spirit communication

en-noun

spirit communication (countable and uncountable, plural spirit communications)

On the other hand, Charles Mason was a loyal son of the Anglican Church, and was the spokesman of a host of others, including such weighty names as Lodge and Barrett among the laymen, or Wilberforce, Haweis and Chambers among the clergy, who clung fast to the old teachings while admitting the fact of spirit communication.

(parapsychology) The practice of living humans purportedly speaking or otherwise communicating with spirits of deceased individuals, as through seances, mediums, etc.


rescue circle

"Wickland has finally made out his case, but I do say that our experiences at rescue circles bear out the general idea, and that he has admittedly cured many cases which others have found intractable."

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

(parapsychology) A group of spiritualists that hold sittings in order to help confused spirits of the dead to accept the fact that they are dead.


residual haunting

residual haunting (plural residual hauntings)

A residual haunting may not be caused by trauma or violence, though.

2019, Zak Bagans, Ghost-Hunting For Dummies, page 142:

Residual haunting activity can occur when something traumatic/stressful occurs, such as a murder or a rape.

2019 November 15, Haunted Orange County, Types of Hauntings:

A residual haunting is a continuous film loop of the past containing images of a life once lived.

2020 October 8, Rick Hinton, Stephanie Dolan, Explaining the difference between ghosts and spirits, and other paranormal jargon:

(parapsychology) A haunting in which a specter repeats a loop of its past, with no semblance of intelligence or consciousness.


intelligent haunting

intelligent haunting (plural intelligent hauntings)

This is not an intelligent haunting, there is no interaction between you and the entity.

On the other hand, an intelligent haunting involves spirits that interact and make their presence known in more ways than one.

2020 October 8, Stephanie Dolan, Explaining the difference between ghosts and spirits, and other paranormal jargon:

(parapsychology) A specter of a human soul that still retains a varying level of consciousness and can interact in several ways with the living.


mental mediumship

Abstract—Mental mediumship is a complex process involving a variety of factors in need of further study before we can increase our understanding of the phenomenon.

2010, Carlos S. Alvarado, Investigating Mental Mediums: Research Suggestions from the Historical Literature:

The purpose of this study was to explore the personality and psychological wellbeing of Spiritualist mental mediums compared to nonmedium Spiritualists.

2011, Roxburgh, E.C. and Roe, C.A., A survey of dissociation, boundary-thinness, and psychological wellbeing in spiritualist mental mediumship:

The first and most common type is mental mediumship, which is how I work with my abilities.

2013 April 11, James Van Praagh, What Is a Medium?:

(parapsychology) The practice of communicating with ghosts using telepathy.


perpetual motion machine of the first kind (plural perpetual motion machines of the first kind)

perpetual motion machine
perpetual motion machine

(physics, pseudoscience) A perpetual motion machine that produces work without the input of energy.

perpetual motion machine of the second kind


perpetual motion machine of the second kind (plural perpetual motion machines of the second kind)

(physics, pseudoscience) A perpetual motion machine that spontaneously converts thermal energy into mechanical work.


Kirlian photography

(parapsychology, photography) A technique for recording photographic images of corona discharges and hence, supposedly, the auras of living creatures.


orgone accumulator

orgone accumulator (plural orgone accumulators)

The orgone accumulator is an ordinary box big enough for a man to sit inside on a chair: a layer of wood, a layer of metal, and another layer of wood gather in orgones from the atmosphere and hold them captive long enough for the human body to absorb more than a usual share.

1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 7, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 2:

(historical, pseudoscience) A box designed to isolate and intensify orgone energy.


colloidal silver

colloidal silver (plural colloidal silvers)

alternative medicine
alternative medicine

(alternative medicine, pseudoscience) colloid consisting of silver particles suspended in liquid, originally used by doctors from the early 20th century until the 1940s (when antibiotics emerged) and then experiencing a revival from about 1990, when it was marketed with scientifically unsupported claims of it being an essential mineral supplement, or that it can prevent or treat numerous diseases


starlight problem

Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism

(creationism, pseudoscience) The conflict between Young Earth creationism (asserting that the universe is thousands of years old) and the starlight-related measurements that show the universe to be billions of years old.


telepathogram

Blend of telepathy + telegram with connective -o-.

This can not often be had in the turbulent atmosphere of the Middle Ages through which long-range telepathograms must of necessity pass.

1927, D.S. Jordan, chapter VI, in Higher Foolishness, page 135:

(parapsychology, rare) A nominal telegram sent telepathically.


psychometrize

en-verb

psychometrize (third-person singular simple present psychometrizes, present participle psychometrizing, simple past and past participle psychometrized)

psychometrizes (present singular third-person)
psychometrizing (participle present)
psychometrized (participle past)
psychometrized (past)

(parapsychology) To discover information about an object's past, or past owners, merely by handling it.


iosis

From Ancient Greek ἴωσις (íōsis), from ἰός (iós, “rust”).

(alchemy) Synonym of rubedo (“reddening process in the alchemical magnum opus”)


liver of antimony

From a supposed resemblance to the color of animals' livers.

