Miller, Ruth-Ellen & Wahbeh, Helane. (2018). Terms and definitions for subjective information reception from discarnate beings: A systematic review.
Background: Research on channeling and mediumship is small but growing. However, the terms used for these activities are varied; there is no accepted, coherent framework of terms or definitions for the process or the people involved in receiving information from nonmaterial sources.
Objective: To examine terms and definitions of channeling used across existing, peer-reviewed studies and collate the data into a coherent framework.
Methods: Lexscien databases and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed studies examining information reception from purported discarnate beings of any type.
Results: 92 unique, peer-reviewed studies were included in which 29 unique terms describing the person or the process were identified, defined, and tabulated.
Conclusions: The terms and definitions have evolved over the past 150 years, with new terms being applied in recent decades. Often the same terms are applied to very different processes. Analysis of the processes suggests a possible framework for consideration by future researchers in describing their work.
