The papers, books, and references behind the map.
Every claim links into this reusable source database. Verified sources are indexable authority pages; sources still marked for review remain visible but are kept out of the sitemap until citation review is done.
Citation metadata and a stable URL have been checked. This verifies the source record, not the metaphysical claim.
Future records can stay visible for editorial transparency while remaining out of the sitemap until reviewed.
Priority source dossiers
These are the source pages we want crawled and understood first: the studies, reviews, reference works, and skeptical tests that anchor the highest-value claim clusters. 28 of 28 priority source records are verified.
The near-death experience scale: Construction, reliability, and validity
Bruce Greyson · 1983 · Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171(6), 369–375
Methodology anchor for measuring NDE reports instead of treating them as loose anecdotes.
Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands
Pim van Lommel, Ruud van Wees, et al. · 2001 · The Lancet, 358(9298), 2039–2045
Classic prospective hospital study that keeps the NDE conversation tied to clinical data.
AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study
Sam Parnia, Ken Spearpoint, et al. · 2014 · Resuscitation, 85(12), 1799–1805
Prospective cardiac-arrest source aimed at awareness during resuscitation.
AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A multi-center study of consciousness and awareness in cardiac arrest
Sam Parnia, Tara Keshavarz Shirazi, et al. · 2023 · Resuscitation, 191, 109903
Updated AWARE program evidence for the hardest NDE questions and their limits.
There is nothing paranormal about near-death experiences: How neuroscience can explain seeing bright lights, meeting the dead, or being convinced you are one of them
Dean Mobbs, Caroline Watt · 2011 · Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 447-449
Compact skeptical counterweight for brain-based explanations of NDE features.
Surge of neurophysiological coherence and connectivity in the dying brain
Jimo Borjigin, UnCheol Lee, et al. · 2013 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(35), 14432-14437
Important dying-brain objection that complicates simple survival interpretations.
Children's reports of past-life memories: A review
Jim B. Tucker · 2008 · EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 4(4), 244–248
Modern review anchor for children's past-life memory reports and interpretation limits.
Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects
Ian Stevenson · 1997 · Praeger Publishers
Major case-collection source for birthmark and birth-defect claims.
Replication studies of cases suggestive of reincarnation by three independent investigators
Antonia Mills, Erlendur Haraldsson, H. H. Jurgen Keil · 1994 · Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 88, 207-219
Replication-oriented source that moves the case literature beyond one investigator.
Birthmarks and birth defects corresponding to wounds on deceased persons
Ian Stevenson · 1993 · Journal of Scientific Exploration, 7(4), 403-410
Focused wound-correspondence source where documentation standards matter most.
Consciousness
Robert Van Gulick · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Conceptual anchor for comparing consciousness theories and evidence types.
The Mind/Brain Identity Theory
J. J. C. Smart · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Physicalist anchor for the claim that mental states are brain states.
Physicalism
Daniel Stoljar · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Baseline source for matter-first interpretations of mind and reality.
Panpsychism
Philip Goff, William Seager, Sean Allen-Hermanson · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reference anchor for consciousness-first or consciousness-everywhere alternatives.
Dualism
Howard Robinson · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Conceptual anchor for mind-body distinction and survival-friendly models.
Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anomalous process of information transfer
Daryl J. Bem, Charles Honorton · 1994 · Psychological Bulletin, 115(1), 4-18
Classic pro-ganzfeld source for telepathy-style lab evidence.
Does psi exist? Lack of replication of an anomalous process of information transfer
Julie Milton, Richard Wiseman · 1999 · Psychological Bulletin, 125(4), 387-391
Direct replication challenge that should sit beside positive ganzfeld findings.
Meta-analysis of free-response studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the noise reduction model in parapsychology
Lance Storm, Patrizio E. Tressoldi, Lorenzo Di Risio · 2010 · Psychological Bulletin, 136(4), 471–485
Later positive meta-analysis for ganzfeld research, best read with critique.
Meta-analysis that conceals more than it reveals: Comment on Storm et al. (2010)
Ray Hyman · 2010 · Psychological Bulletin, 136(4), 486–490
Methodological counter-anchor for ganzfeld meta-analysis and psi inference.
An assessment of the evidence for psychic functioning
Jessica Utts · 1995 · American Institutes for Research / CIA Stargate archive
Positive Stargate-era assessment for remote viewing and psychic functioning.
Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data: The case of psi: Comment on Bem (2011)
Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Ruud Wetzels, et al. · 2011 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 426–432
Modern statistical objection source for Bem-style precognition claims.
A double-blind test of astrology
Shawn Carlson · 1985 · Nature
Direct controlled test anchor for literal natal astrology claims.
The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility
Bertram R. Forer · 1949 · Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 44(1), 118-123
Classic Barnum-effect source for why readings can feel accurate without paranormal access.
Cold reading
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Orientation source for cold-reading techniques behind many impressive readings.
A close look at therapeutic touch
Linda Rosa, Emily Rosa, et al. · 1998 · JAMA, 279(13), 1005-1010
Clean blinded test for energy-field detection claims.
Effects of Reiki in clinical practice: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials
Myeong Soo Lee, Max H. Pittler, Edzard Ernst · 2008 · International Journal of Clinical Practice, 62(6), 947-954
Review anchor separating Reiki relaxation effects from energy-transfer claims.
Can the universe afford inflation?
