The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World: The Ultimate A–Z of Spirits, Mysteries and the Paranormal

EDGAR ALLAN POE HOUSE

This tiny home on 203 N. Amity Street in Baltimore was once occupied by Edgar Allan Poe from 1832-1835. It is believed to be haunted - but surprisingly not by the famous author who had a fascination for all things paranormal.

Poe only lived in the house for three years and it had several other occupants, including his grandmother, his aunt and his cousin, Virginia Clemm, who later became his wife. The house was taken over by the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore in 1941 and is now open to the public. There is a picture of Poe’s wife painted from her corpse on permanent display.

Since the 1960s psychic phenomena, mostly centring around Poe’s attic room and Virginia’s bedroom, have been reported there, including lights turning mysteriously on and off, strange voices and noises, and windows and doors closing by themselves. There have also been sightings of the ghost of an old lady with grey hair, dressed in period clothes. None of the phenomena seems to be hostile but many residents of Baltimore, including street gangs, to this day report an irrational fear and anxiety about the place and prefer to stay away from it.

EDGEHILL, BATTLE OF

A famous case of phantom battle re-enactment. The battle of Edgehill was the first major, intense and bloody conflict of the English Civil War between the royalist forces of Charles I and the parliamentary forces of the Earl of Essex. It took place on 23 October 1642 about two miles southwest of Kineton and is said by some to be still witnessed today.

The first account of phantom armies fighting was reported on 24 December 1642 by shepherds herding their sheep on the former battleground. They reported hearing voices and the screams of horses and then experienced a huge apparition of the battle in the sky. The shepherds reported the apparition to the local priest who went the following night and witnessed the phenomenon for himself. In the days that followed Charles I sent a group of investigators and they all witnessed the re-enactment too, with some even recognizing fallen colleagues. Their incredible experience is reported in a leaflet: The Prodigious Noises of War and Battle at Edge Hill. Near Keinton in Northamptonshire and its truth is certified by William Wood, Esq and the Justice of the Peace for the same County and Samuel Marshell, Preacher of God’s word in Keinton and other persons of quality.

Psychical investigators believe that the re-enactment, which is still said to appear periodically to this day - although not typically as the full re-enactment but as phantom battle sounds - is caused by the restless, traumatized spirits of those who died that day. Sceptics argue that certain individuals may be influenced by the history associated with the place and mistake imaginative conjecture for reality.

EEG [E alograp ENCEPHALOGRAPHY]

A test that measures and records the electrical activity of the brain by using sensors (electrodes) attached to the head and connected by wires to a computer. The computer records the brain’s electrical activity on the screen or on paper as wavy lines. Certain conditions, such as seizures, can be detected by observing changes in the normal pattern of this electrical activity.

Measurements of electrical activity in the brain have been instrumental in measuring stress, determining sleep patterns and monitoring body metabolism. They have also been used to detect what happens in the brain during psychic experiences, such as meditation and episodes of clairvoyance.

ELECTROKINESIS

A form of psychokinesis, electrokinesis is the ability to create and control electricity using only the powers of the mind. So far there have been no conclusive studies on or cases of factual electrokinesis.

Electrokinetic ability allegedly causes the psychic to act as a human conductor, able to receive, store and transmit large to small quantities of electricity. There is also the act of draining electricity from electronically based devices and in return recharging them. Those who practise electrokinesis claim to be able to actually explode, start up or switch off electronic devices either via intense meditation and visualization or through overwhelming emotional response.

Electrokinesis is mostly used by stage magicians as a part of their narrative when performing tricks that involve some form of electricity, such as lighting a lightbulb simply held in the palm.

ELECtronic VOICE PHENOMENA [EVP]

Communication from a voice recorded on a tape recorder from which there is no known source. EVP researchers believe the voices captured on tape are those of spirits of the dead, but sceptics argue that they are simply voices from radio or TV transmissions being picked up by the recording device.

Interest in EVP began in the late 1920s when the famous inventor Thomas Edison predicted that one day there would be a machine to allow communication with the spirits. In 1959 EVP was said to have been discovered by accident by the Swedish filmmaker Friedrich Jürgenson. Jürgenson was recording birdsong when he discovered an unknown voice on his tape. On replaying the recording later he believed that he had recorded a message from his mother, who had died four years previously.

EVP was further reported in the 1970s by Latvian psychologist Konstantin Rau-dive, who picked up unexplained voices in the background while recording something else. He began to record in empty rooms and still picked up voices, which were later thought to be messages from spirits of the dead. Raudive published his research, in German, in The Inaudible Made Audible, which was translated into English in 1971 with a new title Breakthrough. EVP voices are also called Raudive Voices in recognition of the extensive work he did recording over 100,000 voices.

