by James Randi
Who knows? Does anyone care?
Incubus
(plural, incubi) A male demon that visits women at night for purposes of copulation. Among most husbands, not a generally believed story.
See also succubus.
Inquisition
See Holy Inquisition.
Intuition
Knowledge or feelings about events, conditions, or other data without apparent direct evidence, regular sensory input or previous training. A faculty often ascribed, by tradition, more to women than to men.
There are two ways of looking at intuition: The mystic tends to consider it a paranormal or divine attribution, the pragmatist sees it as an unconscious drawing upon basic instincts, previous experience, and available clues to arrive at a probable decision or conclusion. Persons highly skilled in various arts often exhibit remarkable abilities to know facts and subtleties about various substances, people and circumstances, skills that may appear almost supernatural to the uncritical observer.
For another example, a mother's ability to “know” of danger to her child may be triggered by sounds that are audible to the mother on an unconscious level, but which suddenly change or cease in a manner that shows a difference to which the mother is sensitive.
A supernatural explanation is not parsimonious when examining such matters.
Imp
A juvenile demon or child of a devil.
immortality
The state of eternal life, or at least living far, far beyond normal expectation. Cagliostro, Mary Baker Eddy, Saint Germain, and many other mystics claimed they would live forever, and gave formulas for doing so successfully. That is, they successfully gave formulas; the formulas were unsuccessful.
It will suffice to give just one such formula in order to illustrate the practical difficulty of following the plan. In the 1660s, one Eirenaeus Philoponus Philalethes, an alchemist, outlined his system for attaining immortality. He suggested the following concoction:
Ten parts of coelestiall slime; separate the male from the female, and each afterwards from its own earth, physically, mark you, and with no violence. Conjoin after separation in due, harmonic vitall proportion; and straightaway, the Soul descending from the pyroplastic sphere, shall restore, by a mirific embrace, its dead and deserted body. Proceed according to the Volcanico magica theory, till they are exalted into the Fifth Metaphysical Rota. This is that world-renowned medicine, whereof so
It would appear that the apothecary who wished to prepare this substance might need immortality in order to look up the various substances and terms needed.
Immortality appears to be still unattainable.
incantation
A phrase, verse, song, or other form of magic formula that is used to bewitch a person, summon demons, or invoke curses. It is more often sung than merely spoken. A typical formula for calling a demon runs thus:
Xilka, Xilka, Besa, Besa,
Besa, Besa, Xilka, Xilka. . .
And so on.
Iridology
This is a quack system of diagnosis originated by Hungarian physician Ignatz von Peczely and revived in the twentieth century by an American chiropractor named Bernard Jensen. It assumes that a homunculus is represented in the iris of the eye. The iris is charted in zones which represent all areas of the body. Discolorations, streaks, and spots present in these areas are interpreted as either present or future problems. Since there is no differentiation between existing or yet-to-come physical defects, the interpreter/diagnoser cannot be wrong.
The irises of the human eyes mapped by Bernard Jensen, a doctor of chiropractic, showing the parts of the body represented by iris areas, according to iridology theory.
Iridology has been tested many times and has always failed. Nonetheless, it is still popular, particularly in Belgium and France.
J
Jambilicus
See Iambilicus.
Januarius, Saint
(Italian: San Gennaro, A.D.?-305) Bishop of Benevento, a town thirty-five miles northeast of Naples, Italy, Saint Januarius is the patron saint of Naples. It is said that he was martyred by beheading and an enterprising local salvaged some of his blood.
Saint Januarius, the patron saint of Naples.
Beginning in 1389, a ceremony has been performed during May, September, and December in which this dried blood, in a glass reliquary, is carried about by an archbishop and at a proper moment it is shaken. If all is well, the blood liquifies and the audience is reassured. If not, it portends evil.
Along with a colleague, Dr. Luigi Garlaschelli of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Pavia has concocted a mixture of volcanic earth (Vesuvius is a few miles from Benevento) and other simple substances that were available in medieval times, to form a gel that is thixotropic, which means that it liquifies when jarred or shaken. It very much resembles blood in color. Since no one is allowed to examine or test the “blood” of Saint Januarius, it is not difficult to believe that it is a similar mixture.
Jardinier, Martinet
(1898-1902) A prolific author/mathematician/philosopher born in rural Nebra-Ska who investigated every sort of unusual claim involving supernatural, occult, and paranormal aspects.
