The Sacred And Profane Analysis

In Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, he accentuates the inevitable distinction between the sacred and profane.This develops when an individual tries to establish himself in his world and acknowledges his own individuality of the worldly and physical spaces he takes up. Chaos seems to be in the areas where the profane governs and there are no principles in a profane universe. The idea of the sacred comes from knowledge itself. The brahmanas defines religion and human existence with the sacredness embedded in water which brings forth life.

Within the eighteenth century, Christians were going through the Great Awakening, a wave of religious enthusiasm that swept through the colonies in an effort to make an impact on the religion within the areas. In the sermon written by Jonathon Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he is trying to persuade nonbelievers into joining his religion in a way unused by many. To show nonbelievers the two altering sides of God based on what people believe and “they may imagine him to be so” (3), Jonathon Edwards’ sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” utilizes threatening tone, conveying repetition, and augmenting similes to express the fury and hopefulness of God.

Elialde author of The Sacred and the Profane introduces a new model of the sacred and the profane. Elialde’s model is meant to be universal, therefore meant to be appropriate for any recognized religion. David Carrasco author of Religions of Mesoamerica and Kay Almere Read and Jason J. González authors of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America, discuss their interpretation of the Mesoamerican religion although their views on the Mesoamerican religion differs in some aspects when compared to Eliade’s model of the sacred and the profane there are a few noticeable similarities between both views.

Sheed states on page 10 that “In theology, spirit is not only a key word, it is the key word.” Spirt is the thing we know and love and then we end up deciding at the end. So basically, our spirit is everything. It “loves” God and “knows” it loves God.

Another, aspect, spirituality is not as much a prearranged system, it is a quest and a prolongation of one’s development.

4. In Eliade’s model of the sacred and profane, what does it mean for something to be profane?

Calvinists also believed that “men were directed to transform the earth according to the divine will of God” (Champagne 1992:15); therefore, men were given complete freedom for environmental domination in order to transform this world that is full of flaws and sins and to appease God. From this perspective, nature is an object to be struggled against and overcome. Furthermore, Christianity, more specifically Calvinist belief, teaches the radical dualism of sacred and profane. From this perspective, this world characterized by sins, flaws, and suffering is profane, drawing comparison a comparison to the sacred afterworld. Native Americans, on the other hand, had less tension in this dichotomous relationship between this-worldliness and otherworldliness. Most Native cultures believed that their institutional and cultural elements, such as ceremonies, kinship, villages, and clans were given as gifts by the “Great Spirit”-- a benevolent and ubiquitous life force of the world. The Great Spirit communicates with humans through intermediaries that reside in nature, which makes Native Americans to live harmoniously with the earth. Everything on earth is considered a spiritual being that needs to be respected to keep the world in balance.

Our spiritual nourishment from it changes according to imposed ideologies, and as vicious as humans can be, some of them rips apart our own consciousness and makes us part of something other than a part of ourselves.

Cara McLaren Sharon Quigley English 104 March 25, 2016 The Fifth Sacred Thing The novel, “The Fifth Sacred Thing” by Starhawk meets a lot of key criteria for the genre of utopia, magic realism and science fiction. Starhawk wrote, "Below stretched a panorama of sculpted hills crowned by toy houses… [The] city was a mosaic of jewel-like colors set in green, veined by streams and dotted with gleaming ponds and pools… [blocks] of old row houses defined streets that no longer existed.

Conceived in eras of uncertainty and strife, many people weave through the contradictions and inner struggles within communities, while also indulging themselves in the broad concept of redefining themselves just to feel accepted by the society around them. In “Homo religiosus” Karen Armstrong brings out the materialized definition of an “individual” through concepts such as religion, activities like yoga, the artistic features of caves, and most importantly the image of Brahma. The detailed notions placed on each concept yields the reassuring meaning that religion symbolically is a safe harbor, in which individuals can feel comforted and relieved. However the question that always comes up is if an individual is willing to exclude themselves from the harsh realities of society. As the essay progresses, Armstrong 's usage of words such as kenosis—emptying—, junzi—maturity—, and anatta—dethrone—broadens the idea on how an individual’s illusion of an identity can be renewed and reached (14,17). However with the brutish imagery that is brought up throughout the essay a sense of isolation and hopelessness, making for a mood of muted panic and dread questions the truth behind the meaning of a “being”. Yet in the end the idea that there is a world outside the circles of human existence, gets the individual going as they search for something worth living for.

Religion and spirituality reach into the depths of the human psyche and strongly influence a nation’s way of life.

Lesley Choyce’s The Book Of Michael illustrates that it is important to move on from hardships that occurred in our past. Michael decided to move on from his girlfriend’s murder, and instead of mourning, he decided to go back to school and do something with his life. “I had nothing to lose. I had already lost it all. I was free. Strangely enough, my parents tried to stop me. They thought I had lost my mind. ‘Why today?’ my dad asked. ‘What do I have to lose?’ was my answer.” (Choyce 147-148) This quotation tells us that Michael wanted to go back to school and start a new life again. He keeps repeating that he has nothing to lose, which shows us that he is starting from scratch again and has nothing that he can possibly lose. In addition, Michael

Mysticism is a word we find in many books that relate to religious experiences. Mysticism is interpreted as searching for spiritual truth and wisdom through the unification with the Divine. Many Christians today believe that the words associated with mysticism like meditation and mystic are not coherently related with Christianity, but more with many Eastern religions. Eastern religions are definitely known for their mysticism, but it is believed to not be a part of Christianity. Mysticism is actually a vital part of Christianity in ways that are more spiritual rather than only being engaged with Christian rituals. Mysticism is the faith that spiritual reality is believed to be from human knowledge and their senses. It searches for truth

Through out history, as man progressed from a primitive animal to a "human being" capable of thought and reason, mankind has had to throw questions about the meaning of our own existence to ourselves. Out of those trail of thoughts appeared religion, art, and philosophy, the fundamental process of questioning about existence. Who we are, how we came to be, where we are going, what the most ideal state is....... All these questions had to be asked and if not given a definite answer, then at least given some idea as to how to begin to search for, as humans probed deeper and deeper into the riddle that we were all born into.

ABSTRACT: After 350 years of continual social transformations under the push of industrialization, capitalism, world-wide social revolutions, and the development of modern science, what reasonably remains of the traditional faith in divine transcendence and providential design except a deep-felt, almost 'ontological' yearning for transcendence? Torn between outmoded religious traditions and an ascendant secular world, the contemporary celebration of individuality only makes more poignant the need for precisely that religious consolation that public life increasingly denies. People must now confront the meaning of their lives without the assured aid of transcendent purpose and direction. The