[Main Blog Post] [Book] Thoughts on The Idea of the Holy

[jprussell]

I just wrapped up Rudolf Otto's The Idea of the Holy and decided to organize my thinking a bit with a post. As always, I'd love to hear what you think.

Comments

[k_a_nitz]

Those comments on the void seemed to make something click - now thinking about it as that feeling just before starting something new and unfamiliar and out of ones comfort zone seems to relate better.

A note on supernatural - in German it is übernatural, literally above or over the natural, and I have found that the 'standard' English translation of supernatural often doesn't get across the right nuances, probably because of the connotations that it has picked up through the materialism that runs through modern culture. There are times when I think hypernatural would be better in some contexts.

Regarding divination, Gregory Shaw's books on Iamblichus suggest that Iamblichus had a similar idea of divination, ie that it is a communion with the ineffable by which we are able to see through the eyes of the divine.

The different silences are interesting. What I am noticing is that the 'practice' of mysticism is itself a form of tacit knowledge. It has been described to me somewhere recently that it is like learning to dance by just making the movements and practising them until at some point it stops becoming mechanical and just flows. I am a field hockey player and learning the game is similar, looking back it is hard to believe how 'unnatural' the movements and technique were when I was just starting out, yet now in games I sometimes surprise myself with 'instinctive' responses to situations. (I have actually thought of writing about the mysticism of high level sport - in many ways it has a lot in common with mystical practice, including the use of visualisation and ritual.)

For me the value of books like these is that they reinforce the fact that you cannot apply Taylorism to mystical experience.

[thinking_turtle]

Thanks for your blog! The quotes look interesting, I've added the "The Idea of The Holy" to my reading list.

Such immensity inspires awe, but it is also dangerous, which we usually see as a bad thing.

Awe inspiring sure, but dangerous? What is an example of a danger are you thinking of?

For the faculty of noticing and experiencing the numinous, Otto uses the term "divination" (which, as student of occult practice, is somewhat confusing to me - where are the cards or lots or flights of birds?)

That's curious, it seems that Otto defines divination differently from the generally accepted "predicting the future using omens or the supernatural". Certainly you can worship without trying to predict the future.

[(Anonymous)]

Good review. I've been a fan of Otto for several years. Thanks for mentioning the three kinds of silence. Lately, the idea that the numinous is beyond words (and even beyond "logic," from the Greek word for "word") has appealed to me. There are definitely opportunities for creative use of silence in religious rite.

Paths through the web

[moser99]

Hi,

I first came across your writing via Ecosophia, then John Carter on Substack mentions you and I end up here through that route. I think this might be this "analytics", or something, although I don't have numbers for you. Nobody calls it the World Wide Web anymore, it's just Internet. Huh. Thanks for your writing.

Moserait