Sacral. What does the meaning of the word “sacred” hide?

(from Latin sacrum - sacred) - everything that relates to cult, worship of especially valuable ideals. Sacramental - sanctified, holy, treasured. S. is the opposite of secular, profane, worldly. What is recognized as a shrine is subject to unconditional and reverent veneration and is protected with special care by all possible means. S. is the identity of faith, hope and love; its “organ” is the human heart. The preservation of a sacred attitude towards the object of worship is primarily ensured by the conscience of the believer, who values the shrine more than his own life. Therefore, when there is a threat of desecration of a shrine, a true believer comes to its defense without much thought or external coercion; sometimes he can sacrifice his life for this. S. in theology means subordinate to God. The symbol of sacralization is consecration, that is, a ceremony as a result of which an ordinary worldly procedure acquires a transcendental meaning. Initiation is the elevation of a person through an established sacrament or church rite to one or another degree of spiritual service. A priest is a person who is attached to the temple and performs all the sacraments except the priesthood. Sacrilege is a property attack aimed at sacred and consecrated objects and accessories of the temple, as well as insulting the religious feelings of believers; in a broader sense, it means an attack on a shrine. In addition to the theological understanding of S. as a derivative of God, there is an extensive philosophical interpretation of it. For example, E. Durkheim used this concept to designate the natural historical basis of truly human existence, its social essence and contrasted it with the concept of individualistic (egoistic) existence. Some religious scholars consider the procedure of sacralization as an essential hallmark of any religion - pantheistic, theistic and atheistic: religion begins where a system of sacralization of especially valuable ideals takes shape. Church and state develop a complex and fine system protection and transmission of the sacred attitude of people to the basic ideals of the established culture. Broadcasting is carried out using mutually agreed upon methods and means of all forms. public life. Among them are strict rules of law and soft techniques of art. An individual from the cradle to the grave is immersed in the S system generated by the family, clan, tribe and state. He is involved in ceremonies, ritual actions, performs prayers, rituals, observes fasts and many other religious instructions. First of all, the norms and rules of attitude towards the near and far, family, people, state and the absolute are subject to sacralization. The sacralization system consists of: a) the sum of ideas sacred to a given society (ideology); b) psychological techniques and means of convincing people of the unconditional truth of these ideas?) specific iconic forms of embodiment of shrines, sacramental and hostile symbols; d) a special organization (for example, a church); e) special practical actions, rituals and ceremonies (cult). It takes a lot of time to create such a system; it absorbs past and newly emerged traditions. Thanks to sacred traditions and relevant existing system sacralization, society strives to reproduce a certain religion in all its horizontals ( social groups, classes) and verticals (generations). When the chosen object is sacralized, people believe in its reality more strongly than in empirically given things. The highest degree of S. attitude is holiness, that is, righteousness, piety, pleasing to God, penetration with active love for the absolute and liberation of oneself from impulses of selfishness. Any religiosity is associated with S., but not every believer is capable of becoming a saint in practice. There are few saints, their example serves as a guide for ordinary people. Degrees of S. attitudes - fanaticism, moderation, indifferentism. S.'s feeling is whole, and the poison of doubt is deadly for him. D. V. Pivovarov

Definitions, meanings of words in other dictionaries:

Big dictionary esoteric terms - edited by Doctor of Medical Sciences Stepanov A.M.

(from Latin sacrum - shrine), sacred. In theology, sacred means submission to the divine, unconditional adherence to any tradition of knowledge of God through the belittlement of one’s own desires.

sacred, primarily related to religious cult and ritual. In a general cultural sense, it is used in relation to cultural phenomena and spiritual values. Sacred are values that are enduring for humans and humanity, those that people cannot and do not want to give up under any circumstances.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

SACRED

from lat. sacrum - sacred) - everything that relates to cult, worship of especially valuable ideals. Sacramental - sanctified, holy, treasured. S. is the opposite of secular, profane, worldly. What is recognized as a shrine is subject to unconditional and reverent veneration and is protected with special care by all possible means. S. is the identity of faith, hope and love; its “organ” is the human heart. The preservation of a sacred attitude towards the object of worship is primarily ensured by the conscience of the believer, who values the shrine more than his own life. Therefore, when there is a threat of desecration of a shrine, a true believer comes to its defense without much thought or external coercion; sometimes he can sacrifice his life for this. S. in theology means subordinate to God.

