Mircea Eliade
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Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...
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 '' hierophanies'' form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into 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'', 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 The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, charac ...
and autobiographical genres. The best known are the novels '' Maitreyi'' ('La Nuit Bengali' or 'Bengal Nights'), '' Noaptea de Sânziene'' ('The Forbidden Forest'), ''Isabel și apele diavolului'' ('Isabel and the Devil's Waters'), and '' Romanul Adolescentului Miop'' ('Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent'); the novellas '' Domnișoara Christina'' ('Miss Christina') and '' Tinerețe fără tinerețe'' ('Youth Without Youth'); and the short stories '' Secretul doctorului Honigberger'' ('The Secret of Dr. Honigberger') and '' La Țigănci'' ('With the Gypsy Girls'). Early in his life, Eliade was a journalist and essayist, a disciple of Romanian philosopher and journalist Nae Ionescu, and a member of the literary society ''Criterion''. In the 1940s, he served as
cultural attaché A cultural attaché is a diplomat with varying responsibilities, depending on the sending state of the attaché. Historically, such posts were filled by writers and artists, giving them a steady income, and allowing them to develop their own creat ...
to the United Kingdom and Portugal. Several times during the late 1930s, Eliade publicly expressed his support for the Iron Guard, a Christian fascist political organization. His political involvement at the time, as well as his other far right connections, were frequently criticised after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. Noted for his vast erudition, Eliade had fluent command of five languages (
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania ** Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
,
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, Italian, and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...
) and a reading knowledge of three others (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, Persian, and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
). He was elected a posthumous member of the Romanian Academy.


Biography


Childhood

Born in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
, he was the son of Romanian Land Forces officer Gheorghe Eliade (whose original surname was Ieremia)''Biografie'', in HandocaSilviu Mihai
"A doua viaţă a lui Mircea Eliade" ("Mircea Eliade's Second Life")
in ''
Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile Founded by Ion Raţiu, ''Cotidianul'' was first published on 10 May ...
'', February 6, 2006; retrieved July 31, 2007
and Jeana ''née'' Vasilescu.Călinescu, p. 956 An Orthodox believer, Gheorghe Eliade registered his son's birth four days before the actual date, to coincide with the
liturgical calendar The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and which ...
feast of the
Forty Martyrs of Sebaste The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty (Ancient/Katharevousa Greek ''Ἅγιοι Τεσσεράκοντα''; Demotic: ''Άγιοι Σαράντα'') were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII ''Fulminata'' (Armed with Lightning) w ...
. Mircea Eliade had a sister, Corina, the mother of
semiologist Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something, ...
Sorin Alexandrescu.Simona Chiţan, "Nostalgia după România" ("Nostalgia for Romania"), interview with Sorin Alexandrescu, in '' Evenimentul Zilei'', June 24, 2006 His family moved between Tecuci and Bucharest, ultimately settling in the capital in 1914, and purchasing a house on Melodiei Street, near Piața Rosetti, where Mircea Eliade resided until late in his teens.Sergio Vila-Sanjuán
"Paseo por el Bucarest de Mircea Eliade" ("Passing through Mircea Eliade's Bucharest")
in '' La Vanguardia'', May 30, 2007 ; retrieved January 16, 2008
Eliade kept a particularly fond memory of his childhood and, later in life, wrote about the impact various unusual episodes and encounters had on his mind. In one instance during the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
Romanian Campaign The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 1 ...
, when Eliade was about ten years of age, he witnessed the bombing of Bucharest by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
s and the patriotic fervor in the occupied capital at news that Romania was able to stop the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...
' advance into
Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
. Ion Hadârcă
"Mircea Eliade la începuturi" ("Mircea Eliade at His Beginnings")
, in ''Revista Sud-Est'', 1/2007; retrieved January 21, 2008
He described this stage in his life as marked by an unrepeatable epiphany.
Ioan P. Culianu Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano (5 January 1950 – 21 May 1991) was a Romanian historian of religion, culture, and ideas, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer. He served as professor of the history of religions at t ...
, "Mahaparanirvana", i
''El Hilo de Ariadna''
, Vol. II
Ellwood, pp. 98–99 Recalling his entrance into a drawing room that an "eerie iridescent light" had turned into "a fairy-tale palace", he wrote,
I practiced for many years heexercise of recapturing that epiphanic moment, and I would always find again the same plenitude. I would slip into it as into a fragment of time devoid of duration—without beginning, middle, or end. During my last years of lycée, when I struggled with profound attacks of melancholy, I still succeeded at times in returning to the golden green light of that afternoon. ..But even though the beatitude was the same, it was now impossible to bear because it aggravated my sadness too much. By this time I knew the world to which the drawing room belonged ..was a world forever lost.
Robert Ellwood, a professor of religion who did his graduate studies under Mircea Eliade, saw this type of nostalgia as one of the most characteristic themes in Eliade's life and academic writings.


Adolescence and literary debut

After completing his primary education at the school on Mântuleasa Street, Eliade attended the Spiru Haret National College in the same class as Arșavir Acterian, Haig Acterian, and Petre Viforeanu (and several years the senior of
Nicolae Steinhardt Nicolae Steinhardt (; born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 29, 1912 – March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox monk and lawyer. His main book, ''Jurnalul Fericirii'', is regarded as a major text of 20th century Romanian literature and ...
, who eventually became a close friend of Eliade's).Steinhardt, in Handoca Among his other colleagues was future philosopher Constantin Noica and Noica's friend, future art historian
Barbu Brezianu Barbu Brezianu (; March 18, 1909–January 14, 2008) was a Romanian poet, art critic, art historian and judge. Biography Born in Bucharest, he graduated from in 1928, having already shown an interest in modernist literature. It was his mathe ...
. As a child, Eliade was fascinated with the natural world, which formed the setting of his very first literary attempts, as well as with Romanian folklore and the Christian faith as expressed by peasants. Growing up, he aimed to find and record what he believed was the common source of all religious traditions. The young Eliade's interest in physical exercise and adventure led him to pursue mountaineering and
sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...
, and he also joined the Romanian Boy Scouts. With a group of friends, he designed and sailed a boat on the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, from Tulcea to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. In parallel, Eliade grew estranged from the educational environment, becoming disenchanted with the discipline required and obsessed with the idea that he was uglier and less virile than his colleagues. In order to cultivate his willpower, he would force himself to swallow insects and only slept four to five hours a night. At one point, Eliade was failing four subjects, among which was the study of the
Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communities in ...
. Instead, he became interested in natural science and
chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...
, as well as the occult, and wrote short pieces on entomological subjects. Despite his father's concern that he was in danger of losing his already weak eyesight, Eliade read passionately. One of his favorite authors was Honoré de Balzac, whose work he studied carefully. Eliade also became acquainted with the modernist short stories of Giovanni Papini and social anthropology studies by James George Frazer. His interest in the two writers led him to learn Italian and English in private, and he also began studying Persian and
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. At the time, Eliade became acquainted with Saadi's poems and the ancient
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
n '' Epic of Gilgamesh''. He was also interested in philosophy—studying, among others,
Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...
,
Vasile Conta Vasile Conta (; hy, Վասիլե Գրիգորեիի Կոնտա (Գոնտա); November 15, 1845 – April 21, 1882) was a Romanian philosopher, poet, and politician. He was born in Ghindăoani, a village in Bălțătești commune, Neamț Count ...
, and the Stoics
Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
and Epictetus, and read works of history—the two Romanian historians who influenced him from early on were Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu and Nicolae Iorga. His first published work was the 1921 ''Inamicul viermelui de mătase'' ("The Silkworm's Enemy"), followed by ''Cum am găsit piatra filosofală'' ("How I Found the Philosophers' Stone"). Four years later, Eliade completed work on his debut volume, the autobiographical '' Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent''.


University studies and Indian sojourn

Between 1925 and 1928, he attended the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1928, earning his diploma with a study on Early Modern Italian philosopher Tommaso Campanella. In 1927, Eliade traveled to Italy, where he met Papini and collaborated with the scholar Giuseppe Tucci. It was during his student years that Eliade met Nae Ionescu, who lectured in
Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...
, becoming one of his disciples and friends. He was especially attracted to Ionescu's radical ideas and his interest in religion, which signified a break with the rationalist tradition represented by senior academics such as Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, Dimitrie Gusti, and Tudor Vianu (all of whom owed inspiration to the defunct literary society ''
Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost pe ...
'', albeit in varying degrees). Eliade's scholarly works began after a long period of study in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, at the University of Calcutta. Finding that the Maharaja of Kassimbazar sponsored
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an scholars to study in India, Eliade applied and was granted an allowance for four years, which was later doubled by a Romanian scholarship.Nastasă, p. 237 In autumn 1928, he sailed for
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
to study
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
and philosophy under
Surendranath Dasgupta Surendranath Dasgupta (18 October 1887 – 18 December 1952) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. Family and education Surendranath Dasgupta was born to a Vaidya family in Kushtia, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), on Sunday, ...
, a
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
i Cambridge alumnus and professor at Calcutta University, the author of a five volume ''History of Indian Philosophy''. Before reaching the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
, Eliade also made a brief visit to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
. Once in India, he visited large areas of the region, and spent a short period at a
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
n '' ashram''. He studied the basics of
Indian philosophy Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...
, and, in parallel, learned Sanskrit, Pali and
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
under Dasgupta's direction. At the time, he also became interested in the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and the '' Satyagraha'' as a phenomenon; later, Eliade adapted Gandhian ideas in his discourse on spirituality and Romania. In 1930, while living with Dasgupta, Eliade fell in love with his host's daughter,
Maitreyi Devi Maitreyi Devi (or Maitreyī Devī; 1 September 1914 – 29 January 1989) was an Indian poet and novelist. She is best known for her Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel, '' Na Hanyate'' (). Biography Devi was born in 1914. She was the daughter o ...
, later writing a barely disguised autobiographical novel '' Maitreyi'' (also known as "La Nuit Bengali" or "Bengal Nights"), in which he claimed that he carried on a physical relationship with her.Ginu Kamani
"A Terrible Hurt: The Untold Story behind the Publishing of Maitreyi Devi"
at the University of Chicago Press website; retrieved July 16, 2007
Eliade received his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...
in 1933, with a thesis on
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
practices.Albert Ribas, "Mircea Eliade, historiador de las religiones" ("Mircea Eliade, Historian of Religions"), in ''El Ciervo. Revista de pensamiento y cultura'', Año 49, Núm. 588 (Marzo 2000), pp. 35–38 The book, which was translated into
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
three years later, had significant impact in academia, both in Romania and abroad. He later recalled that the book was an early step for understanding not just Indian religious practices, but also Romanian spirituality. During the same period, Eliade began a correspondence with the Ceylonese-born philosopher
Ananda Coomaraswamy Ananda Kentish Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி, ''Ānanda Kentiś Muthū Kumāraswāmī''; si, ආනන්ද කුමාරස්වාමි ''Ānanda Kumārasvāmī''; 22 August 1877 − 9 Septem ...
.McGuire, p. 150 In 1936–1937, he functioned as honorary assistant for Ionescu's course, lecturing in
Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
. In 1933, Mircea Eliade had a physical relationship with the actress Sorana Țopa, while falling in love with Nina Mareș, whom he ultimately married.
Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian lit ...

"Jurnalul unui om mare" ("The Diary of A Big Man")
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 338, September 2006; retrieved January 23, 2008
The latter, introduced to him by his new friend
Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After ...
, already had a daughter, Giza, from a man who had divorced her. Eliade subsequently adopted Giza,Șora, in Handoca and the three of them moved to an apartment at 141 Dacia Boulevard. He left his residence in 1936, during a trip he made to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, when he first visited
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
.


''Criterion'' and ''Cuvântul''

After contributing various and generally polemical pieces in university magazines, Eliade came to the attention of journalist
Pamfil Șeicaru Pamfil is a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Pamfil Polonic (1858–1943), Romanian archaeologist and topographer * Pamfil Yurkevich (1826–1874), Ukrainian philosopher * Radu Pamfil (1951–2009), Romani ...
, who invited him to collaborate on the nationalist paper ''
Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania, from 1926 to 1934, and again in 1938. It was primarily noted for progressively adopting a far right and fascist agenda, and ...
'', which was noted for its harsh tones. By then, ''Cuvântul'' was also hosting articles by Nae Ionescu. As one of the figures in the '' Criterion'' literary society (1933–1934), Eliade's initial encounter with the traditional far right was polemical: the group's conferences were stormed by members of A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League, who objected to what they viewed as
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace camp ...
and addressed antisemitic insults to several speakers, including Sebastian; in 1933, he was among the signers of a manifesto opposing
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's state-enforced
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...
. In 1934, at a time when Sebastian was publicly insulted by Nae Ionescu, who prefaced his book (''De două mii de ani...'') with thoughts on the "eternal damnation" of Jews, Mircea Eliade spoke out against this perspective, and commented that Ionescu's references to the verdict " Outside the Church there is no salvation" contradicted the notion of God's omnipotence. However, he contended that Ionescu's text was not evidence of antisemitism. In 1936, reflecting on the early history of the
Romanian Kingdom The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romania ...
and its Jewish community, he deplored the expulsion of Jewish scholars from Romania, making specific references to Moses Gaster,
Heimann Hariton Tiktin Heimann Hariton Tiktin (August 9, 1850 – March 13, 1936), born Heimann Tiktin, was a Silesian-born Romanian linguist and academic, one of the founders of modern Romanian linguistics. Biography Born in Breslau (part of Prussia at the time), ...
and
Lazăr Șăineanu Lazăr Șăineanu (, also spelled Șeineanu, born Eliezer Schein;Leopold, p.383, 417 Francisized Lazare Sainéan, , Alexandru Mușina"Țara turcită", in ''România Literară'', Nr. 19/2003 or Sainéanu; April 23, 1859 – May 11, 1934) was a R ...
. Eliade's views at the time focused on innovation—in the summer of 1933, he replied to an anti- modernist critique written by
George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
:
All I wish for is a deep change, a complete transformation. But, for God's sake, in any direction other than spirituality.
He and friends Emil Cioran and Constantin Noica were by then under the influence of '' Trăirism'', a school of thought that was formed around the ideals expressed by Ionescu. A form of
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...
, ''Trăirism'' was also the synthesis of traditional and newer right-wing beliefs. Early on, a public polemic was sparked between Eliade and Camil Petrescu: the two eventually reconciled and later became good friends. Like Mihail Sebastian, who was himself becoming influenced by Ionescu, he maintained contacts with intellectuals from all sides of the political spectrum: their entourage included the right-wing Dan Botta and
Mircea Vulcănescu Mircea Aurel Vulcănescu (3 March 1904 – 28 October 1952) was a Romanian philosopher, economist, ethics teacher, sociologist, and far-right politician. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance from 1941 to 1944 in the Nazi-aligned govern ...
, the non-political Petrescu and Ionel Jianu, and Belu Zilber, who was a member of the illegal Romanian Communist Party.
Stelian Tănase Stelian Tănase (born February 17, 1952) is a Romanian writer, journalist, political analyst, and talk show host. Tănase was from November 2013 to October 2015 the president of TVR. Having briefly engaged in politics during the early 1990s, aft ...

"Belu Zilber", Part II
, in '' 22'', Nr. 701, August 2003; retrieved October 4, 2007
The group also included Haig Acterian, Mihail Polihroniade,
Petru Comarnescu __NOTOC__ Petru Comarnescu (born 23 November 1905, Iași - d. 27 November 1970, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator. Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop Veniamin Costache, he studie ...
, Marietta Sadova and Floria Capsali.
Andrei Oişteanu Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

"Mihail Sebastian şi Mircea Eliade: cronica unei prietenii accidentate" ("Mihail Sebastian and Mircea Eliade: the Chronicle of an Abrupt Friendship)"
in '' 22'', Nr. 926, December 2007; retrieved January 18, 2008
He was also close to Marcel Avramescu, a former Surrealist writer whom he introduced to the works of René Guénon.
Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian lit ...

"Eliade în cheie ezoterică" ("Eliade in Esoterical Key")
review of Marcel Tolcea, ''Eliade, ezotericul'' ("Eliade, the Esoteric"), in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 175, July 2003; retrieved July 16, 2007
A doctor in the
Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
and future Romanian Orthodox cleric, Avramescu joined Eliade in editing the short-lived
esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
magazine ''Memra'' (the only one of its kind in Romania). Among the intellectuals who attended his lectures were Mihai Şora (whom he deemed his favorite student),
Eugen Schileru Eugen Schileru (pen name of Eugen Schiller; September 13, 1916–August 10, 1968) was a Romanian art and literary critic, essayist and translator. Born in Brăila, his parents were Henri Schiller, an otorhinolaryngologist, and his wife Maria ...
and Miron Constantinescu—known later as, respectively, a philosopher, an art critic, and a sociologist and political figure of the communist regime. Mariana Klein, who became Șora's wife, was one of Eliade's female students, and later authored works on his scholarship. Eliade later recounted that he had himself enlisted Zilber as a ''Cuvântul'' contributor, in order for him to provide a Marxist perspective on the issues discussed by the journal. Their relation soured in 1935, when the latter publicly accused Eliade of serving as an agent for the secret police, '' Siguranța Statului'' (Sebastian answered to the statement by alleging that Zilber was himself a secret agent, and the latter eventually retracted his claim).


