Supernatural

===Deity===
{{main|Deity}}
A ''deity'' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-uk-deity1.ogg|ˈ|d|iː|ə|t|i}} or {{IPAc-en|audio=en-uk-deity2.ogg|ˈ|d|eɪ|.|ə|t|i}})<ref>{{cite book|title=The American Heritage Book of English Usage: A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English|date=1996|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|location=Boston|isbn=978-0395767856|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanheritage00edi_4cp/page/219 219]|url=https://archive.org/details/americanheritage00edi_4cp/page/219}}</ref> is a supernatural being considered [[divinity|divine]] or [[sacred]].<ref name="OBrien">{{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Jodi|title=Encyclopedia of Gender and Society|date=2009|publisher=SAGE|location=Los Angeles|isbn=9781412909167|page=191|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_nyHS4WyUKEC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|archive-date=January 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113144056/https://books.google.com/books?id=_nyHS4WyUKEC|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as "a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion)", or anything revered as divine.<ref name="Stevenson">{{cite book|last1=Stevenson|first1=Angus|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|date=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780199571123|page=461|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|archive-date=March 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311102542/https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> [[C. Scott Littleton]] defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new [[Higher consciousness|levels of consciousness]], beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Littleton]|first1=C. Scott|title=Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|location=New York|isbn=9780761475590|page=378|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ufSStXPECkC&pg=PA378|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref> A male deity is a [[God (word)|god]], while a female deity is a [[goddess]].

Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. [[Monotheism|Monotheistic]] [[religion]]s accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as God),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Becking|first1=Bob|last2=Dijkstra|first2=Meindert|last3=Korpel| first3=Marjo|last4=Vriezen |first4=Karel|title=Only One God?: Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah|date=2001|publisher=New York|location=London|isbn=9780567232120|page=189|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eMneBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA189|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|quote=The Christian tradition is, in imitation of Judaism, a monotheistic religion. This implies that believers accept the existence of only one God. Other deities either do not exist, are seen as the product of human imagination or are dismissed as remanents of a persistent paganism}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Korte|first1=Anne-Marie|last2=Haardt|first2=Maaike De|title=The Boundaries of Monotheism: Interdisciplinary Explorations Into the Foundations of Western Monotheism|date=2009|publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004173163|page=9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-53d1iRsqDEC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] religions accept multiple deities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Jeannine K.|title=Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics|date=2007|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=9780801027888|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqNzBQAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Henotheism|Henotheistic]] religions accept one supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as equivalent aspects of the same divine principle;<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taliaferro|first1=Charles|last2=Harrison|first2=Victoria S.|last3=Goetz|first3=Stewart|title=The Routledge Companion to Theism|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136338236|pages=78–79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ct7fCgAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|archive-date=January 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115140609/https://books.google.com/books?id=ct7fCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Reat|first1=N. Ross|last2=Perry|first2=Edmund F.|title=A World Theology: The Central Spiritual Reality of Humankind|date=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521331593|pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldtheologycen0000reat/page/73 73]–75|url=https://archive.org/details/worldtheologycen0000reat|url-access=registration|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref> and [[nontheistic religion]]s deny any supreme eternal [[creator deity]] but accept a [[pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of deities which live, die, and are reborn just like any other being.<ref name="Keown">{{cite book|last1=Keown|first1=Damien|title=Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780199663835|edition=New|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QXX0Uq29aoC|access-date=June 22, 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|35–37}}<ref name="Bullivant">{{cite book|last1=Bullivant|first1=Stephen|last2=Ruse|first2=Michael|title=The Oxford Handbook of Atheism|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Publishing|isbn=9780199644650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbIVAgAAQBAJ|access-date=June 22, 2017|language=en|archive-date=October 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003172045/https://books.google.com/books?id=jbIVAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|357–358}}

