Numinous Theory
June 20, 2010
When […] the entire self is given up to a single impression, is ‘possessed’ by it, […] there is the utmost tension between the subject and its object, the outer world; when external reality is not merely viewed and contemplated, but overcomes a man in sheer immediacy, with emotions of fear or hope, terror or wish fulfillment: then the spark jumps somehow across, the tension finds release, as the subjective excitement becomes objectified, and confronts the mind as a god or a daemon.
~Ernst Cassirer, Language and Myth, p33
As soon as the excitement abates, and the desire is fulfilled, the world of Being, the order of perceptions collapses again.
~Ernst Cassirer, Language and Myth, p38
Is the numinous relationship experience (as I experience it) then merely (as all numinous experiences would seem in this theory) an epiphenomenal reflection of my own (passionate, kinky, or empathetic) excitement?
On one hand, where I had somewhat dismissively assumed the ‘seat’ of the numinous relationship experience was interior to myself, the distance in meaning between ‘divine’ and ‘byproduct’ could not be greater.
Yet on the other hand, the conclusion that the experience is ‘meaningfully addictive’ only by the ecstatic nature of its sheer emotional immediacy continues to seem largely irrelevant, since what is meaningful continues to be consciously experienced as meaningful.
And such experiences are remembered – remembered, learned from and set as a teleological goal of utmost importance to the living of life. (See also Life Lessons and The Endless Battle: “We live, we learn, we love, we stand tall.”).
June 22, 2010 at 12:08 am
[...] love to constantly dwell in the numinous relationship experience, but as recently noted “excitement abates” and I rather think this is true whether or not the desire is fulfilled. What is numinous is [...]
June 23, 2010 at 12:27 am
[...] essay in the context of my reflections on interior experience and intimate relationships (see also here and here). Having finished it, I think the above quote is a safe summation of his point, however [...]
August 1, 2010 at 4:52 am
[...] On the other hand, a higher number of (important) interior symbols accurately and adequately fitted and a higher overall degree of fitted-ness results in a higher intensity of ‘feels right’ compass sensation, and results in longer term meaning because it resonates with coherence throughout a person’s existential experience in the biological meaning matrix – in fact, an effortless, sudden and extremely high level fitted-ness can be a numinous experience. [...]