1930s political transition

Eliade's articles before and after his adherence to the principles of the Iron Guard (or, as it was usually known at the time, the ''Legionary Movement''), beginning with his ''Itinerar spiritual'' ("Spiritual Itinerary", serialized in ''Cuvântul'' in 1927), center on several political ideals advocated by the far right. They displayed his rejection of
liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...
and the modernizing goals of the 1848 Wallachian revolution (perceived as "an abstract apology of Mankind" and "ape-like imitation of esternEurope"), as well as for
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose g ...
itself (accusing it of "managing to crush all attempts at national renaissance",Eliade, 1937, in Ornea, p. 53 and later praising Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy on the grounds that, according to Eliade, " n Italy,he who thinks for himself is promoted to the highest office in the shortest of times"). He approved of an ethnic nationalist state centered on the Orthodox Church (in 1927, despite his still-vivid interest in
Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...
, he recommended young
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...
s "the return to the Church"), which he opposed to, among others, the secular nationalism of Constantin Rădulescu-Motru; referring to this particular ideal as "Romanianism", Eliade was, in 1934, still viewing it as "neither fascism, nor chauvinism". Eliade was especially dissatisfied with the incidence of unemployment among intellectuals, whose careers in state-financed institutions had been rendered uncertain by the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In 1936, Eliade was the focus of a campaign in the far right press, being targeted for having authored " pornography" in his '' Domnișoara Christina'' and ''Isabel și apele diavolului''; similar accusations were aimed at other cultural figures, including Tudor Arghezi and Geo Bogza. Assessments of Eliade's work were in sharp contrast to one another: also in 1936, Eliade accepted an award from the
Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society ( ro, Societatea Scriitorilor Români) was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the e ...
, of which he had been a member since 1934. In summer 1937, through an official decision which came as a result of the accusations, and despite student protests, he was stripped of his position at the university. Eliade decided to sue the Ministry of Education, asking for a symbolic compensation of 1
leu Leu may refer to: Businesses and organisations * LEU, NYSE American stock symbol for Centrus Energy Corp. * London Ecology Unit, a former body (1986-2000) which advised London boroughs on environmental matters * Free and Equal (''LeU - Liberi e ...
.Ornea, p. 453. He won the trial, and regained his position as Nae Ionescu's assistant. Nevertheless, by 1937, he gave his intellectual support to the Iron Guard, in which he saw "a Christian revolution aimed at creating a new Romania",Eliade, 1937, in Ornea, p. 203 and a group able "to reconcile Romania with God". His articles of the time, published in Iron Guard papers such as ''Sfarmă Piatră'' and '' Buna Vestire'', contain ample praises of the movement's leaders ( Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, Ion Moța,
Vasile Marin Vasile Marin (January 29, 1904, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania – January 13, 1937, Majadahonda, Spain) was a Romanian politician, public servant and lawyer. A member of the National Peasants' Party until 1932, Vasile Marin later became a pr ...
, and
Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul was a Romanian landowner, general and far-right politician who was a member of the Iron Guard, and a member of the Legionary Senate. Biography Gheorghe Cantacuzino was born in Paris as the son of engineer I.G. C ...
). Ovidiu Şimonca
"Mircea Eliade şi 'căderea în lume'" ("Mircea Eliade and 'the Descent into the World'")
, review of Florin Ţurcanu, ''Mircea Eliade. Le prisonnier de l'histoire'' ("Mircea Eliade. The Prisoner of History"), in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 305, January–February 2006; retrieved July 16, 2007
The transition he went through was similar to that of his fellow generation members and close collaborators—among the notable exceptions to this rule were
Petru Comarnescu __NOTOC__ Petru Comarnescu (born 23 November 1905, Iași - d. 27 November 1970, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator. Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop Veniamin Costache, he studie ...
, sociologist Henri H. Stahl and future dramatist Eugène Ionesco, as well as Sebastian. He eventually enrolled in the ''Totul pentru Țară'' ("Everything for the Fatherland" Party), the political expression of the Iron Guard,Ornea, p. 207 and contributed to its 1937 electoral campaign in Prahova County—as indicated by his inclusion on a list of party members with
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
-level responsibilities (published in ''Buna Vestire'').


Internment and diplomatic service

The stance taken by Eliade resulted in his arrest on July 14, 1938, after a crackdown on the Iron Guard authorized by
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
Carol II. At the time of his arrest, he had just interrupted a column on ''Provincia și legionarismul'' ("The Province and Legionary Ideology") in '' Vremea'', having been singled out by
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Armand Călinescu as an author of Iron Guard propaganda. Eliade was kept for three weeks in a cell at the '' Siguranța Statului'' Headquarters, in an attempt to have him sign a "declaration of dissociation" with the Iron Guard, but he refused to do so.Ornea, p. 209 In the first week of August he was transferred to a makeshift camp at
Miercurea-Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc (; hu, Csíkszereda, ; german: Szeklerburg) is the county seat of Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, a mainly Hungarian-speaking ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is situated in the Olt Rive ...
. When Eliade began coughing blood in October 1938, he was taken to a clinic in Moroeni. Eliade was simply released on November 12, and subsequently spent his time writing his play ''Iphigenia'' (also known as ''Ifigenia''). In April 1940, with the help of
Alexandru Rosetti Alexandru Rosetti (October 20, 1895 – February 27, 1990) was a Romanian linguist, editor, and memoirist. Born in Bucharest, his parents were Petre Rosetti Bălănescu, a lawyer and landowner, and his wife Zoe (''née'' Cornescu), whose father wro ...
, he became Cultural Attaché to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, a posting cut short when Romanian-British foreign relations were broken. After leaving London he was assigned the office of Counsel and Press Officer (later Cultural Attaché) to the Romanian Embassy in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
,
Cătălin Avramescu Cătălin is a Romanian first name (male) that may refer to: *Cătălin Anghel, footballer *Cătălin Cursaru, footballer *Cătălin Costache, canoer *Cătălin Crăciun, footballer *Cătălin Dedu, footballer *Cătălin Doman, footballer *Cătălin ...

"Citim una, înţelegem alta" ("We Read One Thing and Understand Another")
, in '' Dilema Veche'', Vol. III, August 2006; retrieved January 28, 2008
Michael Löwy Michael Löwy (born 6 May 1938) is a French-Brazilian Marxist sociologist and philosopher. He is emeritus research director in social sciences at the CNRS (French National Center of Scientific Research) and lectures at the ''École des hautes ...

Review of Daniel Dubuisson, ''Impostures et pseudo-science. L'œuvre de Mircea Eliade''
i
''Archives de Science Sociale et Religion''
132 (2005) ; retrieved January 22, 2008
where he was kept on as diplomat by the National Legionary State (the Iron Guard government) and, ultimately, by Ion Antonescu's regime. His office involved disseminating propaganda in favor of the Romanian state. In 1941, during his time in Portugal, Eliade stayed in Estoril, at the Hotel Palácio. He would later find a house in Cascais, at Rua da Saudade. In February 1941, weeks after the bloody
Legionary Rebellion Between 21 and 23 January 1941, a rebellion of the Iron Guard paramilitary organization, whose members were known as Legionnaires, occurred in Bucharest, Romania. As their privileges were being gradually removed by the ''Conducător'' Ion An ...
was crushed by Antonescu, ''Iphigenia'' was staged by the
National Theater Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gr ...
—the play soon raised concerns that it owed inspiration to the Iron Guard's ideology, and even that its inclusion in the program was a Legionary attempt at subversion. In 1942, Eliade authored a volume in praise of the '' Estado Novo'', established in Portugal by
António de Oliveira Salazar António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
,Eliade, ''Salazar'', in "Eliade despre Salazar" ("Eliade on Salazar"), '' Evenimentul Zilei'', October 13, 2002 claiming that "The Salazarian state, a Christian and totalitarian one, is first and foremost based on love". On July 7 of the same year, he was received by Salazar himself, who assigned Eliade the task of warning Antonescu to withdraw the
Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...
from the Eastern Front (" n his place I would not be grinding it in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
").Eliade, in Handoca Eliade also claimed that such contacts with the leader of a neutral country had made him the target for Gestapo surveillance, but that he had managed to communicate Salazar's advice to Mihai Antonescu, Romania's Foreign Minister. In autumn 1943, he traveled to
occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied z ...
, where he rejoined Emil Cioran, also meeting with scholar Georges Dumézil and the collaborationist writer Paul Morand. At the same time, he applied for a position of lecturer at the University of Bucharest, but withdrew from the race, leaving Constantin Noica and Ion Zamfirescu to dispute the position, in front of a panel of academics comprising Lucian Blaga and Dimitrie Gusti (Zamfirescu's eventual selection, going against Blaga's recommendation, was to be the topic of a controversy). In his private notes, Eliade wrote that he took no further interest in the office, because his visits abroad had convinced him that he had "something great to say", and that he could not function within the confines of "a minor culture". Also during the war, Eliade traveled to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, where he met and conversed with controversial political theorist Carl Schmitt, and frequently visited
Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...
, where he notably attended the 1944 Lusitano-Spanish scientific congress in Córdoba.Joaquín Garrigós
"Pasiunea lui Mircea Eliade pentru Spania" ("Mircea Eliade's Passion for Spain")
, in '' Dilema Veche'', Vol. IV, October 2007; retrieved January 21, 2008
Andrei Oişteanu Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...

"Mircea Eliade, de la opium la amfetamine" ("Mircea Eliade, from Opium to Amphetamines")
, in '' 22'', Nr. 896, May 2007; retrieved January 17, 2008
It was during his trips to Spain that Eliade met philosophers
José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...
and Eugeni d'Ors. He maintained a friendship with d'Ors, and met him again on several occasions after the war. Nina Eliade fell ill with uterine cancer and died during their stay in Lisbon, in late 1944. As the widower later wrote, the disease was probably caused by an
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
procedure she had undergone at an early stage of their relationship. He came to suffer from
clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...
, which increased as Romania and her Axis allies suffered major defeats on the Eastern Front. Contemplating a return to Romania as a soldier or a
monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
, he was on a continuous search for effective antidepressants, medicating himself with passion flower extract, and, eventually, with methamphetamine. This was probably not his first experience with drugs: vague mentions in his notebooks have been read as indication that Mircea Eliade was taking opium during his travels to
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
. Later, discussing the works of Aldous Huxley, Eliade wrote that the British author's use of mescaline as a source of inspiration had something in common with his own experience, indicating 1945 as a date of reference and adding that it was "needless to explain why that is".


Early exile

At signs that the Romanian communist regime was about to take hold, Eliade opted not to return to the country. On September 16, 1945, he moved to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
with his adopted daughter Giza. Once there, he resumed contacts with Dumézil, who helped him recover his position in academia. On Dumézil's recommendation, he taught at the '' École Pratique des Hautes Études'' in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
. It was estimated that, at the time, it was not uncommon for him to work 15 hours a day. Eliade married a second time, to the Romanian exile Christinel Cotescu.Mihai Sorin Rădulescu
"Cotteştii: familia soţiei lui Mircea Eliade" ("The Cottescus: the Family of Mircea Eliade's Wife")
, in '' Ziarul Financiar'', June 30, 2006; retrieved January 22, 2008
His second wife, the descendant of boyars, was the sister-in-law of the conductor Ionel Perlea. Together with Emil Cioran and other Romanian expatriates, Eliade rallied with the former diplomat Alexandru Busuioceanu, helping him publicize anti-communist opinion to the
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
an public.Dan Gulea
"O perspectivă sintetică" ("A Syncretic Perspective")
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 242, October 2004; retrieved October 4, 2007
He was also briefly involved in publishing a Romanian-language magazine, titled ''Luceafărul'' ("The Morning Star"), and was again in contact with Mihai Șora, who had been granted a scholarship to study in France, and with Șora's wife
Mariana Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...
. In 1947, he was facing material constraints, and
Ananda Coomaraswamy Ananda Kentish Muthu Coomaraswamy ( ta, ஆனந்த குமாரசுவாமி, ''Ānanda Kentiś Muthū Kumāraswāmī''; si, ආනන්ද කුමාරස්වාමි ''Ānanda Kumārasvāmī''; 22 August 1877 − 9 Septem ...
found him a job as a French-language teacher in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, at a school in
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
; the arrangement ended upon Coomaraswamy's death in September. Beginning in 1948, he wrote for the journal ''Critique'', edited by French philosopher Georges Bataille. The following year, he went on a visit to Italy, where he wrote the first 300 pages of his novel '' Noaptea de Sânziene'' (he visited the country a third time in 1952). He collaborated with
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, ph ...
and the '' Eranos'' circle after Henry Corbin recommended him in 1949, and wrote for the '' Antaios'' magazine (edited by Ernst Jünger). In 1950, Eliade began attending ''Eranos'' conferences, meeting Jung,
Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn (19 October 1881 – 1962) was a Dutch spiritualist, theosophist, and scholar who gained recognition in the 1920s. She lived in Switzerland for most of her life. Early life Olga was born in London, the first child of Dutch paren ...
, Gershom Scholem and Paul Radin. He described ''Eranos'' as "one of the most creative cultural experiences of the modern Western world."McGuire, p. 151 In October 1956, he moved to the United States, settling in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
the following year. He had been invited by Joachim Wach to give a series of lectures at Wach's home institution, the University of Chicago. Eliade and Wach are generally admitted to be the founders of the "Chicago school" that basically defined the study of religions for the second half of the 20th century.Conference on ''Hermeneutics in History: Mircea Eliade, Joachim Wach, and the Science of Religions''
, at th
University of Chicago Martin Marty Center. Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion
; retrieved July 29, 2007
Upon Wach's death before the lectures were delivered, Eliade was appointed as his replacement, becoming, in 1964, the '' Sewell Avery Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions''. Beginning in 1954, with the first edition of his volume on '' Eternal Return'', Eliade also enjoyed commercial success: the book went through several editions under different titles, and sold over 100,000 copies. In 1966, Mircea Eliade became a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
. He also worked as editor-in-chief of
Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
' ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', and, in 1968, lectured in religious history at the University of California, Santa Barbara.Oişteanu, "Mircea Eliade şi mişcarea hippie" It was also during that period that Mircea Eliade completed his voluminous and influential ''History of Religious Ideas'', which grouped together the overviews of his main original interpretations of religious history. He occasionally traveled out of the United States, attending the Congress for the History of Religions in
Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximat ...
(1960), and visiting
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
and
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
in 1970.


Final years and death

Initially, Eliade was attacked with virulence by the Romanian Communist Party press, chiefly by '' România Liberă''—which described him as "the Iron Guard's ideologue, enemy of the working class, apologist of Salazar's dictatorship". However, the regime also made secretive attempts to enlist his and Cioran's support: Haig Acterian's widow, theater director Marietta Sadova, was sent to Paris in order to re-establish contacts with the two. Vladimir Tismăneanu, ''Stalinism pentru eternitate'' (Romanian translation of ''Stalinism for All Seasons''), Polirom, Iaşi, 2005, pp. 187, 337. Although the move was planned by Romanian officials, her encounters were to be used as evidence incriminating her at a February 1960 trial for treason (where Constantin Noica and Dinu Pillat were the main defendants). Romania's secret police, the Securitate, also portrayed Eliade as a spy for the British Secret Intelligence Service and a former agent of the Gestapo.Alexandru Popescu
"Scriitorii şi spionajul" ("Writers and Spying")
, in '' Ziarul Financiar'', January 26, 2007; retrieved November 8, 2007
He was slowly rehabilitated at home beginning in the early 1960s, under the rule of
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Part ...
. In the 1970s, Eliade was approached by the
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
regime in several ways, in order to have him return. The move was prompted by the officially sanctioned nationalism and Romania's claim to independence from the Eastern Bloc, as both phenomena came to see Eliade's prestige as an asset. An unprecedented event occurred with the interview that was granted by Mircea Eliade to poet Adrian Păunescu, during the latter's 1970 visit to Chicago; Eliade complimented both Păunescu's activism and his support for official tenets, expressing a belief that
the youth of Eastern Europe is clearly superior to that of Western Europe. ..I am convinced that, within ten years, the young revolutionary generation shan't be behaving as does today the noisy minority of Western contesters. ..Eastern youth have seen the abolition of traditional institutions, have accepted it ..and are not yet content with the structures enforced, but rather seek to improve them.
Păunescu's visit to Chicago was followed by those of the nationalist official writer
Eugen Barbu Eugen Barbu (; 20 February 1924 – 7 September 1993) was a Romanian modern novelist, short story writer, journalist, and correspondent member of the Romanian Academy. The latter position was vehemently criticized by those who contended tha ...
and by Eliade's friend Constantin Noica (who had since been released from jail). At the time, Eliade contemplated returning to Romania, but was eventually persuaded by fellow Romanian intellectuals in exile (including Radio Free Europe's
Virgil Ierunca Virgil Ierunca (; born Virgil Untaru ; August 16, 1920, Lădești, Vâlcea County – September 28, 2006, Paris) was a Romanian literary critic, journalist and poet. He was married to Monica Lovinescu. Both Ierunca and Lovinescu worked for severa ...
and
Monica Lovinescu Monica Lovinescu (; 19 November 1923 – 20 April 2008) was a Romanian essayist, short story writer, literary critic, translator, and journalist, noted for her activities as an opponent of the Romanian Communist regime. She published several ...
) to reject Communist proposals. In 1977, he joined other exiled Romanian intellectuals in signing a telegram protesting the repressive measures newly enforced by the Ceaușescu regime. Writing in 2007, Romanian anthropologist
Andrei Oișteanu Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for h ...
recounted how, around 1984, the Securitate unsuccessfully attempted to become an agent of influence in Eliade's Chicago circle.Cristian Teodorescu
"Eliade şi Culianu prin ocheanul lui Oişteanu" ("Eliade and Culianu through Oişteanu's Lens")
in ''
Cotidianul The logo used between 2003 and 2007 ''Cotidianul'' (meaning ''The Daily'' in English) is a Romanian language newspaper published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile Founded by Ion Raţiu, ''Cotidianul'' was first published on 10 May ...
'', June 14, 2007; retrieved November 7, 2007
During his later years, Eliade's past was progressively exposed publicly, the stress of which probably contributed to the decline of his health. By then, his writing career was hampered by severe arthritis. The last academic honors bestowed upon him were the French Academy's
Bordin Prize Bordin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alessandro Bordin (born 1998), Italian footballer *Gelindo Bordin Gelindo Bordin (born 2 April 1959) is an Italian former athlete, winner of the marathon race at the 1988 Summer Oly ...
(1977) and the title of '' Doctor Honoris Causa'', granted by
George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...
(1985). Mircea Eliade died at the Bernard Mitchell Hospital in April 1986. Eight days previously, he suffered a
stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
while reading Emil Cioran's ''Exercises of Admiration'', and had subsequently lost his speech function. Four months before, a fire had destroyed part of his office at the Meadville Lombard Theological School (an event which he had interpreted as an omen). Eliade's Romanian disciple Ioan Petru Culianu, who recalled the scientific community's reaction to the news, described Eliade's death as "a '' mahaparanirvana''", thus comparing it to the passing of
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
. His body was
cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...
in Chicago, and the funeral ceremony was held on University grounds, at the Rockefeller Chapel. It was attended by 1,200 people, and included a public reading of Eliade's text in which he recalled the epiphany of his childhood—the lecture was given by novelist Saul Bellow, Eliade's colleague at the university. His student and the bearer of his legacy, Charles H. Long, co-founder of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School, gave the eulogy. His grave is located in
Oak Woods Cemetery Oak Woods Cemetery is a large lawn cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. Located at 1035 E. 67th Street, in the Greater Grand Crossing area of Chicago's South Side. Established on February 12, 1853, it covers . Oak Woods is the final resting place ...
.


