You will quite often see and hear paranormal television shows and movies refer to a vortex, pluralized as vortices, or a portal. Are they fact, theory, or are they a figment of the human imagination?

Dictionary.com provides six different definitions for the word vortex.

1. A whirling mass of water, especially one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.
2. A whirling mass of air, especially one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.
3. A whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.
4. A state of affairs likened to a whirlpool for violent activity, irresistible force, etc.
5. Something regarded as drawing into its powerful current everything that surrounds it: the vortex of war.
6. (In Cartesian philosophy) a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of bodies or systems of bodies in space.

Dictionary.com provides four different definitions for the word portal.

1. A door, gate, or entrance, especially one of imposing appearance, as to a palace.
2. An iron or steel bent for bracing a framed structure, having curved braces between the vertical members and a horizontal member at the top
3. An entrance to a tunnel or mine.
4. Computers. a website that functions as an entry point to the internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites and features on the World Wide Web.

They do not provide a definition of a vortex or a portal as some people in the paranormal field of study recognize them to be. In the paranormal field a vortex or portal is theorized to be a location where energy is projecting out of the plane of the Earth or a location where energy is entering the Earth. What location is the energy coming from or projecting to? Believers theorize that there is another plane of existence that shares the same space as we do, however time may not be as linear as it is for us. Believers feel that this realm is where paranormal entities exist and that the vortices are a portal, a doorway, between Earth as we know it and the spirit realm. It is reported that someone in close proximity to a vortex may experience a sense of increased gravity, vertigo, and feeling light headed. Could this perceived phenomenon simply be a location with high levels of electromagnetic radiation or assuming a spirit realm exists could it be a paranormal door to the other side?

Many people suggest that these vortices or portals are rare and only can be found at ancient archeological sites of great importance such as Manchu Picchu in Peru, Stonehenge in England, and the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Some people suggest that the vortices or portals can be found all over the planet from inside houses, warehouses, in fields, inside caves, and in the woods. Others believe that they are generally found near bodies of water. Some believe that mirrors are portals as you may have seen in the movies. Some psychics believe that they have the ability to open and close them at will. It is commonly believed by some people involved in the paranormal field as well as the general population that a Ouija Board, first invented in the early 1890s, is a key that can open one of these vortices or portals. The scientific field refers to Ouija Boards, portals, and vortexes as a pseudoscience just as they do the paranormal investigation field of study. Some believe that high electromagnetic activity can thin the veil between the living and spirit realms and open a portal or vortex. Some believe that if a location has a lot of paranormal activity that their must be a portal or vortex nearby.

Has there been enough evidence to make me believe that these portals or vortexes exist unequivocally? While I don’t believe in their existence solely because I am someone who has to see something to believe it, I am very open minded and find the theory of their existence to be quite intriguing. Our current state of scientific knowledge as a whole doesn’t permit any real experiments that could prove or disprove their existence. While many scientists support the theory of multiple universes, parallel universes, and breaching the space/time continuum, I don’t find it out of the realm of possibility of there being a “spirit realm” or a portal or vortex that bridges that gap between them. I find it highly unlikely that science will advance far enough in my lifetime to prove or disprove the theories without a shadow of a doubt, but the theory deserves more study.