A term coined by F.A. Mesmer to refer to a putative force or fluid capable of being transmitted from one person to another, producing healing effects. See also Mesmerism.
A field of energy believed by some to surround living creatures. Certain clairvoyants claim to be able to see the aura (generally as a luminous, coloured halo). See also Kirlian photography.
The ability to write intelligible messages without apparent conscious control or knowledge of what is being written. See also automatism, dissociation.
Physical activites (e.g., arm movements, writing, drawing, musical performance) that occur without the automatist's apparent conscious control or knowledge. Also known as motor automatism.
A common tendency to find personal meaning in statements that are so general they could apply to anyone. Often exploited in cold reading.
Billet Reading
Procedure in which a question is secretly written on a piece of paper which is folded or sealed in an envelope, and handed to the mentalist who attempts to answer the question.
Black Art
Method of concealing objects using black covers against a black background.
Book Test
An effect in which the mentalist reveals the words written on a particular page of a book.
A box or curtained enclosure in which the magician is secured and from which various phenomena may manifest (e.g., lights, objects moving, instruments played).
An elaborately prearranged deck of cards that, when memorised, permits various magical and mentalism effects. Well known examples are the Aronson, Si Stebbins, Tamariz and Nikola systems.
Center Tear Method
A sleight of hand method for obtaining information that a spectator has secretly written on a folded piece of paper.
A general term that refers to the paranormal obtaining of information about an object or event. In modern usage, this does not necessarily refer to obtaining information visually. Cf. clairaudience, clairsentience, ESP, psi.
Or clairvoyant. A person who obtains information paranormally (often by spirit communication) without the need to enter into a trance state. Cf. trance medium.
A reading given with no prior knowledge of the sitter. Often a mixture of very general Barnum-type statements which could apply to anyone, together with inferences made from cues presented by the sitter (e.g., physical appearance, clothes, tone of voice, statements made). Cf. hot reading.
Confederate
A apparent audience member who secretly assists or provides information to a magician or mentalist.
A technique simulating telepathy, in which the mentalist (who generally holds a hand or arm) responds to slight muscle movements produced unconsciously by the person whose mind is apparently being read. Also known as muscle reading, Cumberlandism or Hellstromism.
Cryptomnesia
Knowledge (acquired in normal ways) that may be revealed without the person remembering its source. Such memories may falsely appear to be paranormal revelations. Sometimes cryptomnesia is used as an explanation for apparently paranormal experiences such as xenoglossy or past-life memories.
A voice heard in a seance which does not seem to emanate from any person. The voice may seem to come out of thin air, or from a trumpet used specifically for this purpose. Cf. indirect voice.
Activity performed outside of normal conscious awareness, or mental processes that suggest the existence of separate centres of consciousness. See also trance.
The deliberate faking of paranormal phenomenena, generally for the purpose of financial gain, psychological manipulation, or notoriety. Faking for the purpose of entertainment (e.g., by stage magicians and mentalists) is not normally classed as fraud.
Mediumistic phenomenon in which the discarnate entity appears to speak using the vocal apparatus of the medium. Often the voice will sound very different from the medium's normal voice. Cf. direct voice.
Use of recording equipment to produce evidence interpreted as communication from deceased persons or other entitites. See also. Raudive voices, pareidolia.
The non-paranormal ability to grasp the elements of a situation or to draw conclusions about complex events in ways that go beyond a purely rational or intellectual analysis.
A photographic method involving high frequency electric current, discovered by S.D. & V. Kirlian in the Soviet Union. Kirlian photographs often show coloured halos or "auras" surrounding objects.
A mnemonic system for remembering numbers by associating each integer with the sound of particular consonants. Number sequences are committed to memory by linking the consonant sounds together with arbitrary vowels to form memorable words or phrases. Also known as the phonetic mnemonic system.
A system of healing developed by F.A. Mesmer, involving the induction of trance states and the supposed transfer of animal magnetism. People in Mesmeric trance often showed paranormal abilities such as clairvoyance.
A board with letters and numbers on which messages are spelled out by unconsciously moving (with the fingers) a glass or planchette. See also automatism.
Out
In magic and mentalism, a convincing explanation for an apparent failure, or a convincing alternative ending to an effect that has not worked as planned.
Term coined by J.B. Rhine to refer to the experimental and quantitative study of paranormal phenomena. Now generally used instead of "psychical research" to refer to all scientific investigation of the paranormal.
A mnemonic system for remembering lists by associating each item with pre-remembered words ("pegs") that represent each number in the list. Often combined with peg words generated using the Major System
German word meaning "noisy or troublesome spirit". Poltergeist activity may include unexplained noises, movements of objects, outbreaks of fire, floods, pricks or scratches to a person's body.
Theories based on the assumption that living organisms emit some kind of radiation or emanation that is capable of being detected using instruments or by dowsing. See also aura.
Intelligible voices recorded on magnetic tape under conditions of silence or random hiss (white noise) which are heard only when the tape is played. A phenomenon discovered by Konstantin Raudive. See also. instrumental transcommunication, pareidolia.
An ESP procedure in which a percipient attempts to become aware psychically of the experience of an agent who is at a distant, unknown target location.
A person inclined to discount the reality of the paranormal and to be critical of parapsychological research. Generally seeks rational or scientific explanations for the phenomena studied by parapsychologists and psychical researchers.
A common tendency to remember information that relates to the self and to forget unrelated information. This is often exploited by psychics and mentalists who may rely on sitters remembering correct elements of a reading and forgetting incorrect elements.
Making inferences about a person based on their membership of certain groupings (for example, based on their gender, age, accent or ethnicity). Often exploited in cold reading.
Mysterious movements of a table, usually occurring in a seance when a group of people place their hands on the surface of the table. Often the movements are interpreted as spirit communications. Also known as table-turning or table-tipping.
Paranormal awareness of another person's experience (thoughts, feelings, etc.). In practice it is difficult to distinguish between telepathy and clairvoyance. See also ESP.
Paranormal ability to produce images on photographic film (e.g., by concentrating on a mental image). Most famously demonstrated by Ted Serios. See also psychic photography.
A method of secretly communicating information to another performer by using particular words or vocalisations that represent that information .See also Zancig Code.
Set of 25 cards (5 each of circle, square, Greek cross, five-pointed star, three wavy lines) designed by the perceptual psychologist Karl Zener for use in card-guessing tests of ESP. Also known as ESP cards.