Compunctio is a Swedish record label run by producer Andreas Runeson and designer Tomas Einarsson who produce and design all Compunctio releases. Most albums are released in a unique case (the “Compunctio box”), exclusively designed by Compunctio and partly handmade.
Andreas Runeson
Creative director / producer
Tomas Einarsson
Creative director / designer
The term compunctio
“Gregory the Great (ca 540–604) spoke about com-punctio, the holy pain. The grief somebody feels when faced with that which is most beautiful is both a reminiscence and a fore-taste of the divine world. Originally compunctio was a medical term that described intense physical pain, but when Gregorius used the word he spoke about a spiritual pain. The bittersweet experience stems from human home-lessness in an imperfect world, human conscious-ness of, and, at the same time, a desire for, perfec-tion. This inner spiritual void becomes painfully real when faced with beauty. There, between the lost and the desired, the holy tears are formed.”
– Owe Wikström, professor in Psychology of Religion at the University of Uppsala.