Numinosum – Rudolf Otto’s term (in his Idea of the Holy) for the inexpressible, mysterious, terrifying, directly experienced and pertaining only to the divinity.
JUNGIAN.DIRECTORY
Numinosum – Rudolf Otto’s term (in his Idea of the Holy) for the inexpressible, mysterious, terrifying, directly experienced and pertaining only to the divinity.
numinosum In 1937 Jung wrote of the numinosum as
a dynamic agency or effect not caused by an arbitrary act of will.
On the contrary, it seizes and controls the human subject, who is
always rather its victim than its creator. The numinosum – whatever
its cause may be – is an experience of the subject independent
of his will. … The numinosum is either a quality belonging to a
visible object or the influence of an invisible presence that causes
a peculiar alteration of CONSCIOUSNESS (CW 11, para. 6).
It defies explanation but seems to convey an individual message
which, though mysterious and enigmatic, is also deeply impressive.
Jung felt that belief, conscious or unconscious, that is, a prior
readiness to trust a transcendent power, was a pre-requisite for experience
of the numinosum. The numinous cannot be conquered; one
can only open oneself to it. But an experience of the numinosum is
more than an experience of a tremendous and compelling force; it is
a confrontation with a force that implies a not-yet-disclosed, attractive
and fateful MEANING.
This definition was consistent with that given by Otto in The Idea
of the Holy (1917) and Jung saw an encounter with the numinosum
as an attribute of all religious experience. Numinosity is an aspect of
a supraordinate GOD-IMAGE, whether personal or COLLECTIVE. Investigations
of religious experiences convinced him that at such times
previously UNCONSCIOUS contents break through the constraints of
the EGO and overwhelm the conscious personality in the same way
as do invasions of the unconscious in pathological situations. However,
an experience of the numinosum is not habitually psychopathological.
Presented with reports of individual encounters with the
‘god-like’, Jung maintained that he did not necessarily find proof of
the existence of God; yet, in all instances, the experiences were of
such profundity that mere descriptions could not convey their effects.
Contemporary humanistic psychology speaks of such impressive
happenings as ‘peak experiences’.
See RELIGION; SPIRIT; VISION.
Descriptive of persons, things or situations having a deep emotional resonance, psychologically associated with experiences of the self.
Numinous, like numinosity, comes from Latin numinosum, referring to a dynamic agency or effect independent of the conscious will.
Religious teaching as well as the consensus gentium always and everywhere explain this experience as being due to a cause external to the individual. The numinosum is either a quality belonging to a visible object or the influence of an invisible presence that causes a peculiar alteration of consciousness.[Psychology and Religion,” CW 11, par. 6.]