‘Psi’, the Greek letter ψ, is the modern term for psychic phenomena. The existence of psi – and the related idea that consciousness is independent of the physical body (and so may survive bodily death) – are disputed, as they seem to violate well-established natural laws. However, researchers are convinced they have evidence for these things, posing a challenge to materialist science. The Psi Encyclopedia presents their reasoning in over 700 signed articles by 86 authors, many of them senior academics. It also provides links to books, articles and videos that are free to view.
Featured
Stephen E Braude
American philosopher and parapsychologist (1945–2026) remembered for his field investigations of apparent psychokinesis.
Meditation and Psi
Traditional Yogic teachings state that a person who attains a higher state of consciousness will manifest psychic powers.
Psychedelics and Psi
A gradual easing of restrictions means that psi research with psychedelics, once prevalent, could soon resume.
Psi Research in China
Recent experimental and theoretical work in China includes successful attempts to train ESP abilities in blind children.
Clinical Parapsychology
Therapeutic approach that aims to provide support for people disturbed by anomalous event experiences.
Psi for Financial Gain
Anecdotal accounts and lab tests suggest that psi can at times be used to advantage in gambling and financial speculation.
Coover Telepathy Experiments
Early telepathy experiments, once thought a failure, now considered statistically significant.
Key Topics
Psychology and Parapsychology
Explores the overlap between psychology and parapsychology, such as personality and other variables linked to psi.
Eminent People Interested in Psi (list)
A list of some 200 scientists, thinkers, writers, and artists who took seriously the possibility of psi.
Remote Viewing
An experimental form of clairvoyance, in which a suitably trained person attempts to visualise the topography of a distant scene.
Near-Death Experience (Overview)
This article describes anomalous mental events reported by people who have survived a near-fatal accident or illness.
Animals in Psi Research
Describes informal observations, early tests and modern lab experiments looking at animals' psychic capabilities.
Mediumship and Multiple Personality
The personalities of mediumistic communicators are similar to dissociative identity disorder.
Society for Psychical Research (SPR)
Membership organization founded in London in 1882 for the scientific investigation of claims of psychic phenomena.
European Children with Past-Life Memories
European children speak of past lives less often than Asian children do, yet the cases are very similar.
Recent Additions
Noah’s Ark Society for Physical Mediumship
The NAS originated in a home circle in 1990 and indirectly fostered the later Scole Circle.
Martin Johnson
As a major European experimental parapsychologist, Johnson (1930–2011) helped build the programme at the University of Utrecht.
Milan Ryzl
Milan Ryzl (1928–2011) was a pioneer in exploring hypnosis as a facilitator of ESP, best known for his extensive work with Pavel Stepanek.
Cold Spots
Sudden sensations or measurements of temperature variations recur in reports of apparitions, séances and hauntings.
Dieter Vaitl
German consciousness researcher who directed the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP) for two decades.
George P Hansen
Hansen has critiqued both belief in and scepticism of psi. His Trickster Theory tries to explain the instability and elusiveness of the phenomena.
Edward William ‘Serjeant’ Cox
EW Cox (1809–1879) was an English lawyer, publisher, writer and researcher of psychical phenomena.
Soul Weighing Experiments
Attempts have been made to confirm the existence of a soul by seeking a change of weight in bodies at the point of death.
Battersea Poltergeist (1928)
Disturbances reported in a small house in Battersea, London, investigated by Harry Price.
AWARE NDE Studies
AWARE and AWARE II were large-scale studies testing for veridical perceptions recalled by hospital patients during NDEs.
Robert Bigelow and the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies
Billionaire American businessman whose foundation funds research on post-mortem survival.
Christopher Robinson
British psychic said to possess precognitive dream ability of use to UK police and security services.
‘The Telepathy Tapes’
Podcast series exploring claims that certain nonspeaking autistic individuals possess telepathic abilities.
Psychische Studien (journal)
Early German psychical research journal (1874–1925) that contained reports of experiences and investigations.
Allan Kardec
French educator (1804–1869) whose work with mediums led to the development of Spiritism, today highly popular in Brazil.
Neuroimaging and Psi
Recent advances in brain imaging technology have been exploited in several lines of psi research.
Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP)
Under Etzel Cardeña at Lund University.
Reincarnation and the Population Problem
The idea that increases in population are a problem has been addressed in various ways.
Explore the Psi Encyclopedia
ESP & Psychokinesis
The term extra-sensory perception (ESP), introduced in the 1930s, comprises telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition, acknowledging that these categories may overlap. Psychokinesis, or PK, is the direct influence on matter by mind alone, without physical action. All have been successfully tested in the laboratory and studied in real life situations. Together, they constitute psi, in a strict sense.
Parapsychology in Psychology Textbooks
Describes how psychology textbooks persistently misrepresent the field of parapsychology.
