Psychometry is a specialized form of extra-sensory perception where a person obtains historical or personal information by physically touching an object. The theory posits that inanimate objects—especially those made of natural materials like stone, metal, or wood—can hold an energetic ‘imprint’ or ‘place memory’ of the events and emotions they have witnessed.

By holding a relic, a sensitive individual may experience flashes of images, scents, or the emotional state of a previous owner.

In a parapsychological context, psychometry is often the first step in ‘reading’ a haunted location. By handling personal items found on-site, researchers attempt to establish a baseline of who may have lived there and what significant traumas might have occurred. While scientifically difficult to measure, the specificity of information gathered through psychometry has frequently led investigators to discover forgotten documents or hidden rooms that corroborate the ‘reading.’