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

Demons that instigate witchcraft.

DEPOSSESSION

Also known as spirit releasement. Depossession is practised all over the world and is the exorcism of human and non-human spirits, such as elemental spirits and demons thought to be attached to an individual and causing physical, mental and emotional distress.

American psychologist Edith Fiore used depossession in her past-life therapy, believing that in regressing patients to past lives interference from attached spirits could be observed. According to Fiore, amongst about 70,000 cases 70 per cent were unaware that they were showing signs of spirit attachment, such as mood swings, chronic pains, illnesses and addictions.

Most spirits are thought to be those of humans who have died but not left the earthly plane. They are believed to attach themselves to humans during moments of poor health and emotional weakness. Depossession is typically accomplished by persuading the spirits that they need to leave, and patients subsequently say they feel much better afterwards. Depossession was common practice at the height of the popularity of spiritualism, but the first medically trained person to approach mental illness as caused by spirit possession was the American physician and psychologist Carl Wickland.

Wickland and his wife, Anna, a medium, attributed all sorts of mental illness to confused spirits trapped in the auras of living people. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Wicklands depos-sessed a large number of their patients. They used a static electricity machine that transmitted low voltage electric shocks to the patient, causing the possessing spirit distress and forcing it into Anna’s body and then to leave. If the spirit resisted, Wickland called on spirit helpers to keep the spirit in a ‘dungeon’, out of the aura of Anna or the victim, until it stopped its selfish quest and departed.

DERMOGRAPHY

Skin writing. Although dermography is similar to stigmata it has one very essential difference: stigmata last for years or an entire lifetime, skin writing usually lasts only for a few minutes. Some cases appear to be genuine, such as that of Charles H Foster cited by Nandor Fodor in his Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science (1934):

Charles H Foster, the ‘Salem Seer’, gave abundant demonstrations of the phenomenon. Before the Dialectical Society Edward Laman Blanchard told the story of how the name of his father appeared in red letters on the arm of the medium and immediately afterwards, in answer to a question, the numbers 24 on the palm of his hand, indicating the number of years since his death. The phenomenon was very rapid, the letters and numbers disappearing in the sight of those present without the arm of the medium being withdrawn. Dr Ash-burner examined Foster’s skin-letters under a powerful magnifying glass. He observed clearly that they were in relief and that the colouring matter was under the skin. Foster’s biographer, George C Bartlett, describes an amusing incident. A certain Mr Adams came to consult Foster. He saw the room filled with spirits in his presence. About two o’clock the next morning he woke up, complained to Bartlett that he could not sleep as the room was still filled with the Adams family. They were writing their names all over him. To his astonishment Bartlett counted eleven distinct names, one written across Foster’s forehead, others on his arms, and several on his back.

Fraud in skin writing is thought to be widespread. Given the sensitive skin of neuropsychopaths writing may appear in a few minutes after the letters are directly traced on to the skin by any blunt instrument or the nails. Many ‘mediums’ of skin writing burn up a pellet on which a question or name is written. They then rub their forehead or arm with the ash, which gives the opportunity for covertly tracing the message.

DEVAS

From the Sanskrit meaning ‘shining’, in Hinduism and Buddhism devas are believed to be exalted beings with great powers. In Theosophy and occult traditions they are a class of beings midway between angels and elemental spirits, having special authority over the world of nature. In modern times devas are popularly thought to be nature spirits, in charge of the elemental spirits of air, water, fire and earth. They are invisible and etheric in nature, inhabiting the astral plane. They communicate with people by psychic means, such as channelling and ESP. It is thought that the channelled wisdom of devas was responsible for the location of the Findhorn community in Scotland.

DEVIL

An evil spirit or demon and the supreme personification of evil. The word devil is derived from the Hebriac Satan via the Greek diabolos, but over the centuries the devil has collected a number of other names, including Beelzebub, Lucifer, Belial, Abaddon and Asmodius. In modern times the theologically conceived supreme embodiment of evil that the devil represents accommodates in one supernatural being all that is evil, ugly, perverse and unjust in the world.

DEVIL’s MARK

A name given by demonologists and medieval witch-hunters to a scar, blemish or mark on the skin said to be imprinted by the devil as a seal or sign of his possession of the person.

