Ectoplasm (paranormal)
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| Paranormal / Parapsychology Terminology |
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| A photograph allegedly showing ectoplasm | |
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| Terminology: | Ectoplasm |
| Definition: | An unidentified substance said to be excreted by mediums during trances/A slime like substance associated with hauntings |
| Signature: | White/Gray/transparent, viscous. Resembles mucus. Said to ooze from solid objects or from medium's bodies involving mucous membranes (nose, eyes, mouth). Usually takes form as a misty substance. |
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| Coined by: | Charles Richet (1923) |
| See Also: | Mediumship, Spiritualism, Ghost hunting, Parapsychology |
Ectoplasm (from the Greek ektos, "outside", + plasma, "something formed or molded") is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums.[1] Ectoplasm is said to be associated with the formation of ghosts, and hypothesized to be an enabling factor in psychokinesis.
Ectoplasm is said to be produced by physical mediums when in a trance state. This material is excreted as a gauze-like substance from orifices on the medium's body and spiritual entities are said to drape this substance over their nonphysical body, enabling them to interact in our physical universe.
Physical mediums are rare in modern culture. Physical medium David Thompson is one of only a few individuals in the world today who claims to produce this phenomenon and has provided photographic evidence of ectoplasm produced under red light conditions.[2]
Although the term is widespread in popular culture, the physical existence of ectoplasm is not accepted by mainstream science. Some tested samples purported to be ectoplasm have been found to be various non-paranormal substances, including chiffon and flakes of human skin.[3][4] Other researchers have duplicated, with non-supernatural materials, the photographic effects sometimes said to prove the existence of ectoplasm.[5]
Since its inception in the field of spiritualism, the concept of ectoplasm has escaped to become a staple in popular culture and fictional supernatural lore. Notable examples include Noel Coward's 1941 play Blithe Spirit, and the 1984 film Ghostbusters; in which "ectoplasmic residue" secreted by ghosts is portrayed as viscous, cloudy and greenish-white, similar to nasal mucus, famously referred to in Bill Murray's line, "He slimed me!"
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[edit] Ectoplasm in popular culture
The video game Chiller (1986) featured an "Ectoplasmic Tabulator" that went up as the player mutilated more victims.
In Castlevania: Symphony of The Night (1997), a hovering enemy called "Ectoplasm" is found in the Long Library, which curses Alucard when it touches him. Many future Castlevania games featured the same enemy after this.
In the White Wolf game Mage: The Awakening, ectoplasm is a substance that can be created to act as a body for manifesting ghosts.
Ectoplasm appears regularly in the Hellboy comic books. In the short story "Goodbye, Mr. Tod", a psychic medium is overtaken by a ghost while conducting an out-of-body reading. The creature attempts to manifest a physical form made of ectoplasm derived from Tod's bodily fluids. Also, one of the current members of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (B.P.R.D.), Johann Kraus, was out-of-body during a psychic reading when his mortal form was slain. His ectoplasmic form currently resides within a containment suit to prevent it dispersing and leaving him dead.
In Clive Barker's Undying, the player gains an ectoplasm spell; it shoots a bolt of ectoplasm that quickly spirals off-target.
In the movie Topper based on the novel of the same name, the ghosts, George and Marion Kerby attribute to their material form to a limited supply of ectoplasm. To save ectoplasm, they dematerialize leading to visual gags of actions without a visible cause.
The cooperative online role playing video game Guild Wars uses "Globs of Ectoplasm" as a very expensive ingredient to make in-game armour. Other video games also use ectoplasm as ingredients or as a rare item or quest item. In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, it is a very common item found when dispersing spirits and skeletons.
In the Nickelodeon animated television series, Danny Phantom, the titular character, Danny Phantom, a.k.a. Danny Fenton, is involved in an accident in his parent's Basement/Laboratory where-in Danny, standing inside his parents 'ghost portal' when it activated, is infused with ectoplasm all the way down to Danny's molecular level--the end result is Danny's is rendered with 'ghost powers'. Furthermore Danny's parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton's 'Ghost portal' is an artificial gateway into the 'ghost zone' which co-exists with the physical world, their mutual existence is interlinked; they are the proverbial 'flip-side-of-the-coin' to each other. The 'Ghost Zone' is a dimension composed of variations of ectoplasm where 'ghosts' exist and through naturally occurring portals can cross-over into the human world, hoping to make a scene or one way or another take over mankind.
In the PC game Ghost Master, ectoplasm is a unit of energy which must be acquired or generated in various degrees before ghosts are able to haunt and use their ghostly abilities.
In the Season 12 episode of South Park, Over Logging, Randy refers to semen as ectoplasm. "Uh...there was a...there was a ghost! Th-this is ectoplasm!"
In the Japanese media franchise Bleach, ectoplasm is the same as living tissue, but naturally charged with spiritual energy. This makes beings made of ectoplasm impossible to be seen unless one is spiritually sensitive.
In the Disney film, Mulan II, when Moshu announces Mulans engagement to the ancestor ghosts, he states, "Hold onto your ectoplasms."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Ectoplasm—Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Parapsychological Association (2006-01-24).
- ^ Ectoplasm photographs—Photographic evidence of physical medium David Thompson exuding ectoplasm in 2003.
- ^ Keene, M. Lamar [1976] (1997). The Psychic Mafia. New York; Amherst, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press; Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573921610 (reprint).
- ^ Baker, Robert A.; Joe Nickell (1992). Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics and Other Mysteries. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. 0879757299.
- ^ Dawn M. Peterson, "Mysterious Beings or Mere Accidents?", Skeptical Briefs newsletter, June 2004.
[edit] External links
- "General Conclusions on the Sixth Sense", excerpted from Our Sixth Sense (Rider & Co.) by Charles Richet, SurvivalAfterDeath.org.
- Ectoplasm used during spirit materialization, Example of physical medium Ethel Post Parrish producing ectoplasm to materialize the entity Silver Belle during a seance under test conditions in the United States, 1953.
- A photograph taken in the dungeon of Alnwick Castle
- The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
