Numinosum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (November 2006)

Mystical, awe-inspiring wonder or religious experience whose source is perceived to be from outside of oneself.

The word is derived from the Latin root "numen," meaning "god," and "nuere," to nod or beckon. The word was first coined by Rudolf Otto in his work "The Idea of the Holy", and was also used by Carl Jung.

The term numinosum is a generic term and does not ascribe a philosophical or religious connotation to the event.

Contents

[edit] Characteristics

These attributes do not constitute a numinosum however they refer to the human response to a numinosum.

  • Feeling of Trememdum. (fear, terror)
  • Feeling of dependence on the numinosum. Despite the fear the person still desires to remain or even further encounter.
  • Feeling of Omnipotence. An experience of something times less and space less. Wholey separate and other than this world.
  • Feeling of Mystery. (the experience is difficult to explain or cannot be encapsulated in language and certainly not measurable in the sense of dimensions and attributes.
  • Feeling of Fascination/Attraction. Once complete the person will want to explore the encounter further.
  • Feeling of Wonderous/strange/marvelous/terrible

[edit] Effects

The effect of the experience is to leave the subject with a new perspective on life. In a religious context this could be called conversion. An example might be that when a person has come close to dying this creates in them a deeper sense of the value of life and perhaps leads to works of charity. This could be as simple as visiting a place where people don't have adequate housing and when returning to your own house you feel more grateful.

[edit] Occurances

Whilst many renowned religious figures could be said to have encountered numinosum including Mohammed (encounter with the angel Gabriel), Jesus (Baptism by John) and Buddah (enlightened), numinosum in itself does not have a religious connotation and can be experienced by anyone regardless of religious belief.

[edit] Cause

The cause of Numinosum is unknown. It is worthy of note that a higher frequency of numinosum is reported in the writings of monastic type peoples suggesting that certain lifestyles or beliefs could predispose a person to encounter numinosum. However not everyone who lives this lifestyle encounters numinosum. Numinosum are encountered by anyone.

[edit] Examples

Examples would be the supernatural experiences reported by mystics from all religions through to the human response to seeing something like a volcanic eruption. Profound life changing moments like giving birth.

[edit] References

Languages