What's a good word or term that encompasses both paranormal and supernatural?

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

This one's been bugging me for a while. It seems paranormal and supernatural cannot be used interchangeably, yet if I need a word or term that encompasses both, it's hard to come up with a satisfying one.

For example, if an agency is tasked with handling all paranormal and supernatural affairs, or a news article writes about the shadow world of the paranormal and supernatural, using one word or an all-encompassing terms would be a lot better than constantly referring to both.

"Fantastical" can work, but it doesn't have the gravitas for a more serious tone.

"Occult" doesn't work because it refers mainly to the supernatural.

"Preternatural," "mystical," magical," etc all lack a sense of official finality.

Terms like "shadow realm" or "hidden world," or similar variations only refer to the secret society/world itself, but can't be used easily as an adjective.

Any suggestions?

Brightdreamer · Sep 7, 2014

Alternatural?

(Never really thought about it... I would probably just use supernatural and call it good...)

veinglory · Sep 7, 2014

Preternatural

Lady Chipmunk · Sep 7, 2014

Given I often see them used interchangeably, and paranormal is listed as a synonym for supernatural in my thesaurus, I'm not sure you can't just pick one. However, I like preternatural as suggested above. Otherworldly may also work in some contexts.

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

I'm under the impression that preternatural is more of a synonym for supernatural and doesn't quite match the specifics of paranormal (though it's often listed as a related word).

ShaunHorton · Sep 7, 2014

supernatural
adjective

1.of, pertaining to, or being above or beyond what is natural; unexplainable by natural law or phenomena; abnormal.

2.of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or attributed to God or a deity.

3.of a superlative degree; preternatural:
a missile of supernatural speed.

4.of, pertaining to, or attributed to ghosts, goblins, or other unearthly beings; eerie; occult.

paranormal
adjective

1.of or pertaining to the claimed occurrence of an event or perception without scientific explanation, as psychokinesis, extrasensory perception, or other purportedly supernatural phenomena.

They are interchangeable. It's more a matter of personal preference.

I've seen the pseudo-scientific disciplines move towards preferring Paranormal over Supernatural, as Supernatural implies that whatever the subject is, somehow supersedes nature, which by the nature of nature, is impossible.

As far as writing is concerned, I've seen some people attempt to divide the terms by genre, attributing Paranormal more to Horror and Dark Fantasy, while claiming Supernatural is softer and leans more towards things like romances which happen to include ghosts, vampires, and/or werewolves.

Just my 2 cents.

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

ShaunHorton said:
They are interchangeable. It's more a matter of personal preference.

I've seen the pseudo-scientific disciplines move towards preferring Paranormal over Supernatural, as Supernatural implies that whatever the subject is, somehow supersedes nature, which by the nature of nature, is impossible.

As far as writing is concerned, I've seen some people attempt to divide the terms by genre, attributing Paranormal more to Horror and Dark Fantasy, while claiming Supernatural is softer and leans more towards things like romances which happen to include ghosts, vampires, and/or werewolves.

Just my 2 cents.

The distinction I see a lot of people using, states that paranormal is more about things and events that are outside our scientific ability to explain, but it's just a matter of time until we develop the technology to do so. Telekinesis, out-of-body experiences, past-life memories, ghosts, etc fall in this category.

On the other hand, supernatural is simply beyond scientific explanation or logic, period, and we'll never be able to explain or understand. Miracles, demonic possessions, fairies, voodoo, etc would probably fall in this category.

Drachen Jager · Sep 7, 2014

Metaphysical?

That's actually a pretty official term for anything unexplainable by standard means of 'proof' (see A.J. Ayer for a good rundown on the philosophy behind the therm).

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

Drachen Jager said:
Metaphysical?

That's actually a pretty official term for anything unexplainable by standard means of 'proof' (see A.J. Ayer for a good rundown on the philosophy behind the therm).

Doesn't feel specific enough, since abstract thinking/reasoning is what people usually use that word to refer to.

Night_Writer · Sep 7, 2014

Could just go for "The Unexplained." That would include paranormal and supernatural.

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

Night_Writer said:
Could just go for "The Unexplained." That would include paranormal and supernatural.

