Premonition refers to a situation when future events are foreknown or forecast or foretelling. They are attributed by some people to the presence of
supernatural or
paranormal abilities (see
Cassandra myth). However, the distinction between
precognition and ordinary evidence-based predictions is sometimes not made sharply. "Premonition" may be defined to include or exclude ordinary predictions, and this means a fallacy of linguistic ambiguity can lead to an overly supernatural explanation for the accuracy of predictions.
Famous premonitions
- Otto von Bismarck predicted the beginning of the First World War, by saying (shortly before he died in 1898) to Mr. Ballen: "If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans" . Note that this is a good example of a premonition that could easily be due to a good intuitive understanding of politics, rather than being precognitive.
- The novelist Mark Twain predicted that Halley's Comet would be seen on the day of his death, just as it was when he was born. Twain died weeks before Halley's 1910 appearance on May 18th.
- The French apothecary and seer Nostradamus is also believed to have predicted his own death and the date in which his tomb would be opened.
- Julius Caesar's wife Calpurnia had a dream the night before he died that he would get stabbed by a friend, and she warned him not to go.
In popular culture
- In the Final Destination series, the protagonist of each film has a deadly premonition of an unfortunate accident. Throughout the films, these premonitions continue in a more subtle manner, similar to fate hinting at them.
- In the WB television series Charmed, one of the main characters, Phoebe Halliwell, has the power of premonition.
- In the television series Supernatural, Sam Winchester has the power to see the future.
- In Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, Bardock, the parent of the main character Son Goku, is given the power of premonition. He has a premonition and sees his own death and the death of his home planet.
- In the TV series That's So Raven, the protagonist (Raven Baxter) has a premonition in every episode.
- In the TV series Alias, the fictional 14th century prophet Milo Rambaldi is credited with predicting the start of events ranging from the start of World War II to the exact day that certain people will die.
- In ABC Studios's TV series Lost, the character Desmond Hume sees the death of Charlie Pace before it happens as well as other events, resulting from a near death experience while in The Swan.
- In the 2007 movie Premonition, starring Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon, the protagonist has premonitions, including her husband's death.
- In the novel series Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, one of the main characters, Alice Cullen, has the ability to see decision-based futures.
- In the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling, Professor Trelawney, great-great-granddaughter of a true seer, made two prophecies in the series.
- In the American science fiction television series Heroes, the character Angela Petrelli possesses the power of precognitive dreams.
See also
Notes and references
