Mircea Eliade

In The Sacred and the Profane, Mircea Eliade traces the existence of sacred spaces and what characteristics each area follows to determine what defines a sacred space. Eliade has identified five elements of every sacred space. For a place to be sacred, there has to be a hierophany, cosmogonic qualities, a threshold, and where heavenly and earthly come to meet and has to have a break in the homogeneity of the space. To examine further, we explored Stonehill’s Chapel of Mary to see if it qualifies as a Sacred space through the words of Eliade. Based on the criteria presented by M. Eliade in The Sacred and the Profane, the Chapel of Mary at Stonehill College is a Sacred Space. The first characteristic of a sacred space would be somewhere where…

Eliade suggests that individuals living in the modern world haven't freed themselves from his religious precursor in such a way that individuals have become nonreligious to an extent not previously seen in the past. He writes, “ The majority of the “irreligious” still behave religiously, even though they are not aware of the fact”( Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane, p. 204). Eliade gives examples like, New Year celebrations and marriage ceremonies as evidence that even the nonreligious…

reading The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade the reader is forced to question many of their ideas about religion and what exactly is sacred and profane according to their own personal and religious experiences. Sacred meaning “devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated” (“Sacred”). Also profane which means, “characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious” (“Profane”). When looking at what qualifies as a sacred or…

and the Profane, Mircea Eliade describes the idea of a hierophany as the manifestation of the sacred (21). The experience of a hierophany is a sensory one. The Lord manifests himself to David as well as the prophet Nathan multiple times by speaking directly to them. God’s presence can also be felt by the Israelites, the house of Odeb-edom and King David through the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a moving tabernacle to house the Lord while the Israelites searched for the Promised Land in the…

In chapter one of his book “The Sacred & Profane: The Nature of Religion,” author Mircea Eliade introduces the conceptual and religious importance of sacred space on an individual and worldly level. He begins by discussing the differences between religious man and nonreligious man and how those variations relate to the ideas within sacred space and profane space. Eliade defines a nonreligious man as one “who rejects the sacrality of the world, who accepts a profane existence, divested of all…

simple questions can reveal so much from the person’s identity to their personality to their openness to diversity and wisdom. I thought it would be interesting to introduce two influential scholars that approached religion is contrasting directions. I brought Mircea Eliade to our discussion. His definition of religion and emphasis on the role of religion offers multitudes…

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…

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.…

Eliade delves into a cross-cultural conception of shamanism. Yet, in doing so, also urges for a more restrictive use of the word shaman. Eliade, argues that rather than signifying a medicine man or magician, shaman is for a practitioner of a sacred ritual. In this ritual one is able to engage in a mystical experience, and finally able to recover a state of freedom. Moreover, it was in a hunting and pastoral society that one was able to allow for shamanism to occur in the most pure forms. So,…

to Mercea Eliade’s The Sacred and The Profane requires “a strong, significant space…[of certain religious or holy] structure or consistency” (Eliade 1987: 22).This…