The preternatural or praeternatural is that which appears outside or beyond (Latin præter) the natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world.[citation needed] "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic.[citation needed]. While this may include what is more commonly called the supernatural The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to being above or beyond what is natural, unexplainable by natural law or phenomena. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as well as spells and curses, divination, the afterlife, and innumerable others. Supernatural beliefs have existed in many cultures throughout human history, it may also simply indicate extremity—an ordinary phenomenon taken 'beyond' the natural. One may have, for example, a preternatural desire, a preternatural curiosity, a preternaturally acute ear (sense of hearing), or even preternaturally big ears.
The term is often used to distinguish from the divine Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world. The root of the words is literally 'Godlike' (from the (supernatural) while maintaining a distinction from the purely natural. For instance, in certain theologies Theology is the study of a god or, more generally, the study of religious faith, practice, and experience, or of spirituality, the angels Angels are messengers of God in the Hebrew Bible , the New Testament and the Quran, both holy and fallen, are endowed with preternatural powers. Their intellect, speed, and other characteristics are described as beyond human capacities but yet still finite.
Some examples of preternatural creatures in fiction include fairies A fairy is a type of mythological being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural, werewolves A werewolf or werwolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely, by being bitten or scratched by another werewolf, or after being placed under a curse. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the, vampires Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and according to speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking, zombies A zombie is a creature that appears in books and popular culture typically as a reanimated dead or a mindless human being. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful wizard. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction,, and the Chupacabra The Chupacabra or Chupacabras , also called El Chupacabras in Spanish, is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American.
See also
- Supernatural The term supernatural or supranatural pertains to being above or beyond what is natural, unexplainable by natural law or phenomena. Religious miracles are typically supernatural claims, as well as spells and curses, divination, the afterlife, and innumerable others. Supernatural beliefs have existed in many cultures throughout human history
- Paranormal Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation", or which indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure. Paranormal phenomena are distinct from certain hypothetical entities, such as dark matter and dark
- Anomaly Anomalistics is the study of scientific anomalies. In computer science, anomaly detection refers to the process of detecting anomalies from the relevant data
References
External links
- "What is the difference between natural, preternatural and supernatural?" Possession and Exorcism, J.A. Fortea
- "Supernatural, preternatural, supranatural, unnatural" The Columbia Guide to Standard American English at Bartleby.com
Categories: Nature Nature is all matter and energy in the universe | Philosophy of science Albert Einstein • Alfred North Whitehead • Aristotle • Auguste Comte • Averroes • Berlin Circle • Carl Gustav Hempel • C. D. Broad • Charles Sanders Peirce • Dominicus Gundissalinus • Daniel Dennett • Epicurians • Francis Bacon • Friedrich Schelling • Galileo Galilei • Henri Poincaré • Herbert Spencer • Hugh of
The Daily News of Newburyport
Royal senior co-captain Dean Nemeroff looked preternatural against Beverly's Ben Stallsmith as he secured a pin with 22 seconds left in the first. ...
