Supernatural themes are often associated with paranormal and occult ideas, suggesting the possibility of interaction with the supernatural by means of summoning or trance. In secular societies, religious miracles are typically perceived as supernatural claims, as are spells and curses, divination, and the afterlife. Characteristics for phenomena claimed as supernatural are anomaly, uniqueness, and uncontrollability. Thus, the conditions in which such phenomena are thought to manifest may not be reproducible for scientific examination.
Supernatural phenomena are sometimes referred to as paranormal. The field of study dealing with the supernatural is sometimes called metaphysics, theology or the occult.
One complicating factor is that there is no universal agreement about what the definition of “natural” is, and what the limits of naturalism might be. Concepts in the supernatural domain are closely related to concepts in religious spirituality and occultism or spiritualism. Additionally, by definition anything that exists naturally is not supernatural.
The term "supernatural" is often used interchangeably with paranormal or preternatural — the latter typically limited to an adjective for describing abilities which appear to exceed the bounds of possibility (''see'' the nature of God in Western theology, anthropology of religion, and Biblical cosmology). Likewise, legendary characters such as vampires and leprechauns are not typically considered supernatural.
Many supporters of supernatural explanations believe that past, present, and future complexities and mysteries of the universe cannot be explained solely by naturalistic means and argue that it is reasonable to assume that a non-natural entity or entities resolve the unexplained. Those who consider only natural explanations to be acceptable in science would support such as explanations as The Big Bang, abiogenesis, and evolution for the origin of the universe and the origin and development of life. By its own definition, science is incapable of examining or testing for the existence of things that have no physical effects, because its methods rely on the observation of physical effects. Proponents of supernaturalism say that their belief system is more flexible, which allows more diversity in terms of intuition and epistemology. Some opponents argue that many supernatural claims involve physical phenomena that can be tested, but believe that scientific tests to date have failed to uphold the validity of those claims.
Views on the "supernatural" include that it is:
indistinct from nature. From this perspective, some events occur according to physical laws, and others occur according to a separate set of principles external to known physics. For example, those who believe in angels and spirits generally think that they are naturally present in the cosmos. Some religious people also believe that all things that humans see as natural act in a systematic fashion only because God wills it so, and that natural laws are an extension of divine will.
incorrectly attributed to nature. Others believe that all events have natural and only natural causes. They believe that human beings ascribe supernatural attributes to purely natural events, such as lightning, rainbows, floods, and the origin of life. Opponents of the idea of the supernatural say that humanity's knowledge of the world is continuously increasing. Some occurrences, once assumed supernatural, can today be explained by scientific theories. Studies suggest supernatural phenomena are not detectable in scientifically controlled conditions. There have been, for example, various studies on astrology, most of them with negative results.
part of a larger nature. Monists and process theorists tend to hold this view. In such a context, the "supernatural" is just a term for parts of nature that modern science and philosophy do not yet properly understand, similar to how sound and lightning used to be mysterious forces to science. Materialist monists believe that the "supernatural" consists of things in the physical universe not yet understood by modern science, while idealist monists reject the concept of "supernatural" on the grounds that they believe "nature" ''is'' the non-material. Neutral monists maintain that "nature" and "supernature" are artificial categories as they believe that the material and non-material are both either equally real and simultaneously existent, or illusions that stem from the human mind's interpretation of reality.
The supernatural is a topic in various fictional genres, especially in Science fiction, horror fiction and fantasy fiction.
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