Numen

Numen referred to in the Roman religion (from the Latin numen plural: numina " Wink, behest, will, divine will " ) the work of a deity. The theologian Rudolf Otto used the term to denote the presence of a " formless Divine ".

Roman cult

In the older Roman religion called Numen more ministry, and the will of a deity as this itself could this Numen natural phenomena such as a river, a tree or a stone inherent (see also Animism ). Personalized deities did not exist in this original Roman religion. It was not until the imperial period, the word could be a synonym for " deity " is used. In the Roman imperial cult, the numen Augusti was worshiped, not the person of the reigning emperor was considered, but the inherent in the Kaiser action of the gods.

Modern Sciences

Rudolf Otto

The theologian Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) borrowed the term numen and numinous from Latin to describe the Ultimate / Divine / miracle of being, detached from all associations, run out of words of "natural " language. For him, the Numen beyond our reality and represents the sphere of the sacred. Therefore, it can not be proved or disproved. It can be experienced only by the knowledge, either as a mysterium tremendum ( shudder, fear) or mysterium fascinans (attraction ).

Religion research

In religion, Numen research indicates a power or force, which acts on the nature and people, as fate, fertility, growth, power, death. If this force is personalized, one speaks of a deity, a demon or other spirit beings. These are nevertheless not identical to the force, but only its representative, carrier, or rulers and themselves subject to part them. While the human being is the numinous forces, he can worship by those more or less personalized essence an indirect influence on the numinous forces to win.

Ethnology

Similarly Numen is used in anthropology. Here it refers to the magic power that sits in an object, animal or human. This concept largely corresponds to the Polynesian mana.

Folklore

In the ethnographic narrative research, the term is preferably used in conjunction with the word.

Psychology

In depth psychology, the term was introduced by Carl Gustav Jung in analytical psychology, as appear to the consciousness as numinous Jungian archetypes. Regardless of the term is also used by Neopsychoanalytiker Erik Erikson, who used the term in connection with the early childhood ritualism.