Welcome to the Psi Encyclopedia! We aspire to provide a comprehensive introduction to academic parapsychology, which studies the range of psychic experiences collectively termed ‘psi’. The existence of psi phenomena – and the related idea that consciousness is independent of the physical body and so may survive death – is strongly disputed by materialist scientists, yet parapsychologists are convinced they have evidence for these things. The Psi Encyclopedia presents this evidence in nearly 750 signed articles by over 80 authors, many of them senior academics, arranged in categories and subcategories that highlight the major interests of the field.
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
Susan Gerbic
American studio photographer who exposes what she believes to be pseudoscience through a special brand of 'guerilla skepticism'.
Cyril L Burt
One of Britain’s most influential psychologists, Burt (1883–1971) believed that psychic phenomena merited scientific attention
Julian Ochorowicz
Polish philosopher, psychologist and inventor (1850–1917), who made notable investigations of physical mediumship.
Minot Judson Savage
Savage (1841–1918) was a Unitarian minister who sat with Leonora Piper and was involved with the early American Society for Psychical Research.
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.
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ESP & Psychokinesis
Extra-sensory perception (ESP) comprises telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition. Psychokinesis (PK) is the direct influence on matter by mind alone. Both ESP and PK have been tested in the laboratory and studied in real life situations. They are thought to be united as capabilities of consciousness, distinct from the physical body. Together they constitute psi, in the strict sense of the term.
Smith and Blackburn Controversy
19tth century telepathy tests of two young men, one of whom later said they had cheated.
Extraocular Image (China)
1980s experiments in which children demonstrated an ability to recognize hidden images and words by touch alone.
John G Kruth
Executive director of the Rhine Research Center. His research interests include bioenergy in healing.
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.
Robert Van de Castle
Robert Van de Castle (1927–2014) was an American psychologist specializing in dreams who also was active in parapsychology
Alex Tanous
Alex Tanous (1926–1990) was a noted New England psychic and parapsychologist, who contributed to out-of-body research.
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.
Modern Mental Mediumship Research (Overview)
A review of studies carried out with mental mediums in Britain, Europe and America since 2001.
Poltergeists (Overview)
This article provides an introduction to poltergeist research, describing major cases and theoretical perspectives.
William George Roll
American psychologist and parapsychologist (1926–2012) noted for reports of poltergeist phenomena for which living agents were responsible.
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.
Dorothy Eady/Omm Sety (reincarnation case)
British woman who as a child was obsessed with ancient Egypt and became an Egyptologist.
Antonia Mills
Canadian anthropologist and reincarnation researcher who studied beliefs and experiences in India and British Columbia.
Xenoglossy in Reincarnation Cases
In reincarnation cases, xenoglossy involves the use of language spoken in a past life but not learned in the present.
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.
Guy Lyon Playfair
English journalist and psychical researcher (1935–2018), known for his investigating and writing about psi phenomena in the UK and Brazil.
William Crookes
British scientist (1832–1919) who did controversial experiments with Daniel Home and other mediums in the 1870s.
GNM Tyrrell
English mathematician, physicist and radio engineer (1879–1952), remembered for his theoretical treatise on apparitions.
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.
American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR)
The oldest parapsychological organization in the United States, founded in 1884, now practically defunct.
Society for Psychical Research Archives
The SPR maintains a substantial archive consisting of materials collected since its inception in 1882.
Institute of Paranormal Psychology (IPP)
Argentinian organization established in 1994 that conducts psi research and provides educational resources.
Sceptical Views
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.
Trevor Hall
English chartered surveyor and amateur conjuror (1910–1991), author of books attacking deceased psychics and researchers.
Martin Gardner
American critic of parapsychology and paranormal claims (1914–2010), a founding member of the modern sceptical movement.
Cold Reading
Discusses the psychological strategies that can be used to simulate a mediumistic communication or psychic reading.
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, the Miscellaneous Anomalistic subcategory. Other subcategories list articles on psychics and mystic and on important articles, books and journals in the field of parapsychology.
Padre Pio
Italian Roman Catholic friar and mystic (1879–1968) known for producing 'stigmata', bleeding sores recalling Christ's crucifixion.
Natasha Demkina
Russian woman who claims the ability to view inside human bodies and correctly diagnose diseases. Scientific tests have had mixed results.
Noreen Renier
American psychic detective who claims to have worked on more than 400 cases, mainly related to murder, rape and missing persons.