Editing Supernatural (section)

===Divination===
{{main|Divination}}
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'' "to foresee, to be inspired by a god",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Divinatio.html|title=LacusCurtius • Greek and Roman Divination (Smith's Dictionary, 1875)|work=uchicago.edu}}</ref> related to ''divinus'', [[divinity|divine]]) is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an [[occult]]ic, standardized process or ritual.<ref>Peek, P.M. ''African Divination Systems: Ways of Knowing.'' page 2. Indiana University Press. 1991.</ref> Used in various forms throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or [[omen]]s, or through alleged contact with a supernatural agency.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Silva|first=Sónia|year=2016|title=Object and Objectivity in Divination|journal=Material Religion|volume=12|issue=4|pages=507–509|doi=10.1080/17432200.2016.1227638|s2cid=73665747|issn=1743-2200|url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:19124/CONTENT/object-and-objectivity-in-divination.pdf/}}</ref>

Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed, random facets of existence such that they provide insight into a problem at hand. If a distinction is to be made between divination and [[fortune-telling]], divination has a more formal or ritualistic element and often contains a more social character, usually in a [[religion|religious]] context, as seen in [[traditional African medicine]]. Fortune-telling, on the other hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion.

Divination is dismissed by the [[scientific community]] and [[Skepticism|skeptics]] as being [[superstition]].<ref>Yau, Julianna. (2002). ''Witchcraft and Magic''. In [[Michael Shermer]]. ''The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience''. ABC-CLIO. pp. 278–282. {{ISBN|1-57607-654-7}}</ref><ref>Regal, Brian. (2009). ''Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia''. Greenwood. p. 55. {{ISBN|978-0-313-35507-3}}</ref> In the 2nd century, [[Lucian]] devoted a witty essay to the career of a [[charlatan]], "[[Alexander of Abonoteichus|Alexander the false prophet]]", trained by "one of those who advertise enchantments, miraculous incantations, charms for your love-affairs, visitations for your enemies, disclosures of buried treasure and successions to estates".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm|title=Lucian of Samosata : Alexander the False Prophet|work=tertullian.org|access-date=2019-01-19|archive-date=2017-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109160831/http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_alexander.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>