Work


The general nature of religion

In his work on the history of religion, Eliade is most highly regarded for his writings on
Alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...
, Shamanism,
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
and what he called the eternal return—the implicit belief, supposedly present in religious thought in general, that religious behavior is not only an imitation of, but also a participation in, sacred events, and thus restores the mythical time of origins. Eliade's thinking was in part influenced by Rudolf Otto, Gerardus van der Leeuw, Nae Ionescu and the writings of the Traditionalist School ( René Guénon and
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...
). For instance, Eliade's ''The Sacred and the Profane'' partially builds on Otto's '' The Idea of the Holy'' to show how religion emerges from the experience of the sacred, and myths of time and nature. Eliade is known for his attempt to find broad, cross-cultural parallels and unities in religion, particularly in myths. Wendy Doniger, Eliade's colleague from 1978 until his death, has observed that "Eliade argued boldly for universals where he might more safely have argued for widely prevalent patterns." His ''Treatise on the History of Religions'' was praised by French philologist Georges Dumézil for its coherence and ability to synthesize diverse and distinct mythologies.
Robert Ellwood Robert S. Ellwood (born 1933) is an American academic, author and expert on world religions. He was educated at the University of Colorado, Berkeley Divinity School and was awarded a PhD in History of Religions from the University of Chicago in ...
describes Eliade's approach to religion as follows. Eliade approaches religion by imagining an ideally "religious" person, whom he calls ''homo religiosus'' in his writings. Eliade's theories basically describe how this ''homo religiosus'' would view the world.Ellwood, p. 99 This does not mean that all religious practitioners actually think and act like ''homo religiosus''. Instead, it means that religious behavior "says through its own language" that the world is as ''homo religiosus'' would see it, whether or not the real-life participants in religious behavior are aware of it.Ellwood, p. 104 However, Ellwood writes that Eliade "tends to slide over that last qualification", implying that traditional societies actually thought like ''homo religiosus''.


Sacred and profane

Eliade argues that "Yahweh is both kind and wrathful; the God of the Christian mystics and theologians is terrible and gentle at once."Eliade, ''Myths, Rites, Symbols'', p. 450 He also thought that the Indian and Chinese mystic tried to attain "a state of perfect indifference and neutrality" that resulted in a coincidence of opposites in which "pleasure and pain, desire and repulsion, cold and heat ..are expunged from his awareness." Eliade's understanding of religion centers on his concept of hierophany (manifestation of the Sacred)—a concept that includes, but is not limited to, the older and more restrictive concept of theophany (manifestation of a god). From the perspective of religious thought, Eliade argues, hierophanies give structure and orientation to the world, establishing a sacred order. The "profane" space of nonreligious experience can only be divided up geometrically: it has no "qualitative differentiation and, hence, no orientation sgiven by virtue of its inherent structure."Eliade, ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 22 Thus, profane space gives man no pattern for his behavior. In contrast to profane space, the site of a hierophany has a sacred structure to which religious man conforms himself. A hierophany amounts to a "revelation of an absolute reality, opposed to the non-reality of the vast surrounding expanse."Eliade, ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 21 As an example of " sacred space" demanding a certain response from man, Eliade gives the story of Moses halting before
Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he po ...
's manifestation as a burning bush (''
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * E ...
'' 3:5) and taking off his shoes.


Origin myths and sacred time

Eliade notes that, in traditional societies, myth represents the absolute truth about primordial time.Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 23 According to the myths, this was the time when the Sacred first appeared, establishing the world's structure—myths claim to describe the primordial events that made society and the natural world be that which they are. Eliade argues that all myths are, in that sense, origin myths: "myth, then, is always an account of a ''creation.''" Many traditional societies believe that the power of a thing lies in its origin. If origin is equivalent to power, then "it is the first manifestation of a thing that is significant and valid" (a thing's reality and value therefore lies only in its first appearance). According to Eliade's theory, only the Sacred has value, only a thing's first appearance has value and, therefore, only the Sacred's first appearance has value. Myth describes the Sacred's first appearance; therefore, the mythical age is sacred time, the only time of value: "primitive man was interested only in the ''beginnings'' ..to him it mattered little what had happened to himself, or to others like him, in more or less distant times."Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 44 Eliade postulated this as the reason for the " nostalgia for origins" that appears in many religions, the desire to return to a primordial
Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...
.


Eternal return and "Terror of history"

Eliade argues that traditional man attributes no value to the linear march of historical events: only the events of the mythical age have value. To give his own life value, traditional man performs myths and rituals. Because the Sacred's essence lies only in the mythical age, only in the Sacred's first appearance, any later appearance is actually the first appearance; by recounting or re-enacting mythical events, myths and rituals "re-actualize" those events. Eliade often uses the term "
archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
s" to refer to the mythical models established by the Sacred, although Eliade's use of the term should be distinguished from the use of the term in Jungian psychology. Thus, argues Eliade, religious behavior does not only commemorate, but also participates in, sacred events:
In ''imitating'' the exemplary acts of a god or of a mythical hero, or simply by recounting their adventures, the man of an archaic society detaches himself from profane time and magically re-enters the Great Time, the sacred time.
Eliade called this concept the " eternal return" (distinguished from the philosophical concept of "eternal return"). Wendy Doniger noted that Eliade's theory of the eternal return "has become a truism in the study of religions." Eliade attributes the well-known "cyclic" vision of time in ancient thought to belief in the eternal return. For instance, the
New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system ...
ceremonies among the
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
ns, the Egyptians, and other Near Eastern peoples re-enacted their cosmogonic myths. Therefore, by the logic of the eternal return, each New Year ceremony ''was'' the beginning of the world for these peoples. According to Eliade, these peoples felt a need to return to the Beginning at regular intervals, turning time into a circle. Eliade argues that yearning to remain in the mythical age causes a "terror of history": traditional man desires to escape the linear succession of events (which, Eliade indicated, he viewed as empty of any inherent value or sacrality). Eliade suggests that the abandonment of mythical thought and the full acceptance of linear, historical time, with its "terror", is one of the reasons for modern man's anxieties. Traditional societies escape this anxiety to an extent, as they refuse to completely acknowledge historical time. But the return to the sources involved an apocalyptic experience.
Doina Ruști Doina Ruști (; (born 15 February 1957) is a Romanian writer and novelist. Some of her novels are: ' (''The Ghost in the Mill''), 2008, ', 2006, and ''Lizoanca la 11 ani'' (''Lizoanca at age eleven''), 2009. Biography Ruști was born in Como ...
, analyzing the story''The Old Man and The Bureaucrats'' (''Pe strada Mântuleasa''), says The memories create the chaos, because "the myth makes irruption in a world in tormented birth, without memory, and transform all in a labyrinth".


''Coincidentia oppositorum''

Eliade claims that many myths, rituals, and mystical experiences involve a "coincidence of opposites," or '' coincidentia oppositorum''. In fact, he calls the ''coincidentia oppositorum'' "the mythical pattern." Many myths, Eliade notes, "present us with a twofold revelation":
they express on the one hand the diametrical opposition of two divine figures sprung from one and the same principle and destined, in many versions, to be reconciled at some ''illud tempus'' of eschatology, and on the other, the ''coincidentia oppositorum'' in the very nature of the divinity, which shows itself, by turns or even simultaneously, benevolent and terrible, creative and destructive, solar and serpentine, and so on (in other words, actual and potential).
Eliade argues that "Yahweh is both kind and wrathful; the God of the Christian mystics and theologians is terrible and gentle at once." He also thought that the Indian and Chinese mystic tried to attain "a state of perfect indifference and neutrality" that resulted in a coincidence of opposites in which "pleasure and pain, desire and repulsion, cold and heat ..are expunged from his awareness". According to Eliade, the ''coincidentia oppositorums appeal lies in "man's deep dissatisfaction with his actual situation, with what is called the human condition". In many mythologies, the end of the mythical age involves a "fall", a fundamental " ontological change in the structure of the World".Eliade, ''Myths, Rites, Symbols'', p. 440 Because the ''coincidentia oppositorum'' is a contradiction, it represents a denial of the world's current logical structure, a reversal of the "fall". Also, traditional man's dissatisfaction with the post-mythical age expresses itself as a feeling of being "torn and separate".Eliade, ''Myths, Rites, Symbols'', p. 439 In many mythologies, the lost mythical age was a Paradise, "a paradoxical state in which the contraries exist side by side without conflict, and the multiplications form aspects of a mysterious Unity". The ''coincidentia oppositorum'' expresses a wish to recover the lost unity of the mythical Paradise, for it presents a reconciliation of opposites and the unification of diversity:
On the level of pre-systematic thought, the mystery of totality embodies man's endeavor to reach a perspective in which the contraries are abolished, the Spirit of Evil reveals itself as a stimulant of Good, and Demons appear as the night aspect of the Gods.


Exceptions to the general nature

Eliade acknowledges that not all religious behavior has all the attributes described in his theory of sacred time and the eternal return. The
Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
,
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, Christian, and
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
traditions embrace linear, historical time as sacred or capable of sanctification, while some Eastern traditions largely reject the notion of sacred time, seeking escape from the cycles of time. Because they contain rituals, Judaism and Christianity necessarily—Eliade argues—retain a sense of cyclic time:
''by the very fact that it is a religion'', Christianity had to keep at least one mythical aspect— liturgical Time, that is, the periodic rediscovery of the ''illud tempus'' of the beginnings ndan ''imitation'' of the
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
as ''exemplary pattern''.
However, Judaism and Christianity do not see time as a circle endlessly turning on itself; nor do they see such a cycle as desirable, as a way to participate in the Sacred. Instead, these religions embrace the concept of linear history progressing toward the Messianic Age or the Last Judgment, thus initiating the idea of "progress" (humans are to work for a Paradise in the future). However, Eliade's understanding of Judaeo-Christian
eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that nega ...
can also be understood as cyclical in that the "end of time" is a return to God: "The final catastrophe will put an end to history, hence will restore man to eternity and beatitude." The pre-
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, which made a notable "contribution to the religious formation of the West",Eliade, ''A History of Religious Ideas'', vol. 1, p. 302 also has a linear sense of time; although, according to Eliade, the Hebrews' linear sense of time predates their being influenced by Zoroastrianism. In fact, Eliade identifies the Hebrews, not the Zoroastrians, as the first culture to truly "valorize" historical time, the first to see all major historical events as episodes in a continuous divine revelation. However, Eliade argues, Judaism elaborated its mythology of linear time by adding elements borrowed from Zoroastrianism—including
ethical dualism Ethical dualism (from ancient Greek ἔθος (o ἦθος), ethos,"character", "custom", and Latin duo, "two") refers to the practice of imputing evil entirely and exclusively to a specific group of people, while disregarding or denying one's ...
, a savior figure, the future resurrection of the body, and the idea of cosmic progress toward "the final triumph of Good." The Indian religions of the East generally retain a cyclic view of time—for instance, the
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
doctrine of '' kalpas''. According to Eliade, most religions that accept the cyclic view of time also embrace it: they see it as a way to return to the sacred time. However, in
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
,
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
, and some forms of Hinduism, the Sacred lies outside the flux of the material world (called '' maya'', or "illusion"), and one can only reach it by escaping from the cycles of time. Because the Sacred lies outside cyclic time, which conditions humans, people can only reach the Sacred by escaping the human condition. According to Eliade,
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
techniques aim at escaping the limitations of the body, allowing the soul (''
atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Film * ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto * ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo People * Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
'') to rise above ''maya'' and reach the Sacred (''
nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...
'', ''
moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriologic ...
''). Imagery of "freedom", and of death to one's old body and rebirth with a new body, occur frequently in Yogic texts, representing escape from the bondage of the temporal human condition. Eliade discusses these themes in detail in ''Yoga: Immortality and Freedom''.


Symbolism of the Center

A recurrent theme in Eliade's myth analysis is the '' axis mundi'', the Center of the World. According to Eliade, the Cosmic Center is a necessary corollary to the division of reality into the Sacred and the profane. The Sacred contains all value, and the world gains purpose and meaning only through hierophanies:
In the homogeneous and infinite expanse, in which no point of reference is possible and hence no orientation is established, the hierophany reveals an absolute fixed point, a center.
Because profane space gives man no orientation for his life, the Sacred must manifest itself in a hierophany, thereby establishing a sacred site around which man can orient himself. The site of a hierophany establishes a "fixed point, a center". This Center abolishes the "homogeneity and relativity of profane space", for it becomes "the central axis for all future orientation". A manifestation of the Sacred in profane space is, by definition, an example of something breaking through from one plane of existence to another. Therefore, the initial hierophany that establishes the Center must be a point at which there is contact between different planes—this, Eliade argues, explains the frequent mythical imagery of a
Cosmic Tree The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereb ...
or Pillar joining Heaven, Earth, and the
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...
. Eliade noted that, when traditional societies found a new territory, they often perform consecrating rituals that reenact the hierophany that established the center and founded the world. In addition, the designs of traditional buildings, especially temples, usually imitate the mythical image of the ''axis mundi'' joining the different cosmic levels. For instance, the Babylonian ziggurats were built to resemble cosmic mountains passing through the heavenly spheres, and the rock of the Temple in Jerusalem was supposed to reach deep into the '' tehom'', or primordial waters. According to the logic of the eternal return, the site of each such symbolic Center will actually be the Center of the World:
It may be said, in general, that the majority of the sacred and ritual trees that we meet with in the history of religions are only replicas, imperfect copies of this exemplary archetype, the Cosmic Tree. Thus, all these sacred trees are thought of as situated at the Centre of the World, and all the ritual trees or posts ..are, as it were, magically projected into the Centre of the World.
According to Eliade's interpretation, religious man apparently feels the need to live not only near, but ''at'', the mythical Center as much as possible, given that the center is the point of communication with the Sacred. Thus, Eliade argues, many traditional societies share common outlines in their mythical geographies. In the middle of the known world is the sacred Center, "a place that is sacred above all"; this Center anchors the established order. Around the sacred Center lies the known world, the realm of established order; and beyond the known world is a chaotic and dangerous realm, "peopled by ghosts, demons, nd'foreigners' (who are dentified withdemons and the souls of the dead)". According to Eliade, traditional societies place their known world at the Center because (from their perspective) their known world is the realm that obeys a recognizable order, and it therefore must be the realm in which the Sacred manifests itself; the regions beyond the known world, which seem strange and foreign, must lie far from the center, outside the order established by the Sacred.


The High God

According to some "evolutionistic" theories of religion, especially that of Edward Burnett Tylor, cultures naturally progress from
animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...
and polytheism to
monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
. According to this view, more advanced cultures should be more monotheistic, and more primitive cultures should be more polytheistic. However, many of the most "primitive", pre-agricultural societies believe in a supreme sky-god. Thus, according to Eliade, post-19th-century scholars have rejected Tylor's theory of evolution from
animism Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...
. Based on the discovery of supreme sky-gods among "primitives", Eliade suspects that the earliest humans worshiped a heavenly Supreme Being. In ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', he writes, "The most popular prayer in the world is addressed to 'Our Father who art in heaven.' It is possible that man's earliest prayers were addressed to the same heavenly father." However, Eliade disagrees with Wilhelm Schmidt, who thought the earliest form of religion was a strict monotheism. Eliade dismisses this theory of "primordial monotheism" (''Urmonotheismus'') as "rigid" and unworkable. "At most," he writes, "this schema chmidt's theoryrenders an account of human eligiousevolution since the Paleolithic era". If an ''Urmonotheismus'' did exist, Eliade adds, it probably differed in many ways from the conceptions of God in many modern monotheistic faiths: for instance, the primordial High God could manifest himself as an animal without losing his status as a celestial Supreme Being. According to Eliade, heavenly Supreme Beings are actually less common in more advanced cultures. Eliade speculates that the discovery of agriculture brought a host of fertility gods and goddesses into the forefront, causing the celestial Supreme Being to fade away and eventually vanish from many ancient religions. Even in primitive hunter-gatherer societies, the High God is a vague, distant figure, dwelling high above the world. Often he has no cult and receives
prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...
only as a last resort, when all else has failed. Eliade calls the distant High God a '' deus otiosus'' ("idle god"). In belief systems that involve a ''deus otiosus'', the distant High God is believed to have been closer to humans during the mythical age. After finishing his works of creation, the High God "forsook the earth and withdrew into the highest heaven". This is an example of the Sacred's distance from "profane" life, life lived after the mythical age: by escaping from the profane condition through religious behavior, figures such as the shaman return to the conditions of the mythical age, which include nearness to the High God ("by his ''flight'' or ascension, the shaman ..meets the God of Heaven face to face and speaks directly to him, as man sometimes did ''in illo tempore''").Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 66 The shamanistic behaviors surrounding the High God are a particularly clear example of the eternal return.


Shamanism

Eliade's scholarly work includes a study of shamanism, '' Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy'', a survey of shamanistic practices in different areas. His ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'' also addresses shamanism in some detail. In ''Shamanism'', Eliade argues for a restrictive use of the word ''shaman'': it should not apply to just any magician or medicine man, as that would make the term redundant; at the same time, he argues against restricting the term to the practitioners of the sacred of Siberia and
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
(it is from one of the titles for this function, namely, ''šamán'', considered by Eliade to be of Tungusic origin, that the term itself was introduced into Western languages). Eliade defines a shaman as follows:
he is believed to cure, like all doctors, and to perform miracles of the fakir type, like all magicians ..But beyond this, he is a psychopomp, and he may also be a priest, mystic, and poet.Eliade, ''Shamanism'', p. 4
If we define shamanism this way, Eliade claims, we find that the term covers a collection of phenomena that share a common and unique "structure" and "history." (When thus defined, shamanism tends to occur in its purest forms in
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
and pastoral societies like those of Siberia and Central Asia, which revere a celestial High God "on the way to becoming a '' deus otiosus''." Eliade takes the shamanism of those regions as his most representative example.) In his examinations of shamanism, Eliade emphasizes the shaman's attribute of regaining man's condition before the "Fall" out of sacred time: "The most representative mystical experience of the archaic societies, that of shamanism, betrays the ''Nostalgia for Paradise'', the desire to recover the state of freedom and beatitude before 'the Fall'." This concern—which, by itself, is the concern of almost all religious behavior, according to Eliade—manifests itself in specific ways in shamanism.