Andreas Albrecht, Lorenzo Sorbo · 2004 · Physical Review D, 70(6), 063528
Priority cosmology source behind inflation, entropy, and Boltzmann-brain objections.
Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Lev Vaidman · 2021 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reference anchor for many-worlds interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Verified sources
A case report of acquired synesthesia and heightened creativity in a musician after traumatic brain injury
Rima Abou-Khalil, Lealani Mae Y. Acosta · 2023 · Neurocase, 29(1), 18-21
Supports the possibility of striking post-injury musical and perceptual change while directly limiting the popular 'from zero' story: the patient was already a musician and the report was short-term.
Can the universe afford inflation?
Andreas Albrecht, Lorenzo Sorbo · 2004 · Physical Review D, 70(6), 063528
One of the canonical modern statements of the Boltzmann-brain comparison and its implications for inflation.
Obsessive, prolific artistic output following subarachnoid hemorrhage
Mark F. X. Lythgoe, Thomas A. Pollak, et al. · 2005 · Neurology, 64(2), 397-398
A central peer-reviewed acquired-savant case because the creative behavior followed a sudden vascular brain event rather than developmental disability or progressive dementia.
The emergence of artistic ability following traumatic brain injury
Akira Midorikawa, Mitsuru Kawamura · 2015 · Neurocase, 21(1), 90-94
Documents de novo artistic behavior after trauma but also shows why 'instant mastery' is misleading: onset was delayed and the observable skill evolved through sustained activity.
Emergence of artistic talent in frontotemporal dementia
Bruce L. Miller, Jeffrey Cummings, et al. · 1998 · Neurology, 51(4), 978-982
The strongest small clinical series behind acquired-savant claims because it examined a defined patient group and paired behavioral change with neuropsychology and brain anatomy.
Pictures as a neurological tool: lessons from enhanced and emergent artistry in brain disease
G. D. Schott · 2012 · Brain, 135(6), 1947-1963
Provides the key clinical counterweight: emergent art is real but heterogeneous, sometimes reflects altered drive or pre-existing predisposition, and does not establish a universal hidden-skill mechanism.
The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future
Darold A. Treffert · 2009 · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 364(1522), 1351-1357
The standard overview that established acquired savant syndrome as a research category, while explicitly noting that the field needed standardized testing, larger samples, and movement beyond anecdotal single cases.
Feeling the future: Experimental evidence for anomalous retroactive influences on cognition and affect
Daryl J. Bem · 2011 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 407–425
The most-discussed modern empirical paper claiming evidence for precognition; directly triggered the Wagenmakers et al. critique and helped catalyse psychology's broader replication-crisis conversation.
Does psi exist? Replicable evidence for an anomalous process of information transfer
Daryl J. Bem, Charles Honorton · 1994 · Psychological Bulletin, 115(1), 4-18
A central pro-psi anchor for ganzfeld/free-response claims, especially telepathy-style information transfer under sensory-reduction conditions.
Examining psychokinesis: The interaction of human intention with random number generators - A meta-analysis
Holger Bosch, Fiona Steinkamp, Emil Boller · 2006 · Psychological Bulletin, 132(4), 497-523
The key modern meta-analytic source for micro-PK claims: important because it reports a signal but also makes the interpretive weakness visible.
Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions
Olaf Blanke, Stephanie Ortigue, et al. · 2002 · Nature, 419(6904), 269-270
Core neuroscience counterweight for OBE pages because it links the felt sense of bodily self-location to brain mechanisms.
Cryptomnesia: Delineating inadvertent plagiarism
Alan S. Brown, Dana R. Murphy · 1989 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(3), 432-442
Primary psychological source for the idea that apparent novel memories can sometimes come from forgotten exposure rather than paranormal access.
What Makes Time Special?
Craig Callender · 2017 · Oxford University Press
Useful modern authority for time pages because it connects physics, metaphysics, and experience rather than reducing the question to a slogan.
Post-bereavement hallucinatory experiences: A critical overview of population and clinical studies
Anna Castelnovo, Simone Cavallotti, et al. · 2015 · Journal of Affective Disorders, 186, 266-274
Important for apparition and ADC pages because it shows how common bereavement-related perceptions can be without requiring a paranormal interpretation.
Finding Meaning in Dreams: A Quantitative Approach
G. William Domhoff · 1996 · Plenum Press
Supports a limited evidence-based version of dream meaning: dreams can reveal recurring concerns and patterns without requiring prophetic or supernatural interpretation.
The experimental induction of out-of-body experiences
Henrik H. Ehrsson · 2007 · Science, 317(5841), 1048
Shows that OBE-like self-location can be induced through multisensory perception, weakening literal body-leaving interpretations while supporting the reality of the experience.
Neural correlates of nondual awareness in meditation
Zoran Josipovic · 2014 · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1307(1), 9-18
Gives the nondual meditation page a neuroscience anchor while keeping metaphysical interpretations separate from the measured meditation states.
Lucid dreaming verified by volitional communication during REM sleep
Stephen LaBerge, Lynn E. Nagel, et al. · 1981 · Perceptual and Motor Skills, 52(3), 727-732
Supports the reality of lucid dreaming as a measurable state while leaving spiritual interpretations of dream travel or insight as separate claims.
Eliciting cryptomnesia: Unconscious plagiarism in a puzzle task
Richard L. Marsh, Gordon H. Bower · 1993 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19(3), 673-688
Strengthens the ordinary-memory explanation for many past-life regression reports, especially adult cases involving prior exposure.
