The Sacred And The Profane - 2581 Words

The belief of a sacred space has been a highly contested concept since the beginning of mankind. Each individual may have a different perception or opinion on whether a particular place is truly sacred. However, many of these places have a close and personal connection to certain individuals, due in large part to having experienced a supernatural occurrence or witnessed a miracle of life. Often times, these places become associated with a divine presence, and are ultimately labeled as sacred for a particular religion. In The Sacred and the Profane, Mircea Eliade describes the key elements that define a space as sacred rather than profane. He stresses his belief that not all space is homogenous, and that there are certain places that hold†¦show more content†¦It is this interruption in space by a holy spirit that makes the space qualitatively different from its surroundings, and one in which will eventually become an axis mundi. Eliade defines axis mundi as a world center for the figurative connection between the different realms. It connects and supports heaven, earth, and the underworld, allowing passage and communication from region to region. Often times, the spot functions as the world’s beginning, and may be found either as a natural object, or as a product of human manufacturing. But above all, the axis mundi brings peace and order because of the centrality and unity that it may instill among a group of people, leaving the other unfamiliar and chaotic areas behind. As you will see in the following biblical texts, hierophany and the axis mundi play a crucial role in the history of Jerusalem, and its resulting establishment as a central religious capital and sacred space. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, one of the earliest depictions of the city of Jerusalem as the axis mundi is found, even before its establishment as a distinct city. God tells Abraham to take his â€Å"only son Issac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, a nd offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains† (Genesis 22:2). But right as he is about to reach out for the knife and kill his son, an angel of the Lord calls out to him from heaven and stops himShow MoreRelatedThe Sacred And The Profane2496 Words   |  10 Pagesas the holy city throughout the history of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During the time of Judaism, Biblical writers presented Jerusalem as the most sacred space, the center of the world, and the city of the Lord. A leading interpreter of religious texts, Mircea Eliade, in his book The Sacred and The Profane, defined several religious experiences with specific terminologies, such as hierophany, which means the sign of sacredness, and axis mundi, which is the center of the worldRead MoreThe Sacred And Profane By Eliade1405 Words   |  6 Pagesin his book â€Å"The Sacred and Profane,† poses an interesting conjecture that all people are inherently religious. What one does and the decision they make in their lives are all reflections on what they find sacred. Sacred in this context is an extension of one’s belief held up in high esteem to the point where what is deemed sacred is god like. Religion is the frame that interprets what is sacred and gives it a name and a face. Christians, for example, view Christmas as a sacred time as it is theRead MoreThe Sacred and Profane in American Beauty Essay1648 Words   |  7 Pagesconcepts of the sacred and the profane has dominated religious and social commentary for decades. While these two, inexorably linked, concepts are most often related with respect to religion, we can apply them to the almost-religion of the â€Å"American Dream† for the purpose of analyzing the lives of Lester and Carolyn Burnham, Buddy Kane, and Angela Hayes in the film â€Å"American Beauty.† In â€Å"American Beauty† the experiences of the characters illustrates the dichotomy between the sacred and profa ne, the moralityRead MoreThemes in Mircea Eliades The Sacred and the Profane1419 Words   |  6 PagesMircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane analyzes a wide variety of components that are found within various world religions. Eliade uses the history of religion to support his ideas as the the book itself is a brief introduction to religion as a whole, particulary the religions of primitive societies. Nonetheless, when looking to the past one can see that mankind’s desire to associate itself with the sacred has been occuring for thousands of years. From temples to passages of intiation, religiousRead MoreDifferences Between The Sacred And The Profane1385 Words   |  6 Pages1. According to Durkheim, what is the difference between the sacred and the profane? (4 points) Per Durkheim, the sacred was something beyond the world experience, it transcended our everyday experiences. He believed that profane was not spiritual and that it was an everyday experience we might normally have. 2. What is a totem? (2 points) A totem is something that humans might hold in high esteem, it could be something like a cross or a tabernacle. 3. According to Durkheim, what is the main functionRead MoreSociocultural Food Taboos Under The Larger Umbrella Concept Of The Sacred And Profane3090 Words   |  13 PagesI aim to document various sociocultural food taboos under the larger umbrella concept of the sacred and profane, a sociologically ubiquitous dichotomy found worldwide. I will do so by introducing various cultural examples of food taboos and explanative theories of food avoidance practices. Ideally, this paper will introduce the reader with the complex social pre- and proscriptions of the sacred and profane and the affect of which on food consumption practices. Food taboo is present in all societiesRead MoreThe Analysis of the Profane and Sacred in John Donnes Poems The Flea and Holy Sonnet 141869 Words   |  8 Pagesseventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to please God. In the book The Divine Poems, writer Helen Gardner supportsRead More The Analysis Of The Profane And Sacred In John Donnes Poems The Flea And Holy Sonnet 141801 Words   |  8 Pagesseventeenth century writes the metaphysical poem The Flea and the religious poem Holy Sonnet 14. In both poems, Donne explores the two opposing themes of physical and sacred love; in his love poem The Flea, he depicts the speaker as an immoral human being who is solely concerned with pleasing himself, where as in his sacred poem Holy Sonnet 14 Donne portrays the speaker as a noble human being because he is anxious to please God. In the book The Divine Poems, writer Helen Gardner supportsRead MoreDurkheim And Weber s Theories Of Religion And Modernity962 Words   |  4 Pagesphilosophers whose theories unequivocally differed on countless themes. The outlooks of Durkheim and Weber contrast however, their general message in which they attempt to convey are of similar ideologies. When examining Durkheim and the concept of sacred and profane, one would see how it parallels with Weber’s notion of enchantment and disenchantment. Their stances on religion correspond with each other and despite their distinct conceptual frameworks and differing perspectives, Durkheim and Weber bothRead More The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber1103 Words   |  5 Pageswe must learn to l ive without the sacred. One theorist that he challenged was Emile Durkheim. When Durkheim mentions the sacred and the profane it is because he is concerned with societies needs. On the other hand, with Eliade, the concern with religion is with the supernatural. Durkheim describes the world in terms of individual things and their relative sacredness in relation to religion. While Eliade expands the notion to include a variety of types of sacred while always maintaining a distinction