‘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
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.
Witchcraft
Traces the development of witchcraft as the socially proscribed practice of magic, from Antiquity to the present day.
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.
Maimonides Dream Telepathy Research
This article describes ESP dreaming experiments carried out in a New York sleep laboratory.
Psi Research in Brazil
This article traces the development of interest in psi phenomena and parapsychological research in Brazil.
Decline Effect in Psi Research
Review of the 'decline effect’ in psi testing, a falling off in participants' performance over time.
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.
Ted Serios
Ted Serios (1918–2006) was an adept in the rare phenomenon of ‘thoughtography’ (an ability to 'think' images onto photographic film).
Helen Duncan
Controversial Scottish physical medium (1898–1956) sentenced to jail under England’s Witchcraft Act of 1735.
Malcolm Bessent
English-born Malcolm Bessent participated as a subject in successful dream precognition experiments carried out in the US.
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.
William Bengston
American sociologist and practitioner of ‘energy healing’ (1950–2025) who engaged in successful laboratory tests.
Deathbed Visions Research
Describes research into the phenomenon of deathbed visions by psi investigators Karlis Osis and Erlendur Haraldsson.
Neo-Mesmeric Movement
Modern version of early hypnotism, or animal magnetism, which attributed trance states to physical agents.
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.
Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research (Overview)
Types of ghostly phenomena, methods of research and theories of causation.
Podmore’s ‘Apparitions and Thought-Transference’
Argues that apparitions may be explained through telepathy.
Thompson-Gifford Case
19th century case of a jeweller who was driven to produce high quality paintings in the style of a recently deceased landscape painter.
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.
Kemal Atasoy (reincarnation case)
Case of a Turkish Alevi boy who recalled being an Armenian man who resided 500 miles away in Istanbul.
Hidden Treasure Reincarnation Cases
Some children recall having hidden money or other valuables in their previous lives and show where these may be found.
Will (reincarnation case)
Case of an American who seems to recall the past lives of two German military men who were killed during World Wars I and II.
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.
Eric John Dingwall
British author and psi researcher (1890–1986), noted for a robustly critical approach to the phenomena.
Brian Inglis
Irish journalist, author and broadcaster (1916–1993), whose many published works include books about psychical research.
Bernard J Carr
British cosmologist whose research interests centre on a theory of physics capable of accommodating psi phenomena.
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.
Exceptional Experience and Consciousness Studies (EECS)
Based at the University of Northampton, this is the largest centre for parapsychological research in the world.
Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research (AIPR)
Australia’s oldest extant psi research organization, founded in Sydney in 1977.
Windbridge Institute
Institution founded in 2008 to conduct research on psi functioning, with an emphasis on real-world applications.
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.
The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge
Prize offered until 2015 by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) but never awarded.
Harry Houdini
The legendary stage magician (1874–1926) was hostile to Spiritualism and wrote books about his debunking of mediums.
James Randi
Canadian-born conjurer (1928–2020) and public scourge of psychics, faith healers, parapsychologists and practitioners of alternative medicine.
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.
Forteana
Collective term for anomalous or paranormal-seeming phenomena, as exemplified in the writings of Charles Fort (1874–1932).
Photography and the Paranormal
Apparently paranormal images captured on film are vulnerable to claims of misinterpretation, malpractice or fraud.
Kirlian Photography
Photographic technique pioneered in Russia that reveals light radiating from living organisms and other objects.