The Unreality of Time
J. Ellis McTaggart · 1908 · Mind, 17(68), 457-474
Gives the time-exists page a canonical anti-realist anchor rather than treating the question as only a physics issue.
The hallucinations of widowhood
W. Dewi Rees · 1971 · British Medical Journal, 4(5778), 37-41
Important for apparition claims because it explains many encounter reports through normal bereavement experience without dismissing their emotional reality.
Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence
Richard G. Tedeschi, Lawrence G. Calhoun · 2004 · Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1-18
Supports the limited claim that suffering can sometimes be followed by growth without proving that suffering was cosmically intended.
Post-traumatic growth as positive personality change: Challenges, opportunities, and recommendations
Eranda Jayawickreme, Frank J. Infurna, et al. · 2021 · Journal of Personality, 89(1), 145-165
Keeps the suffering-growth pages balanced by separating real meaning-making from the overclaim that trauma is reliably beneficial.
Lacking control increases illusory pattern perception
Jennifer A. Whitson, Adam D. Galinsky · 2008 · Science, 322(5898), 115-117
A strong cognitive counterweight for synchronicity and meaning-pattern claims: humans are built to find patterns, especially under uncertainty.
Survey of entity encounter experiences occasioned by inhaled N,N-dimethyltryptamine: Phenomenology, interpretation, and enduring effects
Alan K. Davis, John M. Clifton, et al. · 2020 · Journal of Psychopharmacology, 34(9), 1008-1020
The key modern empirical anchor for DMT entity pages: it supports the robustness of entity-encounter reports while not proving external beings.
A thematic and content analysis of DMT experiences from a naturalistic field study
Pascal Michael, Christopher Timmermann, David Luke · 2021 · Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 720717
Adds qualitative depth to the DMT entity record without treating subjective encounter structure as evidence that the entities exist independently.
Plant neurobiology: an integrated view of plant signaling
Eric D. Brenner, Rainer Stahlberg, et al. · 2006 · Trends in Plant Science, 11(8), 413-419
Useful pro-plant-cognition context, but it addresses signaling and adaptive behavior rather than subjective experience.
Plant neurobiology: no brain, no gain?
Amedeo Alpi, Nikolaus Amrhein, et al. · 2007 · Trends in Plant Science, 12(4), 135-136
Keeps the plant-consciousness page from confusing complex plant signaling with evidence of felt experience.
Plants Neither Possess nor Require Consciousness
Lincoln Taiz, Daniel Alkon, et al. · 2019 · Trends in Plant Science, 24(8), 677-687
Primary skeptical anchor for the plant-consciousness page.
Plants are intelligent, here's how
Anthony Trewavas · 2019 · Annals of Botany, 125(1), 11-28
Important for distinguishing plant intelligence from plant consciousness: the former is a live conceptual debate, the latter remains much more speculative.
Boosting wisdom: Distance from the self enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior
Ethan Kross, Igor Grossmann · 2012 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(1), 43-48
Supports the limited psychological version of 'higher self': people can access wiser self-perspectives without requiring a separate metaphysical self.
Self-Consciousness
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · 2017 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Useful for separating serious philosophy of self from spiritualized higher-self language.
The self
International Association for Analytical Psychology · 2024 · International Association for Analytical Psychology
Gives the higher-self page a tradition-side psychological source while keeping Jung's Self distinct from a literal external guide.
Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events
Crystal L. Park · 2010 · Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 257-301
Supports the psychological truth beneath 'everything happens for a reason' while challenging the metaphysical claim that events are arranged for a purpose.
Skepticism
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Places solipsism inside the broader skeptical tradition rather than treating it as an empirical worldview.
Private Language
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · 2019 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A central philosophical challenge to solipsistic pictures of meaning, language, and private experience.
George Edward Moore
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy · 2019 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Useful counter-anchor for solipsism because it shows the canonical common-sense reply and its limits.
Is past life regression therapy ethical?
Gabriel Andrade · 2017 · Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 10, 11
Directly relevant to soul-groups claims because that literature usually depends on hypnotic regression rather than spontaneous child-memory cases.
Concerns about Hypnotic Regression
University of Virginia Division of Perceptual Studies · 2024 · University of Virginia Division of Perceptual Studies
A high-trust methodology source for separating spontaneous child cases from regression-derived soul-group narratives.
Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
Michael Newton · 1994 · Llewellyn Publications
Important as a genealogy source for the belief, not as verified evidence that soul groups exist.
Myths of maths: The golden ratio
Plus Magazine · 2016 · Plus Magazine, University of Cambridge Millennium Mathematics Project
Useful skeptical source for sacred geometry because golden-ratio myths are a major pathway from real mathematics to metaphysical overclaim.
Anomalous information reception by research mediums demonstrated using a novel triple-blind protocol
Julie Beischel, Gary E. Schwartz · 2007 · Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, 3(1), 23-27
A core positive mediumship paper because it explicitly targets cold reading, sitter cueing, experimenter cueing, and fraud as alternative explanations.
Anomalous information reception by research mediums under blinded conditions II: Replication and extension
Julie Beischel, Mark Boccuzzi, et al. · 2015 · Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, 11(2), 136-142
Useful as a claimed replication/extension of the 2007 Windbridge-style protocol; still controversial, but much stronger than anecdotal stage mediumship.
Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) in cardiac bypass patients
Herbert Benson, Jeffery A. Dusek, et al. · 2006 · American Heart Journal
The largest, best-funded trial of distant intercessory prayer to date. Null result.
Why Boltzmann Brains Don't Fluctuate Into Existence From the De Sitter Vacuum
Kimberly K. Boddy, Sean M. Carroll, Jason Pollack · 2016 · The Philosophy of Cosmology, Cambridge University Press, ch. 11
Major physical objection to Boltzmann-brain dominance: the static de Sitter vacuum is sterile, so the mathematical fluctuation probability does not translate into real observers.
Surge of neurophysiological coherence and connectivity in the dying brain
Jimo Borjigin, UnCheol Lee, et al. · 2013 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(35), 14432-14437
One of the strongest brain-based counterweights in the NDE debate because it shows near-death neural activity can become organized rather than simply switching off.
On Certain Questions of the Theory of Gases
Ludwig Boltzmann · 1895 · Nature, 51(1322), 413–415
The historical origin of the entire fluctuation-cosmology line of reasoning.
Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?
Nick Bostrom · 2003 · Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243–255
The canonical primary source for the simulation hypothesis as a philosophical argument.
A double-blind test of astrology
Shawn Carlson · 1985 · Nature
The most-cited rigorous test of literal-prediction astrology; the result is null and has not been overturned by subsequent replications.
From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
Sean M. Carroll · 2010 · Dutton / Penguin
The most accessible book-length introduction to why physicists worry about the Boltzmann-brain problem and how it interacts with the arrow of time.
Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad
Sean M. Carroll · 2017 · arXiv:1702.00850 (Caltech preprint; later in 'Current Controversies in Philosophy of Science')
The standard reference for the cognitive-instability resolution and the philosophical case against taking Boltzmann-brain dominance as a real prediction.
Facing up to the problem of consciousness
David J. Chalmers · 1995 · Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2(3), 200–219
The single most-cited critique of pure physicalist accounts of mind.
Is astrology relevant to consciousness and psi?
Geoffrey Dean, Ivan W. Kelly · 2003 · Journal of Consciousness Studies, 10(6-7), 175-198
Useful companion to Carlson's Nature test because it surveys a broader evidence base rather than one double-blind experiment.
Disturbing Implications of a Cosmological Constant
Lisa Dyson, Matthew Kleban, Leonard Susskind · 2002 · Journal of High Energy Physics, 2002(10), 011
The paper that reignited modern interest in the Boltzmann-brain problem by linking it directly to the accelerating expansion of our universe.
Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience
Christopher C. French, Anna Stone · 2014 · Palgrave Macmillan
Major reference for the sceptical / cognitive-explanation side of psi-style claims.
The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility
Bertram R. Forer · 1949 · Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 44(1), 118-123
Foundational source for the Barnum/Forer effect, a central ordinary-cognition explanation for astrology, tarot, numerology, and psychic readings feeling personally accurate.
The near-death experience scale: Construction, reliability, and validity
Bruce Greyson · 1983 · Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171(6), 369–375
Methodological backbone of empirical NDE research — without this scale most later studies could not be compared.
Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit
Bruce Greyson · 2003 · General Hospital Psychiatry, 25(4), 269-276
Adds a second medical-cohort anchor beside van Lommel and AWARE, useful for showing that NDE research is not based only on retrospective anecdote.
Phantasms of the Living
Edmund Gurney, Frederic W. H. Myers, Frank Podmore · 1886 · Trübner and Co. for the Society for Psychical Research, London
The canonical historical case base for spontaneous precognition and related psi-style experiences; cited across the field as the starting point for spontaneous-case methodology.
Meta-analysis that conceals more than it reveals: Comment on Storm et al. (2010)
Ray Hyman · 2010 · Psychological Bulletin, 136(4), 486–490
Pairs directly with the Storm et al. meta-analysis — the classic skeptical reply in the same journal issue.
Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena
Ray Hyman · 1995 · American Institutes for Research / Journal of Scientific Exploration archive
Essential counterweight to Utts' positive assessment of the Stargate / remote-viewing evidence; the two reports should be read together.
International Association for Near-Death Studies
IANDS · 2024 · IANDS
Standard reference body for NDE-related claims; archives many first-person accounts and links to peer-reviewed work.
End-of-life dreams and visions: A longitudinal study of hospice patients' experiences
Christopher W. Kerr, James P. Donnelly, et al. · 2014 · Journal of Palliative Medicine, 17(3), 296-303
A strong clinical source for deathbed-vision pages because it studies the experience in hospice patients without requiring a survivalist interpretation.
The effect of carbon dioxide on near-death experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors
Zalika Klemenc-Ketis, Janko Kersnik, Stefek Grmec · 2010 · Critical Care, 14, R56
Important physiological counter-evidence because it connects NDE reports to measurable blood-gas variables rather than relying on a purely speculative brain model.
Neural correlates of consciousness: Progress and problems
Christof Koch, Marcello Massimini, et al. · 2016 · Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 17, 307-321
A strong neuroscience anchor for the brain-dependence side of the consciousness cluster, while still admitting unresolved problems.
Effects of Reiki in clinical practice: A systematic review of randomised clinical trials
Myeong Soo Lee, Max H. Pittler, Edzard Ernst · 2008 · International Journal of Clinical Practice, 62(6), 947-954
Core controlled-evidence source for separating possible relaxation/attention benefits from the unproven claim of transmitted healing energy.
Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness-potential): The unconscious initiation of a freely voluntary act
Benjamin Libet, Curtis A. Gleason, et al. · 1983 · Brain, 106(3), 623–642
The single study most often cited as evidence against libertarian free will. Almost every later debate is downstream of it.
Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation
Edwin A. Locke, Gary P. Latham · 2002 · American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717
Supports the limited psychological version of manifestation: goals and expectancy can change behavior, not reality itself.
Sinks in the Landscape, Boltzmann Brains, and the Cosmological Constant Problem
Andrei Linde · 2007 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, 2007(01), 022
Sets up one of the main physical pathways for resolving the paradox — vacuum decay into terminal states before BBs can dominate.
Predictive physiological anticipation preceding seemingly unpredictable stimuli: a meta-analysis
Julia Mossbridge, Patrizio Tressoldi, Jessica Utts · 2012 · Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 390
The most-cited modern meta-analysis on presentiment; central to debate about whether physiology can show anticipatory responses to future stimuli.
Does psi exist? Lack of replication of an anomalous process of information transfer
Julie Milton, Richard Wiseman · 1999 · Psychological Bulletin, 125(4), 387-391
The classic skeptical replication counterpoint to Bem and Honorton, useful for keeping ganzfeld pages from presenting a one-sided meta-analytic story.
There is nothing paranormal about near-death experiences: How neuroscience can explain seeing bright lights, meeting the dead, or being convinced you are one of them
Dean Mobbs, Caroline Watt · 2011 · Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(10), 447-449
A concise, mainstream skeptical anchor for NDE interpretation pages; especially useful paired with replies from NDE researchers.
Replication studies of cases suggestive of reincarnation by three independent investigators
Antonia Mills, Erlendur Haraldsson, H. H. Jurgen Keil · 1994 · Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 88, 207-219
Important because the reincarnation case literature depends heavily on whether patterns survive outside Stevenson's own fieldwork.
Pleasure now, pain later: Positive fantasies about the future predict symptoms of depression
Gabriele Oettingen, Doris Mayer, Sam Portnow · 2016 · Psychological Science, 27(3), 345-353
Useful counterweight to manifestation claims: visualization can affect motivation, but fantasy by itself can reduce effort rather than magically produce outcomes.
Terminal lucidity: A review and a case collection
Michael Nahm, Bruce Greyson, et al. · 2012 · Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 55(1), 138–142
The defining paper for terminal lucidity as a serious clinical phenomenon worth studying.
Is our universe likely to decay within 20 billion years?
Don N. Page · 2008 · Physical Review D, 78(6), 063535
The clearest statement of how the Boltzmann-brain count is tamed by a finite vacuum lifetime; companion paper to 'Return of the Boltzmann brains'.
AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation—A prospective study
Sam Parnia, Ken Spearpoint, et al. · 2014 · Resuscitation, 85(12), 1799–1805
Most-cited rigorous attempt at empirically testing claims of conscious awareness during clinical death.
Guidelines and standards for the study of death and recalled experiences of death
Sam Parnia, Stephen G. Post, et al. · 2022 · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1511(1), 5-21
Useful authority source for careful language: it separates recalled experiences of death from broad spiritual conclusions and lays out better future-study standards.
AWAreness during REsuscitation - II: A multi-center study of consciousness and awareness in cardiac arrest
Sam Parnia, Tara Keshavarz Shirazi, et al. · 2023 · Resuscitation, 191, 109903
Modern follow-up to AWARE that keeps the page current and helps distinguish reported awareness during resuscitation from stronger afterlife interpretations.
Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health
Leanne Roberts, Irshad Ahmed, Andrew Davison · 2009 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
The reference systematic review on the question; conclusion is null overall.
A close look at therapeutic touch
Linda Rosa, Emily Rosa, et al. · 1998 · JAMA, 279(13), 1005-1010
A compact, famous controlled test of human-energy-field perception, relevant to aura and energy-healing claims even though it targets therapeutic touch rather than Reiki specifically.
An accumulator model for spontaneous neural activity prior to self-initiated movement
Aaron Schurger, Jacobo D. Sitt, Stanislas Dehaene · 2012 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(42), E2904–E2913
Major reinterpretation of Libet — important counterweight to popular 'neuroscience disproves free will' framing.
Afterlife
William Hasker, Charles Taliaferro · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Direct background for any claim about whether something of the person survives death, and a useful guardrail against treating survival as a single simple proposition.
Being and Becoming in Modern Physics
Steven Savitt · 2021 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Direct treatment of the physics-of-time question — exactly the territory the block-universe claim lives in, without reducing the debate to a slogan.
Causal Determinism
Carl Hoefer · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Useful for separating physical determinism (a contested empirical claim) from determinism in the popular sense.
The Chinese Room Argument
David Cole · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The standard sceptical argument against AI consciousness; required reading for any serious treatment.
Animal Cognition
Kristin Andrews · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Companion to the consciousness-animal entry; useful for claims about animal navigation, recognition, and inference.
Compatibilism
Michael McKenna, D. Justin Coates · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The default canonical reference for what compatibilism actually claims, against which most popular versions are pitched.
The Concept of Religion
Kevin Schilbrack · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Useful background for claims involving God, religious figures, or traditions because it clarifies what counts as a religious claim before evidence is weighed.
Consciousness
Robert Van Gulick · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Pulls together the conceptual frameworks behind every empirical claim about consciousness.
