Glossary of Terms

Some of the words or terms used on Afterlifeforums.com may be unfamiliar to readers and posters. This thread lists some commonly used ones and explains their general meanings.

The list was edited and updated in 2018.


After-Death Communication (ADC) – Any communication that a living person has from or with a dead person.

Astral Body – The body that temporarily leaves our material body during sleep and during out-of-body experiences. It permanently leaves our material body at death. When seen on the material level of reality the astral body appears to be made of energy.

Astral Plane – The non-material plane(s) of existence or the afterlife levels.

Astral Projection – The movement of one’s astral body outside and away from one’s physical body.

Astral Travel – Out-of-body travel in the non-material levels.

Aura – An energy outline which may be visible around a living thing in certain lighting conditions. Human auras can be various colors ans shades depending on an individual’s current emotional state and general level of spiritual development.

Clairaudient – Able to hear communications from disembodied or dead beings.

Clairsentient – Able to sense the emotions of other people, living or dead, often by touching objects owned or used by them.

Clairvoyant – Able to see spirits without the use of material eyes.

Communication – Any form of contact between the living and the dead.

Consciousness – This term is often used as a near-synonym for human mental activity and awareness. There is strong evidence that consciousness is a kind of universal base energy and it may be the only thing that is real.

Control – A spirit individual who regularly assists a living medium to communicate with the dead.

Cross-Correspondence – In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries some dead people eager to prove their existence would communicate parts of a single message through several widely-scattered mediums. Connecting those message parts allowed the original message in full to be seen.

Death – The permanent cessation of life functions in a physical body. (see also 'Silver Cord')

Deep-Trance Medium – Someone able to go into trance allowing a spirit (often called a control) to speak to the living using the medium’s vocal cords. Development of this skill requires extended periods of practice and deep-trance mediumship is less common in this 21st century than it used to be.

Drop-In Communication – (still awaiting a good definition)

Earthbound – Generally considered to be the spirit of a dead person who has not successfully transitioned to the afterlife levels, the spirit remainings close to the material earth level. The spirit may sometimes be discerned by sensitives who may also communicate with it. Some earthbounds will be unaware they are dead or confused about their situation. Others are aware they have passed over but are reluctant to leave the earth plane to complete their transition. They may wish to continue enjoying the pleasures they experienced when incarnate or for other reasons. They are not abandoned, however, and help to complete their transition is always available for when they choose to make use of it.

Ectoplasm – In certain forms of physical mediumship, certain substances from a medium's body are 'borrowed' by a spirit-team working with a physical mediumship group. This is somehow mixed with some kind of material(s) from the etheric dimensions. This new material is termed 'ectoplasm' and can take various forms from rod-like rigid structures to free-flowing soft material which may be moulded. This may be moulded to create parts such as hands, feet or even faces and sometimes to create voice boxes which enable a discarnate to speak. At the end of the seance, the borrowed materials are always returned to the medium's body.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) – Recognizable communications from spirits that are electronically communicated and/or recorded.

Evidence – Often refers to information that persuades a seeker of the survival beyond bodily death of a loved one. It may also be other kinds of information, for example details that give insight into conditions in the afterlife world.

Extrasensory Perception (ESP) – The process of perceiving information by means other than the bodily senses.

Ghost – A popular term for any disembodied spirit which is perceptible on the material level of reality.

God – the supreme creative being. Evidence is overwhelming that God is not material but is instead infinitely powerful and infinitely loving creative energy or 'spirit'. It may be that this energy or God is all that exists.

Haunt – The process by which a disembodied person makes its presence perceptible to living people, perhaps with the intention of inspiring fear in them.

Heaven – A religious term commonly used to denote where people go after their passing. Commonly seen as the beautiful and congenial parts of the afterlife.

Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) – Any sound made or recorded in any mechanical or electronic manner produced or affected by a spirit communicator.

Jesus – A highly spiritually-elevated being who incarnated 2000 years ago to teach Iron Age Jews about God, the nature of reality, and the nature of death and the afterlife.

Kirlian Photography – The process of photographing auras around living things.

Light Being – This term generally refers to a very advanced spiritual being who appears to human beings on this level and generally glows with light.

Medium – There is no widely-accepted single definition of the noun 'medium'. It may be used to describe a person with psychic attributes who can not bring about communication with the dead but equally it may be used for those who do. (also see 'mediumship' below)

Mediumship – The gift of being able to communicate with the dead.

Modern Spiritualism - A movement often termed a philosophy, a religion and a science. It is a legally recognised religion in several countries, the most notable ones being the UK, the USA and Australia. It's fundamentals are the message of survival beyond physical death and communication via mediumship between incarnates and discarnates. Spiritualism has its roots in Hydesville, New York, from where it spread to many countries including the UK. It is still widely followed in the UK, less so in the USA, Canada and Australia. It is far less well-known and popular than in its heyday several decades ago. Spiritualism has no formalised worship or celebration but does recognise a supreme creative force, often called The Great Spirit or God. The religion of Spiritualism embraces its 'Seven Principles' in its formal structure and in many churches and centers.

