Psi Encyclopedia

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 more than 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. It is owned and sponsored by the Society for Psychical Research.

Mark Boccuzzi created this short video that explains what we are about.

Featured

Titus Rivas

Dutch theoretical psychologist and philosopher (1964-2026) who studied NDEs and children who recall previous lives.

After-Death Communications (Overview)

ADCs have been interpreted through both psychological and survival-based models.

Animals in Psi Research

The psi abilities of animals have been reported in informal observations and laboratory tests.

Rhea A White

American parapsychologist, librarian, bibliographer, and editor of the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.

Eminent People Interested in Psi (list)

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

Psi Research in Brazil

This article traces the development of interest in psi phenomena and parapsychological research in Brazil.

Maróczy Mediumistic Chess Match

Match played between a living Russian grandmaster and a deceased Hungarian one.

Key Topics

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.

Near-Death Experiences (Overview)

This article describes anomalous mental events reported by people who have survived a near-fatal accident or illness.

Society for Psychical Research (SPR)

Membership organization founded in London in 1882 for the scientific investigation of claims of psychic phenomena.

Psychokinesis Research (Overview)

Research on PK has progressed from early tests with dice to random number generators, field studies, and quantum experiments.

Clinical Parapsychology

Therapeutic approach that aims to provide support for people disturbed by anomalous event experiences.

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.

Psychedelics and Psi

A gradual easing of restrictions means that psi research with psychedelics, once prevalent, could soon resume.

Altered States of Consciousness and Psi

ASCs have long been known to be associated with psi experiences.

Recent Additions

Haunted York

York's reputation as Britain’s most haunted city rests on a long history of reported apparitions and other anomalies.

Researcher Fraud in Experimental Parapsychology

Researcher fraud has been a problem for parapsychology, as for other sciences.

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Minnie Meserve Soule

Important American trance medium (1867–1936) who worked closely with researchers for three decades.

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Sleep Paralysis and Anomalous Experience

Sensed presences and apparitions have been reported while the body is immobilized.

Joseph Jastrow

Pioneering American experimental psychologist (1863–1944) briefly associated with the ASPR, although sceptical of psi.

After-Death Communications (Overview)

ADCs have been interpreted through both psychological and survival-based models.

Elwood Worcester

American Episcopal clergyman and psychologist (1862–1940) who helped found the Boston Society for Psychic Research.

Siméon Edmunds

British researcher (1917–69) concerned with hypnotism, spirit photography, parapsychology and Spiritualism.

Global Consciousness Project (GCP) 2.0

GCP 2.0 extends the original GCP with a larger network of quantum random number generators.

Global Consciousness: Theories

This article considers interpretations of data gathered by the Global Consciousness Project.

Minot J.Savage (Harvard Divinity School Library)

Minot Judson Savage

Unitarian minister (1841–1918) who sat with Leonora Piper and was involved with the early American Society for Psychical Research.

Presentiment Research Methods

Confirmatory studies should be preregistered and use pre-stimulus physiological data to predict stimuli.

Charles Drayton Thomas

Methodist minister (1867–1953) who studied mental mediumship, chiefly of Gladys Osborne Leonard.

Edward F Kelly

American psychologist and parapsychologist concerned with consciousness and its relation to psi and postmortem survival.

Free-Response Methods

Targets such as random images or locations allow for richer impressions than do forced-choice tests.

Children’s Near-Death Experiences

New research employs creative, participatory methods to interview children about their NDEs.

Psi Research in France

This article discusses psi research in France, from nineteenth century ‘animal magnetism’ to the present day.

Callum E Cooper

British psychologist who specializes in the study of spontaneous cases of psi phenomena.

Preventing Researcher Fraud

Preventive research practices offer the strongest protections against fraud in parapsychology.

Dealing with the Stacking Effect

When several test participants respond to the same target, their trials are statistically dependent.

Explore the Psi Encyclopedia

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. Together they constitute psi, in the strict sense of the term. Subcategories group together overviews and general topics in psi studies, tests of ESP and PK, and researcher biographies.

Olga Kahl

Russian psychic known for her ability to cause words and images received telepathically appear briefly as red marks on her skin.

Remote Viewing

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

Coover Telepathy Experiments

Early telepathy experiments, once thought a failure, now considered statistically significant.

Mind & Body

This category contains articles that treat consciousness in relation to the body. Subcategories focus on consciousness and psi; dreams and psi; and distant healing and psychotherapy. Also included are sitter groups and macro-psychokinesis as well as poltergeists, often assumed to relate to discarnate entities but now known more often to have living agents. A final subgroup is concerned with out-of-body and near-death experiences and events reported on the threshold of death.

William Braud

American experimental parapsychologist (1942–2012), pioneer of study of distant mental influence on living systems (DMILS).

Lourdes Cures

Healing powers attributed to the shrine of Lourdes are said to have brought about cures for many debilitating diseases.

Hideyuki Kokubo

Japanese researcher known for work on bio-PK (non-contact healing and energy therapies such as Reiki and Johrei).

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. Subcategories focus on hauntings and apparitions and on psychic (also called mental) mediumship.

Reciprocal Apparitions

Reciprocal apparitions are experienced in out-of-body states at the same time they are perceived by others.

R-101 Airship Disaster

Classic case, in which a communicator identified himself as captain of an airship that had crashed two days earlier.

Cideville Poltergeist

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

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. Subcategories highlight case studies, past life regression, and biographies of major researchers.

photo of face of World War II Japanese soldier

Tin Aung Myo (reincarnation case)

Study of a Burmese girl whose statements and behaviours suggested she was remembering the life of a Japanese soldier.

photograph of Ian Stevenson, pioneer of reincarnation research

Xenoglossy in Reincarnation Cases

In reincarnation cases, xenoglossy involves the use of language spoken in a past life but not learned in the present.

Ratana Wongsombat (reincarnation case)

Thai girl who, from the age of one, made detailed statements about a previous life as a Buddhist devotee.

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. The biographies are grouped in subcategories by 30-year age cohorts, highlighting contemporaries.

Callum E Cooper

British psychologist who specializes in the study of spontaneous cases of psi phenomena.

Alexander Batthyány

Austrian philosopher, cognitive scientist and researcher concerned with phenomena surrounding death and dying.

William Crookes

British scientist (1832–1919) who did controversial experiments with Daniel Home and other mediums in the 1870s.

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.

College of Psychic Studies

British Spiritualist organization, offering mediumship training and courses related to consciousness, healing and the psychic arts.

Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP)

Under Etzel Cardeña at Lund University.

BIAL's Behind and Beyond the Brain Symposium, 2018

Bial Foundation

Foundation set up by Portuguese pharmaceutical giant to support research in neuroscience, psychophysiology and parapsychology.

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.

Antony Flew

British analytic philosopher known for his influential critiques of theism, postmortem survival and parapsychology.

Joseph Jastrow

Pioneering American experimental psychologist (1863–1944) briefly associated with the ASPR, although sceptical of psi.

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, the Miscellaneous Anomalistic subcategory. Other subcategories list articles on psychics and mystic and on important articles, books and journals in the field of parapsychology.