The symbol of sacralization is consecration, that is, a ceremony as a result of which an ordinary mundane procedure acquires a transcendental meaning. Initiation is the elevation of a person through an established sacrament or church rite to one or another degree of spiritual service. A priest is a person who is attached to the temple and performs all the sacraments except the priesthood. Sacrilege is a property attack aimed at sacred and consecrated objects and accessories of the temple, as well as insulting the religious feelings of believers; in a broader sense, it means an attack on a shrine.

In addition to the theological understanding of S. as a derivative of God, there is an extensive philosophical interpretation of it. For example, E. Durkheim used this concept to designate the natural historical basis of truly human existence, its social essence and contrasted it with the concept of individualistic (egoistic) existence. Some religious scholars consider the procedure of sacralization as an essential distinguishing feature of any religion - pantheistic, theistic and atheistic: religion begins where a system of sacralization of especially valuable ideals takes shape. The church and the state are developing a complex and subtle system of protecting and transmitting the sacred attitude of people to the basic ideals of the established culture. Broadcasting is carried out using mutually agreed upon methods and means of all forms of social life. Among them are strict rules of law and soft techniques of art. An individual from the cradle to the grave is immersed in the S system generated by the family, clan, tribe and state. He is involved in ceremonies, ritual actions, performs prayers, rituals, observes fasts and many other religious instructions. First of all, the norms and rules of attitude towards the near and far, family, people, state and the absolute are subject to sacralization.

The sacralization system consists of: a) the sum of ideas sacred to a given society (ideology); b) psychological techniques and means of convincing people of the unconditional truth of these ideas?) specific iconic forms of embodiment of shrines, sacramental and hostile symbols; d) a special organization (for example, a church); e) special practical actions, rituals and ceremonies (cult). It takes a lot of time to create such a system; it absorbs past and newly emerged traditions. Thanks to sacred traditions and the currently existing system of sacralization, society strives to reproduce a certain religion in all its horizontals (social groups, classes) and verticals (generations). When the chosen object is sacralized, people believe in its reality more strongly than in empirically given things. The highest degree of S. attitude is holiness, that is, righteousness, piety, pleasing to God, penetration with active love for the absolute and liberation of oneself from impulses of selfishness. Any religiosity is associated with S., but not every believer is capable of becoming a saint in practice. There are few saints; their example serves as a guide for ordinary people. Degrees of S. attitudes - fanaticism, moderation, indifferentism. S.'s feeling is whole, and the poison of doubt is deadly for him.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

Different from everyday things, concepts, phenomena.

Sacred includes not only the sphere of religion, but also a wide range of ideas related to magic, esotericism, mysticism and holistic teachings. IN Lately this term is popular among representatives of right-wing nationalist movements, which oppose sacred as a vital principle of commercialism in a consumer society. Sacred the opposite of profane, that is, worldly, everyday. The term has become widespread in the humanities, in particular thanks to the work of M. Eliade.

Holy, sacred, sacred - comparison of concepts

Sacred usually means specific objects and actions dedicated to God or gods, and used in religious rituals and sacred ceremonies. Meanings of concepts sacred And sacred partially overlap, however sacred expresses to a greater extent the religious purpose of the object than its internal properties, emphasizes his separation from the worldly, the need for a special attitude towards him.

Unlike both previous concepts, Sacred appeared not in the religious, but in the scientific lexicon and is used in the description of all religions, including paganism, primitive beliefs and mythology. Sacred is a tracing paper from the English sacral, which appeared in the Russian language relatively recently. Sacred- this is everything that creates, restores or emphasizes a person’s connection with the otherworldly.

