Numen facts for kids
Numen is a Latin word. It means something like 'divine power,' 'divine presence,' or 'divine will.' Think of it as the invisible force or spirit of a god.
Ancient Roman writers used this word in different ways:
- Cicero wrote about a 'divine mind' or 'divine power' that guides everything. He said this power affects things like how birds fly during augury (a way of telling the future).
- In his famous poem Aeneid, Virgil tells how Odysseus and his men prayed for help from the 'great numina' before blinding the giant Polyphemus.
- The historian Tacitus wrote about Augustus, a Roman emperor. Some people felt that Augustus wanted to be worshiped like a god. They saw his temples and statues as 'effigies of numina,' meaning they showed his divine power.
- Pliny the Younger used 'numen' to describe the great 'power' and 'majesty' of history itself.
- Lucretius used the phrase numen mentis, which means 'the bidding of the mind.' Here, 'numen' refers to human will, not a divine power.
Since the early 1900s, some experts have thought that the idea of numen might come from a very old belief system called animism. This is a belief that spirits live in objects or nature.
Sociologists also use 'numen' to talk about a kind of magical power that comes from an object. This is especially true when they discuss ideas from Western cultures. When used this way, 'numen' is similar to the word 'mana.' However, 'mana' is often used more for magical ideas from places like Polynesia and Southeast Asia.
Contents
What Does Numen Mean?
The word numen literally means 'a nod.' It comes from the idea of someone nodding their head to show power or agreement. So, it means 'that which is produced by nodding.'
Think of it like the word flamen, which means 'that which is produced by blowing,' like a gust of wind. So, numen came to mean 'the product or expression of power,' not power itself.
It's important to know that numen (divine power) is not a person. It's different from deus, which means 'god.'
Numen in Roman Worship
In ancient Rome, 'numen' was also used in the worship of living emperors. This was called the imperial cult. It referred to the special 'guardian-spirit' or 'divine power' of an emperor. It was a way to show respect and worship a living emperor without actually calling him a god.
For example, Tiberius, another Roman emperor, helped promote the worship of Augustus. He even built an altar called the Ara Numinis Augusti (Altar of the Numen of Augustus).
In this context, 'numen' is different from 'genius'. A 'genius' was a personal guardian spirit, while 'numen' was more about the emperor's divine power or authority.
Numen and Ancient Beliefs
The phrase Numen inest appears in Ovid's poem Fasti. It means 'There is a spirit here.' People have talked a lot about what this phrase means and the exact sense of 'numen' in it.
Some people thought that the idea of numen in Roman religion might have come from older animist beliefs. However, some scholars have said that linking the origins of Roman gods to these older ideas is often just a guess.
Numen in Modern Culture
The word 'numen' (sometimes referring to the Christian God) is still used today in various sayings:
- Innocue vivito, numen adest means 'Live blameless; God is here.' This was the motto of Carl Linnaeus, a famous scientist. He took it from Ovid's poem Ars Amatoria.
- Nil sine numine means 'Nothing without divine will' or 'Nothing without God's will.' This is the state motto of Colorado. It might come from a line in Virgil's Aeneid that says, "...these things do not happen without the will of Heaven."
- Benigno numine means 'with divine favor.' This is the motto of the city of Pittsburgh.
- Numen lumen means 'God is the light.' This is the motto of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Elon University.
- The word 'numen' also appears a few times in the book Finnegans Wake by James Joyce.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Numen para niños