Animal Consciousness
Colin Allen, Michael Trestman · 2020 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The default reference for the case that mammals, birds, and at least some invertebrates are conscious.
Cosmology: Methodological Debates in the 1930s and 1940s
George Gale · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Background for theological readings of contemporary cosmology, useful for separating genuine cosmological evidence from retrospective religious interpretation.
Dreams and Dreaming
Jennifer M. Windt · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reference for any claim involving the cognitive nature of dreams, especially claims that dreams are spiritually revelatory or anomalously predictive.
Dualism
Howard Robinson · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The reference for what mind-body dualism means and why most contemporary philosophers reject it.
Fatalism
Hugh Rice · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use this as the conceptual guardrail for destiny and 'it was meant to be' claims. It separates fatalism from causal determinism, which popular spirituality often blends together.
Fine-Tuning
Simon Friederich · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Frames the anthropic / multiverse / design debate that simulation, mathematical-universe, and theism claims all engage with.
Free Will
Timothy O'Connor, Christopher Franklin · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Establishes the philosophical landscape any modern empirical claim about free will is sitting inside.
Functionalism
Janet Levin · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Functionalism is the implicit metaphysics behind the case that AI could be conscious.
Heaven and Hell in Christian Thought
Charles Taliaferro, Stewart Goetz · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reference for claims about postmortem destinations within Christian frameworks; it clarifies the conceptual options before any evidential claim is assessed.
Idealism
Paul Guyer, Rolf-Peter Horstmann · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The reference for what 'reality is consciousness' / Berkeleyan / analytic idealism actually claims.
Personal Identity
Eric T. Olson · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Any claim about surviving death or being reincarnated presupposes a theory of personal identity. This entry sets the terms.
The Meaning of Life
Thaddeus Metz · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The standard reference for any claim about life-purpose, growth-through-suffering, or meaning-making; it keeps existential claims distinct from evidence claims.
Everett's Relative-State Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Jeffrey Barrett · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Steel-manned reference for what the many-worlds interpretation actually says, useful because popular versions often overstate what the physics entails.
The Mind/Brain Identity Theory
J. J. C. Smart · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Background for the strongest version of 'consciousness = brain activity', and a useful contrast with dualist, idealist, and panpsychist claims.
Miracles
Timothy McGrew · 2019 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Default reference for the miracles claim's epistemic status; covers the Humean argument and the modern probabilistic responses.
Mysticism
Jerome Gellman · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use this as the conceptual anchor for non-dual, unitive, and psychedelic-mystical claims. It supports the seriousness of the experience category without treating the metaphysical interpretation as settled.
Other Minds
Anita Avramides · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Use this as the philosophical background for solipsism and for disputed minds in non-human or artificial systems. It is context, not direct evidence that any specific entity is conscious.
Panpsychism
Philip Goff, William Seager, Sean Allen-Hermanson · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Steel-manned version of the panpsychist position, distinct from popular caricatures.
Pantheism
William Mander · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reference for claims that the universe itself is divine or conscious; it helps keep poetic, religious, and metaphysical versions of the claim distinct.
Physicalism
Daniel Stoljar · 2024 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The reference work for what 'physicalism' even means before any empirical question is asked.
Platonism in the Philosophy of Mathematics
Øystein Linnebo · 2023 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Background for any claim that mathematical structures are real and possibly identical with the universe; it clarifies the ontology behind mathematical-universe claims.
Quantum Mechanics
Jenann Ismael · 2020 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Background reference for any claim that hinges on the foundations of QM, especially many-worlds, emergent-time, and physics-adjacent metaphysical claims.
Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Lev Vaidman · 2021 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The default scholarly reference for what Many-Worlds actually claims and where it is contested.
Qualia
Michael Tye · 2021 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Defines the technical concept ('what it is like') most often invoked in disputes about consciousness.
Religious Experience
Mark Webb · 2022 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Academic frame for first-person mystical and psychedelic experience reports, especially when users ask whether an experience can justify a metaphysical belief.
Being and Becoming in Modern Physics
Steven Savitt · 2021 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The standard reference for the relativity-based case for a block universe and a useful counterweight to overly simple 'physics proves fate' claims.
Time
Ned Markosian · 2020 · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Explains what each of the time-models actually claims before any physics is brought in.
Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects
Ian Stevenson · 1997 · Praeger Publishers
The most detailed primary case-archive specifically targeting the birthmark/wound correspondence claim.
American children who claim to remember previous lives
Ian Stevenson · 1983 · Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 171(12), 742-748
Useful because it weakens the objection that all cases are simply products of cultures with explicit reincarnation belief.
Birthmarks and birth defects corresponding to wounds on deceased persons
Ian Stevenson · 1993 · Journal of Scientific Exploration, 7(4), 403-410
A shorter primary paper that makes the birthmark/wound claim directly, useful beside the much larger 1997 monograph.
Meta-analysis of free-response studies, 1992–2008: Assessing the noise reduction model in parapsychology
Lance Storm, Patrizio E. Tressoldi, Lorenzo Di Risio · 2010 · Psychological Bulletin, 136(4), 471–485
One of the strongest pro-psi statistical summaries published in a mainstream APA journal.
The Mathematical Universe
Max Tegmark · 2008 · Foundations of Physics, 38(2), 101–150
The primary source for the mathematical-universe claim. Sceptics treat the proposal as untestable; defenders treat it as the simplest ontology.
