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Belief in the paranormal has been around for centuries if not thousands of years, deeply connected with theology, philosophy, and even spirituality. The prefix “Para” simply means “beyond”, so in essence, when one makes statements of the paranormal variety it shouldn’t automatically be seen in a blanket or derogatory fashion, but merely implying something “beyond the normal”.

How many of us have had “beyond the norm” experiences in our own lives on at least one occasion? I’m sure quite a few hands just went up. If not, don’t fret, the following guideline might provide a little understanding regarding the study of metaphysics and psychic phenomenon, possibly even helping readers discover greater potentials in their own lives.

While there’s been talk of otherworldly entities and the foresight of prophecy in certain circles of research for centuries, it wasn’t until the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that “psychic phenomenon” started getting more recognition as a valid, if not semi-valid, area of study. One of the highlights of this new movement occurred when a spiritualist named E. Dawson Rogers founded ‘The Society for Psychical Research’ in England, 1882. Within a few decades similar groups had sprouted up all over the world, dedicated to exploring various areas of psychical study and clairvoyance, including ghostly contacts and communicating with spirits. By the 1920’s a branching field emerged in which electronics and all variety of strange contraptions were invented to better “peer through the veil”. As one can imagine, the validity and complexity of these devices ranged from brilliant ingenuity, to utter quackery. Still, despite its progression in the public mindset, the study of these phenomena was still seen as pseudo-science at best, and Satanic at worst. 

It was during this period that old terms such as “spiritualism” and “psychic ability” began to fall out of favor, and as researchers sought a more scientific method to prove their claims, the term Parapsychology was born. This new generation of parapsychologists was led by Dr. J.B. Rhine, credited with coining such terms as “ESP” and “PSI”, as well as founding the respected ‘Journal of Parapsychology’ in 1937. He believed that the study of parapsychology would only be taken seriously if it managed to intermingle with reputable academia (thus he based his study at Duke University). Rhine was also an innovator in the fact that he believed PSI ability was available to all people, not just a select and elite few (ie: “The Intellectuals”). 

Due to Rhine and others, through their staunch and rigorous tests of methodology, as well as their dedication to proving the legitimacy of psychic research, the governments of the world became increasingly interested with this line of study in the days leading up to WWII, setting up their own think tanks for the purpose of creating “psychic spies” and counter espionage agents. It could be argued that the military has been utilizing the “paranormal” since long before it was considered a “science”. There have always been court astrologers, tarot readers, soothsayers, prophets and spiritual advisors since the dawn of human history. 

While the following list is in no way extensive, here are the Top 25 terms, by my definition, which might get a person better acquainted with their own psychic voyage of discovery. Whether your powers are active or dormant, passive or dominant, please proceed with caution and devise your own method for testing extrasensory perception. 

*Absent Healing: With the same affects as the ‘laying on of hands’, but instead of healing directly, the person is able to heal their target from an entirely different location. 

*Alpha Rhythm: In a state of deep relaxation the electrical activity of the brain slows to about 10 cycles per second. Such as with meditation, it can be helpful to center oneself before attempting any psychical test. 

*Altered State of Consciousness: Generic term for any state beyond the norm of wakefulness and sleep. This includes going into trance, cases of religious ecstasy, drug induced states, as well as a variety of dream states. It’s generally any state of consciousness which is not easily defined as “awake” or “asleep”. 

*Anomalous Experience: This is any event which cannot readily be explained through logic or science. Basically, it’s a “Twilight Zone” moment of realization. 

*Apparition: While there are different definitions, such as ghost, spirit, entity, these will all generally fall under the category of an apparition. This is an intangible presence which might appear in order to give warning, or foretell impending disaster. These can also be ancestor spirits which are returning to aid and guide us, or send us a message. Along with this, in lesser form, are occurrences of voice phenomenon where an “apparition” appears, but can only be heard and not seen, often associated with EVP’s (electronic voice phenomenon). There is also the area of “ghosts” or “phantom images” appearing in old photographs, which could be a genuine spectral anomaly, or a mere trick of the light. 

*Astral Projection: The ability to transcend one’s physical body to voyage through the astral plane. Also known as OBE (out of body experience), this state, reached intentionally through mediation, or otherwise accidentally, allows a person to freely travel to various locations while their body lies in a sleep state. There are many subtle nuances, but I would also classify ‘Remote Viewing’ in this category, as well as ‘Bilocation’ (appearing in two places at the same time), ‘Retrocognition’ (knowledge of past events where a person wasn’t present), and ‘Cryptomnesia’ (info a person obtains about past or future details without consciously being aware of its source). 

*Channeling: The belief that someone, usually a medium, can receive messages from spirits and non-physical entities. Some researchers believe that instead of picking up information from the deceased, these people might actually have telepathic abilities and are actually picking up thoughts from those around them. Channeling remains one of the most controversial areas of psychic research, and one of the most abused. 

