The Sacred and The Profane

A detailed Summary of The Sacred and The Profane


"The Sacred and the Profane" is a literary work written by Mircea Eliade, and translated from Greek to English by Willard Trask. It is a text that helps to differentiate the relationship between the sacred and the profane thoughts that we have as humans and people of a rational thinking socity. Coming from page thirty nine, Eliade says that, "This same symbolism of the center explains other series of cosmological images and religious beliefs. Among these the most important are: first that, holy sites and sanctuaries are believed to be situated at the center of the world; two, temples are the replicas of the cosmic mountain and hence constitute the pre-eminent "link" between earth and havens; lastly the foundations of temples descend deep into the lower regions." Then there is the idea that is found on page fifty-six, "Exactly like the city or the sanctuary, the house is sanctified, in the whole or part, by a cosmological symbol or ritual. This is why setting somewhere-building a vi


In all types of religions there are always holy places or places to worship. For the most part these sanctuaries are thought to be the center of the world. Everything revolves around this one place; in some strange way this is true, the earth that we live on is the shape of a sphere, so because of this really no matter where you are standing you are still in the center. Temples are also a big part of the religious experience. When you think of a holy temple somewhere in the world, what first comes to mind is a Buddhists temple; perched high up in the mountains somewhere. What was said in the text is that the higher towards the skies you are the closer you are to your god. The look of a holy place is crucial; they are built to resemble the original structures that where erected in the past. The location that these temples are erected is almost as important as the look; the entire idea behind it is the prime location, getting the temple as high as possible, why is this, because t

Some common words found in the essay are:
Willard Trask, Sacred Profane, Mircea Eliade, closer god, sacred profane, beginning life, center world,

Approximate Word count = 667
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion

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