High Spirits: The Ghost Log Blog

Paranormal, What Does It Mean?

August 15, 2013 on 4:59 pm | In Article | No Comments

If I had a nickel for every time someone asks what exactly is “paranormal”?  Most of the general public refers to paranormal as simply being the unexplained. Any time we have an experience that we can’t explain away we refer to it as paranormal.

In truth the explanations are wide and varying.  According to Wikipedia here is their take on what they list as paranormal.

Wikipedia.org:  Paranormal is a general term (coined c. 1915–1920^[1][2]) that designates experiences that lie outside “the range of normal experience or scientific explanation“^[3] or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science’s current ability to explain or measure.^[1][4] Paranormal phenomena are distinct from certain hypothetical entities, such as dark matter and dark energy, only insofar as paranormal phenomena are inconsistent with the world as already understood through empirical observation coupled with scientific methodology.^[5]

Thousands of stories relating to paranormal phenomena are found in popular culture, folklore, and the recollections of individual subjects.^[6] In contrast, the scientific community, as referenced in statements made by organizations such as the United States National Science Foundation, maintains that scientific evidence does not support a variety of beliefs that have been characterized as paranormal.^[7]

According to Wikipedia the paranormal includes the afterlife, angels, astral projection, auras, clairvoyance, close encounters, cold spots, conjuration, cryptid, cryptozoology, demons, demonic possession, demonology, ectoplasm, electronic voice phenomenon or evp, exorcism, extrasensory perception, fear of ghosts, forteana, ghosts, ghost hunting, ghost stories, haunted houses, hypnosis, intelligent haunting, magic, medium ship, miracles, near-death experience, occult, Ouija, paranormal fiction, paranormal television, parapsychology, poltergeist, precognition, psychic, psychic readings, psychokineses, psychometry, reincarnation, remote viewing, residual haunting, shadow people, spirit photography, spirit possession, spirit world, spiritualism, stone tape, supernatural, superstition, telepathy, UFO, UFO sightings, ufology, urban legends, will-o-the-wisp.

 

Percentage    of U.S. citizens polled
	belief	not    sure	belief	not    sure
	Farha-Steward    (2006)		Gallup (2001)
psychic/spiritual healing	56	26	54	19
ESP	28	39	50	20
haunted houses	40	25	42	16
demonic possession	40	28	41	16
ghosts/spirits of the dead	39	27	38	17
telepathy	24	34	36	26
extraterrestrials visited   Earth in the past	17	34	33	27
clairvoyance and prophecy	24	33	32	23
communication with the dead	16	29	28	26
astrology	17	26	28	18
witches	26	19	26	15
reincarnation	15	28	25	20
channeling	10	29	15	21

 

For each of us our culture, religion, and environment can make a huge difference in how we perceive the unexplained.  Many back-woods cultures believe anything odd or unusual is paranormal.  From a child born with an abnormality to seeing a shadow roaming ones property, anything different may be seen as paranormal.  Many religions believe anything other than angels are always dark or evil.  It is basically our own personal take that defines what is paranormal to us.