ectoplasm

noun

Etymology: From ecto- (“outside”) + plasm or -plasm, referring to the fact that ectoplasm is believed to emanate from and materialize outside of the medium's body.

1. A visible substance believed to emanate from the body of a spiritualistic medium during communication with the dead.

   “He saw again clearly enough[…]the doctor’s consulting room in the Avenida de la Revolución, visited for some drunken reason in the early hours of the morning, macabre with its pictures of ancient Spanish surgeons, their goat faces rising queerly from ruffs resembling ectoplasm, roaring with laughter as they performed inquisitorial operations; […]”

   “Watching as the woman lifted her skirts and flung out ectoplasm, expelled it into a bowl, then brandished it around at her audience wildly.”

2. An immaterial or ethereal substance, especially the transparent corporeal presence of a spirit or ghost.

   “Then came some hollow groanings from inside the cabinet. The Spiritualists sat up expectantly. "That's ectoplasm," said Ogilvy. "It always causes pain on emission."”

3. The outer granule-free layer of cytoplasm.