Summary Of The Sacred And The Profane
Anisah Pillay
Religion 111
Professor Lindsay Grass
Writing Assignment 3 Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and The Profane: The Nature of Religion aims to differentiate between the two modes of being in the world as well as describe how religious people experience the sacred. The introduction of the book offers little insight into what exactly the sacred and the profane are. Eliade merely asserts that the sacred is the opposite of the profane and something wholly different from the profane. This leaves the reader with only a basic understanding of the two modes and the idea that the sacred is something transcendent that could manifest itself within our midst. This is known as hierphany which becomes the basis to an understanding of the sacred. In addition to these viewpoints, Eliade also introduces the idea of the religious and non-religious man. It is within the religious man that Eliade believes the idea of the sacred and profane are mainly found. For the religious person, space is determined as either sacred or profane. This makes up the basis of the first chapter entitled “Sacred Space and Making …show more content…
For example, Eliade states that the heart is the fixed center of the world while the backbone is the axis mundi that routes us in the world. He also goes on to assimilate the belly/the womb to a cave, the intestines to a labyrinth, breathing to the wind and the veins and arteries to the sun and the moon (Eliade 169). This relates to Lame Deer’s vision quest as the cave that Lame Deer resides in is a representation of the womb. The symbol of the womb is a symbol of birth and life as well as safety. Lame Deer goes into the cave in order to be reborn as a medicine man, much like new life is born out of a womb. Therefore, it can be seen from this how the symbol of the body is represented in Lame Deer’s vision
Religion 111
Professor Lindsay Grass
Writing Assignment 3 Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and The Profane: The Nature of Religion aims to differentiate between the two modes of being in the world as well as describe how religious people experience the sacred. The introduction of the book offers little insight into what exactly the sacred and the profane are. Eliade merely asserts that the sacred is the opposite of the profane and something wholly different from the profane. This leaves the reader with only a basic understanding of the two modes and the idea that the sacred is something transcendent that could manifest itself within our midst. This is known as hierphany which becomes the basis to an understanding of the sacred. In addition to these viewpoints, Eliade also introduces the idea of the religious and non-religious man. It is within the religious man that Eliade believes the idea of the sacred and profane are mainly found. For the religious person, space is determined as either sacred or profane. This makes up the basis of the first chapter entitled “Sacred Space and Making …show more content…
For example, Eliade states that the heart is the fixed center of the world while the backbone is the axis mundi that routes us in the world. He also goes on to assimilate the belly/the womb to a cave, the intestines to a labyrinth, breathing to the wind and the veins and arteries to the sun and the moon (Eliade 169). This relates to Lame Deer’s vision quest as the cave that Lame Deer resides in is a representation of the womb. The symbol of the womb is a symbol of birth and life as well as safety. Lame Deer goes into the cave in order to be reborn as a medicine man, much like new life is born out of a womb. Therefore, it can be seen from this how the symbol of the body is represented in Lame Deer’s vision