The ability to speak in a foreign language unknown to the speaker. Xenoglossia refers to “speaking in tongues” through psychic rather than religious connections. It is considered by students of the paranormal to be one of a number of mental phenomena, including Telepathy, Precognition, Clairvoyance, Extrasensory Perception, Out-Of-Body Experiences, and Near-Death Experiences. Xenoglossia has also been connected by psychologists with supposed past-life memories and suppressed memories.
Several great mediums of the past used xenoglossia as proof of their ability to communicate with the spirit world. Nineteenth-century medium Laura Edmonds, for instance, was supposed to be able to speak in Greek, Spanish, and Chippewa while she was in a trance. In the early 20th century Brazilian psychic Carlos Mirabelli demonstrated an ability to write Arabic a language he did not know using his psychic powers, a combination of Automatic writing and xenoglossia. In general, xenoglossia was only one, and not necessarily the most important one, of the powers that such psychics demonstrated.