- Hierophany
The term "hierophany" (from the Greek roots "ἱερὀς" (hieros), meaning "sacred" or "holy," and "φαίνειν" (phainein) meaning "to reveal" or "to bring to light") signifies a manifestation of the
sacred . It occurs frequently in the works of the religious historianMircea Eliade as an alternative to the more restrictive term "theophany " (an appearance of a god). ["Shamanism", p. xiii]Eliade argues that religion is based on a sharp distinction between the sacred (God, gods, mythical ancestors, etc.) and the profane. ["Patterns in Comparative Religion", p. 1] According to Eliade, for traditional man, myths describe "breakthroughs of the sacred (or the 'supernatural') into the World" — that is, hierophanies. ["Myth and Reality", p. 6]
In the hierophanies recorded in myth, the sacred appears in the form of ideal models (the actions and commandments of gods, heroes, etc.). By manifesting itself as ideal models, the sacred gives the world value, direction, and purpose: "The manifestation of the sacred ontologically founds the world". ["The Sacred and the Profane", p. 21] According to this view, all things need to imitate or conform to the sacred models established by hierophanies in order to have true reality: to traditional man, things "acquire their reality, their identity, only to the extent of their participation in a transcendent reality". ["Comos and History", pg. 5]
ee also
*
Sacred-profane dichotomy Notes
References
* Mircea Eliade:
** "Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return". New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1959.
** "Myth and Reality". Trans. Willard R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
** "Patterns in Comparative Religion". New York: Sheed & Ward, 1958.
** "Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy". Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972.ee also
*
Darshan
*Epiphany
*Eternal return (Eliade)
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