With every work that FoolishPeople undertake, we aim to "create a numinous experience within the spectator".
As we move deeper into the creation of a new form of FoolishPeople narrative with our first feature film Strange Factories, it is worth explaining what exactly it is that we mean by the Numinous. Reading on, you will discover that his task itself is something of a paradox...
Definition and Potted History
(nū'mə-nəs, nyū'-)
1. Of or relating to a numen; supernatural
2. Filled with or characterised by a sense of a supernatural presence
2. Spiritually elevated; sublime
The word Numinous is derived from the Latin word numen, which means "will, the active power of the divine" and was coined by the German theologian Rudolph Otto at the beginning of the 20th century. For Otto the Numinous is characterised by mystical awe invoking fear and trembling (mysterium tremendum) in addition to a sense of divine power (majestas) which possesses the ability to compel and fascinate (mysterium fascinans).
According to Otto, the Numinous object is an indescribable one which has the power to alter the perceiver's consciousness by creating the experience of being in communion with the mysterious Other.
Jung later adopted Otto's notion and incorporated it into his own work, believing the "Numinous effect" to be therapeutic, whilst Mircea Eliade later suggests that behind the Numinous lies a "nostalgia for paradise"; a longing to return to the Home Sweet Home. Describing their awe and wonder at the Universe, both Einstein and Carl Sagan refer to the Numinous as a secular experience; showing that religious belief of any sort is not a prerequisite for encountering the Numinous. Rather it stands for a total annihilation of the Self in the face of the divine or a moment of absolute connection with "the unknowable". Think of it, if you will, as catching a glimpse behind the curtain.
CS Lewis & The Numinous
In C.S. Lewis' study of suffering, The Problem of Pain, the numinous is eloquently defined using this very simple illustration:
"Suppose you were told there was a tiger in the next room: you would know that you were in danger and would probably feel fear. But if you were told 'There is a ghost in the next room', and believed it, you would feel, indeed, what is often called fear, but of a different kind. It would not be based on the knowledge of danger, for no one is primarily afraid of what a ghost may do to him, but of the mere fact that it is a ghost. It is 'uncanny' rather than dangerous, and the special kind of fear it excites may be called Dread. With the Uncanny one has reached the fringes of the Numinous...wonder and a certain shrinking - a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant and of prostration before it - an emotion which might be expressed in Shakespeare's words 'Under it my genius is rebuked'. This feeling may be described as awe, and the object which excites it as the Numinous."
Lewis goes on to note that the Numinous and fear are certainly not one and the same. Firstly, the Numinous object is "beyond good and evil". It has absolutely nothing to do with a moral experience. Secondly, whilst fear develops from a physical actuality - as the logical conclusion of a material "interference" or danger, the Numinous object may be impossible to pinpoint. Just as it is near impossible to describe the beauty of that which is beautiful, it is near impossible to sum up the Numinous further than asserting that it some sort of impression that one gets from the Universe. In this sense, like the noting of beauty, it is an interpretation of that which is. And so Lewis concludes:
"Either it is a mere twist in the human mind, corresponding to nothing objective and serving no biological function...or else it is a direct experience of the really supernatural, to which the name Revelation might properly be given".
Now, I am rather given over to the idea that there really aren't that many twists in the human mind. Or rather, that there are in fact many twists in the human mind but just because we cannot fully explain them does not mean that they do not have a function or a certain rationality of their own. And if the Numinous experience can then be defined in terms of revelation (I use a small 'r', as I refer to the act of revealing and disclosing rather than in the more overtly theological sense) then I understand that surely there is no other experience more worthy of chasing.
FoolishPeople: Revelation & True Will
Those who have had the opportunity to attend a FoolishPeople event will be well aware of the powers of the Numinous with regards to altering consciousness in a way that is truly indescribable. This, ideally, would be the aim of all true Art. But the Numinous experience is pregnant with much more than a split-second "wooaah, out there!" feeling. As revelation, such experiences are nigh impossible to wipe from the mind as they work their magick for positive change in the lives of both audience and performers alike. Through the annihilation of self, layers of unneccessary falsehoods are shed, former notions of what we might be topple to the ground in flames. Let's return to the etymological orgin of the word -"will, the active power of the divine". What we experience as the Numinous, as the shedding of self, necessarily implies the revelation of our True Will, of the alignment between our deeper selves and the natural order of the Universe.
In this sense, I think that FoolishPeople's statement of intent is as essential as any I've ever heard. As Lewis notes, the experience of the Numinous is one of the few events which "does not disappear from the mind with the growth of knowledge and civilisation". Perhaps it serves as both a memory of paradise and a glimpse into the future. Or, more likely, it is the absolute, quite literal epitome of Timelessness.
Images:Dead Language at the ICA; engraving, artist unknown; watch by Yiannis Katsaris
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