In the 1980s and 1990s there were thousands of EVP researchers at work devising machines and recording the phenomenon. Several organizations, including the American Electronic Voice Phenomenon in the United States, sprang into existence. Perhaps the most well-known and best-funded device was the ‘spiricom’, invented by George Meek, a retired engineer, with the alleged help of a discarnate scientist who communicated to him during a séance. Unfortunately the success rate of the spiri-com was poor but this did not stop Meek pursuing increasingly sophisticated ways to reach astral planes.

Allegedly EVP voices are never heard during recording, only on playback. They are said to be either faint or clear and can speak or sing in a variety of languages. They are identifiable as men, women and children and according to reports the voices suggest that they can communicate through central transmitting agencies in the spirit plane.

EVP has many enthusiastic supporters who believe the phenomenon is evidence of paranormal activity, but there are also many critics who doubt the recordings are genuine. Between 1970 and 1972 the Society for Psychical Research commissioned psychical researcher D J Ellis to investigate EVP voices, and he concluded that the sounds were susceptible to imagination and most likely a natural phenomenon. Other sceptics believe that the voices are caused by psychokinesis, when sounds are imprinted on the tape by the experimenter.

DIY EVP

There are many ways to attempt to record EVP voices, and enthusiasts tend to use highly sophisticated recording equipment, but perhaps the quickest and simplest way is to turn a recorder on and leave it running. Night-time seems to be the best time to reduce the risk of interference. Often headphones must be used to hear the voices. It is said that the attitude in which the experiment is approached is important and that an open minded, relaxed and positive attitude is best. Doubt has a negative impact on results.

Despite poor experimental records EVP researchers continue to devote time and energy to finding a way to capture something on tape that proves life after death. In the last decade or so EVP has moved into other media, including TV, video and film cameras and computers. Researchers all over the world have reported images and voices appearing or coming from their TVs for which there is no known cause, as well as spontaneous printouts from computers.

ELEMENT

A natural or spiritual substance thought to be one of the fundamental energies of the universe with inherent power. Many belief systems have rituals and techniques to harness these energies and powers for boosting health or creating magic. Each culture has slight variations in the type and number or elements consulted. In Western traditions there are four elements: air, water, fire and earth. In Hinduism there are five elements: air, water, earth, fire and ether. In Taoism there are also five elements: earth, metal, water, wood and fire.

ELEMENTAL DIVINATION

Divination by means of the four elements: air (aromancy), fire (see pyromancy), water (see hydromancy) and earth (see geomancy).

ELEMENTALS

Indo-European nature spirits or angels believed to be manifestations of the four elements - water (undines), air (sylphs), fire (salamanders) and earth (gnomes). In addition, there are two other groups of nature spirits inhabiting magical elements - dryads (vegetation) and fauns or satyrs (animal life).

In modern magical philosophy elementals are seen as conscious elements inhabiting the physical world. They have extensive powers over the elements they indwell and their powers are at the disposal of the magician who has mastered the elemental force within. Elementals are thought to be able to help bring desires or wishes into being and they are important in the practice of many magical traditions, such as druidry, alchemy and Wicca. In the latter they are called down during rituals to charge spells with the power of nature. In an occult sense it is thought that they can be created by an emotional thought form, and if suffused with enough energy by their creator they can cause problems through possession or as poltergeists. This is because as creatures of a single element they can have an unbalancing effect on the human psyche and too much contact with them can be upsetting and even dangerous.

ELONGATION

Term used to describe the elongation of a medium’s body while under spirit control. Historically, elongations were attributed to possession by gods or demons but by the third century AD similar experiences are reported with mediums. Elongations often feature in the data collected for canonization proceedings and some of El Greco’s paintings appear to illustrate saints that are ‘stretched’.

Elongations were a common occurrence in Victorian spiritualist séances, the most well-known and reported being those of the famous Scottish medium D D Home, who allowed witnesses to measure him. At one of the test séances which Home undertook with Lord Adare and the Master of Lindsay, a journalist who was present, H T Humphries, wrote that Home ‘was seen by all of us to increase in height to the extent of some eight or ten inches.’

Elongations are still occasionally reported in séances, but no other medium has even been tested in the detailed way Home allowed. Sceptics argue that elongations are illusions and made possible with simple tricks such as slipping feet out of shoes and standing on tiptoe. Although trickery might have been the case in many instances, throughout his career as a medium, Home was never exposed as a fraud.

EMPATHY

The ability to tune in intuitively or psychically to the moods and characteristics of a person, animal or place. Empathy is a vital skill for clairsentients and may involve telepathy, but it can also simply be derived from an unconscious or conscious reaction to the body language of another person.

Empaths are people with highly developed feelings of empathy to others and the world around them. They are particularly sensitive to feelings of pain and distress and in some cases physical and emotional pain may manifest in the empath’s own body as a result of sensing the pain of others, sometimes resulting in depression and fatigue. In some cases, empaths can sense illness before a person is aware of it, and a person’s death before it occurs. Empaths can also pick up information from places as well. For example, an empath may visit a house and sense particular suffering that has happened there in the past.

