Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for " divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen everything obeys," and a "divine power" (''vis divina'') "which pervades the lives of men." It causes the motions and cries of birds during augury. In Virgil's recounting of the blinding of the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, from the Odyssey, in his Aeneid, he has Odysseus and his men first "ask for the assistance of the great numina" (''magna precati numina''). Reviewing public opinion of Augustus on the day of his funeral, the historian Tacitus reports that some thought "no honor was left to the gods" when he "established the cult of himself" (''se ... coli vellet'') "with temples and the effigies of numina" (''effigie numinum'').

Pliny the younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

in a letter to Paternus raves about the "power," the "dignity," and "the majesty;" in short, the "''numen'' of history." Lucretius uses the expression ''numen mentis'', or "bidding of the mind," where "bidding" is ''numen'', not, however, the divine numen, unless the mind is to be considered divine, but as simply human will. Since the early 20th century, numen has sometimes been treated in the history of religion as a pre-animistic phase; that is, a belief system inherited from an earlier time. ''Numen'' is also used by sociologists to refer to the idea of magical power residing in an object, particularly when writing about ideas in the western tradition. When used in this sense, ''numen'' is nearly synonymous with '' mana''. However, some authors reserve use of ''mana'' for ideas about magic from Polynesia and southeast Asia.

Etymology

Etymologically, the word means "a nod of the head", here referring to a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

as it were "nodding", or making its will or its presence known. According to H. J. Rose:

The literal meaning is simply "a nod", or more accurately, for it is a passive formation, "that which is produced by nodding", just as ''flamen'' is "that which is produced by blowing", ''i.e.'', a gust of wind. It came to mean "the product or expression of power" — not, be it noted, power itself.

Thus, ''numen'' (divinity) is not personified (although it can be a personal attribute) and should be distinguished from ''

deus ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for "god" or "deity". Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ("divine") are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *'' deiwos'', "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as '' *Dyēus'', the reconstructed chief g ...

'' (god)., freely available from Project Gutenberg

Roman cults of the numina

Numen was also used in the imperial cult of ancient Rome, to refer to the guardian-spirit, 'godhead' or divine power of a living emperor—in other words, a means of worshiping a living emperor without literally calling him a god. The

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

of Augustus was promoted by Tiberius, who dedicated the ''Ara Numinis Augusti''. In this context, a distinction can be made between the terms ''numen'' and '' genius''.

Definition as a pre-animistic phase of religion

The expression ''Numen inest'' appears in Ovid's '' Fasti'' (III, 296) and has been translated as 'There is a spirit here'. Its interpretation, and in particular the exact sense of ''numen'' has been discussed extensively in the literature. The supposition that a ''numinous presence'' in the natural world supposed in the earliest layers of Italic religion, as it were an " animistic" element left over in historical Roman religion and especially in the etymology of Latin theonyms, has often been popularly implied, but was criticised as "mostly a scholarly fiction" by McGeough (2004).

Numina and specific religions

The phrase "numen eris caeloque redux mirabere regna" appears on line 129 of the poem ''Metrum in Genesin'', attributed to

Hilary of Arles Hilary of Arles, also known by his Latin name Hilarius (c. 403–449), was a bishop of Arles in Southern France. He is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, with his feast day celebrated on 5 May. Life In hi ...

Analogies in other societies

* Brahman in Hinduism * Kami in Japanese Shinto * mana in Polynesian mythology * maban in Australian Aboriginal mythology *

manetuwak Manitou (), akin to the Iroquois ''orenda'', is the spiritual and fundamental wikt:life force, life force among Algonquian people, Algonquian groups in the Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American theology. It i ...

in Lenape mythology * shekhinah in

Semitic mythology Ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic peoples from the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa. Since the term ''Semitic'' itself represents a rough category when referring to cultures, as opposed to lan ...

sila Sila may refer to : Places and jurisdictions ; Asia * Silla, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea * Sila, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ; Europe * La Sila, a mountainous area of Calabria, Italy ** Sila National Park * Siła, Warmian-Ma ...

, inua in Inuit mythology * teotl in Aztec mythology * mægen in Anglo-Saxon mythology *

väki Väki is a supernatural power in Finnish mythology. It was believed by Baltic Fins that väki resided in natural sites, objects, and animals. Väki has been compared to mana. However, according to Laura Stark, väki is about an impersonal power r ...

in Baltic–Finnic mythology

References

External links

Roman religion
{{Authority control Ancient Roman religion Sociology of religion Vitalism