Reading of Choice - Stephen Brock

For my Myth, Symbols, and Rituals class we had to read the "Sacred and the Profane" by Mircea Eliade. This book has done wonders for me in drawing similar together similar essences of religious beliefs around the world. The dichotomy between the profane which is quantitative space/time or actions that have no difference in value. This profane existence can only be distinguished space and time can only be distinguished geometrically. The Sacred however forms a break in this homogeneity of space/time or actions. This sacred existence actually creates a qualitative difference in reality. Creating what Rudolph Otto calls a Hierophany, or a manifestation of the Holy, and essentially creating Axis Mundi, which is a connection between this world and 'heaven' or the spiritual realm.
This dichotomy has essentially shifted my entire paradigm on religion and sacred space/time. This idea is very inclusive of world religions and points out how all cultures around the world have this 'nostalgia' for the Sacred and, inherently, religious beliefs.