Numinosum is the term Jung appropriated from Rudolf Otto's The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the non-rational factor in the idea of the divine and its relation to the rational, produced during the First World War. It is a philosophical work showing the influence of Schleiermacher, Marett, Husserl, and Neo-Kantianism but the central experience depicted in it, referred to as the numinous, particularly attracted Jung's attention. Otto adopted the term from a word coined from the Latin numen defined in the Oxford Dictionary as a presiding deity or spirit. The Latin dictionary further defines numenas “nod” or “will” both of which are important in Jung's usage of the term numinous. For instance, he often refers to a numinous experience as a “hint” that there are greater powers in the psyche than ego is conscious of. He was also influenced by Schopenhauer's use of the term “will” which derived from the numinous depths of the psyche. “Hence it is that we can often give no account of the...
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Casement, A. (2010). Numinosum. In: Leeming, D.A., Madden, K., Marlan, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6_466
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