The finding of such marks became an important business of the expert pricking that took place at many witch persecutions. Devil’s marks were said to be insensitive to pain and pricking pins into such areas was supposed to draw no blood.

DICE TEST

DIY psychokinetic test: dice

Concentrate your mind upon the throwing of a six. You can speak or shout at the dice but you may not in any other way influence it. If you score a six write this down. Do this 30 times. How many sixes did you score?

8+: There is less than 1 per cent chance of attaining this score. Good evidence for psychokinetic ability.

7: Psychokinetic potential high - there is less than 8 per cent chance of attaining this score.

6: Psychokinetic potential still likely as this is above chance.

3-5: Within the area of chance.

2: Less than 3 per cent chance of attaining this score.

1: High psychokinetic potential but working backwards - less than 1 per cent chance of attaining this score.

Experimental technique used in psi testing for investigating psychokinesis, the psychic power of the mind to influence objects, in which a subject attempts to influence the fall of dice, for example, by trying to throw more sixes than any other number (chance would give a success rate of 1 in 6 correct throws).

DICKENS, CHARLES [1812–1870]

The author of perhaps the most famous of all ghost stories, A Christmas Carol, Dickens also wrote a number of less-well-known ghost stories, including The Haunted Man and The Haunted House. As well as writing about the paranormal Dickens held a tremendous interest in the study of ghosts and spirits. He went to extraordinary lengths to gain access to some of Britain’s haunting hotspots to experience the unknown for himself.

DICTIOMANCY

A form of divination where a question is asked and a dictionary opened at random. The first word seen is interpreted as an answer or comment to the question asked.

See also Bibliomancy.

DIEPPE RAID CASE

Reports by two Englishwomen on a seaside holiday at Puys, Dieppe in France of ghostly sounds from the World War II air and sea battle fought at Dieppe. The case was widely documented in the 1950s by paranormal investigators and is thought to be an example of collective auditory hallucinations.

On the morning of 4 August 1951 both women were awakened by loud noises of gunfire, shellfire and men shouting and crying out. The women could find nothing to account for the noises and later, when they asked if other people had heard anything, they got negative replies.

The accounts they gave of the sounds and noises showed strong consistencies with a fierce battle that took place in Dieppe on 19 August 1942. Although the women knew a battle had taken place there, they knew none of the details and the information in the guidebook was not enough to match their description to the real event. When interviewed by psychical researchers the women came across as well balanced and with no desire to court publicity. Sceptics proposed other explanations for the experience, such as noise from the surf or aeroplanes flying above, but none of these could explain the remarkable accuracy of the accounts the women gave.

DIRECT VOICE MEDIUMSHIP

The independent speaking of a spirit voice that does not seem to emanate from any living person in a given environment and without using the medium’s vocal cords. Commonly associated with the séances of the early Spiritualist movement, direct voices seem to come from out of thin air or through a medium’s trumpet, which was specifically used for this purpose. Most early spiritualists used direct voice communication, although some, like Ohio farmer Jonathan Koons, whose spirit room was famous in the 1850s for voices that sang ‘unearthly songs’, were more proficient at it than others. According to some spiritualists the voices were made possible by an artificial voice box, constructed by spirits and activated by ectoplasm.

Nineteenth-century records of direct voices talking at the same time as the medium or from different locations attest to their authenticity, but direct voice mediumship was always at risk of being exposed as ventriloquist fraud. In the twentieth century the practice became very rare indeed, with most mediums receiving information from spirits and relaying in their own voices. However from the 1940s to the 1970s medium Leslie Flint of England became famous for giving what appeared to be genuine direct voice readings. Flint was investigated and tested by several psychical researchers but the possibility of fraud was ruled out. The most dramatic test took place in 1970 in New York, when Flint’s mouth was sealed with plaster and a microphone placed down his throat. No evidence of vocal activity could be found while direct voices seemed to speak from above and slightly to the left of his head.

