1. One of two types of explanations that characterize religion (the other being qualified as irrational). 2. A supernatural explanation invokes objects or mediators that don’t or cannot exist. 3. A surrealistic explanation is one in which the relevant objects and participants may be amenable to illustration and visualization, yet the process described or narrated is not logically or physically possible (i.e. irrational). Surrealistic is a blend of supernatural and irrational.
Traditional religions are for the most part supernatural or surrealistic (e.g., A mythical character popularly known as God intervenes in the lives of humans, a flaming bush talks to a man - Exodus 3:1-5, a woman talks to a snake - Gen 3:1 - 5, a man lives over 900 years - Gen 5:27, a man is swallowed by a fish and is spitted out alive after three days - Jonah 1:17, a man walks on water - Matt 14:25). Mathematical Physics relies almost exclusively on irrational explanations (e.g., transfer of 'energy,' moving the 'center' of mass, 'black hole' swallows an astronaut, annihilation: two particles turn into nothing, virtual particle: magical particle that intermittently loses and acquires length, width, and height, warped space prevents Mercury from leaving the Solar System, 'wormhole' connects two universes, 0D particle, 1D string, 4D space-time, traveling 'through' a concept (time), stretching 'time', shrinking 'the length', speed increases the amount of matter, atom: 0D particle orbits a proton, hybridization: binding two itineraries ('orbitals'), 'charge' traversing a 'field', transferring 'negative momentum.')