CHEWING-BALLS, a kind of balls made of aſafœtida, liver of antimony, bay-wood, juniper-wood, and pellitory of Spain; which being dried in the ſun, and wrapped in a linen-cloth, are tied to the bit of the bridle for the horſe to chew: they create an appetite; and it is ſaid, that balls of Venice treacle may be uſed in the ſame manner with good ſucceſs.

1771, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1st ed., volume II, page 183:

The crocus metallorum, or liver of antimony, was a violent cathartic and emetic.

The Lexicon Technicum... refers to ‘Crocus Metallorum’ or Liver of Antimony made by firing equal parts of powder of antimony and saltpetre.

2000, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, number 90, page 31:

antimony sulfide
antimony sulfide#English

(alchemy, obsolete chemistry) Synonym of antimony sulfide.


solifaction

From Sol, from the identification of gold as the planetary metal of the Sun. Compare Latin sōlificātiō, sōlificus.

Nota quoque, quod ☿ ex 🜵 non fit sine sequestratione 🜍is Combustibilis Copiosi, Ergo & hoc ad Solificationem & Lunificationem sequestrari convenit.

2004 [c. 1653-1656], George Starkey, translated by William R. Newman, Lawrence M. Principe, Alchemical Laboratory Notebooks and Correspondence, University of Chicago Press, page 204:


Velikovskyism

From Velikovsky + -ism, named after Russian-American psychoanalyst Immanuel Velikovsky (1895–1979).

named-after

I had read Martin Gardner's polemics against pseudosciences like Scientology and Velikovskyism, and I was on the lookout for more.

2018, David Auerbach, Bitwise: A Life in Code, Vintage, →ISBN:

(pseudoscience) A pseudohistorical interpretation of ancient history and mythology as shaped by catastrophic cosmic events.


telempathy

"Telempathy is a skill that so far exists only in legends and rumors," Sue says. "To be able to master it would be something immensely valuable to the Sekhem."

2013, C[ynthia] J[aynes] Omololu, Intuition, New York, N.Y. […]: Walker Books, →ISBN, page 213:

(parapsychology, science fiction) The paranormal ability to sense the emotions of others; empathy.


telempathic

I did a telempathic analysis of Leo a few weeks back. He was in a difficult situation. Easily twice as intelligent than his family and school mates. I knew he was desperate for just about any kind of change in his life.

2007, Hugh A[lan] D[ouglas] Spencer, “When Bloomsbury Fails”, in Why I Hunt Flying Saucers & Other Fantasticals: A Science Fiction Short Story Retrospective, Milton, O.N.: Brain Lag, published 2016, →ISBN, page 218:

(parapsychology, science fiction) Relating to or involving telempathy ("the paranormal ability to sense the emotions of others").


telempath

"Very brave of you, but the ancient dragons of the Circle are very powerful telempaths and often use mind control on dragons untrained in mental battle. I will teach you how to protect your mind and fight a telepathic battle just in case you ever encounter one of their enforcers, or a human wizard."

2010, Susan Trombley, Princess's Dragon, New York, N.Y., Bloomington, I.N.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, page 60:

(parapsychology, science fiction) Someone able to sense the emotions of others by paranormal means; someone who has the power of telempathy.


radioclast

(pseudoscience, historical) An electronic device that was supposed to cure disease, operating based on tables of frequencies.


universal solvent

en-noun

universal solvent (plural universal solvents)

(alchemy) The alkahest, a theorized substance that would be able to dissolve any other substance.


physical mediumship

(parapsychology) The ability to make the spirit world cause physical phenomena that can be observed by anyone present.


missing time

(psychology, parapsychology, ufology) A time period of amnesia or a gap in conscious memory reported by individuals who have experienced alien abduction.


hypnotic suggestion

hypnotic suggestion (countable and uncountable, plural hypnotic suggestions)

(psychology, parapsychology) A statement made during hypnosis describing a change in behavior or experience that does not require the conscious effort of the participant.


vibrationary

Helen's customary readings are done over the telephone, and last 30 minutes. She requires payment in advance, but adheres to the rule that she does not cash a check until the reading has been completed. The check she receives before the reading supplies Helen with vibrationary information about the person as she touches (psychometrizing) the envelope, the check, and the signature.

1980 December 20, Michael Anderson, “Gays & the Occult”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 22, page 11:

(especially parapsychology) Relating to vibrations.


sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts pl (plural only)

conversion therapy
conversion therapy#English

(LGBT, pseudoscience) Synonym of conversion therapy


sexual orientation change efforts

sexual orientation change efforts pl (plural only)

Father Paul Sullins, a researcher with The Ruth Institute, analyzed data on lesbians, gays, and bisexuals who consider suicide after undergoing sexual orientation change efforts (often referred to as "conversion therapy"), and his findings undermine the LGBTQ narrative.

2024 January 31, Tyler O'Neil, “New Research on ‘Conversion Therapy’ Turns LGBTQ Narrative on Its Head”, in The Daily Signal:

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering a bill that would ban the controversial practice of sexual orientation change efforts for minors.

2013 June 22, Michael Gryboski, “Massachusetts Legislature Considering Ban on Gay Therapy for Minors”, in The Christian Post: