Profane: A Nature of Religion, Mircea Eliade attempts to define the sacred by stating it is “the opposite of the profane” (pg. 10). Through out the book he tries to explain this statement through the concept of hierophany (the idea that one can experience, sensorily, the manifestation of the holy/sacred), however his main explanation of the sacred being “the opposite of the profane” is the comparison of a modern religious man and a modern non-religious man (a profane man). Eliade compares the two by explaining
Sacred space is one of the types of spatial condition being analyzed by Mircea Eliade’s religious journal. It is related to purification and can only be apprehended by a religious person. According to Eliade, “For a religious man, a space is not homogeneous as he experiences interruption, breaks in it; some parts of space are qualitatively different from others” (20). He also believes that a person in a sacred space will ultimately reach a threshold that personify the frontier which distinguishes
(Rossiter 108-28); the modified position of Elizabeth Marie Pope that the Duke is a successful magistrate with divinely-delegated powers ("Renaissance" 66-82), almost in line with Eliade’s version of a receding sky-god replaced by a local delegate (see Eliade 52); the attack upon Vincentio’s foolish "mystification" by Clifford Leech (69-71); and the concomitant understanding by Wylie Sypher that the Duke’s Vienna is merely an arbitrary, chaotic locale where passion and abstinence indifferently change place
initiates had to travel to Eleusis (‘Mystery religion’ n.d.). In ancient Greece, there was a sense of community and belonging in a Greek being able to say “I am initiated into the Eleusinian religion... ... middle of paper ... ... Britain. Mircea Eliade "From Primitives to Zen": THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES, n.d. Man and the Sacred, accessed 16 March 2014, . ‘Mystery religion’ n.d., in Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed 12 March 2014, . Orpheus, n.d., Vase, Ovid's Metamorphoses, accessed 27 March
Blessed Be According to the Online Entomology Dictionary, the word Bless is derived from the “Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood"…. Originally a blood sprinkling on pagan altars.” The word Blessed is noted to have come into common use in the 12th century, meaning to be “supremely happy” or “consecrated”. Used interchangeably with the word blest,
The book “The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion”, written by Mircea Eliade, investigates four aspects of the sacred universe: space, time, nature, and self. Eliade splits each aspect into two forms of perception, the sacred and profane. Religious men, specifically the ancient, traditional men, view the universe as sacred. In other words, they acknowledge a distinct qualitative difference between a sacred and profane (non-sacred) universe; whereas, nonreligious, specifically modern men
Respect In this paper I will argue that respect, when earned, is more stable, more specific, and allows for a better relationship then when respect is simply demanded. Respect has been a major issue throughout time. Towns and countries alike were crushed simply for disrespecting their invaders. Vlad Dracul, a Transylvanian ruler most feared for his barbaric behavior used to cut off the heads of nonconformist villagers and place them on stakes outside his castle. The reason this issue is so important
don’t exploit the lands (the giver of corn) because “Everything that is…manifests itself above the waters” (Eliade, Mircea, The Sacred and the Profane, Harcourt 1959, Pg. 131) and therefore having a connection to the gods. Notions of sacred space are defined in the classical image of the sky. The sky shows itself to be “infinite, transcendent…it is preeminently the wholly other” (Eliade, Mircea, The Sacred and the Profane, Harcourt 1959, Pg. 118). Transcendence is revealed by this infinite height.
considered the most important Byzantine structure with its impressive architecture, artwork, and large size. While Hagia Sophia often viewed as a beautiful, massive structure, it also possesses a much deeper importance that can be examined in light of Mircea Eliade’s book, The Sacred and the Profane. This paper will attempt to examine several of Eliade’s philosophical concepts and how they relate to Hagia Sophia’s internal divisions, connections to God, and location. Internal divisions play a large role
participate in a sacred place and time. The act of a physical baptism stresses nonhomogeneity, which recognizes that some spaces are not the same as others. Baptism usually happens in a church, in which people go for meaning and refreshment. Mircea Eliade, a Romanian historian of religion, wrote "For a
1. Compare and contrast Emile Durkheim’s and Mircea Eliades understanding of religion. Emile Durkheim uses a functional approach when understanding religion, the function of a religion and not a belief system. Durkheim looks at what religion does for society as a whole and how it creates social cohesion. Social cohesion is defined as the result of a community rallying around a totem, which can be a sacred object that ultimately creates a religion within society. For example, the traditional Christmas
(64 Eliade) Eliade defines the theophany as the moment when God, or the angel, appear and get in contact with people; hierophany as the symbol of the God such as a tree or stone. (12, 25 Eliade) Jerusalem is the “axis mundi” of the world, which is the orientation of the cosmos and the middle of the universe, can communicate with heaven, earth and underground
The “Sacred and the Profane” by Mircea Eliade, explores two innovative perspective of religion with aspects of the traditional and modern. Eliade draws principles such as heterogeneous in space based on experiencing the world as sacred. On the contrary, the homogenous man is blocked to these sacred experiences, since the world is experienced as profane. Additionally, Eliade discusses the alignment in space allowing the manifestation of the sacred—hierophany. This is the most fundamental concept that
sacred, there is a conviction that the place has a significance that puts it apart from other areas. The next thing that has to be understood is how does a place become sacred – essentially is it inherently sacred or is it a man-made construct? Mircea Eliade was a Romanian Religious Historian, writing in his work The Sacred
Myth is an often misunderstood subject that involves the foundations of any religion today. Due to the connotations of the word now, religious people find the implication of the word “myth” to be the equivalent of “false”. Of course, when applied to their own religion, this is found to be incredibly disrespectful coming from scholars studying the subject. However, nowadays the meaning of myth has been confused with the definition of a fairytale, a fictitious tale created to teach morals by the use
solution to this question, Mircea Eliade’s theory as a whole most convincingly addresses this question compared other separate theories as a whole. In particular, Eliade’s emphasis of studying religion via a cross-cultural comparison method and his notion of “the sacred and the profane” results in a deeper understanding of a given religion and the function it provides to human society as a whole. In contrast to many of the earlier theorists such as Tylor, Frazer, and Freud; Eliade suggests that to truly
this world which manifests itself in our midst and makes itself known and brings about a change in our reality.” In other words, his study of religion is the examination of the different forms and places in which the sacred is manifested. Weber and Eliade both argued that religion should be understood in its own terms. Although both Marx and Weber have different views about religion, they all agree that misery stems from the forces of society and capitalism. Marx believed that religion provides relief
the future of religious thought? In his text, The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, the anthropologist and historian of religion Mircea Eliade puts forth the notion that the fundamental nature of religion is the construction of religious rites that define sacred from profane spaces, and sacred from profane human existence. Although Eliade provides his examples from non-Christian religions, the Buddhist monk Thich Naht Hahn would argue that this is a Christian view of the world because
PHL 101: Comparative Religion First Written Assignment Rosaline Chungag Wayne County Community College Dr. Cynthia Miller September 26, 2015. Abstract Religion has been around since the evolution of man. It expresses different myth unorganized and varies regions to regions, and it gives people something to believe in. As people became more religion has involved into becoming more organized and has both positive and negative effects around the world. For this assignment I was researching
function of the shaman is closely related to the spirit world (Eliade 71). A shaman uses ecstatic trance to communicate with spirits. Spirits are integral to a shaman’s ability to heal within his community. “Shamanic activity is generally a public function” (Grim 11-12). Shamans are highly respected members of the community. “Shamans are of the ‘elect’;” recognition of a shaman can only be bestowed by the entire community (Eliade 7, 17). Without the community, a shaman is not a shaman and cannot