I love finding a new word. Well. New to me. Not new to the world. This one is in the good old Webster’s Dictionary.
numinous
adjective | NOO-muh-nus
I love how it sounds. Like a moo. Minnn. Us.
Anyway, it is a great word.
Here is how it goes:
“Numinous is a formal, often literary, word that typically describes things that have a mysterious or spiritual quality.”
I love the mysterious.
I love the spiritual.
These are two of the best parts of our Earthy place.
Numinous is from the Latin word numen. Numen means “nod of the head” or “divine will.”
English speakers have been using numen for centuries. And all along it has had the meaning of “a spiritual force or influence.”
The meanings of this very cool adjective include “supernatural” or “mysterious” and “holy.”
The divine power or spirit. Those moments in life that inspire awe and reverence. Wherever they might occur. Perhaps in nature or in art. In moments of quiet contemplation or spiritual encounters.
Imagine standing beneath a wide, dark sky, full of stars, in a remote wilderness, where the vastness of the universe feels both intimate and infinitely distant at the very same time. That is numinous.
It encapsulates the feeling of encountering something greater than ourselves. That shimmering veil between the tangible and the ethereal. The immediate. The infinite. Together.
The Universe.
The numinous world is all around us.
We only need to be open to its place, its sense, its wonderful curiosity. We will never know the “all” of it. But the more time we spend there, the more we learn.
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“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” — Rumi
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“A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.” — Albert Einstein
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“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” — Ram Dass
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“When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” — Lao Tzu
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New. Minn. Us. Say it all together now.
