By way of introduction.

I suppose with a title like mine, there will be no surprise when you hear I'm interested in people's experience of the 'Numinous'. What does that mean? (For those of you who have not come across this term) Have you ever experienced the numinous and been able to integrate it into your life? The experience of the numinous is described by the 19th C. theologist, Rudolf Otto, as "the distinctive experience of God, at once ineffably transcendent, remote, yet stirring a recognition that here is the primary source of beauty and love." (Oxford University Press) [Numinous is from Latin numen: literally a "nod of the head," as in giving a command, hence "divine power." (from the Word of the Day).] I believe this definition can be extended to our giving a nod to the divine in the presence of this special experience. It is a not uncommon experience. Some people feel it during emotional moments in their lives, weddings, births, deaths. Others feel it frequently in the presence of nature's extreme beauty -- a sunrise, a mountain, a seascape. Daoists believed that to attain Dao, you must surround yourself with the numinous (the blissful realms, the heavenly grottos). The children's book The Wind in the Willows may contain the greatest English language description of a numinous experience - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It is a long passage but explained beautifully by Van Morrison in his song, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn: The coolness of the riverbank, and the whispering of the reeds Daybreak is not so very far away Enchanted and spellbound, in the silence they lingered And rowed the boat as the light grew steadily strong And the birds were silent, as they listened for the heavenly music And the river played the song The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The song dream happened and the cloven hoofed piper Played in that holy ground where they felt the awe and wonder And they all were unafraid of the great god Pan And the wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn The wind in the willows and the piper at the gates of dawn When the vision vanished they heard a choir of birds singing In the heavenly silence between the trance and the reeds And they stood upon the lawn and listened to the silence .... I think that about covers it. Please send experiences or comments.