A hierophany is a manifestation of the

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

. The word is a formation of the Greek adjective ''hieros'' ( gr, ἱερός, 'sacred, holy') and the verb ''phainein'' (φαίνειν, 'to reveal, to bring to light').

Mircea Eliade

The word ''hierophany'' recurs frequently in the works of religious historian

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian 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 ...

, who preferred the term to the more constrictive word ''

theophany Theophany (from Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of a deity") is a personal encounter with a deity, that is an event where the manifestation of a deity occurs in an observable way. Specifically, it "refers to the temporal and spatial manifes ...

'', an appearance of a god. Eliade argues that religion is based on a sharp distinction between the sacred and the profane. According to Eliade, for traditional man, myths describe "breakthroughs of the sacred (or the 'supernatural') into the World"—that is, hierophanies. 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 an ideal model, the sacred gives the world value, direction, and purpose: "The manifestation of the sacred, ontologically founds the world." According to this view, all things need to imitate or conform to the sacred models established by hierophanies, in order to have true reality: things "acquire their reality, their identity, only to the extent of their participation in a transcendent reality."Eliade, Mircea. 1959. ''Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return''. New York: Harper Torchbooks. p. 5.

Mircea Eliade

See also

References

Further reading