An information integration theory of consciousness
Giulio Tononi · 2004 · BMC Neuroscience, 5, 42
A key bridge source: it is not proof of panpsychism, but it explains why some consciousness researchers treat mind-like properties as potentially graded and widespread.
Children's reports of past-life memories: A review
Jim B. Tucker · 2008 · EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, 4(4), 244–248
Exactly the sort of review the user-facing example refers to — written by the principal investigator at DOPS.
Division of Perceptual Studies
University of Virginia School of Medicine · 2024 · University of Virginia
The leading academic group publishing on cases of children claiming past-life memories and on Greyson's NDE work.
Division of Perceptual Studies — Publications
University of Virginia, Division of Perceptual Studies · ongoing · University of Virginia School of Medicine
The institutional home for serious empirical work on past-life memories and survival-related anomalies.
Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands
Pim van Lommel, Ruud van Wees, et al. · 2001 · The Lancet, 358(9298), 2039–2045
First major prospective NDE study in a peer-reviewed general medical journal, central because it moved the debate beyond retrospective anecdote.
Why psychologists must change the way they analyze their data: The case of psi: Comment on Bem (2011)
Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Ruud Wetzels, et al. · 2011 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(3), 426–432
Foundational sceptical reply — also helped trigger the broader replication-crisis conversation in psychology.
An assessment of the evidence for psychic functioning
Jessica Utts · 1995 · American Institutes for Research / CIA Stargate archive
Core pro-remote-viewing evaluation from the Stargate review period; should be paired with Hyman's evaluation to show the interpretive split.
A Bayesian analysis reveals evidence against micro-psychokinesis
Markus A. Maier, Moritz Dechamps, et al. · 2018 · Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 379
Useful modern counterweight to earlier RNG meta-analyses because it focuses on evidential strength rather than only significance testing.
After-death communication
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Reasonable general reference for after-death communication language; the term itself is relatively recent in the academic literature.
Angel
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Default reference for the angels claim; covers both the traditional theological role and the modern popular forms (guardian angels, angel numbers).
Angel number
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Documents the phenomenon as a 21st-century pop-spiritual movement; flags its links to the Barnum effect and apophenia.
Animal navigation
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Mainstream-science context for claims that animals 'sense' impending events: many such reports have ordinary sensory explanations.
Anomalous experiences
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful background for the 'intention affects physical systems' claim; covers the PEAR programme and its critics.
Apparitional experience
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Covers both the anomalistic-psychology framing and the survival-research framing, making it useful context for separating experiences from spirit interpretations.
Astral projection
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Use this for the astral-projection interpretation layer. Pair it with out-of-body and neurological sources so the claimed travel mechanism is not confused with the broader OBE phenomenon.
Astrology
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Pair with 'Astrology and science' for the controlled-study record.
Astrology and science
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
The single best summary for why astrology, as a literal predictive system, fails controlled tests.
Aura (paranormal)
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Includes the standard skeptical critique and the conflation with Kirlian photography.
Barnum effect
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
The single most-cited cognitive mechanism behind subjectively-convincing astrology, tarot, cold-reading, and 'this happened for a reason' inferences.
Chakra
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Distinguishes the contemplative-symbolic original use from the modern 'physical energy organ' reading.
Cold reading
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for the 'cold reading explains mediumship' skeptical hypothesis.
Confabulation
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Standard ordinary-cognition explanation for shared mistaken-memory phenomena (Mandela effect) and for elaborated 'past-life' or paranormal narratives.
Confirmation bias
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
The standard ordinary-cognition explanation for many 'meaningful coincidence' and pattern-matching claims.
Cryptomnesia
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for the cryptomnesia-explains-past-lives skeptical hypothesis.
Crystal healing
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Cites the most-discussed double-blind crystal study and is a reasonable starting point for the skeptical case.
Curse
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for the curses claim; covers both the practice traditions and the well-documented nocebo / expectation mechanisms.
De Sitter space
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful conceptual reference for any claim about long-term cosmology and the cosmological-horizon temperature.
Deathbed phenomena
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Reasonable general-audience starting point for these phenomena, especially for distinguishing clinical reports from afterlife interpretation.
Déjà vu
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Default reference for the phenomenon and the mainstream cognitive-neuroscience explanations.
Demon
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Default reference for the demons claim; pair with the existing wiki-devil entry for the personalised cosmic adversary.
Destiny
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Pair with SEP 'Fatalism' (already in the dataset) for the philosophical framing.
Devil
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful for showing that devil claims vary sharply across traditions, so the evidence question has to specify which version of the concept is being evaluated.
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful background for entity-encounter claims because it anchors the experiences in known pharmacology before evaluating metaphysical interpretations about independent beings or alternate realms.
Dream interpretation
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Pair with the SEP 'Dreams and Dreaming' entry already in the dataset for the philosophical / scientific framing.
Energy (esotericism)
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful conceptual framing for any 'energy healing' claim — explains why the term doesn't map onto measured forms of energy.
Enlightenment in Buddhism
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Primary tradition-side reference for the enlightenment claim; pair with wiki-moksha for the parallel Hindu framing and the SEP mysticism entry for the philosophical analysis.
European witch trials
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct evidence for the harm-risk side of the magic / witchcraft claim; cited routinely in the historical-harm bullet.