Various cultures have conceptualized a deity differently than a [[God|monotheistic God]].<ref name=Hood/><ref name=Trigger/> A deity need not be [[Omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[Omnipresence|omnipresent]], [[Omniscience|omniscient]], [[Omnibenevolence|omnibenevolent]] or [[Immortality|eternal]],<ref name=Hood>{{cite book|last1=Hood|first1=Robert E.|title=Must God Remain Greek?: Afro Cultures and God-talk|date=1990|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9780800624491|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mustgodremaingre0000hood/page/128 128–129]|quote=African people may describe their deities as strong, but not omnipotent; wise but not omniscient; old but not eternal; great but not omnipresent (...)|url=https://archive.org/details/mustgodremaingre0000hood/page/128}}</ref><ref name="Trigger">{{cite book|last1=Trigger|first1=Bruce G.|title=Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig|url-access=registration|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521822459|pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig/page/441 441–442]|edition=1st|quote=[Historically...] people perceived far fewer differences between themselves and the gods than the adherents of modern monotheistic religions. Deities were not thought to be omniscient or omnipotent and were rarely believed to be changeless or eternal}}</ref><ref name="Murdoch">John Murdoch, {{Google books|IHQAAAAAMAAJ|English Translations of Select Tracts, Published in India – Religious Texts}}, pages 141–142; '''Quote:''' "We [monotheists] find by reason and revelation that God is omniscient, omnipotent, most holy, etc, but the Hindu deities possess none of those attributes. It is mentioned in their [[Shastra]]s that their deities were all vanquished by the Asurs, while they fought in the heavens, and for fear of whom they left their abodes. This plainly shows that they are not omnipotent."</ref> The monotheistic God, however, does have these [[God#Specific_characteristics|attributes]].<ref name="Taliaferro">{{cite book|last1=Taliaferro|first1=Charles|last2=Marty|first2=Elsa J.|title=A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion|date=2010|publisher=Continuum|location=New York|isbn=9781441111975|pages=98–99}}</ref><ref name="Wilkerson">{{cite book|last1=Wilkerson|first1=W.D.|title=Walking With The Gods|date=2014|publisher=Sankofa|isbn=978-0991530014|pages=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Trigger|first1=Bruce G.|title=Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig|url-access=registration|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521822459|pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig/page/473 473–474]|edition=1st}}</ref> Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in masculine terms,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramarae|first1=Cheris|last2=Spender|first2=Dale|title=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135963156|page=655|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAOUAgAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="OBrien2">{{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Julia M.|title=Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated|isbn=9780199836994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZU-nBAAAQBAJ|access-date=June 22, 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|96}} while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways – masculine, feminine, androgynous and gender neutral.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bonnefoy|first1=Yves|title=Roman and European Mythologies|date=1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=9780226064550|url=https://archive.org/details/romaneuropeanmyt00yves|url-access=registration|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|pages=[https://archive.org/details/romaneuropeanmyt00yves/page/274 274]–275}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pintchman|first1=Tracy|title=Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess|date=2014|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=9780791490495|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfXdGInecRIC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|pages=1–2, 19–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=Nathaniel|title=To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum|date=2016|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520963634|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVPQCwAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|page=xv}}</ref>

Historically, many ancient cultures – such as [[Ancient India]], [[Ancient Egyptian]], [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]], [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Roman]], [[Norsemen|Nordic]] and [[Culture of Asia|Asian culture]] – personified [[List of natural phenomena|natural phenomena]], variously as either their conscious causes or simply their effects, respectively.<ref name="Malandra">{{cite book|last1=Malandra|first1=William W.|title=An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and the Achaemenid Inscriptions|date=1983|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|location=Minneapolis, Minnesota|isbn=978-0816611157|pages=9–10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZQMrjukmboC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Fløistad">{{cite book|last1=Fløistad|first1=Guttorm|title=Volume 10: Philosophy of Religion|date=2010|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media B.V.|location=Dordrecht|isbn=9789048135271|pages=19–20|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BclABayC1QQC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Daniel T. Potts |title=Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OdZS9gBu4KwC |year=1997|publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-3339-9|pages=186–187 }}</ref> Some [[Avesta]]n and [[Vedas|Vedic]] deities were viewed as ethical concepts.<ref name="Malandra"/><ref name="Fløistad"/> In [[Indian religions]], deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living being's body, as sensory organs and mind.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Potter|first1=Karl H.|title=The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 3: Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and His Pupils|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9781400856510|pages=272–274|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ydf_AwAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Olivelle|first1=Patrick|title=The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780195361377|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fB8uneM7q1cC|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cush|first1=Denise|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|date=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9781135189792|pages=899–900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ|access-date=June 28, 2017|language=en|archive-date=January 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117102108/https://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Deities have also been envisioned as a form of existence ([[Saṃsāra]]) after [[reincarnation|rebirth]], for human beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become [[Tutelary deity|guardian deities]] and live blissfully in [[heaven]], but are also subject to death when their merit runs out.<ref name="Keown"/>{{rp|35–38}}<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|356–359}}