The Sacred and The Profane

In this book, Mircea Eliade examines how religious man (Homo religiosus) experiences the sacred and how these experiences form the basis of religions.

He contrasts this with the profane mode of existence, arguing that even in modern, secular societies, traces of the sacred persist.

Eliade introduces the concept of hierophany, the manifestation of the sacred in a profane space, and discusses how sacred spaces and rituals are created and sustained through these manifestations.

He also explores the desacralization of modern life and its implications for human religious experience.