Mircea Eliade: The Sacred And The Profane

Gene Luen Yang offers a humanistic perspective on western imperialism in China during the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century in his graphic novel Boxers, a tragic narrative about Chinese grassroots resistance against foreign occupation in which an armed revolution ultimately fails. The novel focuses on religious identity, and cultural connections in the face of invasion. Boxers highlights the negative effects of imperialism through clashes between different religions, ideologies and power structures. Therefore, the criticism of western imperialism presented in Boxers could support a world systems theory approach to international relations because it shows to exploitation through westernization and the squandering of cultural

If a landform has spiritual value it means that it is somehow spiritually connected to

In chapter 3 of the “Sacred Quest” the book discusses “the ways in which the Sacred is manifested in the world of human experience” (39). In particular, the book discusses examples of sacred persons, objects, time, and space. The Sacred Quest states that there is a pattern in religions and breaks them up into 3 types of sacred appearance: prophetic, sacramental, and mystical. The first, prophetic, is associated most with Judaism and Islam, focusing on a person or prophet. The second is most apparent in Christianity, which emphasizes the presence of the sacred through aspects of material reality and stresses the role of priests. The last is the most characteristic of Buddhists and Hindus, which has to do with the quest of enlightenment. Each

Humans all over the world and at all time periods have wondered everything about the creation of the world. This phenomenon - the unity of personal thoughts all around the globe - is known as the collective unconscious, as mentioned in “The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion” reviewed by Robert A. Segal. The functions of myths are mystical, cosmological, sociological, and psychological. The myth of the “Naba Zid-Wendé” serves a cosmological function due to its elements. All myths have specific elements that pertain to that function; the elements of the cosmological function are as follows: “Because there is an INNER eye, THEN ALL things come together. People’s mythology

The underlying culture or theme in the Navajo religion has to do with creation. The story talks about the institution and processes that guarantee growth. The key terms in the discourse are numerous, and they include the first man’s medicine. This is described as the ultimate source for everything on the surface of the earth. It is said to provide continuity for the Navajo people and is the source of all humans’ beings created and is the tie that binds everything together. Another key term is the Niiyaii, which is said to be the entities created. These entities are forms that do not take any particular structure in the Navajo culture, but they are present in everything in the world. Creation is a major term in the Navajo culture

The most surprising thing to me about reading Mary Douglas anthropology book, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, is that I was actually fascinated about everything she argues in the book, many things I had questioned about but did not know the answer or simple facts that make you realized how our society structure works. Which is why in these book review paper I will emphasize more in some chapters rather than the book itself in one big paragraph.

I have never heard of the Nacirema until now. Learning about them was both interesting and appalling. What I learned about them is that they really care about their appearance or obsessed about their appearance. The Nacirema’s culture is based on their belief and value of the human body. They believe that the human body is weak and prune to diseases. The only way to make their appearance better is by them doing rituals. I think that their rituals are kind of bizarre because they spend a really considerable amount of time on them. They have “shrines” at their house which are bathrooms, they believe that the more shrines the better. The shrines are a place where they purify themselves

The Dreaming gives the Aboriginal people a way to explain on how the world came to be.

In order to have a glimpse on the society in which the Apostle Paul lived, one may find it interesting to study the followings found in Romans 1—8. Perhaps, in Paul’s writings one can identify the major themes in the ancient culture’s philosophy as well as human relationships and human identity and most of all, the natural world. Furthermore, Paul saw within the culture a trend or perhaps a tendency in the society in which he himself was a part of. A troublesome propensity, in which God was not a part of, and most of all, a continuous and on-going drift away from a good moral sense. Experts have commented on the book of Romans, one in particular has called it “The book of Romans, the letter that changed the world. In my own perspective, it’s

There are various theories across the spectrum of the social sciences that address the birth of society. The focus of this essay will be on two French sociologists, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Émile Durkheim who share different ideas of how the creation of society came about. Durkheim was a functionalist who has very fundamental views on the formation of society. Durkheim theorizes that society is natural and happens through shared experiences. He believes that society makes the individual “whole” by providing them with knowledge. However, on the other side of the spectrum is Rousseau, who views society as more of a means to an end. Rousseau theorizes that modern society is unnatural,

Francis Schaeffer and James W. Sire present a views of the universe that reflects judeo-scripture in their works. They describe the ideas that God created the universe to be good, and that God continues to oversee and Shepard all that lies within it. God did not simply form the earth with aimless intentions. He had an eternal detailed plan for all He created and would create, and all that He made had a good and holy purpose. In Genesis in Space and Time, Schaeffer conveys it as, “A doxology of all creation-everything glorifying God on its own level” (56). Realizing the Lord's objective when establishing the universe offers perspective to those within it, and allows them to understand how glorifying Him will always be critical. God continues

While this article focuses on comparing Navaho and White Mountain Apache ceremonial forms, the author, Grenville Goodwin, offers extensive details about religious rituals of east-central Arizona's Apache division. In his analysis, Goodwin explains that there are a number of religious ceremonies performed in the White Mountain Apache division, which deal with various situations. Goodwin explains that most Apache religious ceremonies include supernatural

Society today is made up of a mosaic of different cultures and religions. Visitors to the U.S. can see the incorporation of many traditions and rituals from other countries. Throughout history there have been many refugees who leave their homelands which has led to the spread of different cultures and traditions around the world. For Jews, the spread of Judaism was caused by diaspora, or dispersion of people outside their countries, which happened several times in history. Even though Judaism is widespread, there is a consistency in the basic traditions and holidays that are celebrated. Many rituals and traditions that are a part of Judaism are still preformed, like bar and bat mitzvahs,

THESIS: The concept of the circle of life is a dominant theme in the film reflecting the state of things in the modern society.

A sacred space is often distinguished from other spaces by its atmosphere and connection to the transcendent or otherworldly. Many features of the space, such as its architecture, lighting, and décor, create an aesthetic that is conducive to one’s experience of spirituality within the space. While sacred spaces are frequently defined by religious institutions as either temples, shrines, churches, or mosques, they are not necessarily limited to such conventional categories. For example, Native American tribes regarded caves or other natural wonders as sacred; some spaces do not have to fit strict religious molds to be venerated. In certain ways, Hindu temples also reflect the idea that sacred spaces are flexible and cannot be assumed to possess one specific set of qualities. The Hindu