Numinous
Numinous
A word coined from the Latin “numen” by Rudolf Otto to signify the absolutely unique state of mind of the genuinely religious person who feels or is aware of something mysterious, terrible, awe-inspiring, holy and sacred. This feeling or awareness is a mysterium tremendum, beyond reason, beyond the good or the beautiful. This numinous is an a priori category and is the basis of man’s cognition of the Divine. See his book The Idea of the Holy (rev. ed., 1925). — V.F.