Meditation and Psi
Traditional Yogic teachings state that a person who attains a higher state of consciousness will manifest psychic powers.
Unusual Ways of Testing for Psi
Psi abilities have been tested in more ways than the usual ones of card guessing, dice throwing, remote viewing and Ganzfeld.
Mind & Body
This category contains articles that treat consciousness in relation to the body. Major topics covered include healing and psychotherapy; dreams and dreaming; and out-of-body experiences, end-of-life experiences, and near-death experiences, all of which suggest that consciousness may have an existence independent of the physical body.
‘The Phenomena of Astral Projection’ (1951)
Classic study of OBEs, described in the context of the occult idea of 'astral projection'.
Spirit Release Therapy
Clinical treatment used with patients who appear to be ‘possessed’ by harmful spirit entities.
Survival of Death
Life continued in a spiritual or purely mental form after bodily death is a staple of religious beliefs worldwide, and likely is as old as humanity. The question of evidence for it has been central to the Society for Psychical Research since its founding in 1882. This category includes articles on mediumship as well as general topics related to the survival question. Other survival-related topics appear under other category headings.
Bangs Sisters
Controversial nineteenth century American spirit mediums, against whom numerous detailed allegations of fraud were
Fox Sisters
American women who were at the centre of poltergeist-type disturbances and later helped found Anglo-American Spiritualism.
Mediumship and Spirit Possession in Cross-Cultural Perspective
There is great overlap in the expression of mediumship and spirit possession.
Reincarnation
Reincarnation beliefs are widespread in the world and in recent decades researchers have found what they believe is evidence of them through the study of people (mainly children) who claim to have lived before. This category includes case studies and overviews of phenomena that appear regularly in the cases. Some articles deal with past life regression as well.
Dreams and Past-Life Memory
Apparent past-life memories may surface in the dreams of both children and adults, but rarely are they detailed enough to be verified.
OHKADO Masayuki
Japanese linguist whose psi research centres on children's memories of previous lives and of the period between lives.
Reincarnation and Karma
Extensive case investigations have found no support for traditional ideas of karma in connection with reincarnation.
Researchers & Authors
Here can be found more than 300 biographical profiles of key figures who have been involved in psi research and parapsychology as field investigators, experimentalists, theorists and commentators. Many have scientific and academic backgrounds – in psychology, physics, biology, philosophy, engineering and other disciplines.
Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff
Dutch psychologist and parapsychologist (1894–1981), known for his research and writings about the Dutch psychic Gerard Croiset.
Morris Freedman
Toronto-based neurologist who done experiments suggesting that psi may be facilitated by frontal lobe brain damage.
Walter Leaf
Prominent English banker, classical scholar and psychical researcher (1852-1927) who contributed to the study of medium Leonora Piper.
Organizations
The oldest organizations devoted to parapsychology were member organizations like the Society for Psychical Research, established in London in 1882. Since JB Rhine founded the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in 1930, there have been university-based units as well. This category comprises both historical and contemporary bodies concerned with research and education in parapsychology.
Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS)
American research institute co-founded in 1973 by astronaut Edgar Mitchell to research human potential using scientific methods.
American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR)
The oldest parapsychological organization in the United States, founded in 1884, now practically defunct.
Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP)
Under Etzel Cardeña at Lund University.
Scepticism
Sceptics argue that psychics and mediums achieve their effects by trickery, that psychic experience is an illusory effect caused by a combination of brain misperceptions and confirmation bias, and that evidence of psi in laboratory tests can be attributed to poor methodology. This category includes biographies of leading sceptics as well as general articles discussing their allegations.
Richard Wiseman
British psychology professor, media personality and bestselling author who is a high-profile critic of parapsychology.
Ray Hyman
American psychologist, amateur magician and leading sceptic, co-founder of the Committee for the Scientific Inquiry (CSI).
Criticisms of Reincarnation Case Studies
This article addresses objections critics have raised to the reincarnation case research of Ian Stevenson and others.
General Topics
This category contains articles on a variety of topics that do not fit well in any of the main categories, from dowsing to crop circles and other anomalistic phenomena.
Francis Bacon and the Occult
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) believed in the possibility of psi but opposed its investigation on theological grounds.
Croiset Archive
Details of correspondence, reports, films and other materials relating to the Dutch psychic Gerard Croiset (1909–1980).
Alexis Didier
French clairvoyant (1826–1886) whose extraordinarily accurate readings were made while he was in a hypnotic trance.
Journal of Parapsychology (JP)
Journal founded by JB Rhine at Duke University in 1937, historically devoted to experimental parapsychology.
Richet’s ‘La Suggestion Mentale’
In a 1884 paper, physiologist Charles Richet pioneered the use of statistics in telepathy tests.