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Literature

Becker G. Modern theory sacred and secular and its development// Modern sociological theory in its continuity and change/ Ed. Howard Becker and Alvin Boscov. M.: Foreign Literature Publishing House, 1961
Caillois R. Myth and Man. Man and the sacred. M.: OGI, 2003
M. Eliade. Sacred and profane. M., 1994
Girard R. Violence and the Sacred. M.: UFO, 2000 (2nd ed. - 2010)
T. Burkhard. Sacred art of East and West. Principles and methods. M., 1999
R. Otto. Sacred. About the irrational in the idea of the divine and its relationship with the rational. St. Petersburg, 2008
A. M. Lidov. Hierotopy. Spatial icons and paradigm images in Byzantine culture. M., 2009
M. A. Pylaev. The category “sacred” in the phenomenology of religion, theology and philosophy of the 20th century. Moscow: Russian state. Humanitarian University, 2011-216 p.
S.N. Zenkin. Non-divine sacred: Theory and artistic practice. – M.: RSUH, 2012
Zabiyako A.P. Category of holiness. Comparative study of linguistic and religious traditions. - M.: Moscow textbook, 1998. - 220 p.
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Excerpt characterizing the Sacred

– Haven’t gone to bed yet? A? How do you think? “Don’t forget to get me a new Hungarian at once,” Rostov added, feeling the new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the coachman. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! - Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses away from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh took to the right towards the entrance; Above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with chipped plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh as he walked and ran into the hallway. The house also stood motionless, unwelcoming, as if it did not care about who came to it. There was no one in the hallway. "My God! is everything alright? thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart and immediately starting to run further along the entryway and familiar, crooked steps. Still the same door knob The castle, for whose uncleanliness the countess was angry, also opened weakly. One tallow candle was burning in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the traveling footman, the one who was so strong that he could lift the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the edges. He looked at the opened door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly transformed into an enthusiastically frightened one.
- Fathers, lights! Young Count! – he cried out, recognizing the young master. - What is this? My darling! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably to make an announcement, but apparently changed his mind again, returned back and fell on the young master’s shoulder.
-Are you healthy? - Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- God bless! All glory to God! We just ate it now! Let me look at you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, took off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into the dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young master, and before he had time to reach the living room, something quickly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, same creature jumped out of another, third door; more hugs, more kisses, more screams, tears of joy. He couldn’t make out where and who dad was, who was Natasha, who was Petya. Everyone was screaming, talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- I didn’t know... Nikolushka... my friend!
- Here he is... ours... My friend, Kolya... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Yes, kiss me!
- Darling... and then me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, hugged him; and people and maids, filling the rooms, muttered and gasped.
Petya hung on his legs. - And then me! - he shouted. Natasha, after she had bent him to her and kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding onto the hem of his Hungarian jacket, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed shrilly.
On all sides there were eyes shining with tears of joy, loving eyes, on all sides there were lips seeking a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held his hand and was all beaming in the blissful gaze fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him without taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waited and looked for someone. The old countess had not come out yet. And then steps were heard at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't be his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, still unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest, sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed it to the cold strings of his Hungarian. Denisov, unnoticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, a friend of your son,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who was looking at him questioningly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- Darling, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, not remembering herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's action. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha’s hand and kissed it.

Love is the highest feeling characteristic of living beings. Such colorful epithets and metaphors are applicable to it as an unearthly feeling, an elixir of happiness and health, “butterflies in the stomach, giving wings to the consciousness,” etc. In the Holy Scriptures, love is identified with God, and the two most important biblical commandments call for loving the Lord God and one’s neighbor.

Love is usually classified according to philosophical and psychological aspects, but according to the most common point of view it happens:

1. Agape - “divine” love, selfless, altruistic, experienced towards a person or God, regardless of any circumstances and life situations. This highest form love that does not fade away either with the passage of time or despite the own interests of the subject of love.

2. Storge – love cemented by family ties, including marriage. It is not as independent of circumstances as agape, but quite strong, since it is based on the instinct of self-preservation. As you know, humans have intelligence and the ability to experience higher feelings, unlike animals, but animals can also experience affection. In view of this, it should be assumed that animals experience affection based on the natural instinct of self-preservation, adaptation, and survival.

3. Philia – soulful love. It is inherent only to humans, but nevertheless, it is located at a lower stage of classification, since it can be directed not only in relation to a living creature, but also to inanimate objects: cars, paintings, other works of art, etc.