Evil eye
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Default reference for the evil-eye claim; covers the broad cross-cultural pattern and the protective-practice variants.
Existence of God
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
General-audience entry point; pair with SEP entries for specific arguments (cosmological, ontological, fine-tuning).
Exorcism
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Default reference for the exorcism claim; covers the practice variants and the well-documented harm cases.
Faith healing
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Background context for distant intercessory prayer alongside the STEP and Cochrane references below.
Ghost
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Catch-all reference for the broad ghost claim; pair with apparitional-experience and parapsychology entries for the specific phenomenology and lab-history strands.
Heaven
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Tradition-side companion to the SEP heaven-and-hell entry; covers the cross-religion variation the SEP entry deliberately limits to Christian thought.
Hell
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to wiki-heaven and the SEP heaven-and-hell entry; gives the cross-religion variation and the modern theological alternatives to eternal conscious torment.
Higher self
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Use this as a terminology map. It shows how popular spirituality blends traditions, but it does not establish that a literal higher self exists or can communicate independently.
Karma
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful for the cross-cultural shape of karma claims; should be paired with primary religious-studies sources where possible.
Law of attraction (New Thought)
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct background for the 'manifestation' claim; covers both the practice and the criticisms.
Levitation (paranormal)
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for the human-levitation claim; covers both the religious / mystical traditions and the controlled investigations.
Lucid dream
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful entry point for the well-established phenomenon; spiritual interpretations are a separate further question.
Magic (supernatural)
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to the witchcraft entry; gives the broader anthropology-of-magic framing.
False memory § Mandela effect
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Treats the Mandela effect as a high-profile case of well-studied false-memory mechanisms (schema-driven reconstruction, social contagion, source-monitoring errors).
Materialism
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to SEP Physicalism — gives a less technical entry point.
Mathematical universe hypothesis
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to the Tegmark primary paper; a more accessible starting point for non-specialists before reading the formal argument.
Mediumship
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful for both the phenomenon's claims and the well-developed sceptical literature.
Miracle
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
General reference for the miracles claim; pair with the SEP entry for the philosophical analysis.
Moksha
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to wiki-enlightenment-buddhism — covers the Hindu / Jain / Sikh side of the same cross-tradition claim.
Music therapy
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful contrast: shows where the actually-supported clinical evidence lies.
Near-death experience
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
General reference that lays out the main neurophysiological explanations alongside the survivalist interpretations.
Numerology
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful general reference; classified as pseudoscience in the consensus view.
Out-of-body experience
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Use this for the broad OBE phenomenon. It should sit beside astral-projection and NDE sources so the experience, neurological mechanisms, and spiritual interpretation remain separate.
Parapsychology
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful general-audience anchor for psi-related claims; gives both the field's self-description and the standard sceptical critique.
Past life regression
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for regression-derived claims and cryptomnesia explanations. It should be clearly distinguished from spontaneous child past-life memory cases, which have a different evidence profile.
Plant cognition
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Use this for context around plant intelligence claims. It supports plant responsiveness and signaling, not the stronger claim that plants have subjective experience or pain.
Predetermination
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful contrast for 'soul plan' claims, which are a non-theistic version of the predetermination idea.
Pseudoscience
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
General classificatory reference for weak-evidence claims such as crystals, numerology, and astrology. It should support caution and framing, not replace claim-specific tests.
Reiki
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful neutral entry point that surfaces both the practice and the negative controlled-trial picture.
Reincarnation
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful for the breadth of the concept across traditions, and for keeping doctrinal reincarnation distinct from empirical child-memory case research.
Reincarnation research
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to the UVa DOPS institutional page; covers the case-study methodology and the major sceptical objections.
Sacred geometry
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for sacred-geometry claims. It documents symbolism and recurring motifs, but stronger claims about hidden universal codes need separate mathematical or historical support.
Shadow person
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct reference for the shadow-people claim; pair with sleep-paralysis and apparitional-experience entries for the underlying mechanisms.
Shared-death experience
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Direct topical reference; the phenomenon is rarely covered in academic encyclopedias, so this serves as a limited orientation rather than strong evidence.
Simulation hypothesis
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to Bostrom's original paper; useful for reception history and for distinguishing the formal argument from looser simulation speculation.
Sleep paralysis
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Single most-cited mechanism behind shadow-people sightings, bedroom visitations, and many folkloric night-encounter traditions.
Solipsism
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Useful general-audience entry point; the SEP 'Other Minds' entry is the deeper academic reference.
Soulmate
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Closest direct reference for soul-group language, which is mostly popular or regression-derived. It supports concept mapping, not evidence that specific relationships are pre-assigned.
Sound healing
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Distinguishes sound-healing claims from mainstream music therapy.
Spirit possession
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Companion to the exorcism entry; gives the broader anthropological / psychiatric framing of the underlying experience.
Subtle body
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Conceptual home for chakras, auras, prana / qi / ki, and aural-energy claims more generally.
Synchronicity
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Use this for the history of synchronicity claims. It helps define the concept but does not establish that coincidences are externally arranged or causally meaningful.
Tarot
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Distinguishes the predictive use from the symbolic / reflective use.
Terminal lucidity
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Best general-audience entry point on terminal lucidity; pair with the university-based studies for primary sourcing.
Witchcraft
Wikipedia contributors · 2024 · Wikipedia
Primary tradition-side reference for the magic / witchcraft claim; covers both the practice variants and the catastrophic historical harm.