Death, resurrection and secondary functions

According to Eliade, one of the most common shamanistic themes is the shaman's supposed death and resurrection. This occurs in particular during his initiation. Often, the procedure is supposed to be performed by spirits who dismember the shaman and strip the flesh from his bones, then put him back together and revive him. In more than one way, this death and resurrection represents the shaman's elevation above human nature. First, the shaman dies so that he can rise above human nature on a quite literal level. After he has been dismembered by the initiatory spirits, they often replace his old organs with new, magical ones (the shaman dies to his profane self so that he can rise again as a new, sanctified, being). Second, by being reduced to his bones, the shaman experiences rebirth on a more symbolic level: in many hunting and herding societies, the bone represents the source of life, so reduction to a skeleton "is equivalent to re-entering the womb of this primordial life, that is, to a complete renewal, a mystical rebirth". Eliade considers this return to the source of life essentially equivalent to the eternal return. Third, the shamanistic phenomenon of repeated death and resurrection also represents a transfiguration in other ways. The shaman dies not once but many times: having died during initiation and risen again with new powers, the shaman can send his spirit out of his body on errands; thus, his whole career consists of repeated deaths and resurrections. The shaman's new ability to die and return to life shows that he is no longer bound by the laws of profane time, particularly the law of death: "the ability to 'die' and come to life again ..denotes that he shamanhas surpassed the human condition." Having risen above the human condition, the shaman is not bound by the flow of history. Therefore, he enjoys the conditions of the mythical age. In many myths, humans can speak with animals; and, after their initiations, many shamans claim to be able to communicate with animals. According to Eliade, this is one manifestation of the shaman's return to "the ''illud tempus'' described to us by the paradisiac myths." The shaman can descend to the underworld or ascend to heaven, often by climbing the World Tree, the cosmic pillar, the sacred ladder, or some other form of the '' axis mundi''. Often, the shaman will ascend to heaven to speak with the High God. Because the gods (particularly the High God, according to Eliade's ''deus otiosus'' concept) were closer to humans during the mythical age, the shaman's easy communication with the High God represents an abolition of history and a return to the mythical age. Because of his ability to communicate with the gods and descend to the land of the dead, the shaman frequently functions as a psychopomp and a medicine man.


Philosophy


Early contributions

In addition to his political essays, the young Mircea Eliade authored others, philosophical in content. Connected with the ideology of Trăirism, they were often prophetic in tone, and saw Eliade being hailed as a herald by various representatives of his generation. When Eliade was 21 years old and publishing his ''Itinerar spiritual'', literary critic Şerban Cioculescu described him as "the column leader of the spiritually mystical and Orthodox youth." Cioculescu discussed his "impressive erudition", but argued that it was "occasionally plethoric, poetically inebriating itself through abuse." Cioculescu's colleague
Perpessicius Perpessicius (; pen name of Dumitru S. Panaitescu, also known as Panait Șt. Dumitru, D. P. Perpessicius and Panaitescu-Perpessicius; October 22, 1891 – March 29, 1971) was a Romanian literary historian and critic, poet, essayist and fiction wr ...
saw the young author and his generation as marked by "the specter of war", a notion he connected to various essays of the 1920s and 30s in which Eliade threatened the world with the verdict that a new conflict was looming (while asking that young people be allowed to manifest their will and fully experience freedom before perishing). One of Eliade's noted contributions in this respect was the 1932 ''Soliloquii'' ('Soliloquies'), which explored
existential philosophy Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...
.
George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
who saw in it "an echo of Nae Ionescu's lectures",Călinescu, p. 954 traced a parallel with the essays of another of Ionescu's disciples, Emil Cioran, while noting that Cioran's were "of a more exulted tone and written in the
aphoristic An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
form of Kierkegaard." Călinescu recorded Eliade's rejection of
objectivity Objectivity can refer to: * Objectivity (philosophy), the property of being independent from perception ** Objectivity (science), the goal of eliminating personal biases in the practice of science ** Journalistic objectivity, encompassing fai ...
, citing the author's stated indifference towards any "naïveté" or "contradictions" that the reader could possibly reproach him, as well as his dismissive thoughts of "theoretical data" and mainstream philosophy in general (Eliade saw the latter as "inert, infertile and pathogenic"). Eliade thus argued, "a sincere brain is unassailable, for it denies itself to any relationship with outside truths."Eliade, in Călinescu, p. 954 The young writer was however careful to clarify that the existence he took into consideration was not the life of "instincts and personal idiosyncrasies", which he believed determined the lives of many humans, but that of a distinct set comprising "personalities". He described "personalities" as characterized by both "purpose" and "a much more complicated and dangerous alchemy." This differentiation, George Călinescu believed, echoed Ionescu's metaphor of man, seen as "the only animal who can fail at living", and the duck, who "shall remain a duck no matter what it does". According to Eliade, the purpose of personalities is infinity: "consciously and gloriously bringing xistenceto waste, into as many skies as possible, continuously fulfilling and polishing oneself, seeking ascent and not circumference." In Eliade's view, two roads await man in this process. One is glory, determined by either work or procreation, and the other the asceticism of religion or magic—both, Călinescu believed, were aimed at reaching the
absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manag ...
, even in those cases where Eliade described the latter as an "abyssal experience" into which man may take the plunge. The critic pointed out that the addition of "a magical solution" to the options taken into consideration seemed to be Eliade's own original contributions to his mentor's philosophy, and proposed that it may have owed inspiration to
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...
and his disciples. He also recorded that Eliade applied this concept to human creation, and specifically to artistic creation, citing him describing the latter as "a magical joy, the victorious break of the iron circle" (a reflection of '' imitatio dei'', having salvation for its ultimate goal).


Philosopher of religion


Anti-reductionism and the "transconscious"

By profession, Eliade was a historian of religion. However, his scholarly works draw heavily on philosophical and psychological terminology. In addition, they contain a number of philosophical arguments about religion. In particular, Eliade often implies the existence of a universal psychological or spiritual "essence" behind all religious phenomena. Because of these arguments, some have accused Eliade of overgeneralization and " essentialism," or even of promoting a theological agenda under the guise of historical scholarship. However, others argue that Eliade is better understood as a scholar who is willing to openly discuss sacred experience and its consequences. In studying religion, Eliade rejects certain " reductionist" approaches. Eliade thinks a religious phenomenon cannot be reduced to a product of culture and history. He insists that, although religion involves "the social man, the economic man, and so forth", nonetheless "all these conditioning factors together do not, of themselves, add up to the life of the spirit."Eliade, ''Images and Symbols'', p. 32. Using this anti-reductionist position, Eliade argues against those who accuse him of overgeneralizing, of looking for
universals In metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. In other words, universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things. For exa ...
at the expense of particulars. Eliade admits that every religious phenomenon is shaped by the particular culture and history that produced it:
When the Son of God incarnated and became the Christ, he had to speak
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
; he could only conduct himself as a Hebrew of his times ..His religious message, however universal it might be, was conditioned by the past and present history of the Hebrew people. If the Son of God had been born in India, his spoken language would have had to conform itself to the structure of the Indian languages.
However, Eliade argues against those he calls " historicist or existentialist philosophers" who do not recognize "man in general" behind particular men produced by particular situations (Eliade cites
Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
as the likely forerunner of this kind of "historicism".) He adds that human consciousness transcends (is not reducible to) its historical and cultural conditioning, and even suggests the possibility of a "transconscious". By this, Eliade does not necessarily mean anything supernatural or mystical: within the "transconscious," he places religious motifs, symbols, images, and nostalgias that are supposedly universal and whose causes therefore cannot be reduced to historical and cultural conditioning.


Platonism and "primitive ontology"

According to Eliade, traditional man feels that things "acquire their reality, their identity, only to the extent of their participation in a transcendent reality".Eliade, ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'', p. 5 To traditional man, the profane world is "meaningless", and a thing rises out of the profane world only by conforming to an ideal, mythical model.Eliade, ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'', p. 34 Eliade describes this view of reality as a fundamental part of "primitive
ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...
" (the study of "existence" or "reality"). Here he sees a similarity with the philosophy of
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, who believed that physical phenomena are pale and transient imitations of eternal models or "Forms" (''see Theory of forms''). He argued:
Plato could be regarded as the outstanding philosopher of 'primitive mentality,' that is, as the thinker who succeeded in giving philosophic currency and validity to the modes of life and behavior of archaic humanity.
Eliade thinks the Platonic '' theory of forms'' is "primitive ontology" persisting in
Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empi ...
. He claims that Platonism is the "most fully elaborated" version of this primitive ontology. In ''The Structure of Religious Knowing: Encountering the Sacred in Eliade and Lonergan'', John Daniel Dadosky argues that, by making this statement, Eliade was acknowledging "indebtedness to Greek philosophy in general, and to Plato's theory of forms specifically, for his own theory of archetypes and repetition". However, Dadosky also states that "one should be cautious when trying to assess Eliade's indebtedness to Plato". Dadosky quotes Robert Segal, a professor of religion, who draws a distinction between Platonism and Eliade's "primitive ontology": for Eliade, the ideal models are patterns that a person or object may or may not imitate; for Plato, there is a Form for everything, and everything imitates a Form by the very fact that it exists.


Existentialism and secularism

Behind the diverse cultural forms of different religions, Eliade proposes a universal: traditional man, he claims, "always believes that there is an absolute reality, ''the sacred'', which transcends this world but manifests itself in this world, thereby sanctifying it and making it real."Eliade, ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 202 Furthermore, traditional man's behavior gains purpose and meaning through the Sacred: "By imitating divine behavior, man puts and keeps himself close to the gods—that is, in the real and the significant." According to Eliade, "modern nonreligious man assumes a new existential situation." For traditional man, historical events gain significance by imitating sacred, transcendent events. In contrast, nonreligious man lacks sacred models for how history or human behavior should be, so he must decide on his own how history should proceed—he "regards himself solely as the subject and agent of history, and refuses all appeal to transcendence".Eliade, ''The Sacred and the Profane'', p. 203 From the standpoint of religious thought, the world has an objective purpose established by mythical events, to which man should conform himself: "Myth teaches eligious manthe primordial 'stories' that have constituted him existentially." From the standpoint of secular thought, any purpose must be invented and imposed on the world by man. Because of this new "existential situation," Eliade argues, the Sacred becomes the primary obstacle to nonreligious man's "freedom". In viewing himself as the proper maker of history, nonreligious man resists all notions of an externally (for instance, divinely) imposed order or model he must obey: modern man "''makes himself'', and he only makes himself completely in proportion as he desacralizes himself and the world. ..He will not truly be free until he has killed the last god."


Religious survivals in the secular world

Eliade says that secular man cannot escape his bondage to religious thought. By its very nature, secularism depends on religion for its sense of identity: by resisting sacred models, by insisting that man make history on his own, secular man identifies himself only through opposition to religious thought: "He ecular manrecognizes himself in proportion as he 'frees' and 'purifies' himself from the '
superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs ...
s' of his ancestors." Furthermore, modern man "still retains a large stock of camouflaged myths and degenerated rituals". For example, modern social events still have similarities to traditional initiation rituals, and modern novels feature mythical motifs and themes. Finally, secular man still participates in something like the eternal return: by reading modern literature, "modern man succeeds in obtaining an 'escape from time' comparable to the 'emergence from time' effected by myths". Eliade sees traces of religious thought even in secular academia. He thinks modern scientists are motivated by the religious desire to return to the sacred time of origins:
One could say that the anxious search for the origins of Life and Mind; the fascination in the 'mysteries of Nature'; the urge to penetrate and decipher the inner structure of Matter—all these longings and drives denote a sort of nostalgia for the primordial, for the original universal ''matrix''. Matter, Substance, represents the ''absolute origin'', the beginning of all things.
Eliade believes the rise of materialism in the 19th century forced the religious nostalgia for "origins" to express itself in science. He mentions his own field of History of Religions as one of the fields that was obsessed with origins during the 19th century:
The new discipline of History of Religions developed rapidly in this cultural context. And, of course, it followed a like pattern: the
positivistic Positivism is an empiricist philosophical theory that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive—meaning ''a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Ge ...
approach to the facts and the search for origins, for the very beginning of religion.
All Western historiography was during that time obsessed with the quest of ''origins''. ..This search for the origins of human institutions and cultural creations prolongs and completes the naturalist's quest for the origin of species, the biologist's dream of grasping the origin of life, the geologist's and the astronomer's endeavor to understand the origin of the Earth and the Universe. From a psychological point of view, one can decipher here the same nostalgia for the 'primordial' and the 'original'.
In some of his writings, Eliade describes modern political ideologies as secularized mythology. According to Eliade,
Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
"takes up and carries on one of the great eschatological myths of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean world, namely: the redemptive part to be played by the Just (the 'elect', the 'anointed', the 'innocent', the 'missioners', in our own days the proletariat), whose sufferings are invoked to change the ontological status of the world." Eliade sees the widespread myth of the
Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
, "which, according to a number of traditions, lies at the beginning and the end of History", as the "precedent" for
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's vision of a classless society.Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'' 1960, pp. 25–26, in Ellwood, p. 92 Finally, he sees Marx's belief in the final triumph of the good (the proletariat) over the evil (the bourgeoisie) as "a truly messianic Judaeo-Christian ideology". Despite Marx's hostility toward religion, Eliade implies, his ideology works within a conceptual framework inherited from religious mythology. Likewise, Eliade notes that Nazism involved a pseudo-pagan mysticism based on
ancient Germanic religion Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...
. He suggests that the differences between the Nazis' pseudo-Germanic mythology and Marx's pseudo-Judaeo-Christian mythology explain their differing success:
In comparison with the vigorous optimism of the communist myth, the mythology propagated by the national socialists seems particularly inept; and this is not only because of the limitations of the racial myth (how could one imagine that the rest of Europe would voluntarily accept submission to the master-race?), but above all because of the fundamental pessimism of the Germanic mythology. ..For the eschaton prophesied and expected by the ancient Germans was the ragnarok—that is, a catastrophic end of the world.


Modern man and the "terror of history"

According to Eliade, modern man displays "traces" of "mythological behavior" because he intensely needs sacred time and the eternal return. Despite modern man's claims to be nonreligious, he ultimately cannot find value in the linear progression of historical events; even modern man feels the "terror of history": "Here too ..there is always the struggle against Time, the hope to be freed from the weight of 'dead Time,' of the Time that crushes and kills." This "terror of history" becomes especially acute when violent and threatening historical events confront modern man—the mere fact that a terrible event has happened, that it is part of history, is of little comfort to those who suffer from it. Eliade asks rhetorically how modern man can "tolerate the catastrophes and horrors of history—from collective deportations and massacres to atomic bombings—if beyond them he can glimpse no sign, no transhistorical meaning". He indicates that, if repetitions of mythical events provided sacred value and meaning for history in the eyes of ancient man, modern man has denied the Sacred and must therefore invent value and purpose on his own. Without the Sacred to confer an absolute, objective value upon historical events, modern man is left with "a relativistic or
nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Iva ...
view of history" and a resulting "spiritual aridity". In chapter 4 ("The Terror of History") of ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'' and chapter 9 ("Religious Symbolism and the Modern Man's Anxiety") of ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', Eliade argues at length that the rejection of religious thought is a primary cause of modern man's anxieties.


Inter-cultural dialogue and a "new humanism"

Eliade argues that modern man may escape the "Terror of history" by learning from traditional cultures. For example, Eliade thinks
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
has advice for modern Westerners. According to many branches of Hinduism, the world of historical time is illusory, and the only absolute reality is the immortal soul or ''
atman Atman or Ātman may refer to: Film * ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto * ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo People * Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
'' within man. According to Eliade, Hindus thus escape the terror of history by refusing to see historical time as the true reality. Eliade notes that a Western or Continental philosopher might feel suspicious toward this Hindu view of history:
One can easily guess what a European historical and existentialist philosopher might reply ..You ask me, he would say, to 'die to History'; but man is not, and he ''cannot be'' anything else but History, for his very essence is temporality. You are asking me, then, to give up my authentic existence and to take refuge in an abstraction, in pure Being, in the ''atman'': I am to sacrifice my dignity as a creator of History in order to live an a-historic, inauthentic existence, empty of all human content. Well, I prefer to put up with my anxiety: at least, it cannot deprive me of a certain heroic grandeur, that of becoming conscious of, and accepting, the human condition.Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 241
However, Eliade argues that the Hindu approach to history does not necessarily lead to a rejection of history. On the contrary, in Hinduism historical human existence is not the "absurdity" that many Continental philosophers see it as. According to Hinduism, history is a divine creation, and one may live contentedly within it as long as one maintains a certain degree of detachment from it: "One is devoured by Time, by History, not because one lives in them, but because one thinks them ''real'' and, in consequence, one forgets or undervalues eternity." Furthermore, Eliade argues that Westerners can learn from non-Western cultures to see something besides absurdity in suffering and death. Traditional cultures see suffering and death as a
rite of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of social status, status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisat ...
. In fact, their initiation rituals often involve a symbolic death and resurrection, or symbolic ordeals followed by relief. Thus, Eliade argues, modern man can learn to see his historical ordeals, even death, as necessary initiations into the next stage of one's existence.Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 243 Eliade even suggests that traditional thought offers relief from the vague
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
caused by "our obscure presentiment of the end of the world, or more exactly of the end of ''our'' world, our ''own'' civilization". Many traditional cultures have myths about the end of their world or civilization; however, these myths do not succeed "in paralysing either Life or Culture". These traditional cultures emphasize cyclic time and, therefore, the inevitable rise of a new world or civilization on the ruins of the old. Thus, they feel comforted even in contemplating the end times. Eliade argues that a Western spiritual rebirth can happen within the framework of Western spiritual traditions. However, he says, to start this rebirth, Westerners may need to be stimulated by ideas from non-Western cultures. In his ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', Eliade claims that a "genuine encounter" between cultures "might well constitute the point of departure for a new
humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...
, upon a world scale".