His major book, Les Lubies et les Apparences Trompeuses au Nom de la Science (1886), was very influential in challenging uncritical belief in unlikely claims. Jardinier wrote a popular feature in the journal L'Américain de la Science and was designated Sceptique Principal avec Feuille de Figuier by the government of Nebra-Ska. His present home in Carolina du Nord is a shrine to skeptics from around the world.
As with Elvis Presley, reports abound of the ghost of Jardinier being seen in libraries and bookstores. However, such stories are vigorously denied by the skeptical community.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) founded the religious sect now known as the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1872. While at that time there was much support for a theory by one Nelson H. Barbour that called for the end of the world to occur in 1874, Russell didn't come to accept that chronology until Barbour convinced him — after the dreaded date had already come and gone — that Jesus had actually returned — invisibly — at the named date. Barbour was the one who had made the false prediction, and he tried to justify it with a “spiritual” fulfillment.
One of Russell's strange preoccupations was inventing correlations between historical events and the measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza. In common with Flinders Petrie and many other fans of Great Pyramid lore, Russell “discovered” hundreds of seeming links that he said showed the divine nature of the Pyramid as a history book and prophetic document which could only be properly understood by an adept.
His analysis, published in 1891, called for the resurrection of all mankind and the end of the world — again — to take place in 1914. Though there were some defections from the Jehovah's Witnesses sect when 1914 arrived and passed, the religion has survived and now prefers not to discuss their founder's odd Pyramid notions. Their most recent calculation called for the world to end in 1975.
As the millennium approached, the Witnesses were busily knocking on doors, trying to convince prospective converts that world conditions were getting worse and that obviously the End Time was approaching.
Again.
JFK University
A fully accredited university in the United States which, until recently, offered a masters of science degree in parapsychology.
Joan of Arc
(Jeanne d'Arc or Jeanne la Pucelle [“virgin”], 1412-1431) At the age of sixteen, inspired by voices that she believed were those of angels, this illiterate young girl led the French army against the English at the siege of Orléans in 1428. Winning that battle, she saw the Dauphin crowned as French King Charles VII as a result.
The English, highly embarrassed at being bested by the Maid of Orléans, paid rebellious French soldiers from Burgundy to capture her, and they put her on trial as a sorceress. In 1431 she was burned alive.
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Not surprisingly, all sorts of miraculous stories began to be told about Joan, culminating in the play of George Bernard Shaw. She is said to have levitated, to have spoken to God directly, to have had visions of the future, and several other wonders. Some parapsychologists have chosen to accept these tales and have written scholarly scientific explanations of events that probably just originated around fireplaces of French families amid the fumes of some fine cognac.
An equally incredible — though not impossible — tale is told that Joan was not burned, but moved to Metz, married Robert des Armoise, and raised a family. The immolation, it is claimed, was invented by the French to discredit the English.
Joan of Arc was canonized in 1920, becoming Saint Joan.
Johnson, Dr. Martin
(1930 - ) Born in Sweden, Johnson was the first professor of parapsychology at the University of Utrecht, Holland (1953), then headed the parapsychology laboratory there from 1973 until his retirement. The lab closed in 1988.
Dr. Johnson's reputation among skeptics has always been very high as a doubter of the proven reality of psi, and the believers often expressed their own suspicions that he was secretly doubtful about the phenomena. In his writings, Johnson expressed his opinion that though there was not a single set of data that established the case for psi, he nonetheless held a personal conviction that there was “something there” and that it would someday be discovered. He was determined to systematically search for it. As a direct result of his efforts, the parapsychology lab at Utrecht was very prestigious and respected.
To emphasize his frequent assertion that parapsychologists in general can be excessively credulous, Johnson introduced a “psychic” named Ulf Mörling to the 1967 parapsychology conference at Utrecht. Mörling proceeded to convince the assemblage that he did indeed have paranormal powers, and even when the attendees had been told that he was a conjuror and was cheating, they still believed. The prime endorser of the supernormality of the Mörling performance was a claimed undeludable “expert” and prominent member of the Parapsychological Association named William (Ed) Cox, who also accepted Uri Geller, Masuaki Kiyota, and many, many more performers as genuine.
In his prime opus, Parapsychologie (1982), Johnson went to work personally debunking “miracle men,” from Uri Geller to Sai Baba.
K
Ka
(also, khat) Essentially, this is the ancient Egyptian term meaning “soul,” though with a somewhat more corporeal aspect. It is pictured in tomb paintings as a human-faced bird.
