“I saw Eternity last night/Like a great ring of pure and endless light”
Henry Vaughan, The World

These lines have lingered with me for years and possibly prompted me into thinking of numinous experiences.

Time is our everyday experience, but here the poet is faced with eternity. It is a challenge, a reassurance, a demand to see himself and his world more clearly.

I saw eternity and in its light, what did I see?

Ever since I was taught the “sociological gaze” at uni, I guess I’ve been aware that we can (metaphorically) step back and view our world through a different lens. The numinous experience makes that demand of us. Here we are, but what more are we?