Note: Unless otherwise noted, definitions are courtesy of dictionary.die.net, an Internet dictionary in the public domain.
Magical thinking--belief characterized by assuming that because two or more things are similar in some ways, one can affect the other or others or that mistakes coincidence or correlation for cause (the author).
Magick--a misspelling of “magic” with the intention of distinguishing spells and incantations from the tricks and illusions of the stage magician (the author).
Magnet therapy--the use of magnets to treat or cure physical or emotional diseases, or other conditions (the author).
Marfa lights--lights that appear, vanish, and reappear, behaving strangely, even for lights, near the town of Marfa, Texas. There’s another near Joplin, Missouri, and others elsewhere (the author).
Massage therapy--the use of massage to run out one’s physical, emotional, and spiritual problems, somehow (the author).
Mayan prophecy--predictions about the future, based upon the unusual Mayan calendar (the author).
Meditation--the use of transcendental techniques to relax the mind and body, levitate, fly, and perform other apparent miracles (the author).
Medium--one who allegedly communicates with the spirits of the deceased, through channeling or some other means, often acting an an intermediary between the quick and the dead (the author).
Men in Black (MIB)--supposedly government agents or agents of some other organization that dress in black and intimidate people who claim to have seen UFO’s or to have been abducted by extraterrestrial beings (as if such people don’t already have enough problems) (the author).
Mentalist--a reputed mind-reader, or clairvoyant (the author).
Metaphysics--the branch of philosophy concerned with what may be known to be real and why; the chapter in Aristotle’s book that follows the chapter on “physics”; therefore, called “meta” (after) physics (the author).
Mermaids (sirens)--fish-women given to song (the author).
Meteorite--;a stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface (Dictionary.net); some allege that meteors bring with them microbes, seeds, or plants from elsewhere in the universe (see “panspermia“) (the author).
Mind--the soul, or seat of consciousness, said to exist by some (mostly religious) people (dualists), but denied existence by others (materialists) (the author).
Mind control--the control of another person’s mind (and thus his or her behavior) by another, usually using occult techniques, without the controlled person’s knowledge or consent (the author).
Minotaur--in Greek mythology, a creature whose upper half is that of a man, and whose lower half is that of a bull; we know they exist, because Theseus killed one (the author).
Miracle--a marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God.
Moody, Raymond--a parapsychologist whose works include studies of, and reports concerning, near-death experiences, altered states of consciousness, divination, past-life regression, and the like; he chaired University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Department of Consciousness Studies for five years before the department was discontinued (The Skeptic’s Dictionary)
Moon, full--a lunar phase that, according to some, inspires lunacy (and lycanthropy) (the author).
Moroni, angel--the angelic giver of the plates to Brigham Young.
Mothman--a West Virginia man-moth (the author).
Multiple personality disorder--the personality disorder in which a sufferer has ore than one personality who controls his or her behavior--Spider-Man, who is sometimes Peter Parker, is a textbook example, as are most other comic book superheroes (the author).
Murphy, Bridey--Virginia Tighe’s spiritual mouthpiece, who claimed she was a 19th-century Irishwoman who had nothing better to do, after being reincarnated, than channel herself, lilting accent and all, through Ms. Tighe, whether or not Tighe’s was hypnotized at the time (the author).
Naturalism--the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations.
Near-death experience (NDE)--the belief among some patients who recover from a near-death experience that they encounter loved ones or God, sometimes after seeing a bright light or tunnel of light before being resuscitated or revived (the author).
New World Order--any proposed change in the international political, social, cultural, and economic structure, real or imagined (the author).
Naiad--in Greek mythology, a nymph of lakes and springs and rivers and fountains.
Night terror--a nightmare on steroids (the author).
Noah’s ark--a great boat, built by Noah, at the command of God, to carry two pairs of all animals and Noah and his family while the earth was under a flood, sent by God to drown the wicked (the author).
Numerology--the occult discipline that holds that numbers have hidden divinatory or other significance (the author).
O
Occam’s razor--the principle, advanced by William of Occam, that the simplest explanation of an event is to be preferred over more complicated ones (the author).
Occult--having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; "mysterious symbols"; "the mystical style of Blake"; "occult lore"; "the secret learning of the ancients,"
Occultism--a certain Oriental system of theosophy. --A. P. Sinnett.
Ontology--the branch of philosophy that considers being, or existence, and its categories (the author).
Oracle--a priestly spokesman for the gods, who divulged the divine will to heroes (e. g., Oedipus of Thebes) and other supplicants (the author).
Orb--a sphere that is held, by some, to be a ghostly phenomenon (the author).
Ouspensky, Petyr Demianovich--a mystic who interpreted and popularized the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, founder of The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man (the author).
Out-of-body experience (OBE)--the perception that one has left one’s body; there is often a perception of floating above the body and looking down upon it (the author).