‘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

Key Topics

photograph of JB Rhine, one of the first to explore psychological variables underlying psi

Psychology and Parapsychology

Explores the overlap between psychology and parapsychology, such as personality and other variables linked to psi.

albert einstein2

Eminent People Interested in Psi

A list of some 200 scientists, thinkers, writers, and artists who took seriously the possibility of psi phenomena.

Ingo Swann, one of the first remote viewers

Remote Viewing

An experimental form of clairvoyance, in which a suitably trained person attempts to visualise the topography of a distant scene.

Tunnel in Near-Death Experience

Near-Death Experience (Overview)

Anomalous mental events reported by people who have survived a near-fatal accident or illness.

Early reincarnation beliefs in the West are associated with the Greek philosopher Pythagoras in the sixth century BCE

Reincarnation: An Introduction

This introductory article covers beliefs in reincarnation, evidence for reincarnation, and sceptical views of the research.

image of dice being thrown

Psychokinesis Research

Overview of experimental research on mind-matter interaction, commonly referred to as psychokinesis (PK).

Psychologist Gardner Murphy led the ASPR during its heyday in the 1960s.

American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR)

The oldest parapsychological organization in the United States, founded in 1884, now practically defunct.

photo of N'kisi, an African Grey parrot involved in ESP experiments

Animals in Psi Research

Describes informal observations, early tests and modern lab experiments looking at animals' psychic capabilities.

Recent Additions

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 considerably overlap. Psychokinesis 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.

Dreams and ESP

Dreams and ESP

This article describes the study of psi in dreams, notably of telepathic interactions and precognition of future events.


Jaytee (Pet Telepathy)

Describes experiments that appeared to show a telepathic link between a dog and its owner.

Nina Kulagina

Psi Research in Russia

Limited but significant psi research has been carried out in Russia since the nineteenth century.

Gifted People

Most people may only experience a psychic event once or twice in their lives, but for a few it’s a natural ability, which some develop as a professional career. Two types feature in the Psi Encyclopedia: those who have demonstrated telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition or psychokinesis in some way, and those who believe themselves to be in communication with the deceased.

Miguel

Miguel Alberto Mantilla

Mexican boy (b 1904) with a remarkable ability to calculate calendar dates at high speed, rarely making mistakes.

Mina Crandon1

Margery (Mina Stinson Crandon)

Controversial American physical medium who caused a split in the ASPR in the 1930s.

Hester_dowden

Hester Travers Smith (Hester Dowden)

British automatist who believed she was in contact with the deceased Oscar Wilde.

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.

Pam Reynolds

Near-Death Experiences – Paranormal Aspects

List of NDEs with confirmed clairvoyance and other paranormality.

photograph: laboratory mice are sometimes used to study the effect of distant mental interactions with living organisms

Healing at a Distance (DMILS Research)

Since the 1980s, parapsychologists have studied distant mental interactions with living systems.

St. Joseph of Cupertino is lifted in flight at the sight of the Basilica of Loreto, by Ludovico Mazzanti  (detail)

Religious Levitation

Reports of individuals being seen, spontaneously and involuntarily, to rise into the air and remain suspended

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.

image of printed page in Turkish

Is Xenoglossy Evidence of Survival?

Xenoglossy in mediumship is less indicative of survival than some researchers assume.

image of exploding star

Physicalism and the Soul

Explores the nature of souls, afterlives, and possible gods compatible with modern physicalist science.

Portrait of Robert Swain Gifford published in The American Art Review, August 1880

Did Robert Swain Gifford Survive Death?

Analysis of the Thompson-Gifford case of ostensible possession as evidence of survival.

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.

girl-boy-drawn-on-chalkboard-450w-134181038

Reincarnation Cases with Sex Change

Memories of a life as a member of the opposite sex are often accompanied by cross-sex behaviours and identifications.

Wael Kiwan

Wael Kiwan (reincarnation case)

Lebanese Druze case involving a child who recalled the life of an identified individual who died by suicide in the USA.

Purnima Ekanayake remembered a past life as a male incense maker

Purnima Ekanayake (reincarnation case)

This article describes a Sri Lankan girl who remembered a life as a male incense maker and exhibited cross-sex behaviours.

Haunting

Location-based hauntings have been relatively little studied by parapsychologists, but the frequent incidence of apparitional episodes (the appearance of a deceased family member) attracted the attention of early researchers. Much interest has also centred on so-called ‘poltergeist’ episodes, of powerful domestic disturbances now often attributed to involuntary psychokinetic effects by living agents.

The Cideville Poltergeist

Cideville Poltergeist

Mid-nineteenth century French poltergeist case, with testimonies given in court about the phenomena.

Spichermatt House, Stans, Switzerland: home of the Joller family

Stans (Switzerland) Poltergeist

Mid-19 century poltergeist case, in which disturbances tormented a Swiss family for weeks.


Theories About Collective Apparitions

Apparitions perceived by more than one person provide some theoretical challenges.

General Topics

This section lists articles on a variety of topics that are not found in any of the main categories, from brain research and altered states of consciousness to dowsing, crop circles and other anomalistic phenomena.

albert einstein2

Eminent People Interested in Psi

A list of some 200 scientists, thinkers, writers, and artists who took seriously the possibility of psi phenomena.

kirlian leaf

Kirlian Photography

Photographic technique pioneered in Russia that reveals light radiating from living organisms and other objects.

photo of crop circle in a wheat field

Crop Circles

The intricate patterns that sometimes appear in crop fields have been attributed to various factors, including supernatural ones..

Scientists & Authors

Here can be found some 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.

william stead2

William T Stead

Nineteenth-century British journalist, author, social reformer and medium, who wrote about psychic experiences and postmortem survival.

York Dobyns

York Dobyns

A long-term member of the research team at the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory.

Reginaldo Hiraoka

Reginaldo Hiraoka

Brazilian philosopher and psychologist with research interests in ganzfeld ESP and collective influence on random number generators.

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.

photograph of Sydney, Australia

Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research (AIPR)

Australia’s oldest extant psi research organization, founded in Sydney in 1977.

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Emotion and Motivation Laboratory

Laboratory which conducts psi research, based at the University of Munich, Germany.

University of Lund, Sweden

Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP)

Swedish research organization headed by Etzel Cardeña.

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.

James Alcock

James Alcock

Canadian psychology professor, amateur magician and career psi sceptic, member of the Executive Council for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Paul Edwards

Reincarnation Case Studies: Criticisms

Addresses the objections critics have raised to the research of Ian Stevenson and others.

Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman

British psychology professor, media personality and bestselling author who is a high-profile critic of parapsychology.

Scroll to Top