The Healing Power of the Numinous and the Sacred
The numinous—from the Latin numen, meaning “divine power”—refers to moments suffused with awe, mystery, and a sense of the sacred.
German theologian, philosopher of religion, and writer Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) explored this in his influential work The Idea of the Holy (Das Heilige, 1917). He described the numinous as mysterium tremendum et fascinans—a mystery at once terrifying and magnetic, beyond rational comprehension.
These encounters are not limited to formal religion or visions of God in a traditional sense. They are transpersonal experiences: direct, felt contact with something greater than ourselves. Such moments may arise through archetypal dreams, visions that pierce the fabric of ordinary reality, or profound bodily sensations announcing the presence of a deeper pattern within the psyche.
Numinous experiences are profoundly healing—often because they work hand-in-hand with archetypes, those deep, universal patterns of human experience. Archetypes act as symbolic shortcuts to parts of the psyche that are otherwise hard to reach.
Ken Williams Photography
Why is the numinous healing?
The numinous speaks the language of the unconscious.
Carl Jung saw the numinous as the natural language of the unconscious: dreams, symbols, and archetypes. Figures like The Mother, The Hero, The Sage, or The Trickster are universal images embedded in myth, story, and ritual. Because the unconscious communicates in images, emotions, and patterns—not logic—archetypes serve as a shared vocabulary between the conscious mind and the hidden depths. This dialogue can release repressed emotions and bring clarity.
They integrate the disowned parts of the Self.
We all have aspects of ourselves that are forgotten, suppressed, or denied. Archetypes give these parts a recognisable “face,” allowing us to welcome them instead of leaving them to operate in the shadows. This process—Jung called it Individuation—restores a sense of wholeness and often brings profound relief.
They evoke awe and humility.
Meeting the numinous shifts us beyond the ego’s narrow focus. We feel small, yet held within something vast. Humility dissolves pride and softens defences, creating space for deep transformation.
Ken Williams Photography
Keith Walsh Photography
They provide a safe container for transformation.
By working with archetypes, we can explore painful or complex experiences at a symbolic distance. For example, engaging with the Wounded Healer archetype can help process grief in a way that feels less raw yet still authentic, allowing emotional release within a safe inner frame.
They restore meaning.
Trauma, depression, and chronic stress often collapse our sense of meaning. The numinous—whether through nature, myth, art, or direct spiritual contact—reawakens purpose and belonging. Archetypes amplify this by connecting us to timeless human stories, reminding us that we are part of a greater unfolding.
They transcend ordinary suffering.
The numinous does not erase pain but situates it within a larger mystery. This reframing makes suffering meaningful rather than senseless, fostering resilience and acceptance.
They restore belonging.
Numinous experiences and archetypal encounters reconnect us to the web of life—nature, ancestors, the cosmos, or the divine. This dissolves isolation and affirms that we are held within a larger whole.
“The years... when I pursued the inner images were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. It began at that time, and the later details hardly matter anymore. My entire life consisted in elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded me like an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me. That was the stuff and material for more than only one life. Everything later was merely the outer classification, the scientific elaboration, and the integration into life. But the numinous beginning, which contained everything was then.”
CARL JUNG
Deepening the Senses & The Numinous
I am excited to share my own research into the numinous in respect to our Irish ancestral experiences of the Gaelic Otherworld, a realm beyond linear time, that influenced so much of the day to day life and psyche of our ancestors and how, this deep exploration can bring us closer to our inner hidden depths, evoking a sense of wonder, curiosity, and the sacred.
This series is close to my own heart and has been in development for many years, when I commenced my Deepening the Senses work in 2016. I grew up in the South Connemara Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region) on the west coast of Ireland. As a native Irish language speaker, I have grown up with stories of the Otherworld, symbols, images and rituals, as part of the ancestral landscape and indigenous way of life in my childhood community. I am very excited to share it now with you, interwoven with Jungian Depth psychology and my clinical psychotherapy experience honed for over 15 years.
Ken Williams Photography
New Workshop & Course
Explore the numinous, archetypes & the Gaelic Otherworld in my upcoming 4 hour LIVE workshop gathering on October 19th 2025.
The Gaelic Otherworld was a realm beyond linear time, woven into the fabric of everyday life for our Irish ancestors. It was a parallel world inhabited by the Aos Sí, (the faeries). We explore these ancestral tales and mythic roots, immersing ourselves in the realm of the sidhe, Tír na nÓg, ("Land of Eternal Youth"), faerie encounters, sacred wells, rituals, charms, prayers and landscape—not just as folklore, but as symbolic gateways into our own depths, our own hidden inner world.