DISCARNATE ENTITY/DISEMBODIED SPIRIT

Terms used to describe a spirit, ghost, or other non-physical or non-material entity contacted during a séance or other sitting by a medium. Discarnate entities once had an earthly body (incarnate existence) but now they are dead they have become discarnate - from the Latin dis ‘without’ and caro, ‘flesh’. This is in contrast to other entities, which have just existed in the spirit realm. They are called ‘disembodied spirits’.

DISNEYLAND’s HAUNTED MANSION

In the early 1960s Walt Disney began developing plans for a mansion using secrets of the magic trade to create illusions of ghosts and spirits. In 1966 when Disney died, building work halted, but the attraction finally opened in 1969. There have been several sightings of ghosts over the years and many believe that real ghosts haunt the place.

One of these ghosts is thought to be that of a man who died when his plane crashed in a nearby lake. Referred to by employees as ‘the man with the cane’, he is often seen late at night, especially after closing.

Another spirit is the so-called ‘Man in a tuxedo’, who is said to occasionally appear as a reflection in the mirror used by attendants to see visitors in the area where they disembark. One female employee resigned immediately after seeing the figure of a man wearing a tuxedo in the mirror when there was no one present to create a reflection. She also reported feeling a chill and a hand placed on her shoulder.

Another ghost sometimes seen is said to be a crying boy near the exit. According to legend his mother scattered his ashes secretly inside the Mansion when Disney officials forbade it, and it seems this isn’t what the little boy wanted.

Sceptics argue that the artificially created haunted atmosphere of the place triggers the imagination and creates illusions that seem real. It’s also possible that Disney and his design team threw in a few secrets and surprises to baffle tourists, but most people who visit the haunted mansion find the experience unusually chilling and eerie.

DISPLACEMENT

First documented in 1939 by Cambridge University psychical researcher Whitely Carrington, and now observed as a common occurrence, displacement is lack of synchronization in psi testing. For example, a person asked to give the order of a pack of playing cards or ESP cards may be one or two cards ahead or behind in sequence. Displacement also occurs in pre-cognitive dreams and psychic readings, when difficult or challenging information is placed out of context or buried in non-threatening information or symbols.

Parapsychologists call displacement ‘psychic noise’ and believe it to be caused by the absence of earth time in the higher planes where psychic insight functions and the psychic association of a group of potential targets that are difficult to tell apart.

DIVINATION

The art or practice of foretelling the future to discover hidden knowledge, find the lost or identify the guilty by the interpretation of omens or by supernatural powers. All divination is an attempt to communcate with the divine, higher spirit realm or supernatual or to learn the will of the gods. If a distinction is to be made with fortune telling, divination has a formal or ritual or social character, while fortune telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Sceptics often dismiss divination as mere superstition but there is plenty of anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of divination. Others believe that divination is the process by which messages from the unconscious mind are decoded and that these messages have a supernatural source.

Divination is a universal phenomenon that has served a social function in most religions and cultures throughout history as a means of solving problems and resolving conflicts. The responsibility for divination typically falls to a prophet, priest, medicine man, shaman, witch or other person with psychic powers.

In ancient civilizations divination was often a royal or holy function, used for guidance in matters of war or state and to forecast natural disasters. Many courts employed astrologers. In ancient Greece a special caste of priests, called augers, interpreted natural phenomena such as cloud and smoke paterns. The Greeks consulted horoscopes, dreams and oracles for divination purposes, the most famous oracle being the one at Delphi, near Mount Par-nasus. In tribal and shamanic cultures divination is a sacred function performed by shamans who go into a trance to consult spirit helpers. In the East divination is more an accepted part of daily life than it is in the West where it has been criticized strongly by the Church and by the scientific community. Despite condemnation, however, divination has not been eradicited in the West and the majority of people remain open minded and curious about the possibility of seeing into the future.

There are hundreds of different types of divination, but they can be classified as belonging to one of two categories: direct communication with gods and spirits through visions, trance, dreams and possession, or the interpretation of natural or artificial signs, lots or omens via a system. The most common example of the latter involves the sorting or casting of bones, stones, beans or other objects, with conclusions drawn from the patterns of their fall. Two well-known divination methods - the I Ching and the Tarot - are of this type. When a card, coin or stick is selected the randomness of the action allows the spirits or gods to affect the outcome and give a message.