Doesn't sound official or specific enough. Imagine a government agency dealing with paranormal and supernatural called "The Bureau of the Unexplained." Sounds too pulpy and not authoritative enough. And how would reporters refer to this "unexplained" hidden world, if they have to write about it?

LA*78 · Sep 7, 2014

Lunatique said:
The distinction I see a lot of people using, states that paranormal is more about things and events that are outside our scientific ability to explain, but it's just a matter of time until we develop the technology to do so. Telekinesis, out-of-body experiences, past-life memories, ghosts, etc fall in this category.

On the other hand, supernatural is simply beyond scientific explanation or logic, period, and we'll never be able to explain or understand. Miracles, demonic possessions, fairies, voodoo, etc would probably fall in this category.

I think the way you have divided your examples for what one day might be explained and what will never be explained is quite subjective, which may be why you're having difficulty finding the answer you are looking for.

Lunatique · Sep 7, 2014

LA*78 said:
I think the way you have divided your examples for what one day might be explained and what will never be explained is quite subjective, which may be why you're having difficulty finding the answer you are looking for.

Yeah, but it's not up to me though; it's the general consensus. Do a search on this subject and you'll see a lot of discussions on the web and they all point to this distinction as the generally accepted one. So I don't really have a choice if my readers will use that distinction by default.

robjvargas · Sep 8, 2014

Lunatique said:
Yeah, but it's not up to me though; it's the general consensus. Do a search on this subject and you'll see a lot of discussions on the web and they all point to this distinction as the generally accepted one. So I don't really have a choice if my readers will use that distinction by default.

You *always* have a choice. You could challenge that status quo as part of your storytelling. I have a hard time finding college courses in the supernatural, except as literary courses. I have less of a hard time finding courses on the occult. There's also parapsychology.

University of Virginia has an intriguing term, when they call their parapsychology department the "Department of Perceptual Studies." Hmm.

Wilde_at_heart · Sep 8, 2014

Er ... esoteric?

cray · Sep 8, 2014

What's a good word or term that encompasses both paranormal and supernatural?

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veinglory · Sep 8, 2014

Lunatique said:
I'm under the impression that preternatural is more of a synonym for supernatural and doesn't quite match the specifics of paranormal (though it's often listed as a related word).

Preternatural is a global word for things not explained by the accepted laws of nature. It is listed more often with supernatural because paranormal only recently became a popular term, and only in even more recent times became a category considered distinct from supernatural (which it is more properly a subset of).

Shadow_Ferret · Sep 8, 2014

Drachen Jager said:
Metaphysical?

That's actually a pretty official term for anything unexplainable by standard means of 'proof' (see A.J. Ayer for a good rundown on the philosophy behind the therm).

This is the term I use, along with metabeings and metaverse.

But really, paranormal, supernatural, metaphysical are all pretty interchangeable. Just pick a term and stick with it.

ShaunHorton · Sep 8, 2014

Lunatique said:
Yeah, but it's not up to me though; it's the general consensus. Do a search on this subject and you'll see a lot of discussions on the web and they all point to this distinction as the generally accepted one. So I don't really have a choice if my readers will use that distinction by default.

I think you're over-thinking things a bit. Any distinction between the two is extremely minor, despite the 'debates' that are going on. You really think some reader is going to hurl your book across the room, screaming expletives because you've used Paranormal when the 'real' term is Supernatural?

I also want to poke at the distinctions.

Ghosts can be explained, but miracles and daemonic possession can't? That makes no sense unless the explanation for ghosts is that they don't exist or are extremely specific in what they can/can't do. Possession is a ghost trick after all. Daemonic possession would likely be explained as an evil ghost.

And why would faeries be unexplainable? (Depending entirely on your definition of what a faerie is and what it can do.) I mean, at their base, they're just tiny people with wings. Just another branch on the tree of life.

See? Just a little thought applied and the distinctions start to fall apart.

You also need to remember, this is YOUR book. Your world. If you're spending too much time fretting over other people's definitions of such unfocused terms it's only going to make writing your book harder, because you're trying to write based on other people's ideals. Are you reading a lot of modern fantasy? Do all of those books use the same definitions for such terms? I'll tell you right now they don't. As far as the genre's go, there are no hard and fast rules for what counts as one and what counts as the other. Your book. Your world. Your rules.

And honestly, if a critic has to pick at some blurry distinction between supernatural and paranormal in order to find something wrong. That's when you're doing something right.

