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Cyclic Time
The "eternal return" is an idea for interpreting religious behavior proposed by the historian Mircea Eliade; it is a belief expressed through behavior (sometimes implicitly, but often explicitly) that one is able to become contemporary with or return to the "mythical age"—the time when the events described in one's myths occurred. It should be distinguished from the philosophical concept of ''eternal return''. Sacred and profane According to Eliade, This concept had already been extensively formulated by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim in 1912, Scholars such as Jack Goody gave evidence that it may not be universal. This sharp distinction between the sacred and the profane is Eliade's trademark theory. According to Eliade, traditional man distinguishes two levels of existence: (1) the Sacred, and (2) the profane world. (Here "the Sacred" can be God, gods, mythical ancestors, or any other beings who established the world's structure.) To traditional man, things "acquir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that ''Hierophany, hierophanies'' form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into Sacred-profane dichotomy, sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential.Wendy Doniger, "Foreword to the 2004 Edition", Eliade, ''Shamanism'', p. xiii One of his most instrumental contributions to religious studies was his theory of Eternal Return (Eliade), ''eternal return'', which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but, at least in the minds of the religious, actually participate in them. His literary works belong to the fantastic and Autobiographical novel, autobiographical genres. The best known are the novels ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