*Collective Apparition: This is an apparition that is seen simultaneously by more than one person at the same place and time. While these occurrences are rare, or at least hard to prove, they are among the most compelling cases in all parapsychology. Usually this involves a religious sighting, such as the Virgin Mary appearing at Fatima. While there are still logical explanations, it’s not so easy to write off all these events as ‘mass delusion’. 

*Déjà vu: The odd and indescribable feeling a person has when an event is currently unfolding, yet feels like it’s happened more than once before. It’s one of the most mysterious, yet most widely reported occurrences of parapsychology. 

*Divination: This comes in a variety of forms, but is generally a method by which psychics or spiritual mediums obtain and read information in order to gain knowledge. There are literally dozens of methods to ‘divining information’, including alchemy, astrology, tarot, as well as reading tea leaves or pig intestines. People should study all the avenues and see which methods might be right for them before jumping head first into any of this. 

*Empath: Similar to Telepathy, an empath can feel the emotions of others. Everyone is an empath on one level or another, but many close themselves off to this ability, lest they be overcome with negative emotions and ‘psychic vampirism’. 

*False Awakening: A dream in which a person believes that he or she has woke up, but is still dreaming. While only loosely fitting into the scheme of “psychic event”, it is an interesting occurrence nonetheless, and should be considered along side other sleep/dream phenomena. 

*General Extrasensory Perception: This is the term used when the particular ability of a person (telepathy, precognition, etc.) isn’t easily definable. Perhaps this subject has more than one psychic talent, which can sometimes confuse the testing procedures. 

*Haunted Object: Into this I will simply include “haunting”. This is an object, or a building, which has over time acquired some form of residual consciousness, usually though not always of the malignant variety. This accumulation of collected energies, and their potential interaction with the human psyche, could one day be proven in some form by rigorous scientific analysis. 

*Hyperaesthesia: A semi-common condition where one or more of a person’s senses become unnaturally acute. Sometimes this can occur because of trauma to the brain, or a near death experience. There are also cases of ‘Xenoglossy’, where a person suddenly has the ability to write or speak in a language which they have never learned. 

*Hypnagogic Imagry: This is a visual event that occurs just before a person falls asleep, in which bright geometrical patterns and images appear before the cloudy view of the subject. These can also take the form of complex puzzles and shapes, which seemingly dance before the eyes of a semi-conscious person. It’s possible that this related to a meditation process in which the subject is able to witness representations of inner biological structures, or even encoded messages within their DNA strand. 

*Intuition: This is the most generally accepted talent, though not regulated to the study of parapsychology but to actual science. Intuition is believed to take place in the brain and other sensory organs, based upon raw data input and the awareness of cause and effect situations. In Parapsychology this would be defined as Clairvoyance or Precognition, though it shows one of the rare branches where hard science and psychic research merge into a mainstream belief. 

*Levitation: The ability to raise oneself, or other objects, into the air without physical contact. It could also be argued that this is merely a form of telekinesis, the psychic ability to move solid object with the mind. 

*Lucid Dreaming: A dream in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming and can actively change events within their sleep state. It can often be related to OBE and sleep paralysis. 

*Near Death Experience: Over the decades, thousands of people have reported near death experiences, usually involving some form of astral projection in which they are hovering over their bodies at the scene of an accident, or on the operating table. In this state they can watch events as they unfold, and even report back on it later once they’ve re-entered the world of the living. More often than not when these cases are reported, it involves a ‘great white light’ and sometimes even visitation by relatives and family members (Psychopomps) who are already deceased and waiting to open the gates of ‘heaven’. While I believe in transversing dimensions after death, and am not here to debunk, there are logical explanations for much of this, based upon still functioning sensory perceptions which might explain many of these accounts. Sometimes after these NDE’s, subjects report an increase in psychic activities and clairvoyance. 

*Past Life Regression: A technique, usually done through hypnosis, in which people claim to have visions and memories of previous lives. Sometimes this occurs spontaneously, and one day this field might be better explained through the biological study of DNA. Reincarnation and Karmic balance is a major tenet of many world religions, though under hypnosis it might be easy to implant false memories. 

*Phenomenology: This is the regulated scientific study of a person’s personal psychic experiences, though this can also be done in a lower scale “do it yourself” fashion. 

*Sheep-Goat Effect: The proposition that believers of psychic ability (sheep) will score better on paranormal aptitude tests than will non-believers (goats). This area needs more study before it will become a conclusive fact of parapsychology. 

*Synchronicity: Yet another of the misunderstood yet widely occurring set of phenomena, Synchronicity was coined by psychologist Carl Jung as a series of events which occur randomly yet have a significant, and even spiritual, connection to each other. These happenings can often go undetected unless one is open to experiencing them. It can be a frightful incident for some, while a religiously delusional incident to others. This is most often referred to as being responsible for events of “high strangeness”. 

*Yoga: A philosophy which highly recommends regular meditation and spiritual exploration. The practice is connected to Kundalini, which has been known to open up various entry points of the psychic gateway.