Lunatique · Sep 8, 2014

ShaunHorton said:
I think you're over-thinking things a bit. Any distinction between the two is extremely minor, despite the 'debates' that are going on. You really think some reader is going to hurl your book across the room, screaming expletives because you've used Paranormal when the 'real' term is Supernatural?

I also want to poke at the distinctions.

Ghosts can be explained, but miracles and daemonic possession can't? That makes no sense unless the explanation for ghosts is that they don't exist or are extremely specific in what they can/can't do. Possession is a ghost trick after all. Daemonic possession would likely be explained as an evil ghost.

And why would faeries be unexplainable? (Depending entirely on your definition of what a faerie is and what it can do.) I mean, at their base, they're just tiny people with wings. Just another branch on the tree of life.

See? Just a little thought applied and the distinctions start to fall apart.

You also need to remember, this is YOUR book. Your world. If you're spending too much time fretting over other people's definitions of such unfocused terms it's only going to make writing your book harder, because you're trying to write based on other people's ideals. Are you reading a lot of modern fantasy? Do all of those books use the same definitions for such terms? I'll tell you right now they don't. As far as the genre's go, there are no hard and fast rules for what counts as one and what counts as the other. Your book. Your world. Your rules.

And honestly, if a critic has to pick at some blurry distinction between supernatural and paranormal in order to find something wrong. That's when you're doing something right.

Well, I sure hope so.

If push comes to shove, I would go with paranormal, because in official contexts, paranormal at least sounds like the governing body is approaching it with a scientific mindset, working on research, detection, containment, prevention, utilization, etc.

As for the logic behind the distinction, ghosts are often lumped together with paranormal because in that circle, detection/recording of the existence of the human soul/spirit has always been part of their mission, and directly related to past-life-memories, reincarnation, etc.

Fairies and demons on the other hand, are usually considered mythological creatures from folklore and fiction (and religion, if you want to go there).

Again, this is what is widely accepted when people discuss such things.

I have the freedom to do whatever I want as a storyteller, but for this particular book, I'm trying to create the feeling of realism, playing with what society already thinks about the paranormal/supernatural, so that includes the definitions used by the communities obsessed with the subject matter. They'll be part of the readership after all. Even if I were to totally turn the whole concept on its ear in the story, I want to at least start with the established conventions and then get really creative at subverting it.

Cathryn · Sep 13, 2014

I think preternatural covers a wide swath.

Lady Chipmunk · Sep 14, 2014

If you're primarily interested in an official bureau that would look into paranormal creatures, you might be able to use cryptozoology or, to reference the beings themselves, cryptids. If you want to encompass the field as a whole or supernatural events then it's parapsychology. These are the terms used by people in the real world. However, it's your book, so, as others have said, you get to pick. Having read pretty widely in the urban fantasy genre (since it's what I write) I have seen pretty much every term suggested here used. I like preternatural or the rarer preternormal* best, but that's just my opinion. For me and the readers I know, these terms tend to be interchangeable and nigh on to invisible (as in they aren't jarring in usage) regardless of which is chosen.

Lunatique said:
I have the freedom to do whatever I want as a storyteller, but for this particular book, I'm trying to create the feeling of realism, playing with what society already thinks about the paranormal/supernatural, so that includes the definitions used by the communities obsessed with the subject matter. They'll be part of the readership after all. Even if I were to totally turn the whole concept on its ear in the story, I want to at least start with the established conventions and then get really creative at subverting it.

Just as a note, while I have an interest in parapsychology and cryptozoology, I don't know that I count as someone obsessed with the matter. However, I know a few people that would, and they don't tend to read urban fantasy. They are far more likely to read the non-fiction on the subject than fiction. To them this stuff is serious, and I know at least two or three that actually find the fiction using the subject matter to be demeaning.

Now, of course, these may be the exception, but it is worth considering that your target audience may not have as many of these people in it as you think. And even if it does, you will also have the broader pool of urban fantasy readers who will not care what term you use.

Which is all my admittedly long-winded way of saying you might not need be so concerned over this one small point of semantics.

*For what you want, this would have my vote as it literally means 'beyond the norm' and so encapsulates everything you've mentioned.

What's a good word or term that encompasses both paranormal and supernatural?

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