OuijaThe Ouija (ˈwiːdʒə , -dʒi ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic) as a movable indicator to spell out messages during a séance. Participants place their fingers on the planchette, and it is moved about the board to spell out words.
Spiritism (book)Spiritism (Der Spiritismus) is an 1885 book by German philosopher Eduard von Hartmann, the author of the famous treatise Philosophy of the Unconscious. In professor Corinna Treitel's opinion, publication of this book became one of the "key events" in history of the "German occult movement." This book was "one of the first works to attempt a complete psychological explanation of all occult phenomena." According to Charles Massey, one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research, publication of this book made the "most brutal blow" out of all ones that were ever directed against Spiritualism.
ThaumaturgyThaumaturgy is the purported capability of a magician to work magic or other paranormal events or a saint to perform miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking. A practitioner of thaumaturgy is a "thaumaturge", "thaumaturgist", "thaumaturgus", "miracle worker", or "wonderworker". A 'saint', being one who is variably defined as having an exceptional degree of holiness, enlightenment, or likeness or closeness to God, may be claimed to have performed miracles; these generally being defined as exceptional events or deeds not within the normative means of natural or human power, instead being of some supernatural or preternatural manner.
Anomalistic psychologyIn psychology, anomalistic psychology is the study of human behaviour and experience connected with what is often called the paranormal, with few assumptions made about the validity (or otherwise) of the reported phenomena. According to anomalistic psychology, paranormal phenomena have naturalistic explanations resulting from psychological and physical factors which have given the false impression of paranormal activity to some people. There were many early publications that gave rational explanations for alleged paranormal experiences.
UfologyUfology (juːˈfɒlədʒi ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and fringe science investigations of UFOs, ufology is generally regarded by skeptics and science educators as a canonical example of pseudoscience. Ufology is a neologism derived from UFO (a term apparently coined by Edward J.
DebunkerA debunker is a person or organization that exposes or discredits claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. The term is often associated with skeptical investigation of controversial topics such as UFOs, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, or exploratory or fringe areas of scientific or pseudoscientific research. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, to "debunk" is defined as: "to expose the sham or falseness of.
