I will elaborate a bit.
Thoughtforms are artificial entities, created accidentally or intentionally by the mind. They can be created by groups or individuals.
Throughout history they have taken many forms, depending on the local folklore of the culture that creates them. For instance, our modern culture accepts the possibility of UFO's, it's part of modern lore, we have common conceptions of the characteristics of UFO's, and so thoughtforms take the shape of UFO's.
Poltergeists are another example of modern thoughtforms.
Long ago they would take the form of fairies, gnomes, elves, or whatever else the local folklore conceptualizes.
Then there are the kind that are created intentionally. I don't know how much anyone here knows about ancient esoterics, but I know quite a bit. Every system I know of has methods of summoning and/or creating entities. They seemed to think they were spirits/demons/elementals, but I believe they were thoughtforms, created by the highly disciplined mind of the ancient adept.
King Solomon, the father of ceremonial magic, was a powerful summoner. Summoning and binding entities to his service was his specialty. I think he was creating thoughtforms.
Quote:In the 1970s, a psychical research group "invented" a spirit named Philip. To their astonishment, Philip actually made contact with them through a host of incredible psychokinetic phenomena.
How to create a Ghost
Socrates, evidently, had a thoughtform. A Daemon. It seems likely that Socrates was a trained adept of the Mysteries and knew methods of thoughtform construction similar to those of King Solomon.
Shamans create thoughtforms. Witches create thoughtforms, and bind them to animals as a "familiar". Thoughtforms can also be bound to objects, those are called talismans.
If thoughtforms aren't bound to anything, they are usually invisible. When visible, one of the most common appearances is as a ball of light.
Thoughtforms can also be bound to people. When done accidentally the result is something usually mistaken for "demonic possesion". When done intentionally, the result is a "medium" who can "channel" information from the thoughtform.
Precognition and telepathy could be defined as receiving information from a thoughtform or from some level of collective consciousness.
I don't mean this to be an attack on any paradigm or belief system so I hope no one takes this concept as an offense. I am merely a truth-seeker.