4. Eros – erotic love based on the instinct of reproduction. It is the lowest form of love in the classification of ancient Greek and other ancient thinkers, but in many ways “rehabilitated” from the point of view of contemporaries. For example, the founder of psychoanalysis, the popular Austrian scientist Sigmund Freud, believed that sexual attraction is the meaning of a person’s life, which is inappropriate to suppress.

Comparing the forms of love, it is clear that love can be different - from absolutely unselfish and sacrificial to base. Supreme love accompanies a person all his life, while others quickly flare up and quickly fade away. The latter can mean falling in love. Some married couples They say that love lasts three years. Of course, this has nothing to do with agape, since it is philia (falling in love).

What is the sacred meaning of love? To begin with, it is worth understanding the meaning of the definition “sacred”, which means irrational, something mystical, divine. A person needs to constantly experience a feeling that supports the feeling of happiness, otherwise the meaning of life is lost. When answering the question about the meaning of life, many people find themselves in a stupor or try to reason philosophically, but end up with nonsense.

In reality, the sacred meaning of love is to ensure happiness, therefore it is love, simple-minded, eternal, that can be called the meaning of every person’s life. Only she is capable of accompanying a person throughout his life and giving him inner happiness, independent of material wealth, the current economic climate, or other life circumstances. " Big waters they cannot extinguish love, and the rivers will not flood it. If anyone were to give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be rejected with contempt.” (Song 8:7, Bible).

Some rich people suffer from depression despite having all the material wealth available to them. They persistently seek new sensations in the hope that they will bring them happiness, but out of ignorance they ignore the sacred meaning of love.

Love and be happy!

Inherently incomprehensible; phenomenologically sacred - marvelous, amazing; axiologically - imperative, deeply revered.

Ideas about the sacred are most fully expressed in the religious worldview, where the sacred refers to those entities that are the object of worship. The belief in the existence of the sacred and being involved in it constitute the essence of religion. In a developed religious consciousness, the sacred is soteriological of high dignity: the acquisition of holiness is an indispensable condition and goal of salvation.

In the philosophy of religion of the 20th century. The doctrine of the sacred as a constitutive element of religion is expanded from various religious positions. E. Durkheim in his work “Elementary Forms” religious life. Totemic in Australia” (Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse. Système totémique d "Australie, 1912) critically revised the idea that religion should be defined from the concept of deity or the concept of the supernatural. The concept of deity, according to Durkheim, is not universal and does not explain everything diversity of religious life; the supernatural appears late - outside of classical antiquity. On the contrary, all religions, already at an early stage, are characterized by the division of the world into two areas - secular (profane) and sacred, which are placed by religious consciousness in the position of antagonists. The basis of such opposition is, according to Durkheim , the most important thing of the sacred is its inviolability, separation, forbiddenness. The forbiddenness, tabooness of the sacred is a collective establishment. This position allowed Durkheim to argue that the sacred is essentially social: community groups They give their highest social and moral impulses the appearance of sacred images and symbols, thereby obtaining from the individual categorical submission to collective demands. Durkheim's approach was supported by M. Mauss, who, reducing the sacred to social values, insisted that sacred phenomena are essentially those social phenomena that, due to their importance for the group, are declared inviolable. In the sociological concept of T. Lukman, the sacred acquires “strata of meanings”, to which the everyday is attributed as the final authority.

