Supernatural

The term "supernatural" describes phenomena or entities that fall outside the laws of nature. Its roots lie in Medieval Latin *supernaturalis*, combining the Latin prefix *super-* (meaning above, beyond, or outside of) with *natura* (nature). While the related word "nature" has carried multiple meanings since antiquity, the concept of the supernatural did not appear until the Middle Ages; no equivalent term existed in the ancient world. Furthermore, many cultures worldwide either lack a concept of the supernatural or outright reject any distinction between the natural and the supernatural.

The supernatural appears in religious and folkloric contexts, but it also serves as an explanation in more secular settings, such as superstitions or beliefs in the paranormal. It is attributed to non-physical entities like spirits, angels, demons, gods, and goddesses. The term also encompasses claimed abilities associated with or granted by such beings, including magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition, and extrasensory perception.

**Etymology and history of the concept**

The modern English word "supernatural" entered the language through two paths: from Middle French (*supernaturel*) and directly from its ancestor, post-Classical Latin (*supernaturalis*). This Latin term first appeared in the 6th century. The earliest known English use is in a Middle English translation of Catherine of Siena's *Dialogue* (around 1425). The word’s meaning has shifted over time. Originally, it referred exclusively to a Christian understanding of the world. As an adjective, it can mean "belonging to a realm that transcends nature, such as divine, magical, or ghostly beings," or "attributed to a force beyond scientific understanding or natural laws." It can also mean "more than natural or ordinary; abnormally great." Obsolete uses include "relating to metaphysics." As a noun, it means "a supernatural being," with a strong historical association with entities from the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

**History of the concept**

No word resembling "supernatural" existed in the ancient world. Dialogues from Neoplatonic philosophy in the 3rd century AD influenced the concept, which later developed through Christian theology. The term "nature" had been used since antiquity; for instance, Augustine used it and its cognates at least 600 times in *City of God*. In the medieval period, "nature" had ten distinct meanings, and "natural" had eleven. The 12th-century scholastic Peter Lombard explored causes beyond nature, using the phrase *praeter naturam* to describe events he believed could only be attributed to God. Later, Thomas Aquinas classified miracles into three categories—"above nature," "beyond nature," and "against nature"—sharpening the distinction between nature and miracles beyond what early Church Fathers had done, thereby creating a natural-supernatural dichotomy. Although the phrase *supra naturam* had been used since the 4th century, Aquinas employed the term *supernaturalis* in the 1200s. Still, it did not become widely popular until the end of the medieval period. Scholastic discussions of "nature" remained diverse and unsettled, with some thinkers arguing that even miracles were natural and that natural magic was part of the natural world.

**Epistemology and metaphysics**

Examining the metaphysical existence of the supernatural is difficult in philosophy or theology because any reliance on its opposite—the natural—must ultimately be inverted or rejected. A complicating factor is the lack of agreement on the definition of "natural" and the limits of naturalism. Concepts in the supernatural domain are closely linked to those in religious spirituality, occultism, and spiritualism. The word "nature" itself has been used in many ways: for the author of nature (what scholastics called *natura naturans*); for the essence or "quiddity" of a thing; for an internal principle of motion (as when a stone falls toward the earth); for the established course of things (night following day); for an aggregate of powers in a living body (as when physicians speak of nature being strong or weak); for the universe or system of corporeal works; and even for a semi-deity or strange kind of being.