Christianity and the "salvation" of History

Mircea Eliade sees the Abrahamic religions as a turning point between the ancient, cyclic view of time and the modern, linear view of time, noting that, in their case, sacred events are not limited to a far-off primordial age, but continue throughout history: "time is no longer nlythe circular Time of the Eternal Return; it has become linear and irreversible Time". He thus sees in Christianity the ultimate example of a religion embracing linear, historical time. When God is born as a man, into the stream of history, "all history becomes a theophany". According to Eliade, "Christianity strives to ''save'' history".Eliade, ''Images and Symbols'', p. 170 In Christianity, the Sacred enters a human being (Christ) to save humans, but it also enters history to "save" history and turn otherwise ordinary, historical events into something "capable of transmitting a trans-historical message". From Eliade's perspective, Christianity's "trans-historical message" may be the most important help that modern man could have in confronting the terror of history. In his book ''Mito'' ("Myth"), Italian researcher
Furio Jesi Furio Jesi (May 19, 1941 - June 17, 1980) was an Italian historian, writer, archaeologist, and philosopher. Biography The only son of "war hero" Bruno Jesi, Furio Jesi was an independent scholar of myth, Egyptology, history of Mediterranean reli ...
argues that Eliade denies man the position of a true protagonist in history: for Eliade, true human experience lies not in intellectually "making history", but in man's experiences of joy and grief. Thus, from Eliade's perspective, the Christ story becomes the perfect myth for modern man.Jesi, pp. 66–67 In Christianity, God willingly entered historical time by being born as Christ, and accepted the suffering that followed. By identifying with Christ, modern man can learn to confront painful historical events. Ultimately, according to Jesi, Eliade sees Christianity as the only religion that can save man from the "Terror of history". In Eliade's view, traditional man sees time as an endless repetition of mythical archetypes. In contrast, modern man has abandoned mythical archetypes and entered linear, historical time—in this context, unlike many other religions, Christianity attributes value to historical time. Thus, Eliade concludes, "Christianity incontestably proves to be the religion of 'fallen man'", of modern man who has lost "the paradise of archetypes and repetition".


"Modern gnosticism", Romanticism and Eliade's nostalgia

In analyzing the similarities between the "mythologists" Eliade, Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, Robert Ellwood concluded that the three modern mythologists, all of whom believed that myths reveal "timeless truth", fulfilled the role " gnostics" had in
antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
. The diverse religious movements covered by the term "gnosticism" share the basic doctrines that the surrounding world is fundamentally evil or inhospitable, that we are trapped in the world through no fault of our own, and that we can be saved from the world only through secret knowledge ('' gnosis''). Ellwood claimed that the three mythologists were "modern gnostics through and through", remarking,
Whether in Augustan Rome or modern Europe, democracy all too easily gave way to totalitarianism, technology was as readily used for battle as for comfort, and immense wealth lay alongside abysmal poverty. ..Gnostics past and present sought answers not in the course of outward human events, but in knowledge of the world's beginning, of what lies above and beyond the world, and of the secret places of the human soul. To all this the mythologists spoke, and they acquired large and loyal followings.
According to Ellwood, the mythologists believed in gnosticism's basic doctrines (even if in a secularized form). Ellwood also believes that
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, which stimulated the modern study of mythology,Ellwood, p. 19 strongly influenced the mythologists. Because Romantics stress that emotion and imagination have the same dignity as reason, Ellwood argues, they tend to think political truth "is known less by rational considerations than by its capacity to fire the passions" and, therefore, that political truth is "very apt to be found ..in the distant past". As modern gnostics, Ellwood argues, the three mythologists felt alienated from the surrounding modern world. As scholars, they knew of primordial societies that had operated differently from modern ones. And as people influenced by Romanticism, they saw myths as a saving ''gnosis'' that offered "avenues of eternal return to simpler primordial ages when the values that rule the world were forged". In addition, Ellwood identifies Eliade's personal sense of nostalgia as a source for his interest in, or even his theories about, traditional societies. He cites Eliade himself claiming to desire an "eternal return" like that by which traditional man returns to the mythical paradise: "My essential preoccupation is precisely the means of escaping History, of saving myself through symbol, myth, rite, archetypes". In Ellwood's view, Eliade's nostalgia was only enhanced by his exile from Romania: "In later years Eliade felt about his own Romanian past as did primal folk about mythic time. He was drawn back to it, yet he knew he could not live there, and that all was not well with it."Ellwood, p. 101 He suggests that this nostalgia, along with Eliade's sense that "exile is among the profoundest metaphors for all human life", influenced Eliade's theories. Ellwood sees evidence of this in Eliade's concept of the "Terror of history" from which modern man is no longer shielded. In this concept, Ellwood sees an "element of nostalgia" for earlier times "when the sacred was strong and the terror of history had barely raised its head".


Criticism of Eliade's scholarship


Overgeneralization

Eliade cites a wide variety of myths and rituals to support his theories. However, he has been accused of making overgeneralizations: many scholars think he lacks sufficient evidence to put forth his ideas as universal, or even general, principles of religious thought. According to one scholar, "Eliade may have been the most popular and influential contemporary historian of religion", but "many, if not most, specialists in anthropology, sociology, and even history of religions have either ignored or quickly dismissed" Eliade's works. The classicist G. S. Kirk criticizes Eliade's insistence that Australian Aborigines and ancient
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
ns had concepts of "being", "non-being", "real", and "becoming", although they lacked words for them. Kirk also believes that Eliade overextends his theories: for example, Eliade claims that the modern myth of the "
noble savage A noble savage is a literary stock character who embodies the concept of the indigene, outsider, wild human, an " other" who has not been "corrupted" by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness. Besides appearing in m ...
" results from the religious tendency to idealize the primordial, mythical age.Kirk, ''Myth...'', footnote, p. 255 According to Kirk, "such extravagances, together with a marked repetitiousness, have made Eliade unpopular with many anthropologists and sociologists". In Kirk's view, Eliade derived his theory of eternal return from the functions of Australian Aboriginal mythology and then proceeded to apply the theory to other mythologies to which it did not apply. For example, Kirk argues that the eternal return does not accurately describe the functions of Native American or
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
. Kirk concludes, "Eliade's idea is a valuable perception about certain myths, not a guide to the proper understanding of all of them". Even Wendy Doniger, Eliade's successor at the University of Chicago, claims (in an introduction to Eliade's own ''Shamanism'') that the eternal return does not apply to all myths and rituals, although it may apply to many of them. However, although Doniger agrees that Eliade made overgeneralizations, she notes that his willingness to "argue boldly for universals" allowed him to see patterns "that spanned the entire globe and the whole of human history". Whether they were true or not, she argues, Eliade's theories are still useful "as starting points for the comparative study of religion". She also argues that Eliade's theories have been able to accommodate "new data to which Eliade did not have access".


Lack of empirical support

Several researchers have criticized Eliade's work as having no empirical support. Thus, he is said to have "failed to provide an adequate methodology for the history of religions and to establish this discipline as an empirical science",Mac Linscott Ricketts, "Review of ''Religion on Trial: Mircea Eliade and His Critics'' by Guilford Dudley III", in ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', Vol. 46, No. 3 (September 1978), pp. 400–402 though the same critics admit that "the history of religions should not aim at being an empirical science anyway". Specifically, his claim that the sacred is a structure of human consciousness is distrusted as not being empirically provable: "no one has yet turned up the basic category ''sacred''". Also, there has been mention of his tendency to ignore the social aspects of religion. Anthropologist Alice Kehoe is highly critical of Eliade's work on Shamanism, namely because he was not an anthropologist but a historian. She contends that Eliade never did any field work or contacted any indigenous groups that practiced Shamanism, and that his work was synthesized from various sources without being supported by direct field research. In contrast, Professor Kees W. Bolle of the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...
argues that "Professor Eliade's approach, in all his works, is empirical":Kees W. Bolle, ''The Freedom of Man in Myth'', Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, 1968, p. 14. Bolle sets Eliade apart for what he sees as Eliade's particularly close "attention to the various particular motifs" of different myths. French researcher Daniel Dubuisson places doubt on Eliade's scholarship and its scientific character, citing the Romanian academic's alleged refusal to accept the treatment of religions in their historical and cultural context, and proposing that Eliade's notion of '' hierophany'' refers to the actual existence of a supernatural level. Ronald Inden, a historian of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
and University of Chicago professor, criticized Mircea Eliade, alongside other intellectual figures (
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, ph ...
and Joseph Campbell among them), for encouraging a "romantic view" of
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
.Inden, in Morny Joy, "Irigaray's Eastern Expedition", Chapter 4 of Morny Joy,
Kathleen O'Grady Kathleen O'Grady is a Canadian author and academic. She has published two children's books, but is more widely known as a feminist scholar who investigates women's health issues through a cultural lens and whose work addresses the under-researche ...
, Judith L. Poxon, ''Religion in French Feminist Thought: Critical Perspectives'',
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...
, London, 2003, p. 63.
He argued that their approach to the subject relied mainly on an Orientalist approach, and made Hinduism seem like "a private realm of the imagination and the religious which modern, Western man lacks but needs."


Far-right and nationalist influences

Although his scholarly work was never subordinated to his early political beliefs, the school of thought he was associated with in interwar Romania, namely '' Trăirism'', as well as the works of
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...
he continued to draw inspiration from, have thematic links to fascism. Writer and academic Marcel Tolcea has argued that, through Evola's particular interpretation of Guénon's works, Eliade kept a traceable connection with far right ideologies in his academic contributions. Daniel Dubuisson singled out Eliade's concept of ''homo religiosus'' as a reflection of fascist elitism, and argued that the Romanian scholar's views of
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
and the Old Testament, which depicted Hebrews as the enemies of an ancient cosmic religion, were ultimately the preservation of an antisemitic discourse. A piece authored in 1930 saw Eliade defining Julius Evola as a great thinker and offering praise to the controversial intellectuals
Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (; 29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best k ...
,
Arthur de Gobineau Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French aristocrat who is best known for helping to legitimise racism by the use of scientific racist theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Aryan ...
, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and the
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. Evola, who continued to defend the core principles of mystical fascism, once protested to Eliade about the latter's failure to cite him and Guénon. Eliade replied that his works were written for a contemporary public, and not to initiates of esoteric circles. After the 1960s, he, together with Evola,
Louis Rougier Louis Auguste Paul Rougier (; 10 April 1889 – 14 October 1982) was a French philosopher. Rougier made many important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science, political philosophy and the history of Christianity. Early life Rougie ...
, and other intellectuals, offered support to Alain de Benoist's controversial '' Groupement de recherche et d'études pour la civilisation européenne'', part of the ''
Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...
'' intellectual trend. Notably, Eliade was also preoccupied with the cult of Thracian deity
Zalmoxis Zalmoxis ( grc-gre, Ζάλμοξις) also known as Salmoxis (Σάλμοξις), Zalmoxes (Ζάλμοξες), Zamolxis (Ζάμολξις), Samolxis (Σάμολξις), Zamolxes (Ζάμολξες), or Zamolxe (Ζάμολξε) is a divinity of the ...
and its supposed
monotheism Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
. Lucian Boia, ''Istorie şi mit în conştiinţa românească'', Humanitas, Bucharest, 1997 (tr. ''History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001), p. 152 This, like his conclusion that
Romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, a ...
had been superficial inside Roman Dacia, was a view celebrated by contemporary partisans of protochronist nationalism. According to historian
Sorin Antohi Sorin Antohi (born 20 August 1957) is a Romanian historian, essayist, and journalist. Biography Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iași and a DEA fr ...
, Eliade may have actually encouraged protochronists such as
Edgar Papu Edgar Papu or Edgard I. Pappu (Bucharest, 13/26 September 1908 – 30 March 1993) was a Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the sou ...
to carry out research which resulted in the claim that medieval Romanians had anticipated the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
. In his study of Eliade, Jung, and Campbell, Ellwood also discusses the connection between academic theories and controversial political involvements, noting that all three mythologists have been accused of reactionary political positions. Ellwood notes the obvious parallel between the
conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
of myth, which speaks of a primordial golden age, and the conservatism of far right politics. However, Ellwood argues that the explanation is more complex than that. Wherever their political sympathies may have sometimes been, he claims, the three mythologists were often "apolitical if not antipolitical, scorning any this-worldly salvation". Moreover, the connection between mythology and politics differs for each of the mythologists in question: in Eliade's case, Ellwood believes, a strong sense of nostalgia ("for childhood, for historical times past, for cosmic religion, for paradise"), influenced not only the scholar's academic interests, but also his political views. Because Eliade stayed out of politics during his later life, Ellwood tries to extract an implicit political philosophy from Eliade's scholarly works. Ellwood argues that the later Eliade's nostalgia for ancient traditions did not make him a political reactionary, even a quiet one. He concludes that the later Eliade was, in fact, a "radical modernist".Ellwood, p. 119 According to Ellwood,
Those who see Eliade's fascination with the primordial as merely reactionary in the ordinary political or religious sense of the word do not understand the mature Eliade in a sufficiently radical way. ..Tradition was not for him exactly Burkean 'prescription' or sacred trust to be kept alive generation after generation, for Eliade was fully aware that tradition, like men and nations, lives only by changing and even occultation. The tack is not to try fruitlessly to keep it unchanging, but to discover where it is hiding.
According to Eliade, religious elements survive in secular culture, but in new, "camouflaged" forms. Thus, Ellwood believes that the later Eliade probably thought modern man should preserve elements of the past, but should not try to restore their original form through reactionary politics. He suspects that Eliade would have favored "a minimal rather than a maximalist state" that would allow personal spiritual transformation without enforcing it.Ellwood, p. 120 Many scholars have accused Eliade of " essentialism", a type of overgeneralization in which one incorrectly attributes a common "essence" to a whole group—in this case, all "religious" or "traditional" societies. Furthermore, some see a connection between Eliade's essentialism with regard to religion and fascist essentialism with regard to races and nations.Ellwood, p. 111 To Ellwood, this connection "seems rather tortured, in the end amounting to little more than an ''ad hominem'' argument which attempts to tar Eliade's entire cholarlywork with the ill-repute all decent people feel for storm troopers and the Iron Guard". However, Ellwood admits that common tendencies in "mythological thinking" may have caused Eliade, as well as Jung and Campbell, to view certain groups in an "essentialist" way, and that this may explain their purported antisemitism: "A tendency to think in generic terms of peoples, races, religions, or parties, which as we shall see is undoubtedly the profoundest flaw in mythological thinking, including that of such modern mythologists as our three, can connect with nascent anti-Semitism, or the connection can be the other way."


Literary works


Generic traits

Many of Mircea Eliade's literary works, in particular his earliest ones, are noted for their
eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, ...
and their focus on subjective experience. Modernist in style, they have drawn comparisons to the contemporary writings of
Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After ...
, I. Valerian, and Ion Biberi. Alongside Honoré de Balzac and Giovanni Papini, his literary passions included Aldous Huxley and Miguel de Unamuno, as well as André Gide. Eliade also read with interest the prose of Romain Rolland, Henrik Ibsen, and the Enlightenment thinkers
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...
and
Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...
. As a youth, he read the works of Romanian authors such as Liviu Rebreanu and
Panait Istrati Panait Istrati (; sometimes rendered as ''Panaït Istrati''; August 10, 1884 – April 16, 1935) was a Romanian working class writer, who wrote in French and Romanian, nicknamed ''The Maxim Gorky of the Balkans''. Istrati appears to be the ...
; initially, he was also interested in Ionel Teodoreanu's prose works, but later rejected them and criticized their author. Investigating the works' main characteristics,
George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
stressed that Eliade owed much of his style to the direct influence of French author André Gide, concluding that, alongside Camil Petrescu and a few others, Eliade was among Gide's leading disciples in Romanian literature. He commented that, like Gide, Eliade believed that the artist "does not take a stand, but experiences good and evil while setting himself free from both, maintaining an intact curiosity." A specific aspect of this focus on experience is sexual experimentation—Călinescu notes that Eliade's fiction works tend to depict a male figure "possessing all practicable women in givenfamily".Călinescu, p. 959 He also considered that, as a rule, Eliade depicts woman as "a basic means for a sexual experience and repudiated with harsh
egotism Egotism is defined as the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself and generally features an inflated opinion of one's personal features and importance distinguished by a person's amplified vision of one's self and self-importan ...
." For Călinescu, such a perspective on life culminated in "banality," leaving authors gripped by the "cult of the self" and "a contempt for literature". Polemically, Călinescu proposed that Mircea Eliade's supposed focus on "aggressive youth" served to instill his interwar Romanian writers with the idea that they had a common destiny as a generation apart. He also commented that, when set in Romania, Mircea Eliade's stories lacked the "perception of immediate reality", and, analyzing the non-traditional names the writer tended to ascribe to his Romanian characters, that they did not depict "specificity".Călinescu, p. 958 Additionally, in Călinescu's view, Eliade's stories were often " sensationalist compositions of the illustrated magazine kind."Călinescu, p. 960 Mircea Eliade's assessment of his own pre-1940 literary contributions oscillated between expressions of pride and the bitter verdict that they were written for "an audience of little ladies and high school students". A secondary but unifying feature present in most of Eliade's stories is their setting, a magical and part-fictional
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
. In part, they also serve to illustrate or allude to Eliade's own research in the field of religion, as well as to the concepts he introduced. Thus, commentators such as
Matei Călinescu Matei Alexe Călinescu (June 15, 1934 – June 24, 2009) was a Romanian literary critic and professor of comparative literature at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. Biography Călinescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, the son of Ra ...
and
Carmen Mușat ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
have also argued that a main characteristic of Eliade's
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
prose is a substitution between the
supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
and the mundane: in this interpretation, Eliade turns the daily world into an incomprehensible place, while the intrusive supernatural aspect promises to offer the sense of life. Carmen Muşat
"Despre fantastica alcătuire a realului" ("On the Fantastic Shape of Reality")
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 131, August–September 2002; retrieved January 17, 2008
The notion was in turn linked to Eliade's own thoughts on
transcendence Transcendence, transcendent, or transcendental may refer to: Mathematics * Transcendental number, a number that is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients * Algebraic element or transcendental element, an element of a field exten ...
, and in particular his idea that, once "camouflaged" in life or history, miracles become "unrecognizable".


