The human mind is always searching for meaning in ambiguity. Could misinterpretations of the external world create the experience of the supernatural?
Articles on Supernatural
Displaying 1 - 20 of 51 articles
Conspiracy thinking, supernatural beliefs and pseudoscience can seem impervious to evidence. An anthropologist suggests the opposite: Extraordinary beliefs may be supported by an individual’s experience.
While most Canadians trust science, half of us also believe in unexplained phenomena.
Haunted was a groundbreaking documentary that took the paranormal to prime time in Australia.
Artists often turn to the supernatural to reflect on and speak to the anxieties brought about by social, religious and political upheaval.
Sociologists who measured supernatural beliefs in the US found that higher education and higher income are associated with lower levels.
Music brings spiritual realms into the world of human senses.
It’s important to recognise how deeply supernatural beliefs influence people, rather than dismissing or ignoring them.
Supernatural thriller or character-driven thought experiment? Chris Flynn’s Orpheus Nine imagines the personal toll of a tipping point for our destabilised world.
Demons were considered very real and very threatening throughout the medieval and early-modern periods.
The issue of ghost clothes is interesting for historians of the supernatural because, like a loose thread, pulling at it starts to unravel some of the assumptions about matter in spiritualism.
Ancient Maya peoples knew that human beings are not independent from nature but part of it.
Hyun-su’s sleepwalking is ruining his marriage but it might take more than a few pills to get it under control.
A vision of Jesus – or just some burnt bread? It will now be much harder for a Catholic apparition to be declared ‘supernatural’. Here’s why.
Since 2019, fans of the TV series ‘Supernatural’ have flocked to Austin, where their encounters with 1967 Impalas customized to mimic the one used in the show arouse elation, astonishment and tears.
The region of Maui has been revered by its Indigenous peoples as a sacred place for generations. It is believed to be the home of Kihawahine, a woman who transformed into a goddess.
Investigating supernatural claims is a delicate task for the church, and Catholic leaders rarely label them as authentic.
New research finds societies are much more likely to have supernatural beliefs that concern ‘natural’ phenomena, such as extreme weather events.
Secularization has fascinated sociologists for 200 years – but that doesn’t mean they always agree on what it is, or how much it’s happening.
A teenage domestic servant showed signs of possession, and a miller was accused of witchcraft. Considering records of these events helps clarify what we can and cannot know about the past.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
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Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professor of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Honorary Research Fellow, English and Cultural Studies, The University of Western Australia
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Doctoral Candidate in Evolutionary Anthropology, University of California, Davis
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Lecturer in Victorian Literature, University of Birmingham
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Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Texas State University
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Professor of Renaissance and Magical Literatures, University of Exeter
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Board Certified Internal Medicine Physician and Public Health Scientist, MidMichigan Health, University of Michigan
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Professor of Music Theory, University of Michigan
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Project Manager, International Rock Art Collaboration, Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Mobile Media and Games., RMIT University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
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Emeritus professor, University of the Witwatersrand