Scientific research has shown that it is possible to predict future events, e.g. weather forecasts, but this is not divination. Unlike science, divination assumes the influence of some supernatural force.

Divination methods range from the accepted and well known, such as astrology, palmistry and Tarot, to the forgotten, such as entomancy (divination interpreting the appearance and behaviour of insects), to the bizzarre, such as uromancy - divination by reading the appearance of urine in a pot. Most terms associated with divination end in ‘mancy’, from the Greek manteia (divination), or ‘scopy’ from the Greek skopein (to look into or behold). A diviner is someone who foretells future events based on the practice of divination.

DIXON, JEANNE [1918–1997]

A modern-day psychic who claimed to be able to predict the future. Information came to her in the form of dramatic visions. According to her supporters Dixon accurately foretold the assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. She also predicted the launch of Sputnik and the sinking of the submarines USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, as well as the unexpected presidential defeat of Thomas Dewey by Harry Truman, the landslide election of Dwight Eisenhower, the demise of Nikita Khrushchev, and the plane crash that killed UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld.

Jeanne Dixon, who was told by a gypsy when she was eight years old that she would become a great psychic, also made hundreds of trivial predictions about celebrities and insignificant events and earned the dubious nickname of ‘gossip prophet’. As she explained it, ‘When a psychic vision is not fulfilled as expected, it is not because what has been shown is not correct; it is because I have not interpreted it correctly’

Like Nostradamus (C. 1:60) and St John (in the Book of Revelation 8: 10-12), she prophesized that Earth will be struck by a comet. Her timing, however, was premature:

I have seen a comet strike our Earth around the middle of the 1980s. Earthquakes and tidal waves will befall us as a result of the tremendous impact of this heavenly body in one of our great oceans.

And like several other prophets, Dixon also has foreseen the advent of the Antichrist and the False Prophet:

Satan is now coming into the open to seduce the world and we should be prepared for the inevitable events that are to follow. I have seen that the United States is to play a major role in this development.

Ms Dixon believed her powers were a gift from God. She made little financial profit from them, making it a policy not to charge fees and to donate income to a children’s charity. Sceptics argue that her predictions were vague, wide open to interpretation and often completely inaccurate or wrong. They also believe that the media played a part in the cult surrounding her.

The term ‘Jeanne Dixon effect’ is used to refer to a common ploy used by ‘psychics’ to make dozens of predictions knowing that the more that are made, the better the odds that one will prove accurate. When one comes true, the psychic counts on people conveniently forgetting the 99 per cent that were wrong. The term also refers to the tendency of the mass media to hype or exaggerate a few correct predictions by a psychic, guaranteeing that they will be remembered, while ignoring the much more numerous incorrect predictions.

DOLPHINS

In classical mythology dolphins are associated with the soul’s journey to the underworld, and in Christian myth the dolphin represents salvation through Christ. To many alternative therapists dolphins are a symbol of healing and emotional release. This may have something to do with the fact that dolphins live in water. Water in many traditions (including that of astrology) is related to feeling and emotion. Dolphins invite us to enjoy water in its physical form and also to swim freely and flow with our feelings. We can also learn from their breathing patterns. The dolphin breathes deeply, holds its breath while underwater, and then exhales explosively. This is an excellent breathing pattern for releasing tension.

Dolphins and humans have had a special bond for centuries. Swimming with dolphins is thought to have remarkable healing benefits, especially for those suffering from learning difficulties. In the words of the Greek essayist Plutarch: ‘The dolphin is the only creature that loves man for his own sake.’ Indeed, dolphins are highly intelligent animals that appear to enjoy human company for its own sake, perhaps enjoying the observation of our antics and as much as we do theirs.

DOMOVIK

In Russian folklore the domovik is a spirit with a grey beard that typically lives behind the stove in every home. He is always referred to as the grandfather or he - never by his personal name. Traditionally it is the spirit of the ancestor that founded the family and it moves with the family from house to house. The domovik is believed to watch over the family, keep evil spirits away and occasionally help out around the house. If, however, family members do something that displeases the domovik it is said to resort to poltergeist activity, and that can include burning down the house!

DOORS