The numenous attracts human beings, but being itself transcendent, it cannot be
achieved. That is why religion arises from the numenous; humans have the sense
of something transcendent, something divine, something holy that is just beyond
their apprehension, beyond their senses, beyond their understanding, but they
desire to approach it, to understand it, to become one with it. So they develop
religious rites which will enable them to approach the numenous through
purification, sanctification,
etc.