Oriental-themed novels


''Isabel și apele diavolului''

One of Eliade's earliest fiction writings, the controversial first-person narrative ''Isabel şi apele diavolului'' ('Isabel and the Devil's Waters'), focused on the figure of a young and brilliant academic, whose self-declared fear is that of "being common."Eliade, in Călinescu, p. 956 The hero's experience is recorded in "notebooks", which are compiled to form the actual narrative, and which serve to record his unusual, mostly sexual, experiences in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
—the narrator describes himself as dominated by "a devilish indifference" towards "all things having to do with art or
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
", focusing instead on eroticism. The guest of a pastor, the scholar ponders sexual adventures with his host's wife, servant girl, and finally with his daughter Isabel. Persuading the pastor's adolescent son to run away from home, becoming the sexual initiator of a twelve-year-old girl and the lover of a much older woman, the character also attempts to seduce Isabel. Although she falls in love, the young woman does not give in to his pressures, but eventually allows herself to be abused and impregnated by another character, letting the object of her affection know that she had thought of him all along.Călinescu, p. 957


''Maitreyi''

One of Eliade's best-known works, the novel '' Maitreyi'', dwells on Eliade's own experience, comprising camouflaged details of his relationships with
Surendranath Dasgupta Surendranath Dasgupta (18 October 1887 – 18 December 1952) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. Family and education Surendranath Dasgupta was born to a Vaidya family in Kushtia, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), on Sunday, ...
and Dasgupta's daughter
Maitreyi Devi Maitreyi Devi (or Maitreyī Devī; 1 September 1914 – 29 January 1989) was an Indian poet and novelist. She is best known for her Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel, '' Na Hanyate'' (). Biography Devi was born in 1914. She was the daughter o ...
. The main character, Allan, is an Englishman who visits the Indian engineer Narendra Sen and courts his daughter, herself known as Maitreyi. The narrative is again built on "notebooks" to which Allan adds his comments. This technique Călinescu describes as "boring", and its result "cynical". Allan himself stands alongside Eliade's male characters, whose focus is on action, sensation and experience—his chaste contacts with Maitreyi are encouraged by Sen, who hopes for a marriage which is nonetheless abhorred by his would-be European son-in-law. Instead, Allan is fascinated to discover Maitreyi's Oriental version of Platonic love, marked by spiritual attachment more than by physical contact. However, their affair soon after turns physical, and she decides to attach herself to Allan as one would to a husband, in what is an informal and intimate wedding ceremony (which sees her vowing her love and invoking an earth goddess as the seal of union). Upon discovering this, Narendra Sen becomes enraged, rejecting their guest and keeping Maitreyi in confinement. As a result, his daughter decides to have intercourse with a lowly stranger, becoming pregnant in the hope that her parents would consequently allow her to marry her lover. However, the story also casts doubt on her earlier actions, reflecting rumors that Maitreyi was not a virgin at the time she and Allan first met, which also seems to expose her father as a hypocrite. George Călinescu objected to the narrative, arguing that both the physical affair and the father's rage seemed artificial, while commenting that Eliade placing doubt on his Indian characters' honesty had turned the plot into a piece of " ethnological humor". Noting that the work developed on a classical theme of miscegenation, which recalled the prose of François-René de Chateaubriand and Pierre Loti, the critic proposed that its main merit was in introducing the exotic novel to local literature.


''Șantier''

Mircea Eliade's other early works include ''Șantier'' ('Building Site'), a part-novel, part-diary account of his Indian sojourn. George Călinescu objected to its "monotony", and, noting that it featured a set of "intelligent observations," criticized the "banality of its ideological conversations." ''Șantier'' was also noted for its portrayal of drug addiction and intoxication with opium, both of which could have referred to Eliade's actual travel experience.


Portraits of a generation


''Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent''

In his earliest novel, titled '' Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent'' and written in the first person, Eliade depicts his experience through high school. It is proof of the influence exercised on him by the literature of Giovanni Papini, and in particular by Papini's story '' Un uomo finito''. Each of its chapters reads like an independent novella, and, in all, the work experiments with the limits traced between novel and diary. Literary critic
Eugen Simion Eugen Simion (25 May 1933 – 18 October 2022) was a Romanian literary critic and historian, editor, essayist and academic. Born in Chiojdeanca, Prahova County, the son of two farmers, Simion completed his secondary education at the Saints Pe ...
called it "the most valuable" among Eliade's earliest literary attempts, but noted that, being "ambitious", the book had failed to achieve "an aesthetically satisfactory format". According to Simion, the innovative intent of the ''Novel...'' was provided by its technique, by its goal of providing authenticity in depicting experiences, and by its insight into adolescent psychology. The novel notably shows its narrator practicing
self-flagellation Self-flagellation is the disciplinary and devotional practice of flogging oneself with whips or other instruments that inflict pain. In Christianity, self-flagellation is practiced in the context of the doctrine of the mortification of the fle ...
.


''Întoarcerea din rai''

Eliade's 1934 novel ''Întoarcerea din rai'' ('Return from Paradise') centers on Pavel Anicet, a young man who seeks knowledge through what Călinescu defined as "sexual excess". His search leaves him with a reduced sensitivity: right after being confronted with his father's death, Anicet breaks out in tears only after sitting through an entire dinner. The other characters, standing for Eliade's generation, all seek knowledge through violence or retreat from the world—nonetheless, unlike Anicet, they ultimately fail at imposing rigors upon themselves. Pavel himself eventually abandons his belief in sex as a means for enlightenment, and commits suicide in hopes of reaching the level of primordial unity. The solution, George Călinescu noted, mirrored the strange murder in Gide's '' Lafcadio's Adventures''. Eliade himself indicated that the book dealt with the "loss of the beatitude, illusions, and optimism that had dominated the first twenty years of '
Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creatio ...
'." Robert Ellwood connected the work to Eliade's recurring sense of loss in respect to the "atmosphere of euphoria and faith" of his adolescence. Călinescu criticizes ''Întoarcerea din rai'', describing its dialog sequences as "awkward", its narrative as "void", and its artistic interest as "non-existent", proposing that the reader could however find it relevant as the "document of a mentality".


''Huliganii''

The lengthy novel ''Huliganii'' ('The Hooligans') is intended as the fresco of a family, and, through it, that of an entire generation. The book's main protagonist, Petru Anicet, is a composer who places value in experiments; other characters include Dragu, who considers "a hooligan's experience" as "the only fertile debut into life", and the totalitarian Alexandru Pleşa, who is on the search for "the heroic life" by enlisting youth in "perfect regiments, equally intoxicated by a collective myth." Gabriela Adameşteanu
"Cum suportă individul şocurile Istoriei. Dialog cu Norman Manea" ("How the Individual Bears the Shocks of History. A Dialog with Norman Manea")
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. ...
'', Nr. 304, January 2006; retrieved January 16, 2008
Călinescu thought that the young male characters all owed inspiration to Fyodor Dostoevsky's
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Родион Романович Раскольников, Rodión Románovich Raskólʹnikov, rədʲɪˈon rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈskolʲnʲɪkəf) is the fictional protago ...
(''see Crime and Punishment''). Anicet, who partly shares Pleșa's vision for a collective experiment, is also prone to sexual adventures, and seduces the women of the Lecca family (who have hired him as a piano teacher). Romanian-born novelist Norman Manea called Anicet's experiment: "the paraded defiance of bourgeois conventions, in which venereal disease and lubricity dwell together." In one episode of the book, Anicet convinces Anișoara Lecca to gratuitously steal from her parents—an outrage which leads her mother to moral decay and, eventually, to suicide. George Călinescu criticized the book for inconsistencies and "excesses in Dostoyevskianism," but noted that the Lecca family portrayal was "suggestive", and that the dramatic scenes were written with "a remarkable poetic calm."


''Marriage in Heaven''

The novel '' Marriage in Heaven'' depicts the correspondence between two male friends, an artist and a common man, who complain to each other about their failures in love: the former complains about a lover who wanted his children when he did not, while the other recalls being abandoned by a woman who, despite his intentions, did not want to become pregnant by him. Eliade lets the reader understand that they are in fact talking about the same woman.


Fantastic and fantasy literature

Mircea Eliade's earliest works, most of which were published at later stages, belong to the
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
genre. One of the first such literary exercises to be printed, the 1921 ''Cum am găsit piatra filosofală'', showed its adolescent author's interest in themes that he was to explore throughout his career, in particular esotericism and
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...
. Written in the first person, it depicts an experiment which, for a moment, seems to be the discovery of the philosophers' stone. These early writings also include two sketches for novels: ''Minunata călătorie a celor cinci cărăbuși in țara furnicilor roșii'' ('The Wonderful Journey of the Five Beetles into the Land of the Red Ants') and ''Memoriile unui soldat de plumb'' ('The Memoirs of a Lead Soldier'). In the former, a company of beetle spies is sent among the red ants—their travel offers a setting for satirical commentary. Eliade himself explained that ''Memoriile unui soldat de plumb'' was an ambitious project, designed as a fresco to include the birth of the Universe, abiogenesis,
human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of '' Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual developmen ...
, and the entire world history. Eliade's fantasy novel '' Domnișoara Christina'', was, on its own, the topic of a scandal. The novel deals with the fate of an eccentric family, the Moscus, who are haunted by the ghost of a murdered young woman, known as Christina. The apparition shares characteristics with vampires and with '' strigoi'': she is believed to be drinking the blood of cattle and that of a young family member. The young man Egor becomes the object of Christina's desire, and is shown to have intercourse with her. Noting that the plot and setting reminded one of
horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
works by the German author Hanns Heinz Ewers, and defending ''Domnişoara Christina'' in front of harsher criticism, Călinescu nonetheless argued that the "international environment" in which it took place was "upsetting". He also depicted the plot as focused on "major impurity", summarizing the story's references to necrophilia,
menstrual The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs a ...
fetish and ephebophilia.


''Șarpele''

Eliade's short story ''Șarpele'' ('The Snake') was described by George Călinescu as " hermetic". While on a trip to the forest, several persons witness a feat of magic performed by the male character Andronic, who summons a snake from the bottom of a river and places it on an island. At the end of the story, Andronic and the female character Dorina are found on the island, naked and locked in a sensual embrace. Călinescu saw the piece as an allusion to Gnosticism, to the
Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
, and to Babylonian mythology, while linking the snake to the Greek mythological figure and major serpent symbol Ophion. He was however dissatisfied with this introduction of iconic images, describing it as "languishing". ''In Curte la Dionis'' In the relation between history and culture, „the memory acts from the event toward the creation, so that the cultural memory is the prisoner of history.” When it will liberate itself, the human will escape the labyrinth, according to a character of the ''In Dionysus’ Court'', of which ideal is the cultural memory; but, for him, the amnesia becomes a torment because, although he forgot details of his own existence, he kept the vague impression of a decisive meeting and with the obsession that he is not knowing his place in the universe: he had forgotten the message that he had to transmit to the world.


''Un om mare''

The short story ''Un om mare'' ('A Big Man'), which Eliade authored during his stay in Portugal, shows a common person, the engineer Cucoanes, who grows steadily and uncontrollably, reaching immense proportions and ultimately disappearing into the wilderness of the
Bucegi Mountains The Bucegi Mountains ( Romanian: ''Munții Bucegi'' ) are located in central Romania, south of the city of Brașov. They are part of the Southern Carpathians group of the Carpathian Mountains. At , '' Omu'' is its highest point. To the east, th ...
. Mircea Iorgulescu
"''L'Affaire'', după Matei" (''L'Affaire'', according to Matei"), Part II
, in '' 22'', Nr. 636, May 2002; retrieved January 17, 2008
Eliade himself referenced the story and Aldous Huxley's experiments in the same section of his private notes, a matter which allowed
Matei Călinescu Matei Alexe Călinescu (June 15, 1934 – June 24, 2009) was a Romanian literary critic and professor of comparative literature at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. Biography Călinescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, the son of Ra ...
to propose that ''Un om mare'' was a direct product of its author's experience with drugs. The same commentator, who deemed ''Un om mare'' "perhaps Eliade's most memorable short story", connected it with the '' uriași'' characters present in Romanian folklore.


Other writings

Eliade reinterpreted the Greek mythological figure Iphigeneia in his eponymous 1941 play. Here, the maiden falls in love with
Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...
, and accepts to be sacrificed on the pyre as a means to ensure both her lover's happiness (as predicted by an oracle) and her father Agamemnon's victory in the
Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
. Radu Albala, "Teatrul Naţional din București. ''Ifigenia'' de Mircea Eliade" ("National Theater Bucharest. ''Ifigenia'' by Mircea Eliade"), in
Teatru
', Vol. XXVII, Nr. 2, February 1982

republished by th

; retrieved January 19, 2008
Discussing the association Iphigenia's character makes between love and death, Romanian theater critic Radu Albala noted that it was a possible echo of '' Meşterul Manole'' legend, in which a builder of the Curtea de Argeș Monastery has to sacrifice his wife in exchange for permission to complete work. In contrast with early renditions of the myth by authors such as
Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...
and
Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...
, Eliade's version ends with the sacrifice being carried out in full. In addition to his fiction, the exiled Eliade authored several volumes of memoirs and diaries and travel writings. They were published sporadically, and covered various stages of his life. One of the earliest such pieces was ''India'', grouping accounts of the travels he made through the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, In ...
. Writing for the Spanish journal '' La Vanguardia'', commentator Sergio Vila-Sanjuán described the first volume of Eliade's ''Autobiography'' (covering the years 1907 to 1937) as "a great book", while noting that the other main volume was "more conventional and insincere." In Vila-Sanjuán's view, the texts reveal Mircea Eliade himself as "a Dostoyevskyian character", as well as "an accomplished person, a Goethian figure". A work that drew particular interest was his ''Jurnal portughez'' ('Portuguese Diary'), completed during his stay in Lisbon and published only after its author's death. A portion of it dealing with his stay in Romania is believed to have been lost. The travels to Spain, partly recorded in ''Jurnal portughez'', also led to a separate volume, ''Jurnal cordobez'' ('Cordoban Diary'), which Eliade compiled from various independent notebooks. ''Jurnal portughez'' shows Eliade coping with
clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...
and political crisis, and has been described by
Andrei Oișteanu Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for h ...
as "an overwhelming ead through the immense suffering it exhales." Literary historian
Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian lit ...
argued that part of the volume is "a masterpiece of its time," while concluding that some 700 pages were passable for the "among others" section of Eliade's bibliography. Noting that the book featured parts where Eliade spoke of himself in eulogistic terms, notably comparing himself favorably to Goethe and Romania's national poet
Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active ...
, Cernat accused the writer of "egolatry", and deduced that Eliade was "ready to step over dead bodies for the sake of his spiritual 'mission' ". The same passages led philosopher and journalist
Cătălin Avramescu Cătălin is a Romanian first name (male) that may refer to: *Cătălin Anghel, footballer *Cătălin Cursaru, footballer *Cătălin Costache, canoer *Cătălin Crăciun, footballer *Cătălin Dedu, footballer *Cătălin Doman, footballer *Cătălin ...
to argue that Eliade's behavior was evidence of " megalomania". Eliade also wrote various essays of literary criticism. In his youth, alongside his study on
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...
, he published essays which introduced the Romanian public to representatives of modern
Spanish literature Spanish literature generally refers to literature (Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects w ...
and philosophy, among them Adolfo Bonilla San Martín, Miguel de Unamuno,
José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. His philosoph ...
, Eugeni d'Ors, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez and Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo. He also wrote an essay on the works of
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...
, connecting it with his own theories on the eternal return (" oyce's literature issaturated with nostalgia for the myth of the eternal repetition"), and deeming Joyce himself an anti- historicist "archaic" figure among the modernists. In the 1930s, Eliade edited the collected works of Romanian historian Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu. M. L. Ricketts discovered and translated into English a previously unpublished play written by Mircea Eliade in Paris 1946 ''Aventura Spirituală'' ('A Spiritual Adventure'). It was published by for the first time in '' Theory in Action'' -the journal of the
Transformative Studies Institute John Asimakopoulos (born September 10, 1970) is an American sociologist and author. He is a professor of sociology at the Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. Asimakopoulos co-founded the Transformative Studies Institute. ...
, vol. 5 (2012): 2–58.


Controversy: antisemitism and links with the Iron Guard


Early statements

The early years in Eliade's public career show him to have been highly tolerant of Jews in general, and of the Jewish minority in Romania in particular. His early condemnation of
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
antisemitic policies was accompanied by his caution and moderation in regard to Nae Ionescu's various anti-Jewish attacks. Late in the 1930s, Mihail Sebastian was marginalized by Romania's antisemitic policies, and came to reflect on his Romanian friend's association with the far right. The subsequent ideological break between him and Eliade has been compared by writer Gabriela Adameşteanu with that between
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lite ...
and
Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
. In his ''Journal'', published long after his 1945 death, Sebastian claimed that Eliade's actions during the 1930s show him to be an antisemite. According to Sebastian, Eliade had been friendly to him until the start of his political commitments, after which he severed all ties. Before their friendship came apart, however, Sebastian claimed that he took notes on their conversations (which he later published) during which Eliade was supposed to have expressed antisemitic views. According to Sebastian, Eliade said in 1939:
The Poles' resistance in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
is a Jewish resistance. Only yids are capable of the blackmail of putting women and children in the front line, to take advantage of the
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
' sense of scruple. The Germans have no interest in the destruction of Romania. Only a pro-German government can save us... What is happening on the frontier with Bukovina is a scandal, because new waves of Jews are flooding into the country. Rather than a Romania again invaded by kikes, it would be better to have a German protectorate.
The friendship between Eliade and Sebastian drastically declined during the war: the latter writer, fearing for his security during the pro-Nazi Ion Antonescu regime (''see
Romania during World War II Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol II officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political up ...
''), hoped that Eliade, by then a diplomat, could intervene in his favor; however, upon his brief return to Romania, Eliade did not see or approach Sebastian. Later, Mircea Eliade expressed his regret at not having had the chance to redeem his friendship with Sebastian before the latter was killed in a car accident.
Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian lit ...
notes that Eliade's statement includes an admission that he "counted on ebastian'ssupport, in order to get back into Romanian life and culture", and proposes that Eliade may have expected his friend to vouch for him in front of hostile authorities. Some of Sebastian's late recordings in his diary show that their author was reflecting with nostalgia on his relationship with Eliade, and that he deplored the outcome. Eliade provided two distinct explanations for not having met with Sebastian: one was related to his claim of being followed around by the Gestapo, and the other, expressed in his diaries, was that the shame of representing a regime that humiliated Jews had made him avoid facing his former friend. Another take on the matter was advanced in 1972 by the
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i magazine ''Toladot'', which claimed that, as an official representative, Eliade was aware of Antonescu's agreement to implement the Final Solution in Romania and of how this could affect Sebastian (''see
Holocaust in Romania The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...
''). In addition, rumors were sparked that Sebastian and Nina Mareş had a physical relationship, one which could have contributed to the clash between the two literary figures. Beyond his involvement with a movement known for its antisemitism, Eliade did not usually comment on Jewish issues. However, an article titled ''Piloţii orbi'' ("The Blind Pilots"), contributed to the journal ''Vremea'' in 1936, showed that he supported at least some Iron Guard accusations against the Jewish community:
Since the war [that is,
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
], Jews have occupied the villages of Maramureş historical region, Maramureş and Bukovina, and gained the absolute majority in the towns and cities in Bessarabia. ..It would be absurd to expect Jews to resign themselves in order to become a minority with certain rights and very many duties—after they have tasted the honey of power and conquered as many command positions as they have. Jews are currently fighting with all forces to maintain their positions, expecting a future offensive—and, as far as I am concerned, I understand their fight and admire their vitality, tenacity, genius.
One year later, a text, accompanied by his picture, was featured as answer to an inquiry by the Iron Guard's '' Buna Vestire'' about the reasons he had for supporting the movement. A short section of it summarizes an anti-Jewish attitude:
Can the Romanian nation end its life in the saddest decay witnessed by history, undermined by misery and
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...
, conquered by Jews and torn to pieces by foreigners, demoralized, betrayed, sold for a few million lei?
According to the literary critic
Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, in the 1980s Eliade denied authorship of the text. He explained the use of his signature, his picture, and the picture's caption, as having been applied by the magazine's editor, Mihail Polihroniade, to a piece the latter had written after having failed to obtain Eliade's contribution; he also claimed that, given his respect for Polihroniade, he had not wished to publicize this matter previously.


