Prémonition

Citation :

Prémonition

Une prémonition peut être une conviction que quelque chose va arriver dans le futur, juste ou non.

Il peut également s'agir d'une prédiction construite par une déduction plus ou moins consciente. C'est dans ce cas plutôt une intuition. Par exemple un pilote de Formule 1 a témoigné avoir le sentiment de pouvoir prédire les actions des autres pilotes au milieu d'un accident.

On parle de précognition pour désigner les prémonitions dans l'hypothèse où elles seraient un phénomène paranormal (car interdit par la loi de la causalité en physique). De nombreux personnages de science-fiction ont ce pouvoir. Dans le monde réel, aucun cas de précognition n'a pû être confirmé.

On ne peut pas parler de prémonition dans le cas de la voyance car la prémonition se présente spontanément à l'esprit, à l'opposé de la recherche qu'en fait le voyant.

(Source : Wikipédia)

Citation :

Prémonition
Sous-partie de la précognition, le terme prémonition sera utilisé lorsque le phénomène de prévision se produira de manière involontaire, à l'état éveillé ou non. Ainsi, une personne cherchant à connaître l'état futur d'un objet fera de la précognition, alors qu'une personne qui aura une vision involontaire d'un événement aura eu une prémonition. C'est donc une faculté passive, comme on peut le voir à l'usage du terme : 'avoir une prémonition'.

Il nous semble également utile de porter une attention particulière à la différence entre une prémonition et une impression de 'déjà-vu'. L'impression de 'déjà-vu' correspond à une impression d'avoir déjà-vu ou rêvé de la situation actuelle ; c'est donc une impression, aussi forte soit-elle, qui n'est réalisée qu'au moment où les faits se déroulent.
Au contraire, on ne saurait parler de Prémonition que parce qu'après avoir eu une vision, la personne en question est certaine que c'est ainsi que le futur se déroulera.

La prémonition est donc une prévision du futur alors que l'impression de déjà-vu n'est qu'un souvenir d'une hypothétique expérience similaire.

(Source : http://www.info-psi.com/definitions.php)

Citation :

Premonition

Many had premonitions of the Titanic disasterA premonition is an impression, often perceived as a warning, of a future event (from the Latin praemonēre, to forewarn : prae-, pre- + monēre, to warn). It bears similarities to the concept of second sight in that it frequently comes in the form of a paranormal vision or as a vivid dream.

Premonitions are sometimes attributed to the presence of supernatural or paranormal abilities such as those of the prophetess Cassandra. However, the distinction between precognition and ordinary evidence-based predictions is sometimes not made sharply. Premonition is a concept which may or may not include ordinary predictions, resulting in a bias towards supernatural explanations for the phenomenon.

There are many recorded instances of premonitions which have come true but many others may be explained by the knowledge or deduction of those who experience them. An interesting analysis is presented in J.W. Dunne's book An Experiment with Time.


Premonitions of the Titanic disaster
The Titanic carried only 58% percent of its passenger load on its disastrous maiden voyage when colliding with an iceberg in April 1912. Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist interested in the paranormal, recorded more than 19 incidents of premonitions within the two weeks before the ship sailed. These included cancelled reservations after dreams about the disaster or accounts by those who said it was bad luck to travel on the maiden voyage.

Perhaps even more surprising is a short story Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan written by Morgan Robertson in 1898 (14 years before the Titanic sailed) in which a liner named Titan sank in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. There are many similarities between the Titan and the Titanic including the size of the ships, their three propellers, their water-tight compartments and the lack of sufficient lifeboats.


Famous premonitions

Abraham Lincoln had a very vivid premonition of his death. Ten days before he was assassinated he dreamt he was in the East Wing of the White House where people were mourning. When he asked a soldier who had died, he was told "The President".

Otto von Bismarck predicted the beginning of the First World War, by saying (shortly before he died in 1898) to 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 on Halley's 1910 appearance on May 18.

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 be stabbed by a friend, and she warned him not to go.

Bibliography

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen: Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience, New York: HarperCollins, 1991, pages 465-466

Robertson, Morgan and Stevenson, Ian, M.D. The Wreck of the Titan: The Paranormal Experiences Connected with the Sinking of the Titanic. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Bks, 1991.

Robertson, Morgan and Stevenson, Ian, M.D.: The Wreck of the Titan: The Paranormal Experiences Connected with the Sinking of the Titanic. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Bks, 1991.

Spence, Lewis: An Encyclopedia of Occultism, New York, Carol Publishing Group Edition, 1996, pages 329

Stevenson, Ian: A Review & Analysis of Paranormal Experiences Connected with the Sinking of the Titanic. Journal of American Society for Psychical Research 54, 1961.

(Source : Wikipedia, en anglais)