Hierophany

Second only in importance to the concept of the sacred itself in Eliade’s understanding of religion is the phenomenal event in which the sacred is apprehended as manifest— the hierophany. Written by Mircea Eliade and Lawrence Sullivan, this explanation of hierophany states directly and with examples what hierophany is taken to be and provides a more nuanced understanding, including the subdivisions of theophany and kratophany. However, also revealed is a potential confusion and source of variation in the interpretation of Eliadean categories. While the language permits the active role of the sacred in its own manifestation ("in making itself manifest, the sacred limits itself”), the fact that it is also said to be “made manifest” permits the interpretation of the sacred as the intentional object of human apprehension. The article also raises the issue of our next element of Eliade’s thought: the dialectic of the sacred and the profane and so provides an introduction to that section. It is taken from the first edition of the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion , vol. VI, 313, edited by Mircea Eliade. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1987 by the Gale Group. Reprinted by permission of the Gale Group.