Polemics and exile

Dumitru G. Danielopol, a fellow diplomat present in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
during Eliade's stay in the city, later stated that the latter had identified himself as "a guiding light of he Iron Guardmovement" and victim of Carol II's repression. In October 1940, as the National Legionary State came into existence, the British Foreign Office blacklisted Mircea Eliade, alongside five other Romanians, due to his Iron Guard connections and suspicions that he was prepared to spy in favor of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. According to various sources, while in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, the diplomat was also preparing to disseminate propaganda in favor of the Iron Guard. In ''Jurnal portughez'', Eliade defines himself as "a Legionary", and speaks of his own "Legionary climax" as a stage he had gone through during the early 1940s. The depolitisation of Eliade after the start of his diplomatic career was also mistrusted by his former close friend Eugène Ionesco, who indicated that, upon the close of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Eliade's personal beliefs as communicated to his friends amounted to "all is over now that Communism has won". This forms part of Ionesco's severe and succinct review of the careers of Legionary-inspired intellectuals, many of them his friends and former friends, in a letter he sent to Tudor Vianu. In 1946, Ionesco indicated to
Petru Comarnescu __NOTOC__ Petru Comarnescu (born 23 November 1905, Iași - d. 27 November 1970, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator. Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop Veniamin Costache, he studie ...
that he did not want to see either Eliade or Cioran, and that he considered the two of them "Legionaries for ever"—adding "we are hyenas to one another". Eliade's former friend, the communist Belu Zilber, who was attending the Paris Conference in 1946, refused to see Eliade, arguing that, as an Iron Guard affiliate, the latter had "denounced left-wingers", and contrasting him with Cioran ("They are both Legionaries, but ioranis honest"). Three years later, Eliade's political activities were brought into discussion as he was getting ready to publish a translation of his ''Techniques du Yoga'' with the left-leaning Italian company '' Giulio Einaudi Editore''—the denunciation was probably orchestrated by Romanian officials.Ornea, p. 210 In August 1954, when Horia Sima, who led the Iron Guard during its exile, was rejected by a faction inside the movement, Mircea Eliade's name was included on a list of persons who supported the latter—although this may have happened without his consent. According to exiled dissident and novelist Dumitru Ţepeneag, around that date, Eliade expressed his sympathy for Iron Guard members in general, whom he viewed as "courageous". However, according to Robert Ellwood, the Eliade he met in the 1960s was entirely apolitical, remained aloof from "the passionate politics of that era in the United States", and " portedly ..never read newspapers"Ellwood, p. 83 (an assessment shared by Sorin Alexandrescu). Eliade's student Ioan Petru Culianu noted that journalists had come to refer to the Romanian scholar as "the great recluse". Despite Eliade's withdrawal from radical politics, Ellwood indicates, he still remained concerned with Romania's welfare. He saw himself and other exiled Romanian intellectuals as members of a circle who worked to "maintain the culture of a free Romania and, above all, to publish texts that had become unpublishable in Romania itself". Beginning in 1969, Eliade's past became the subject of public debate in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. At the time, historian Gershom Scholem asked Eliade to explain his attitudes, which the latter did using vague terms.Oişteanu, "Angajamentul..." As a result of this exchange, Scholem declared his dissatisfaction, and argued that Israel could not extend a welcome to the Romanian academic. During the final years of Eliade's life, his disciple Culianu exposed and publicly criticized his 1930s pro-Iron Guard activities; relations between the two soured as a result. Eliade's other Romanian disciple,
Andrei Oişteanu Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...
, noted that, in the years following Eliade's death, conversations with various people who had known the scholar had made Culianu less certain of his earlier stances, and had led him to declare: "Mr. Eliade was never antisemitic, a member of the Iron Guard, or pro-Nazi. But, in any case, I am led to believe that he was closer to the Iron Guard than I would have liked to believe." At an early stage of his polemic with Culianu, Eliade complained in writing that "it is not possible to write an objective history" of the Iron Guard and its leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Arguing that people "would only accept apologetics ..or executions", he contended: "After Buchenwald and Auschwitz, even honest people cannot afford being objective".Eliade, in Ellwood, p. 91; in Oişteanu, "Angajamentul..."


Posterity

Alongside the arguments introduced by Daniel Dubuisson, criticism of Mircea Eliade's political involvement with antisemitism and fascism came from Adriana Berger, Leon Volovici, Alexandra Lagniel-Lavastine, Florin Țurcanu and others, who have attempted to trace Eliade's antisemitism throughout his work and through his associations with contemporary antisemites, such as the Italian fascist occultist
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...
. Volovici, for example, is critical of Eliade not only because of his support for the Iron Guard, but also for spreading antisemitism and anti-Masonry in 1930s Romania. In 1991, exiled novelist Norman Manea published an essay firmly condemning Eliade's attachment to the Iron Guard. Other scholars, like Bryan S. Rennie, have claimed that there is, to date, no evidence of Eliade's membership, active services rendered, or of any real involvement with any fascist or totalitarian movements or membership organizations, nor that there is any evidence of his continued support for nationalist ideals after their inherently violent nature was revealed. They further assert that there is no imprint of overt political beliefs in Eliade's scholarship, and also claim that Eliade's critics are following political agendas. Romanian scholar Mircea Handoca, editor of Eliade's writings, argues that the controversy surrounding Eliade was encouraged by a group of exiled writers, of whom Manea was a main representative, and believes that Eliade's association with the Guard was a conjectural one, determined by the young author's Christian values and conservative stance, as well as by his belief that a Legionary Romania could mirror Portugal's '' Estado Novo''. Handoca opined that Eliade changed his stance after discovering that the Legionaries had turned violent, and argued that there was no evidence of Eliade's actual affiliation with the Iron Guard as a political movement. Additionally, Joaquín Garrigós, who translated Eliade's works into Spanish, claimed that none of Eliade's texts he ever encountered show him to be an antisemite. Mircea Eliade's nephew and commentator Sorin Alexandrescu himself proposed that Eliade's politics were essentially conservative and patriotic, in part motivated by a fear of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
which he shared with many other young intellectuals. Based on Mircea Eliade's admiration for Gandhi, various other authors assess that Eliade remained committed to nonviolence. Robert Ellwood also places Eliade's involvement with the Iron Guard in relation to scholar's conservatism, and connects this aspect of Eliade's life with both his nostalgia and his study of primal societies. According to Ellwood, the part of Eliade that felt attracted to the "freedom of new beginnings suggested by primal myths" is the same part that felt attracted to the Guard, with its almost mythological notion of a new beginning through a "national resurrection". On a more basic level, Ellwood describes Eliade as an "instinctively spiritual" person who saw the Iron Guard as a spiritual movement. In Ellwood's view, Eliade was aware that the "
golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
" of antiquity was no longer accessible to secular man, that it could be recalled but not re-established. Thus, a "more accessible" object for nostalgia was a "secondary silver age within the last few hundred years"—the Kingdom of Romania's 19th century cultural renaissance. To the young Eliade, the Iron Guard seemed like a path for returning to the silver age of Romania's glory, being a movement "dedicated to the cultural and national renewal of the Romanian people by appeal to their spiritual roots". Ellwood describes the young Eliade as someone "capable of being fired up by mythological archetypes and with no awareness of the evil that was to be unleashed". Because of Eliade's withdrawal from politics, and also because the later Eliade's religiosity was very personal and idiosyncratic, Ellwood believes the later Eliade probably would have rejected the "corporate sacred" of the Iron Guard. According to Ellwood, the later Eliade had the same desire for a Romanian "resurrection" that had motivated the early Eliade to support the Iron Guard, but he now channeled it apolitically through his efforts to "maintain the culture of a free Romania" abroad. In one of his writings, Eliade says, "Against the terror of History there are only two possibilities of defense: action or contemplation." According to Ellwood, the young Eliade took the former option, trying to reform the world through action, whereas the older Eliade tried to resist the terror of history intellectually. Eliade's own version of events, presenting his involvement in far right politics as marginal, was judged to contain several inaccuracies and unverifiable claims. For instance, Eliade depicted his arrest as having been solely caused by his friendship with Nae Ionescu. On another occasion, answering Gershom Scholem's query, he is known to have explicitly denied ever having contributed to '' Buna Vestire''. According to
Sorin Antohi Sorin Antohi (born 20 August 1957) is a Romanian historian, essayist, and journalist. Biography Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iași and a DEA fr ...
, "Eliade died without ever clearly expressing regret for his Iron Guard sympathies".Antohi, preface to Liiceanu, p. xxiii
Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
noted that, in a short section of his ''Autobiography'' where he discusses the ''Einaudi'' incident, Eliade speaks of "my imprudent acts and errors committed in youth", as "a series of malentendus that would follow me all my life." Ornea commented that this was the only instance where the Romanian academic spoke of his political involvement with a dose of self-criticism, and contrasted the statement with Eliade's usual refusal to discuss his stances "pertinently". Reviewing the arguments brought in support of Eliade, Sergio Vila-Sanjuán concluded: "Nevertheless, Eliade's pro-Legionary columns endure in the newspaper libraries, he never showed his regret for this connection ith the Iron Guardand always, right up to his final writings, he invoked the figure of his teacher Nae Ionescu." In his ''Felix Culpa'', Manea directly accused Eliade of having embellished his memoirs in order to minimize an embarrassing past. A secondary debate surrounding Eliade's alleged unwillingness to dissociate with the Guard took place after ''Jurnalul portughez'' saw print. Sorin Alexandrescu expressed a belief that notes in the diary show Eliade's "break with his far right past".
Cătălin Avramescu Cătălin is a Romanian first name (male) that may refer to: *Cătălin Anghel, footballer *Cătălin Cursaru, footballer *Cătălin Costache, canoer *Cătălin Crăciun, footballer *Cătălin Dedu, footballer *Cătălin Doman, footballer *Cătălin ...
defined this conclusion as "whitewashing", and, answering to Alexandrescu's claim that his uncle's support for the Guard was always superficial, argued that ''Jurnal portughez'' and other writings of the time showed Eliade's disenchantment with the Legionaries' Christian stance in tandem with his growing sympathy for
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
and its pagan messages. Paul Cernat, who stressed that it was the only one of Eliade's autobiographical works not to have been reworked by its author, concluded that the book documented Eliade's own efforts to "camouflage" his political sympathies without rejecting them altogether. Oișteanu argued that, in old age, Eliade moved away from his earlier stances and even came to sympathize with the non- Marxist Left and the hippie
youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...
. He noted that Eliade initially felt apprehensive about the consequences of hippie activism, but that the interests they shared, as well as their advocacy of
communalism Communalism may refer to: * Communalism (Bookchin), a theory of government in which autonomous communities form confederations * , a historical method that follows the development of communities * Communalism (South Asia), violence across ethnic ...
and free love had made him argue that hippies were "a quasi-religious movement" that was "rediscovering the sacrality of Life". Andrei Oișteanu, who proposed that Eliade's critics were divided into a "maximalist" and a "minimalist" camp (trying to, respectively, enhance or shadow the impact Legionary ideas had on Eliade), argued in favor of moderation, and indicated that Eliade's fascism needed to be correlated to the political choices of his generation.


Political symbolism in Eliade's fiction

Various critics have traced links between Eliade's fiction works and his political views, or Romanian politics in general. Early on,
George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
argued that the totalitarian model outlined in ''Huliganii'' was: "An allusion to certain bygone political movements [...], sublimated in the ever so abstruse philosophy of death as a path to knowledge." By contrast, ''Întoarcerea din rai'' partly focuses on a failed Communism, communist rebellion, which enlists the participation of its main characters. ''Iphigenia''‍'s story of self-sacrifice, turned voluntary in Eliade's version, was taken by various commentators, beginning with
Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After ...
, as a favorable allusion to the Iron Guard's beliefs on commitment and death, as well as to the bloody outcome of the 1941
Legionary Rebellion Between 21 and 23 January 1941, a rebellion of the Iron Guard paramilitary organization, whose members were known as Legionnaires, occurred in Bucharest, Romania. As their privileges were being gradually removed by the ''Conducător'' Ion An ...
. Ten years after its premiere, the play was reprinted by Legionary refugees in Argentina: on the occasion, the text was reviewed for publishing by Eliade himself. Reading ''Iphigenia'' was what partly sparked Culianu's investigation of his mentor's early political affiliations. A special debate was sparked by ''Un om mare''. Culianu viewed it as a direct reference to Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and his rise in popularity, an interpretation partly based on the similarity between, on one hand, two monikers ascribed to the Legionary leader (by, respectively, his adversaries and his followers), and, on the other, the main character's name (''Cucoanes'').
Matei Călinescu Matei Alexe Călinescu (June 15, 1934 – June 24, 2009) was a Romanian literary critic and professor of comparative literature at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. Biography Călinescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, the son of Ra ...
did not reject Culianu's version, but argued that, on its own, the piece was beyond political interpretations. Commenting on this dialog, literary historian and essayist Mircea Iorgulescu objected to the original verdict, indicating his belief that there was no historical evidence to substantiate Culianu's point of view. Alongside Eliade's main works, his attempted novel of youth, ''Minunata călătorie a celor cinci cărăbuși in țara furnicilor roșii'', which depicts a population of red ants living in a totalitarian society and forming bands to harass the beetles, was seen as a potential allusion to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and to communism. Despite Eliade's ultimate reception in Communist Romania, this writing could not be published during the period, after Censorship, censors singled out fragments which they saw as especially problematic.


Cultural legacy


Tributes

An endowed chair in the History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School was named after Eliade in recognition of his wide contribution to the research on this subject; the current (and first incumbent) holder of this chair is Wendy Doniger. To evaluate the legacy of Eliade and Joachim Wach within the discipline of the history of religions, the University of Chicago chose 2006 (the intermediate year between the 50th anniversary of Wach's death and the 100th anniversary of Eliade's birth), to hold a two-day conference in order to reflect upon their academic contributions and their political lives in their social and historical contexts, as well as the relationship between their works and their lives. In 1990, after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Romanian Revolution, Eliade was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. In Romania, Mircea Eliade's legacy in the field of the history of religions is mirrored by the journal ''Archaeus'' (founded 1997, and affiliated with the University of Bucharest Faculty of History). The 6th European Association for the Study of Religion and International Association for the History of Religions Special Conference on ''Religious History of Europe and Asia'' took place from September 20 to September 23, 2006, in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
. An important section of the Congress was dedicated to the memory of Mircea Eliade, whose legacy in the field of history of religions was scrutinized by various scholars, some of whom were his direct students at the University of Chicago. As Antohi noted, Eliade, Emil Cioran and Constantin Noica "represent in Culture of Romania, Romanian culture ultimate expressions of excellence, [Eliade and Cioran] being regarded as proof that Romania's interwar culture (and, by extension, Romanian culture as a whole) was able to reach the ultimate levels of depth, sophistication and creativity." A TVR 1, Romanian Television 1 poll carried out in 2006 nominated Mircea Eliade as the 7th Greatest Romanian in history; his case was argued by the journalist Dragoş Bucurenci (''see 100 greatest Romanians''). His name was given to a boulevard in the northern Bucharest area of Primăverii, to a street in Cluj-Napoca, and to high schools in Bucharest, Sighişoara, and Reşiţa. The Eliades' house on Melodiei Street was torn down during the communist regime, and an apartment block was raised in its place; his second residence, on Dacia Boulevard, features a memorial plaque in his honor. Eliade's image in contemporary culture also has political implications. Historian Irina Livezeanu proposed that the respect he enjoys in Romania is matched by that of other "nationalist thinkers and politicians" who "have reentered the contemporary scene largely as heroes of a pre- and anticommunist past", including Nae Ionescu and Cioran, but also Ion Antonescu and Nichifor Crainic. In parallel, according to Oişteanu (who relied his assessment on Eliade's own personal notes), Eliade's interest in the American hippie community was reciprocated by members of the latter, some of whom reportedly viewed Eliade as "a guru". Eliade has also been hailed as an inspiration by Germany, German representatives of the ''Neue Rechte'', claiming legacy from the Conservative Revolutionary movement (among them is the controversial magazine ''Junge Freiheit'' and the essayist Karlheinz Weißmann)."Biografia lui Mircea Eliade la o editură germană radicală de dreapta" ("Mircea Eliade's Biography at a Right-Wing Radical German Publishing House")
, i
''Altitudini''
Nr. 17, July 2007; retrieved November 8, 2007
In 2007, Florin Ţurcanu's biographical volume on Eliade was issued in a German translation by the Antaios publishing house, which is mouthpiece for the ''Neue Rechte''. The edition was not reviewed by the mainstream German press. Other sections of the European far right also claim Eliade as an inspiration, and consider his contacts with the Iron Guard to be a merit—among their representatives are the Italian Neo-fascism, neofascist Claudio Mutti and Romanian groups who trace their origin to the Legionary Movement.