Kabala
(also spelled cabala, kabbala, kabbalah, qabala, qabalah; from the Hebrew word meaning “collection”) A mystical Hebrew study of methods for controlling spirits and demons. It is largely mathematical in nature, concentrating on the configurations of certain magical words, anagrams, names of angels, etc. The earliest known book on the subject appears to be Sefer Yezira (“Book of Creation”) by a third-century Jewish neo-Pythagorean. The idea itself — of the magic in numbers and letters — is much older.
The process of examining the permutations and combinations of the twenty-two letters of the Hebraic alphabet — a process known as “gematria” — is used to discover the numerical relationships between numbers and words. In kabalistic studies, simple arithmetic discoveries and the qualities of irrational numbers are naively looked upon as divine mysteries.
Kachina
In the Hopi religion, a usually kindly and benevolent supernatural agent, ancestor, or element of nature, either revealed in a dream or divined by a shaman. Dolls made to represent these spirits are highly developed and stylized as an art form.
Karma
Literally translated from the Sanskrit, “doing” or “making.” Any intentional act, thought, or process.
The karma is a burden of guilt or an accretion of virtue said by many Eastern religions to be carried from one life to the next, which determines the nature and status of the person in the next reincarnation.
Karrezza
The tantric discipline whereby ritualized erotic procedures are entered into, but terminated just short of orgasm. The theory is that the energy thus preserved can be redirected in a spiritual fashion. This is in direct conflict with the theories of Dr. Wilhelm Reich, discoverer of the mythical substance orgone.
Keene, H. Lamar
(circa 1938 - ) A spirit medium based in Florida who reformed (largely as a result of the rumor that the IRS was investigating him for back taxes) by confessing all and cooperating with two authors, both believers, in writing a book, The Psychic Mafia, in which he described how he easily duped thousands of sitters at his séances and got very rich while doing it.
Keene entered the antique business after leaving the spook trade, and when his book appeared, he changed his name and moved to another state. This action was precipitated by numerous phoned threats and finally a rifle shot that missed him. He dropped out of sight, but rumors have it that he has reentered the trade under another name.
See also apport.
Kelley, Edward
See Dee, Dr. John.
Khat
See ka.
Ki
See qi.
King, George
See Aetherius Society.
Kirlian Photography
A process discovered by the Russian Semyon Kirlian in 1937, in which an object is placed directly on a piece of photographic film or paper, one side of a high-voltage, high-frequency generator is connected to the object, and the other side is grounded to a metal plate beneath the photographic material. Often, glass plates separate the two electric terminals, though the high-frequency voltage can penetrate such a barrier.
The ensuing corona discharge, a halo effect resulting from the electric charge being dissipated, and closely related to the Saint Elmo's fire phenomenon, is registered on the material and can be seen when the developing process is carried out. The corona is thought to indicate a sort of “life energy,” and thus this technique's use in showing variations in that energy. It is also believed to register the aura.
Once highly regarded by the paranormalists, Kirlian photography has now been shown to only indicate variances in pressure, humidity, grounding, and conductivity. Corona discharges are well understood and explained in elementary physics.
The most famous effect of Kirlian photography occurred when a plant leaf was “photographed,” then a section was torn away and the leaf was rephotographed. A faint image of the torn-out section was still seen in the second photo. Since the same glass plates had been used, it is believed that moisture from the missing portion was providing the ghostly image. Since the glass plates used as dielectric material would tend to break down along the edges of the object, allowing easier passage of the discharge, that may also account for the effect. The observed “phantom leaf” effect was not found again in better-controlled experiments, but has continued to serve as a point of argument for the believers.
Kiyota, Masuaki
(1962- ) This Japanese psychic, first discovered by parapsychologist Tosio Kasahara, became famous as an Asiatic version of Uri Geller, bending spoons and other cutlery. But his real forte was a routine using a Polaroid camera, which was, in turn, a takeoff on the work of Ted Serios. However, Kiyota's Polaroid photos were apparently produced by preexposing the film, since it was noted that he made great efforts to obtain a film pack and spend time with it in private.
In 1984 he thoroughly convinced parapsychologist Dr. Jule Eisenbud, who tested him with X-ray film and accepted kinks and small blemishes on the developed film as evidence of psychic power.
In a 1984 television program in Japan, high-speed tape revealed one of the simple, non-psychic methods that Kiyota used to bend the spoons.
Knight, J. Z.
(Judy Hampton, circa 1951- ) Probably the most prominent and successful of the channelers, this woman enjoyed the support of actress Shirley MacLaine until disillusionment apparently set in and Ms. MacLaine turned to other forms of amusement such as chakras and similar c
odswallop.