Near-Death Experience (NDE) – A wide range of experiences which may or may not be associated with a health crisis, generally involving extraordinary aspects that may include separation from the body, a trip through a tunnel and meetings with dead relatives, friends and even spiritually advanced beings.

Non-Locality (of Consciousness) – Scientific research is showing more and more conclusively that conscious is not generated by or centered in our brains but it is more of a general grid on which all of reality can be considered to hang. Afterlife evidence confirms this, and further suggests that all of consciousness actually radiates from a single, creative source.

Out-of-Body Experience (OBE) – An experience during which the astral body and its sense of place and awareness become separated from the physical shell. Many OBEs involve simply seeing the physical body as separate and at a distance but more advanced OBE experiencers may be able to explore certain 'regions' of the afterlife and other non-material areas of reality.

Outer Darkness – The non-physical level of reality with a vibratory (or energy) level closest to that of the material universe. It is considered the darkest and grimmest post-death level of reality.

 

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Paranormal – A term suggesting that anything that science cannot explain is not normal. As human understanding progresses we are coming to understand ever more clearly that everything that we used to think of as “paranormal” is actually normal!

Parapsychology – the scientific study of “paranormal” aspects of psychology and human abilities, which includes the study of psychokinesis, telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition.

Phenomenalist - an individual able to bring about various physical phenomena involving psychic energy but not involving spirit communication. Often confused with physical mediumship.

Physical Medium – A medium able to produce various physical changes or phenomena on the material level in connection with spirit communication. (compare with 'phenomenalist')

Poltergeist – A spirit who is able to move physical objects and in other ways affect material conditions.

Possession – The process by which a spirit can occupy and either partially or completely take over a living person’s body. This phenomenon has been little studied but there is some evidence to suggest some disorders considered to be mental may be improved or cured if the spirit seemingly possessing the sufferer can be persuaded to leave and enter the afterlife.

Prior Personality – A notion based on the freeing of a person's spirit during violent death enabling their spirit to then 'take over' the life of a developing fetus. The child eventually appears to have detailed memories of someone else's life.

Psi – A broad category of non-materiality-based skills and abilities.

Psychomanteum – An ancient form of communication with the dead which involves the use of a mirror or a body of still water.

Reincarnation – The process in which a single human soul or spirit animates different bodies during successive earth-lifetimes.

Rescue – The process of helping 'lost' spirits to complete the process of transitioning to the afterlife. Rescue will involve both spirit and earth individuals or teams.

Scientism – The belief that the scientific study of materiality will sufficiently answer every question.

Scole – During the 1990s in the village of Scole in Norfolk, England, the Scole Experimental Group conduced a series of highly successful experiments in communicating with the dead, later documented in The Scole Report.

Séance – A meeting typically of a small group of individuals including a medium all working together to communicate with spirit individuals.

Silver Cord – A glowing (although usually invisible) highly-elastic energy tube connecting a material body to its astral counterpart body during earth life. Corporeal death occurs at the point the cord is severed freeing the animating spirit from its physical body.

Soul – A religious term which generally refers to the spiritual aspects of the mind-energy of a human being. Often used interchangeably with the word 'spirit'.

Spirit – A self-aware being composed of mind-energy.

Spirit Guides – It's taught that each embodied person has the assistance of at least one spirit guide at all times. Some of us have one primary spirit guide for our entire lives, while others may have their spirit guides change as their needs and tasks change through a lifetime. When we are attempting something that is spiritually difficult, we might have several guides helping us at once. It's also taught we communicate with our spirit guides during sleep.

Spirit Photography – The act of photographing a spirit which may not be visible to the naked eye but can be seen in the resulting photograph. Spirit photographs may often be fake but not always.

Spirit Possession – A situation of a spirit entering the body of a living person and expressing itself to some degree through that person. Such possession can be brief or of long duration and can express in a limited way or can entirely dominate and suppress the living person.

Spiritism - (whose adherents are 'Spiritists') is most widely known in South America. It is similar in many ways to (Modern) Spiritualism but the notion of reincarnation is to be found in Spiritism much more than Spiritualism.

Spiritualism – see 'Modern Spiritualism'

Summerland – Afterlife levels which are considered by some to be 'mid-levels' given the numerical designation three through five. They are experienced by those who live there as being as solid as the earth-level but immeasurably more beautiful with living conditions mostly unlike anything experienced on earth with none of the constraints imposed by poor weather, hunger, deprivation etc.

Survival – A commonly-used shorthand term for the survival of bodily death.

Trance Medium – A person who when in trance allows his or her body to be used by a spirit “control” to speak directly through it. This may yield more detailed and precise information than via a medium who is awake. Trance mediums generally awaken from their trance state with little or no memory or awareness of what was said by their control.

Walk-In – A notion that a spirit might take over the body of a person prepared to leave their earth life prematurely thus enabling the 'walk in' firstly to finish their tasks before the walk-in goes on to accomplish important additional tasks.

Xenoglossy – The speaking of an unlearned language, perhaps as a result of reincarnation.

Yeshua – The Aramaic name of Jesus.