Portrayals, filmography and dramatizations

Early on, Mircea Eliade's novels were the subject of satire: before the two of them became friends,
Nicolae Steinhardt Nicolae Steinhardt (; born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 29, 1912 – March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox monk and lawyer. His main book, ''Jurnalul Fericirii'', is regarded as a major text of 20th century Romanian literature and ...
, using the pen name ''Antisthius'', authored and published Parody, parodies of them.
Maitreyi Devi Maitreyi Devi (or Maitreyī Devī; 1 September 1914 – 29 January 1989) was an Indian poet and novelist. She is best known for her Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel, '' Na Hanyate'' (). Biography Devi was born in 1914. She was the daughter o ...
, who strongly objected to Eliade's account of their encounter and relationship, wrote her own novel as a reply to his '' Maitreyi''; written in
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, it was titled ''Na Hanyate'' ('It Does Not Die'). Several authors, including Ioan Petru Culianu, have drawn a parallel between Eugène Ionesco's Theatre of the Absurd, Absurdist play of 1959, ''Rhinoceros (play), Rhinoceros'', which depicts the population of a small town falling victim to a mass metamorphosis, and the impact fascism had on Ionesco's closest friends (Eliade included). In 2000, Saul Bellow published his controversial ''Ravelstein'' novel. Having for its setting the University of Chicago, it had among its characters Radu Grielescu, who was identified by several critics as Eliade. The latter's portrayal, accomplished through statements made by the eponymous character, is polemical: Grielescu, who is identified as a disciple of Nae Ionescu, took part in the Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom, Bucharest Pogrom, and is in Chicago as a refugee scholar, searching for the friendship of a Jewish colleague as a means to rehabilitate himself. In 2005, the Romanian literary critic and translator Antoaneta Ralian, who was an acquaintance of Bellow's, argued that much of the negative portrayal was owed to a personal choice Bellow made (after having divorced from Alexandra Bellow, Alexandra Bagdasar, his Romanian wife and Eliade disciple).Antoaneta Ralian, interviewed on the occasion of Saul Bellow's death
, BBC, BBC Romania, April 7, 2005 (hosted by hotnews.ro); retrieved July 16, 2007
She also mentioned that, during a 1979 interview, Bellow had expressed admiration for Eliade. The film ''Mircea Eliade et la redécouverte du Sacré'' (1987), and part of the television series ''Architecture et Géographie sacrées'' by Paul Barbă Neagră, discuss Eliade's works.


Film adaptations

*''The Bengali Night'' (1988), directed by Nicolas Klotz * ''Miss Christina (1992 film), Domnişoara Christina'' ('Miss Christina', 1992), directed by Viorel Sergovici *''Șarpele'' ('The Snake', 1996) *''Eu sunt Adam, Eu sunt Adam!'' (1996), directed by Dan Pița *Youth Without Youth (film), ''Youth Without Youth'' (2007), directed by Francis Ford Coppola *''Domnişoara Christina'' (2013) ''The Bengali Night'', a 1988 film directed by Nicolas Klotz and based upon the French translation of ''Maitreyi'', stars United Kingdom, British actor Hugh Grant as Allan, the European character based on Eliade, while Supriya Pathak is Gayatri, a character based on Maitreyi Devi (who had refused to be mentioned by name). The film, considered "Pornography, pornographic" by
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
activists, was only shown once in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
.


Live adaptations

* ''Domnișoara Christina'' (1981), opera at the Romanian Radio''Săptămâna Internaţională a Muzicii Noi. Ediţia a 14-a – 23–30 Mai 2004. Detalii festival'' ("The International New Music Week. 14th Edition – May 23–30, 2004. Festival Details")
, at th

; retrieved February 18, 2008
* ''Iphigenia'' (1982), play at the
National Theater Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gr ...
* ''La señorita Cristina'' (2000), opera at the Teatro Real, Madrid * ''Cazul Gavrilescu'' ('The Gavrilescu Case', 2001), play at the Nottara TheaterIrina Margareta Nistor
"Un cuplu creator de teatru – Gelu şi Roxana Colceag" ("A Theater Producing Couple – Gelu and Roxana Colceag")
September 2001, at th
LiterNet publishing house
retrieved January 18, 2008
* La Țigănci (2003), play at the Odeon Theatre (Bucharest), Odeon Theater"''La ţigănci''... cu Popescu" (''To the Gypsy Girls''... with Popescu")
, in ''Adevărul'', May 31, 2003; retrieved December 4, 2007
* ''Apocalipsa după Mircea Eliade'' ('The Apocalypse According to Mircea Eliade', 2007)"Scrieri de Eliade şi Vişniec, în cadrul festivalului Enescu" ("Texts by Eliade and Vişniec, as Part of the Enescu Festival")
, in ''Gândul'', September 12, 2007; retrieved December 4, 2007
Eliade's ''Iphigenia'' was again included in theater programs during the late years of the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime: in January 1982, a new version, directed by Ion Cojar, premiered at the
National Theater Bucharest The National Theatre Bucharest ( ro, Teatrul Naţional "Ion Luca Caragiale" București) is one of the national theatres of Romania, located in the capital city of Bucharest. Founding It was founded as the ''Teatrul cel Mare din București'' ("Gr ...
, starring Mircea Albulescu, Tania Filip and Adrian Pintea in some of the main roles. has been the basis for two theater adaptations: ''Cazul Gavrilescu''
'The Gavrilescu Case
), directed by Gelu Colceag and hosted by the Nottara Theater; and an eponymous play by director Alexandru Hausvater, first staged by the Odeon Theatre (Bucharest), Odeon Theater in 2003, starring, among others, Adriana Trandafir, Florin Zamfirescu, and Carmen Tănase. In March 2007, on Eliade's 100th birthday, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company hosted the ''Mircea Eliade Week'', during which radio drama adaptations of several works were broadcast."Săptămâna ''Mircea Eliade'' la Radio România" ("The ''Mircea Eliade'' Week on Radio Romania")
(2007 press communique) , at th
LiterNet publishing house
retrieved December 4, 2007
In September of that year, director and dramatist Cezarina Udrescu staged a multimedia performance based on a number of works Mircea Eliade wrote during his stay in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
; titled ''Apocalipsa după Mircea Eliade'' ('The Apocalypse According to Mircea Eliade'), and shown as part of a Romanian Radio cultural campaign, it starred Ion Caramitru, Oana Pellea and Răzvan Vasilescu. ''Domnișoara Christina'' has been the subject of two operas: the first, carrying the same Romanian title, was authored by Romanian composer Șerban Nichifor and premiered in 1981 at the Romanian Radio; the second, titled ''La señorita Cristina'', was written by Spanish composer Luis de Pablo and premiered in 2000 at the Teatro Real in Madrid.


Selected bibliography

* ''A History of Religious Ideas''. Vol. 1: ''From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries''. Trans. Willard R. Trask. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1978. (''Histoire des croyances et des idées religieuses''. 3 vols. 1976–83.) * ''Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism'' (trans. Philip Mairet), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1991 * ''Myth and Reality'' (trans. Willard R. Trask), Harper & Row, New York, 1963 * ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'' (trans. Philip Mairet), Harper & Row, New York, 1967 * ''Myths, Rites, Symbols: A Mircea Eliade Reader'', Vol. 2, Ed. Wendell C. Beane and William G. Doty, Harper Colophon, New York, 1976 * ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', Sheed & Ward, New York, 1958 * ''Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2004 * ''The Myth of the Eternal Return: Cosmos and History'' (trans. Willard R. Trask), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1971 * "The Quest for the 'Origins' of Religion", in ''History of Religions'' 4.1 (1964), p. 154–169 * ''The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion'' (trans. Willard R. Trask), Harper Torchbooks, New York, 1961 * ‘’Hypermnésie et évasion''.
Doina Ruști Doina Ruști (; (born 15 February 1957) is a Romanian writer and novelist. Some of her novels are: ' (''The Ghost in the Mill''), 2008, ', 2006, and ''Lizoanca la 11 ani'' (''Lizoanca at age eleven''), 2009. Biography Ruști was born in Como ...
, „Philologica Jassyensia”, An III, Nr. 1, 2007, p. 235-241 * ''Yoga: Immortality and Freedom'' (trans. Willard R. Trask), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2009 * Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
Harismele Duhului Sfânt si fotografia "de 14 ani" (Mircea Eliade)
în rev. "Acolada", Satu Mare, annul XIV, nr. 12 (157), decembrie 2020, pp. 12–13


See also

*Sântoaderi, supernatural entities found in Romanian folklore


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

; Secondary sources
''Final Report''
of the Wiesel Commission, International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania, Polirom, Iași, 2004. ; retrieved October 8, 2007. *
Sorin Antohi Sorin Antohi (born 20 August 1957) is a Romanian historian, essayist, and journalist. Biography Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iași and a DEA fr ...
, "Commuting to Castalia: Noica's 'School', Culture and Power in Communist Romania", preface to Gabriel Liiceanu, ''The Păltiniş Diary: A Paideic Model in Humanist Culture'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2000, pp. vii–xxiv. . *
George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...
, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini până în prezent'' ("The History of Romanian Literature from Its Origins to Present Times"), Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 * John Daniel Dadosky, ''The Structure of Religious Knowing: Encountering the Sacred in Eliade and Lonergan'', State University of New York Press, Albany, 2004. * Robert Ellwood, ''The Politics of Myth: A Study of C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell'', State University of New York Press, Albany, 1999. * Victor Frunză, ''Istoria stalinismului în România'' ("The History of Stalinism in Romania"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990 * Roger Griffin, ''The Nature of Fascism'', Routledge, London, 1993. * Mircea Handoca
''Convorbiri cu şi despre Mircea Eliade'' ("Conversations with and about Mircea Eliade")
o
''Autori'' ("Published Authors")
page of the Humanitas publishing house *
Furio Jesi Furio Jesi (May 19, 1941 - June 17, 1980) was an Italian historian, writer, archaeologist, and philosopher. Biography The only son of "war hero" Bruno Jesi, Furio Jesi was an independent scholar of myth, Egyptology, history of Mediterranean reli ...
, ''Mito'', Mondadori, Milan, 1980. * G. S. Kirk, ** ''Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1973. ** ''The Nature of Greek Myths'', Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1974. * William McGuire, ''Bollingen: An Adventure in Collecting the Past'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1982. . * Lucian Nastasă, ''"Suveranii" universităţilor româneşti'' ("The 'Sovereigns' of Romanian Universities"), Editura Limes, Cluj-Napoca, 2007
available online
at the Romanian Academy'
George Bariţ Institute of History
*
Andrei Oişteanu Andrei, Andrey or Andrej (in Cyrillic script: Андрэй , Андрей or Андреј) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk (–1399), Lithuanian nobleman *An ...
, *
"Angajamentul politic al lui Mircea Eliade" ("Mircea Eliade's Political Affiliation")
in '' 22'', Nr. 891, March–April 2007; retrieved November 15, 2007; retrieved January 17, 2008. *
"Mircea Eliade şi mişcarea hippie" ("Mircea Eliade and the Hippie Movement")
in '' Dilema Veche'', Vol. III, May 2006; retrieved November 7, 2007 *
Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...
, ''Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească'' ("The 1930s: The Romanian Far Right"), Editura EST-Samuel Tastet Editeur, Bucharest, 2008 *
Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After ...
, ''Journal, 1935–1944: The Fascist Years'', Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 2000. . * David Leeming. "Archetypes". ''The Oxford Companion to World Mythology''. Oxford University Press, 2004. ''Oxford Reference Online''. Oxford University Press. UC—Irvine. 30 May 2011

* Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba
Harismele Duhului Sfânt si fotografia "de 14 ani" (Mircea Eliade)
în rev. "Acolada", Satu Mare, annul XIV, nr. 12 (157), decembrie 2020, pp. 12–13


Further reading


English

* David Carrasco, Carrasco, David and Law, Jane Marie (eds.). 1985. ''Waiting for the Dawn''. Boulder: Westview Press. * Dudley, Guilford. 1977. ''Religion on Trial: Mircea Eliade & His Critics''. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. * Idinopulos, Thomas A., Yonan, Edward A. (eds.) 1994. ''Religion and Reductionism: Essays on Eliade, Segal, and the Challenge of the Social Sciences for the Study of Religion'', Leiden: Brill Publishers. * McCutcheon, Russell T. 1997. ''Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia''. New York: Oxford University Press. * Olson, Carl. 1992. ''The Theology and Philosophy of Eliade: A Search for the Centre''. New York: St Martins Press. *Pals, Daniel L. 1996. ''Seven Theories of Religion''. USA: Oxford University Press. * Bryan Rennie (historian), Rennie, Bryan S. 1996. ''Reconstructing Eliade: Making Sense of Religion''. Albany: State University of New York Press. * . * . * Eugen Simion, Simion, Eugen. 2001. ''Mircea Eliade: A Spirit of Amplitude''. Boulder: East European Monographs. * Strenski, Ivan. 1987. ''Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth-Century History: Cassirer, Eliade, Levi Strauss and Malinowski''. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. * Wasserstrom, Steven M. 1999. ''Religion after Religion: Gershom Scholem, Mircea Eliade, and Henry Corbin at Eranos''. Princeton: Princeton University Press * Wedemeyer, Christian; Doniger, Wendy (eds.). 2010. ''Hermeneutics, Politics, and the History of Religions: The Contested Legacies of Joachim Wach and Mircea Eliade''. Oxford etc.: Oxford University Press


Other languages

* Sorin Alexandrescu, Alexandrescu, Sorin. 2007. ''Mircea Eliade, dinspre Portugalia''. Bucharest: Humanitas. * Băicuş, Iulian, 2009, ''Mircea Eliade. Literator şi mitodolog. În căutarea Centrului pierdut''. Bucharest: Editura Universităţii București * Matei Călinescu, Călinescu, Matei. 2002. ''Despre Ioan P. Culianu şi Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, lecturi, reflecţii''. Iaşi: Polirom. * Ioan P. Culianu, Culianu, Ioan Petru. 1978. ''Mircea Eliade''. Assisi: Cittadella Editrice; 2008 Roma: Settimo Sigillo. * David, Dorin. 2010. ''De la Eliade la Culianu (I)''. Bucuresti: Eikon. * David, Dorin. 2014. ''Mircea Eliade: la marginea labirintului: corespondenţe între opera ştiinţifică şi proza fantastică.'' Bucuresti: Eikon. * De Martino, Marcello. 2008. ''Mircea Eliade esoterico''. Roma: Settimo Sigillo. * Dubuisson, Daniel. 2005. ''Impostures et pseudo-science. L'œuvre de Mircea Eliade''. Villeneuve d'Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion * Gorshunova, Olga. 2008. ''Terra Incognita of Ioan Culianu'', in ''Ètnografičeskoe obozrenie''. N° 6, pp. 94–110. .. * Laignel-Lavastine, Alexandra. 2002. ''Cioran, Eliade, Ionesco – L'oubli du fascisme''. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France-Perspectives critiques. * Andrei Oişteanu, Oişteanu, Andrei. 2007. ''Religie, politică şi mit. Texte despre Mircea Eliade şi Ioan Petru Culianu''. Iaşi: Polirom. * Posada, Mihai. 2006. ''Opera publicistică a lui Mircea Eliade''. Bucharest: Editura Criterion. * Doina Ruşti, Ruşti, Doina. 1997. ''Dicţionar de simboluri din opera lui Mircea Eliade''. Bucharest: Editura Coresi
E-book
* Tacou, Constantin (ed.). 1977. ''Cahier Eliade''. Paris: L'Herne. * Tolcea, Marcel. 2002. ''Eliade, ezotericul''. Timişoara: Editura Mirton. * Ţurcanu, Florin. 2003. ''Mircea Eliade. Le prisonnier de l'histoire''. Paris: Editions La Découverte.


External links


Biography of Mircea Eliade
*
Joseph G. Muthuraj, ''The Significance of Mircea Eliade for Christian Theology''Mircea Eliade presentation on the "100 Greatest Romanians" site

''Archaeus'' magazine

Claudia Guggenbühl, ''Mircea Eliade and Surendranath Dasgupta. The History Of Their Encounter''
*
Guide to the Mircea Eliade Papers 1926-1998
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eliade, Mircea Mircea Eliade, 1907 births 1986 deaths 20th-century anthropologists 20th-century educators 20th-century essayists 20th-century journalists 20th-century memoirists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian historians 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian philosophers Christian fascists Contimporanul writers Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Cultural attachés Cultural critics Diplomats from Bucharest Eastern Orthodox philosophers Epistemologists Germanic studies scholars Indo-Europeanists Journalists from Bucharest Literacy and society theorists Literary theorists Male dramatists and playwrights Members of the Iron Guard Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Metaphysics writers Mysticism scholars Mythographers Neurological disease deaths in Illinois Ontologists Philosophers of culture Philosophers of history Philosophers of religion Philosophers of social science Philosophers of time Philosophy academics Philosophy writers Political philosophers Religious studies scholars Romanian anthropologists Romanian autobiographers Romanian defectors Romanian esotericists Romanian essayists Romanian expatriates in France Romanian expatriates in the United States Romanian fantasy writers Romanian historians of religion Romanian literary critics Romanian male novelists Romanian male short story writers Romanian memoirists Romanian orientalists Romanian people of World War II Romanian semioticians Romanian short story writers Romanian travel writers Romanian writers in French Scouting and Guiding in Romania Shamanism Social commentators Social critics Social philosophers Spiru Haret National College (Bucharest) alumni Theorists on Western civilization Traditionalist School Trope theorists University of Bucharest alumni University of Bucharest faculty University of Calcutta alumni University of Chicago Divinity School faculty Western esotericism scholars Writers about activism and social change Writers about religion and science Writers from Bucharest Writers on Germanic paganism