different. This comprehensive list should point you in the right direction in the learning process. We always strive to improve and educate. If there's something you would like to see added to our list, contact us with your idea(s). Oh, and don't forget to submit your name along with your idea (s) so that you receive the credit!
ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS (ASC): Anything other than normal, which would be observed during walking or sleeping states.
APPARITION: An unusual or unexpected sight, a ghostly figure, the act of becoming visible.
APPORT: An object (s) that suddenly appear out of nowhere during a haunting.
ASPORT: The ability for an object to be seen, disappear and then reappear at a later time.
ASTRAL TRAVEL: The ability to travel outside of the body through the crown charka by means of meditation.
ATMOSPHERIC APPARITION: A visual imprint of people and events that was left behind in the environment that continues to replay; some may consider this a residual haunting.
AUDIO MATRIXING: Manipulating sounds to believe they are ghostly or spiritual words.
AUTOMATIC WRITING: Telepathic or spiritualistic writings produced without conscious intention.
BEFRIENDING PHENOMENA: A living person who is befriended by a ghost or spirit.
CHANNELING: The ability to receive messages from sprits from the other side through the means of a channeler's body.
CHARMS: A spell or object possessing magic power.
CIRCLE: A group of people sharing a common mediumistic interest to connect with spirit entities.
CLAIRGUSTANCE: The power or faculty of the sense of taste associated with a spirit.
CLAIROLEOFACTOR: The power or faculty of the sense of smell, to smell flowers before they bloom or trouble before it happens.
CLEANSING: The act of removing spirits without performing an exorcism.
CLOSED CIRCLES: A private group that is in Spiritualist Churches. (See Circle).
COLD SPOT: An unexplainable drop in temperature in a defined, small area that registers at least 10 degrees in change.
COLLECTIVE APPARITION: The sighting by more than one individual of the same apparition.
CONTAGION: A spirit or entity who follows you from a haunted location.
CRISIS APPARITION: An apparition saw either before, during or after a crisis event such as an illness, tragic event, or death.
DEATHBED VISIONS: The greeting of deceased relatives, friends and unknown people before passing on.
DEBUNK: When reported paranormal evidence or paranormal activity is proven not to be paranormal by logical and non-paranormal explanations.
DEMONIC HAUNTING: A dramatic and even violent haunting by a nonhuman entity.
DEMONOLOGIST: Generally a very religious person who pursues demons and other nonhuman entitles both for study and to help people rid them from their lives.
DISEMBODIED VOICE: A voice heard that does not have a known source.
DOGMA: A religious believe or doctrine that is taken as the truth without any proof to back it up.
DOOR PHENOMENA: A door that opens, closes, slams, locks and unlocks with no purpose to it.
DOPPELGANGER: A ghostly counterpart of a living person, a twin entity.
DOWSING RODS: The ability to use a pair of metal rods to locate energy sources that could be paranormal in nature. They can also be used as a communication tool between the living and the dead.
ENTITY: A generic term used to describe a paranormal object/being/ghost/spirit.
EVP – ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA: Unexplainable voices during the playback of a recording made on an electronic recoding device.
FALSE AWAKENING: The sense of being awake while still sleeping (dreaming).
FEAR CAGE: An uncontrollable fear caused by being in a small enclosed area with a high EMF reading.
GHOST HUNTING: Investigating a place where a ghost has been reported in the hopes of finding evidence of ghost, spirits or other paranormal activity.
GHOST LIGHTS: What looks to be a flickering light seen at twilight, generally over bogs and swamps. A light left on overnight on the stage of a theatre.
GRAY LADY: The ghost of a lady who has died at the hands of a lover or waits for the return of a loved one.
HALLOWEEN: All Hallows Eve, is the night of October 31. It is said that this is the night when the spirit and normal world allegedly become one.
HOT SPOT: An area of frequent paranormal activities or ghosts sightings.
HYPNAGOGIC AND HYPNOPOMPIC HALLUCINATIONS: The hallucinogenic state that happens during the moments before falling asleep and before waking up.
HYPNOTISM: An induced trance or sleep state.
IMPRINT (IMPRINTING): A recorded moment in time that replays itself on a regular basis. (See atmospheric apparitions).
INTELLIGENT HAUNTING: A type of haunting that interacts intelligently with the living through voice manifestation, manipulation of objects, creating cold spots, etc.
KARMA: The force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence.
LEY LINES: The natural magnetic forces of the Earth and therefore are very powerful for spiritual and mystic activity.
"LIGHTS OUT" INVESTIGATION: A term at the start of an investigation where you attempt to turn off all electrical sources, including the lights.
LIVING GHOST: The phenomena of seeing a loved one in a ghostly fashion before a horrific incident.
LOST TIME: A phenomena or time warp in which time is lost while associated with a paranormal ghost/spirit activity.
LUCID DREAMS: A dream where the dreamer does not know that they are dreaming.
LUMINOUS PHENOMENA: The occurrence of strange lights or glows, often around objects or people. A.K.A. Ghost Lights.
MATRIXING: When the mind attempts to manifest images as something they are not, such as a cloud looking like an animal.
MIST: An energy field or manifestation of a spirit. It takes the shape of a cloud or haze but has a paranormal ectoplasm substance.
MOMENT OF MORTALITY: A spirit that occurs when someone is at the exact moment of their death. (See Death Bed Visions).
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES (NDE): The clinical hallucinations that are experienced when one is clinically dead, but then survive. Bright lights and tunnels are the most common experience.
NECRONOMICON: The book of the dead.
NIGHT SHOT: An option on Sony Handicams that allow the user to shoot video in the dark.
NONHUMAN or INHUMAN SPIRIT: An entity, ghost or spirit including angels and demons.
ORB: A spherical body which is believed by some to be an entity or energy attempting to manifest itself. Most Orbs are nothing more than dust or moisture droplets. They can be different shapes, sizes and/or colors.
OUIJA BOARD: A board made up of letters & numbers, and usually the words "Yes" and "No," used in trying to communicate with spirits.
OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE (OBE): The ability to leave ones body through the crown chakra. (See Astra Travel).
READING: Information given to a person by a medium.
RESIDUAL HAUNTING: Non conscious and unintelligent haunting thought to be due to an imprint.
RETROCOGNITION: Familiarity of a past event acquired psychically.
SCRYING: Someone, like fortune teller, who can see things by looking into a mirror or crystal ball.
SÉANCE: A spiritualist meeting to receive spirit communications.
SENSITIVE: A person who has psychic abilities, but not as toned as a medium.
SLEEP PARALYSIS: Upon awakening complete or partial loss of function especially when involving the motion or sensation in a part of the body as though there is someone sitting on you.
TAROT CARDS: A deck of cards used primarily by readers or mediums to predict the future of the person being read.
TOUCHED: Physical contact from a ghost or spirit (tug, push, stroke or shove).
TRANSCOMMUNICATION: The ability to pick up voices of the deceased through electronic means. See EVP.
ULTRAVIOLET (UV): Situated beyond the visible spectrum at its violet end. Used by some to videotape ghosts in the dark.
VORTEX: A paranormal porthole of high electromagnetic energy believed to be a passage way between the real world and spiritual world.
WARP: Where laws of physics no longer exists. Perception can be twisted and time can be lost. Generally happens in only short durations in a small area.
ZENER CARDS: A deck of 25 cards, with 5 cards each of 5 symbols, used primarily for advanced ESP testing.
1 Definitions from Webster/Meridians Dictionary.