R. Ommo sharply disagrees with the sociological interpretation of the saint. If Durkheim hoped to overcome the extremes of apriorism and empiricism in explaining the holy, then Otto, a follower of I. Kant, built his book “The Holy” (Das Heilige, 1917) on the idea of the apriority of this category. According to Otto, it is formed in the process of synthesis of rational and irrational aspects of cognition with the primacy of irrational principles. Turning to the study of religious experience, Otto discovered in the “foundation of the soul” the a priori source of the category of the saint and religiosity in general - the special “mood of the spirit” and the intuition of the saint. The “attitude of the spirit”, from the development of which the category of the saint grows, was called by the German “numinous” (from the Latin - divine power), highlighting the most important psychological components of the numinous: “the feeling of creatureliness”; misterium tremendum (a feeling of awe-inspiring mystery - the “Completely Other” (Ganz Andere), which plunges one into awe in one mode of perception, and into horror in another with its eerie and majestic side, leading a person into ecstasy); the feeling of fascinans (from Latin fascino - to enchant, to bewitch) - a positive feeling of attraction, enchantment, admiration that arises in contact with mystery. When a complex of numinous feelings arises, it immediately has the status of absolute value. Otto designates this numinous value with the concept sanctum (Latin sacred), in its ultimate irrational aspect - augustum (Latin sacred). Apriorism allowed Otto to justify his refusal to reduce the category of the holy (and religion in general) to any social, rational or ethical principles. According to Otto, rationalization and ethizapy of the category of the saint are the fruit of later additions to the numinous core, and numinous value is the primary source of all other objective values. Since, according to Otto, the true saint is elusive in concepts, it imprinted itself in “ideograms” - “pure symbols” expressing the numinous mood of the spirit.

Otgo's research made a major contribution to the phenomenological approach to the study of the category of the sacred and to the phenomenology of religion in general. The Dutch phenomenologist of religion G. van der Leeuw in his work “Introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion” (1925) examined in a comparative manner the category of the holy from a historical perspective - from the initial, archaic stage to the category of Christian consciousness. G. Van der Leeuw, like N. Söderblom before him, emphasized in the category of holiness the meaning of strength and power (in Otto - majestas). G. Van der Leeuw brought the category of saint closer to the term “mana” borrowed from ethnology. Having opened wide access to historically specific archaic realities through such a rapprochement, the Dutch philosopher of religion set the theological (“God”), anthropological (“holy man”), spatiotemporal (“sacred time”, “sacred place”), ritual (“sacred word”, “taboo”) and other dimensions of the category of the holy.

Otto gave priority to the description of the numinous content of religious experience, ultimately striving to outline the contours of that transcendental reality that manifests itself in the experience of the saint. The metaphysics of the saint was the ultimate goal of Otto's theological phenomenology. M. Eliade, a follower of the German philosopher, did not inherit an interest in metaphysical problems. The focus of Eliade’s (“The Sacred and the Profane” - Le sacré et te profane, 1965*; etc.) is hierophany - the discovery of the sacred in the profane, profane sphere. In terms of hierophany, Eliade interprets religious symbolism, mythology, rituals, and the worldview of a religious person. The ideas and validity of Eliade’s conclusions have caused serious criticism. It is fundamentally important that Eliade’s central point - about the universality of the antagonism of the “sacred” and the “profane”, which brings his position closer to the position of Durkheim, does not find its confirmation.

Psychologization of the category of the sacred, rooting its foundations in the irrational layers of spiritual life - characteristic phenomenology of religion. However, the phenomenological approach, especially the approach of theological phenomenology, implies that in the act of religious experience or in the event of hierophany, a certain transcendental one makes itself known, which acts as the objectively existing substance of the saint. In the teachings of Z. Freud and in psychoanalytic religious studies (G. Roheim and others), the category of the saint has no basis other than psychological. The sacred in its origin and being is for Freud “something that cannot be touched,” sacred images personify first of all the prohibition, initially the prohibition of incest (Moses the Man and the Monotheistic, 1939). The saint does not have qualities that exist independently of infantile desires and, for the saint, according to Freud, is a “lasting forefather” - lasting in the psychic space of the conscious and unconscious as a kind of “psychic condensate”.

Data from the religious language, doctrine, and cult of different religions indicate that the category of the sacred, being a universal category of religious consciousness, has specific content in each of its specific historical manifestations. Comparative study shows that the historical types of the category of the sacred cannot be described by subsuming them under any one essential sign (“gabbed”, “other”, etc.) or a universal combination of signs (“horrifying”, “admiring” and etc.). In terms of content, the category of the sacred is as diverse and mobile as the ethnoreligious ones are unique and dynamic.

A. P. Zabiyako

New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .

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SACRED- (from Latin sacrum sacred) everything that relates to cult, worship of especially valuable ideals. Sacramental consecrated, holy, treasured. S. is the opposite of secular, profane, worldly. What is recognized as sacred is subject to unconditional and... Modern philosophical dictionary