Comparing Mircea Elide's The Sacred And The Profane

Improved Essays
A return to the beginning affords an opportunity to change what has gone wrong and thus try and regain orientation and meaning trough naturalistic processes (sacred) oppose to an objective supernatural reality (profane).
In the book The Sacred and the Profane written by Mircea Eliade, the author notes that the sacred space is always considered the “really” real part of the universe, while non-sacred space is ambiguous and without structure (20). And therefore, the sacred is the solid, fixed point from which all else is oriented, while the non-sacred is a formless expanse without essence. And profane space is characterized by chaos and homogeneity and relativity (22) while sacred space is ordered and distinct and moral.
Based on the author’s

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Andres Resendez’s work A Land So Strange interprets Cabeza de Vaca’s journey across America as “an extreme tale of survival” in which he was able to bridge two different worlds in order to survive. Resendez’s central argument is that Cabeza de Vaca transformed over his journey across America from a conquistador with conquering intentions to a medicine man that advocated for diplomacy and alliance with the Indians. Resendez’s interpretation of Cabeza de Vaca’s transformation and commitment to a more peaceful and kind conquest aligns with Cabeza de Vaca’s personal account at surface level, however; when Cabeza de Vaca’s intentions are evaluated from his personal account on what happened, it becomes evident that Resendez did not interpret Cabeza…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the 60 Minutes documentary and the preface to Night, both contain details about how the Jews were massed murdered during the Final Solution. At the end of War World II, the Allied powers began to defeat the Axis powers. In an attempt to kill as many Jews as he could, Hitler executed the Final Solution. This was his plan to eliminate as much of the Jewish population as he could in a short amount of time. Both Elie and Father Desbois give insight on how the Nazi party massacred millions of Jews.…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dualism can be defined as dividing life into two separate categories, the first being secular and the second being spiritual. Secular involves things within the physical and changing world in which humans live. Sacred includes things related to the spiritual and unchanging existence of God. Secular is evident in places/activities such as education, business, arts, sciences, government, hobbies, and entertainment. Sacred is only involved in church-related activities.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    As Confucius once said, “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home” (Confucius). Confucius’ basic teachings illustrate the family as the base of every social structure in the community. Family is what most everyone has in common and can rely on to get them through tough times. Two examples of family helping their loved ones are Gerda and Elie, two Holocaust survivors. Their family members aid them in their survival, both directly and indirectly.…

    • 1660 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The theme that challenging times reveal one’s true values and beliefs is expressed in Elie Wiesel’s book “Night” by using the motif of religion and faith. For example, Elie admits his change of faith by saying “The student of Talmud, the Child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembles me. My soul had been invaded - and devoured - by a black flame.” Worshipping God had once been Elie Wiesel’s focal point to his entire life, his greatest desire was to devote his entire life to Him.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is part of the human condition to believe; everyone has their own beliefs and values they live by, however, they may change over time due to certain events that take place. Religion is a big part of people’s lives; it influences the decisions that individuals make. Individuals are exposed to all different kinds of religions that are practiced by others. The novel Night, written by Elie Wiesel, portrays himself as a young boy who had more faith in God than anyone or anything else. “..."I believed profoundly…” Wiesel’s beliefs changed after he endured the awful tragedy of the Holocaust.…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Matthew Richard Schlimm, who wrote “This Strange and Sacred Scripture” raises a plethora of questions to sections of the Bible people have always thought to have had answers too. As someone who has always taken the Bible at face value and believed everything to be true; both the Old Testament class and Schlimm’s book make me question what I truly know as a fact from the Bible. Both the class and the book make me wonder why God did certain things in a particular way too. One of the first topics of Schlimm’s book that we discussed in class was, is it okay to have doubts and ask questions about the Bible? Which was a really hard topic for me to comprehended at the beginning of the class, but know my perspective on the question has completely changed.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At a young age Elie Wiesel was very observant and wanted to learn everything about god. Wiesel prayed through his day having a lot of faith in his spiritual guider. Wiesel found a great leader to speak with him “For hours on end about the Kabbalah’s revelations and its mysteries” as he discovered god within a new way (pg4). Wiesel had unconditional love for god as he even went against his father word to become more knowledgeable in god. As time went on Wiseles faith is god was shaken by all the horrific events that had taken place in such a short period of time.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nietzsche Vs Dubois

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages

    So far we have seen spirituality names the return of religion and theology as non-object (Davis, 2009: 3). How did prefixes such as “post” and “re” invade our comfortable country club? When did the seam of our credal hems loosen which left us tripping over formless inklings? Why would we throw out the religious tonic and keep the persuasive gin? Such questions are arduous if answerable at all.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the two short stories, A West coast Woman by Jan Hopaklyissumqwa Gould and Incidents at the Shrine by Ben Okri, they display different kinds of spiritual practices. In comparison to the two stories, they have different significant spiritual places that take place in the stories, characters received powers in different ways, and characters had different spiritual outcomes in the same kind of setting. The short stories display different spiritual places that take place in the stories such as the sacred pool (A West coast Woman) and the shrine house (Incidents at the Shrine). For instance, the sacred pool is a beautiful spiritual place in nature where it’s peaceful and can go there for anything, whether you want to be in a peaceful place or have a spiritual ritual. A shrine house is also a sacred place, but in the story Incidents at the Shrine, the author expresses it as not so…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Universe Next Door” by James Sire provides insight into the various opposing worldviews society faces today. Beginning with the Pre-Modern thoughts that believe in God’s existence, spanning to the Modern view placing matter in the center of reality, and concluding with the Postmodern thoughts which deny the existence of reality. Throughout the semester we have discussed several of these viewings of the world, noting some views appear to be more practical than others. With the use of Sire’s eight fundamental questions I would like to compare and contrast the Pre-Modern thoughts of the Christian Theistic worldview to the Modern thoughts of the Naturalistic worldview. Beginning with Sire’s first question “what is prime reality-the really…

    • 2051 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Perceiving and understanding past lives for the purpose of spiritual growth and overcoming conflicts has been utilized for centuries. It doesn't matter if you are a believer in reincarnation or not. It doesn't matter if you view the imagery as mere subconscious metaphor. The process of past life regression can be extremely beneficial, even when nothing else has worked for a particular problem. You can experience a productive and successful past life regression by following these tips.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We the individuals hold God responsible for everything in the world, not only by considering the creatures as the work of God but also see him present in them. The world that we live in is known as the “macrocosm and that enters the soul “the microcosm” through our five senses. In the visible world there are things that generate, things that are generated and still others that govern them. They could either be completely bound or separately linked with or they might be altogether free from matter. Next we learn about the five senses and how they serve the five portals.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sacred Space Essay

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As the modern age has brought in a wave of secularism, one would expect the draw of sacred spaces to also dwindle. This has not appeared to be the case. Though many times we see a sacred space as being tied exclusively to religion, these are in fact any place that people or society have set aside. The word “sacred” tend to stir up images of centuries-old churches and monuments, but what each person holds as sacred can differ greatly. In modern society many issues have arisen between those who make claim to an area that they considered sacred and those who disagree with this distinction.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Parfit introduces his understanding of non-causal answers by first distinguishing between two questions. He asks readers to first contend why any sort of universe would come into existence and then to ponder why the created universe operates as it does. With respect to the creation of the universe, Parfit explains that reasons for the existence of any sort of universe are usually directed towards the existence of an omnipotent deity or the eternal existence of the universe.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays