Hypnosis Parapsychology and Astrology 27

Table-Tilting

Mysterious movements of a table, usually occurring in a seance when a group of people place their hands on the surface of the table. Often the movements are interpreted as spirit communications. Also known as table-turning or table-tipping.

Table-Turning

See table-tilting.

Target

The object or event which the subject attempts to perceive (ESP tests) or influence (PK tests).

Tarot

A special deck of cards (usually 78) used in fortune telling.

Telekinesis

Paranormal movement of objects.

Telepathy

Paranormal awareness of another person's experience (thoughts, feelings, etc.). In practice it is difficult to distinguish between telepathy and clairvoyance. Also view: ESP.

Teleportation

Paranormal transportation of objects to a distant place. Also view: apport, deport.

Temporal Lobe Activity

Electrical activity in the temporal lobes of the brain. Often associated with strange sensations, time distortions and hallucinations. Sometimes used as an explanation for seemingly paranormal experiences such as apparitions and alien abduction experiences.

Theosophy

Quasi-religious and philosophical system of the Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky. Its paranormal claims were controversially and damningly reported upon by the Society for Psychical Research in 1885.

Therianthropy

The supposed ability to change from human to animal form and back. Also view: lycanthropy, shape-shifting, werewolf.

Theurgy

Magical practices which aim to contact and communicate with the gods.

Thoughtography

Paranormal ability to produce images on photographic film (e.g., by concentrating on a mental image). Most famously demonstrated by Ted Serios. Also view: psychic photography.

Thought Transference

See telepathy

Trance

A dissociated state of consciousness, generally involving reduced awareness of surroundings and external events.

Trance Medium

A person who enters a state of trance in order to produce mediumistic phenomena.

Transcendental Meditation

A technique of meditation taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, involving the repetition of a sound.

Transmigration of Souls

See reincarnation.

Transpersonal Psychology

The study of experiences, beliefs and practices that suggest that the sense of self can extend beyond our personal or individual reality. The subject matter of transpersonal psychology overlaps to some extent with parapsychology, but the two disciplines tend to have different approaches and emphases. Parapsychology is primarily concerned to investigate evidence for and against the reality of paranormal phenomena. Transpersonal psychology, on the other hand, is more interested in investigating the transpersonal significance of such phenomena (i.e., the ways in which they may give people a sense of connectedness with a larger, more universal or spiritual reality). Also view: mysticism.

Travelling Clairvoyance

An early term for the out of body experience.; Clairvoyance exhibited when a subject travels in imagination to another location.

Trial

In psi tests, a single attempt to demonstrate paranormal ability (e.g., one attempt to guess a card or one attempt to influence the fall of the dice).