Empathy from a distance is most likely to occur when there are strong emotional links between people. For example, twins and long-term partners often have empa-thetic links with each other and mothers are empathetic for their children. There is also evidence to suggest that animals exhibit empathetic links for each other and for their owners. See animal psi.

Are you empathetic?

Empathy occurs when we feel for others, both their joy and their pain. It is possible to develop empathy so strongly that just by touching someone you can feel or experience what that person does. We are all empathetic to some degree but some are more empathetic than others. If you answer yes to two or more of the questions below you should consider yourself somewhat empathetic:

For psychic development and clairsentient awareness empathy can be a valuable asset but it does, however, have a downside. If we are strongly empathetic, someone else’s feelings, emotions and attitudes can register so strongly upon us that we assume these are our feelings. We may not realize that what we are feeling may actually be tied to someone else we have encountered or the location we are in. It is very easy to link with the problems and issues of others and carry them with us as if they are our own. If you are not aware you are doing this you can begin to think you are going crazy.

If you find that you have a strong tendency to be empathetic and to experience what others are experiencing it is vital to find ways to deliberately disconnect yourself from others and to have time to be alone every day. Some suggest using visualization techniques to disconnect yourself, such as visualizing cutting threads or pulling out cords from the other person. Others suggest visualizing a protective bubble of light around yourself during the day. Gardenia and eucalyptus essential oils are also thought to help you remain objective while dealing with others. Just a tiny drop diluted in water and worn like perfume or a few drops in a bowl of water in your bedroom when you sleep at night is all that is necessary.

ENCOUNTER PHENOMENON

Encounters with alternate realities and non-physical beings. Encounter phenomenon covers a wide range of experiences including visions of angels, fairies or spirits, near-death experiences, UFO abductions, channelling and possession. Despite great variety in individual cases, historical records show similar characteristics, such as some or all of the following: psi in various forms; feelings of love, wonder or awe; being anointed as a teacher or leader to humanity; instruction or initiation; the presence of light; transportation to a non-physical realm; revelations and ESP. Encounters with alternate realities seem accidental but more often than not they have intention. For instance, many come to give guidance or help to humans at times of crisis, and some encounters are so powerful that a person’s life is permanently changed.

Research shows that some people are more likely than others to have encounters with alternate realities. It seems that childhood tendencies towards fantasy, role-play and imagination are contributory factors. Childhood trauma is another significant factor. Such trauma can result in dissociation, in which part of the psyche splits off from itself as a means of self-defence.

There are those who believe that encounters with alternate realities are genuine interactions with external non-physical reality, but others hold that encounters are exteriorizations of the unconscious. The encounter is said to happen when the unconscious creates an escape from reality to relieve stress. In extreme cases this can lead to mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Another theory is that encounters are interactions with a higher realm of consciousness or the divine power that permeates the universe and are intended to further spiritual development. Sceptics argue that encounters with alternate realities are simply the result of over-active and highly suggestible imaginations.

ENERGY BALANCING/MEDICINE

Any type of complementary or alternative medicine whose methods involve working with the body’s natural energy field - the universal life force - in the hope of stimulating the body’s own healing mechanism. For example, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture, reiki and spiritual healing.

ENFIELD POLTERGEIST

A poltergeist case that took place in the late 1970s in an ordinary suburban house in Enfield, North London.

On the night of 30 August 1977, Janet Harper, aged 11, and her brother Pete, aged 10, went to their bedroom. According to reports later compiled their beds began to jolt up and down. When the children ran to get their mother, Peggy Harper, the movements stopped. The following night the children called their mother to their room again, claiming to hear shuffling sounds like a chair or table moving. Peggy took the chair downstairs and turned out the light. As soon as she did she herself heard the sound of shuffling. On turning on the light the children were both in bed with their hands under the covers. All three of them then heard loud knocks on the wall and witnessed a chest of drawers moving towards the centre of the room. Terrified, the entire Harper family went to their next-door neighbours.

When the neighbours walked into the Harper house they too heard the knocking and could not explain what was causing it. The police were called and on arrival they witnessed the phenomena of unexplained knocking and moving chairs. The next day, when marbles and Lego began to fly across the room, the Harpers contacted the local press. A reporter from the Daily Mirror was sent out and he took a picture of a piece of Lego flying at him from out of nowhere. The paper called the Society for Psychical Research, who sent North London resident and psychical researcher Maurice Grosse to investigate.

Grosse arrived at the house on 5 September, a week after the disturbances had begun. After a few days he heard a crash in Janet’s bedroom. Investigation showed that her bedside chair had been thrown across the room while she was asleep. It happened again a few hours later and this time a photographer was able to capture the event. Grosse was to spend the next two years investigating the house and there were many more strange occurrences.

Children in puberty or about to reach puberty tend to be the focal point of many poltergeist cases and the Harper case is no exception: Peggy had two young children. The case also had another typical feature: internal family tension. Peggy was having problems getting over her divorce from the children’s father and the children were having problems adjusting to the new situation, and it is possible that the emotional trauma played a part in the disturbances.