Glossary

Here is a list of common terms that most ghost hunters come across. If you are experiencing paranormal activity or have in the past and wonder what you saw/heard, our glossary may help explain your experiences.

Afterlife- life after we leave our physical bodies. Varies based on culture.

Amorphous- having no definitive shape or features, such as a ghost appearing as a mist.

Angel-  supernatural being that is believed to exist between God and mortal man, they are believed to be guardians of mankind.

Anomaly- an occurrence that is odd or unusual.

Apparition- psychical form of a ghost, they appear as a human or animal and are often seen for a short amount of time and are not clear images (transparent/faint and sometimes incomplete).

Astral travel- out-of-body experience. Being able to project one’s spirit out of the body to travel to other places, times and dimensions. Although the spirit is being projected, it is still connected to one’s physical body.

Aura- energy that surrounds all living people. Appears in different colors depending on the person’s mood or physical condition. Spirits can draw energy from someone’s aura causing them to feel weak.

Channeling- how psychic communicate with the dead; occurs by allowing the spirit they are calling to possess their body.

Clairvoyance- the ability to see objects, persons or events that others cannot see; “psychic” ability.

Cleansing- having a location purified to remove malevolent spirits/influences; usually through a prayer.

Ectoplasm- a substance that is issued from a medium’s body (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc) during his or her trance state in a séance; there have been no recent reports of such occurrences because most were proven to hoaxes.

EMF- “electromagnetic field”; a field of both electric and magnetic energy that surrounds us, it is believed that spirits gather energy from the EMF in order to manifest.

Empath- someone with the ability to psychically sense the emotions of his or her surroundings and people around him or her.

Entity- a conscious ghost, spirit, or demon.

EVP- “electronic voice phenomenon”; disembodied voices caught on an electronic device. Often not heard until played back.

Exorcism- ritualistic expulsion of a malevolent entity that is either possessing an individual or disturbing a place. The ceremony varies upon a person’s religious beliefs.

Ghost- image of a person after his or her death-believed to be the life force or energy of the deceased person.  It is unknown why their energy is left behind or for how long.

Haunting- presence of a ghost(s) or other entity. There are four different types of hauntings: residual (replay of an event), intelligent (interacts with those around it), poltergeist (movement of objects; thought to be caused by a living person) or demonic (non-human origin).

Imprint- unconscious paranormal activity that is repeated.

Incubus- a demonic entity that is capable of sexually arousing and assaulting a human female.

Infestation- repeated and constant paranormal activity.

Influence- an entity’s affect on the people that inhabit the area it haunts.  

Levitation- lifting of a person or inanimate object off a surface without any physical means.

Magic- the use of supernatural elements in order to manipulate natural forces; used to achieve personal desires in either good or bad ways.

Manifestation- signs of a haunting, or how an entity makes itself known; such as, being touched by something unseen, hearing unexplainable noises, smelling phantom scents, or seeing an apparition.

Materialization- an entity physically appearing. In order to materialize, the entity must gather energy from its surroundings.

Matrixing- the tendency for the human mind to automatically form a familiar image out of random combinations of lights and shadows.

Necromancy- interacting with the dead; usually refers to use of magic to conjure a spirit in order to raise the dead.  

Occult- relating to or dealing with paranormal influence.

Oracle- a prophet or seer; unlike psychic they are renowned on a larger scale and believed to have visions and not premonitions.

Orb- also known as a globule. They are little balls of light that are often found in photographs and video footage; believed to be bits of electromagnetic energy and can appear in different colors. The most common color seen is white. Dust, bugs, moisture, etc. can often be misidentified as orbs in photographs or video footage.

Paranormal- anything that cannot be explained by normal means.

Phantom Lights- similar to orbs, but bigger and more vibrant. They can change color, direction and quickly disappear after being seen.  

Poltergeist- “noisy ghost”; objects are moved, but what is moving them is not seen. A poltergeist causes activity in order to gain attention; this phenomenon is often associated with females and adolescents or someone who has gone through a traumatic event.

Possession- entry of a spiritual demonic entity into the human mind that causes the human to be under the influence of that entity.  

Precognition- knowing an event will take place without the use of psychic senses.

Premonition- psychic awareness of an event that will take place; often not accurate because they are sense orientated such as an uneasy feeling that something bad will happen.

Psychic- a person gifted with extra sensory perception (ESP).

Retrocognition- seeing things from the past using psychic abilities/ESP.

Rod- bright, colorful lines that appear on video footage captured at a location experiencing paranormal activity. Like orbs, they can sometimes be attributed to natural causes.

Séance- a group of people gather together in order to communicate with the dead with a medium who actually addresses the spirits.

Shadow figures/people- dark human figures that look like and are often confused with normal shadows. They are usually seen peripherally or at a distance. Origins of shadow figures are not known, but there are many theories such as: an ghost who suffered a traumatic event before its death; they are a demonic or other sort of entity that never existed as a human; or they are astral projections from a living person.

Spirit- ghost; the consciousness or soul of a person that lives on after death and is observed.

Spirit Rescue- “crossing over” a spirit by helping them overcome the things that keep them grounded and unable to move on to a spiritual plane.

Succubus- female version of an incubus; female, demonic entity capable of sexually arousing and assaulting a human male.

Telepathy- ability to communicate with others with one’s mind.

Telekinesis- ability to manipulate one’s surroundings by moving objects using one’s mind.

Vision- an event that will take place and is not based on feelings, but visually seen ; often associated with oracles, not psychics.

Vortex- a portal to the spiritual realm where spirits can move between the human and spiritual realm, it is where the most paranormal activity will be experienced.

Wraith- brief image of a loved one right before his or her death.