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.

Wilkins and Sherman Telepathy

A successful long-distance telepathy test was carried out over a five-month period in 1938.

UK (Non-University) Paranormal Research

Overview of non-university organizations that carry out psi research.

Presentiment

An unconscious form of precognition that can be demonstrated with techniques commonly used in research on psychophysiology.

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.

Felicia Parise

American woman who taught herself to move small objects by means of psychokinesis and was observed doing so in test conditions.

Mina Stinson Crandon (Margery)

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

Lotte Plaat

Dutch clairvoyant (1895–1979) able to discern facts about events associated with an object and its owner by holding it (psychometry).

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.

Altered States of Consciousness and Psi

Altered states of consciousness have long been known to be associated with psi experiences.

Medieval Near-Death Experiences

Episodes described in Medieval writings are both similar to and different from modern accounts.

Sylvan J Muldoon

American who wrote about his out-of-body experiences, which occurred throughout his life, and which he was able to control.

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.

Table-Turning

‘Table-turning’ (or ‘table-tipping) refers to the anomalous movement of tables and other furniture during mediumistic seances.

Drop-In Communicators

Communicators unknown to both medium and sitters who provide enough information for their identification.

Andover Poltergeist

Poltergeist disturbances in a household in Andover, southern England, in 1974.

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.

Regression Therapy

In hypnotherapy, apparent past-life memories are treated less as descriptions of true events than as metaphors that aid in healing.

European Children with Past-Life Memories

European children speak of past lives less often than Asian children do, yet the cases are very similar.

Bishen Chand Kapoor (reincarnation case)

In this early 20th-century Indian case, a record was made of the child's memories before verifications.

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.

Herbert Saltmarsh

British psychical researcher (1881–1943) who wrote on mediumship, precognition and survival issues.

Karolina A Kirmse

German researcher who has carried out experiments aimed at uncovering the quantum basis of psi phenomena.

Hamlin Garland

Hamlin Garland (1860–1940) was an American psychical researcher, noted for his investigation of the Buried Crosses communications.

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.

Institut Métapsychique International (IMI)

Since 1919, France's IMI has made important contributions to psi and mediumship research.

London Dialectical Society

19th-century rationalist debating club whose 1871 investigative report showed certain PK activity to be genuine.

Rhine Research Center

Successor to the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University, dedicated to psi research, education and community activities.

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.

Cold Reading

Discusses the psychological strategies that can be used to simulate a mediumistic communication or psychic reading.

James Randi

Canadian-born conjurer (1928–2020) and public scourge of psychics, faith healers, parapsychologists and practitioners of alternative medicine.

Trevor Hall

English chartered surveyor and amateur conjuror (1910–1991), author of books attacking deceased psychics and researchers.

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.

Scientific Mysticism

Describes the theory of mathematician and mystic Michael Whiteman, based in part on his own experiences.

Human Radiations

The idea that humans radiate biophysical forces was once used to explain phenomena such as auras, ESP, healing, and luminous effects.

Electromagnetism and Paranormal Phenomena

Electromagnetism may be implicated in reports of seemingly paranormal phenomena.