Ghost Hunting Glossary
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This is a ghost hunting vocabulary. If you know of a term to add, please email us. (For a general Paranormal Glossary, go here)
Ghost Hunting Glossary
- Orb
- Unexpected, typically spherical, artifacts in photographs and videos. Sometimes the artifact leaves a trail, indicating motion. They usually are translucent white, though sometimes of a reddish or bluish hue. Also known as "Globule".
- Séance
- An attempt by a group of people, usually led by a medium, to communicate with spirits.
- Shade
- A ghost "presence" or mental representation of some haunting experience.
- Silky
- A friendly female ghost, that mostly haunts the houses of the aristocrats and can haunt lazy servants. She wears a rustling silk or similar garment and does the house chores after the family have gone to sleep.
- Spirit
- Commonly referred to a ghost, it is any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or audible) to human beings.
- Spirit Rescue
- The practice of attempting contact with and assisting spirit entities who are believed to have failed to make the transition into the afterlife.
- Spook
- A spirit returning to haunt a place. An American term referring to a ghost or an apparition.
- Spunkies
- Also called will-o'-the-wisp, they refer to the ghostly lights sometimes seen at night or twilight. In old Gaelic and English folklore "spunkies" are the sad spirits of unnamed, unchristened or unbaptized children, wandering back roads looking for someone to name them.
- Vortex
- Ectoplasmic matter moving in the form of a spiral or column (shaped like a whirlwind or whirlpool). Can show up as a translucent white funnel in photos at a haunting. May also be a two-way transport mechanism ("porthole") to the spirit dimension. (Plural: Vortexes or Vortices)
- Wraith (Wrayth)
- An apparition of a person, living or dead, that may appear shortly before or after his/her death. The appearance of a wraith is often considered to be an omen. Sometimes used as synonym for ghost. (Also see: Apparition, Ghost)
