The end of the XX - the beginning of the XXI century is a unique time in many respects. Especially for our country and for its spiritual culture in particular. The fortress walls of the former worldview collapsed, and the unknown sun of foreign spirituality soared above the world of the Russian man. American evangelism, Eastern cults, various kinds of occult schools over the past quarter century have managed to deeply take root in Russia. This had its positive aspects - today more and more people are thinking about the spiritual dimension of their life and are trying to harmonize it with a higher, sacred meaning. Therefore, it is very important to understand what a sacred, transcendental dimension of being is.
Etymology of the word
The word “sacred” comes from the Latin sacralis, which means “sacred”. The basis of sac, apparently, goes back to the pre-Indo-European saq, the probable meaning of which is “to protect, to protect”. Thus, the original semantics of the word "sacred" is "separated, protected." Religious consciousness over time deepened understanding of the term, introducing into it a hint of purposefulness of such a separation. That is, the sacred is not just separated (from the world, as opposed to the profane), but separated for a special purpose, as intended for a special higher service or use in connection with cult practices. The Jewish “kadosh" - holy, sanctified, sacred, has a similar meaning. If we are talking about God, the word "sacred" is a definition of the otherness of the Almighty, its transcendence in relation to the world. Accordingly, as related to this transcendence, any object dedicated to God is endowed with the quality of sacredness, that is, sacredness.
Areas of the sacred
Its area can be extremely wide. Especially nowadays - at the boom of the heyday of experimental science, sacred meaning is sometimes given to the most unexpected things, for example, eroticism. Since ancient times, we have known sacred animals and sacred places. There have been in history, however, they are still being waged today, sacred wars. But what does the sacred political system mean, we have already forgotten.
Sacred art
The theme of art in the context of sacredness is extremely extensive. In fact, it covers all types and directions of creativity, not even excluding comics and fashion. What needs to be done to understand what sacred art is? The main thing is to learn that its purpose is either to transmit sacred knowledge, or to serve the cult. In light of this, it becomes clear why sometimes the picture can be equated, say, with scripture. What matters is not the nature of the craft, but the purpose of the application and, as a consequence, the content.
Types of such art
In the Western European world, sacred art was called ars sacra. Among its various types, the following can be distinguished:
- Sacred painting. This means works of art of a religious nature and / or purpose, for example, icons, statues, mosaics, bas-reliefs, etc.
- Sacred geometry. This definition includes the entire layer of symbolic images, such as the Christian cross, the Jewish star Magen David, the Chinese symbol yin-yang, the Egyptian ankh, etc.
- Sacred architecture. In this case, we mean the buildings and buildings of temple, monastery complexes, and in general any structures of a religious and mysterious nature. Among them may be the most unpretentious examples such as a canopy over the holy well or very impressive monuments such as the Egyptian pyramids.
- Sacred music. As a rule, this refers to cult music performed during worship and religious rituals - liturgical chants, bhajans, accompaniment of musical instruments, etc. In addition, sometimes un sacred musical works are called sacred, in their semantic load related to the transcendental sphere, or created based on traditional sacred music, as, for example, many samples of new age.
There are other manifestations of sacred art. In fact, all of his areas — culinary, literature, sewing, and even fashion — can have sacred meaning.
In addition to art, the quality of sanctification is endowed with such concepts and things as space, time, knowledge, texts and physical actions.
Sacred space
In this case, space can mean two things - a specific building and a sacred place, not necessarily associated with buildings. An example of the latter is the sacred groves, which were very popular in the old days of pagan rule. Many mountains, hills, glades, ponds and other natural objects possess sacred significance today. Often such places are indicated with special signs - flags, ribbons, images and other elements of religious decor. Their meaning is due to some miraculous event, for example, the appearance of a saint. Or, as is especially common in shamanism and Buddhism, veneration of a place is associated with the worship of invisible creatures living there - spirits, etc.
Another example of sacred space is the temple. Here, the determining factor in sanctity most often becomes not the sanctity of the place itself, but the ritual character of the structure itself. Depending on the religion, the functions of the temple may vary slightly. For example, somewhere, this is entirely the house of a deity, which is not intended for a public visit for the purpose of worship. In this case, honors are made outside, in front of the temple. This was the case, for example, in the ancient Greek religion. At the other extreme are Islamic mosques and Protestant prayer houses, which are specialized halls for religious gatherings and are designed more for man than for God. In contrast to the first type, where holiness is inherent in the temple space itself, here it is the fact of cult use that transforms any room, even the most ordinary, into a sacred place.
Time
A few words should also be said about the concept of holy time. It's still harder here. On the one hand, its course is often synchronous with ordinary everyday time. On the other hand, it is not subject to the action of physical laws, but is determined by the mystery life of a religious organization. A vivid example is the Catholic Mass, the content of which is the sacrament of the Eucharist, which again and again carries believers into the night of the last supper of Christ and the apostles. Sacred meaning is also time, marked by special holiness and otherworldly influence. These are some segments of the cycles of the day, week, month, year, etc. In culture, they most often take the form of festivities or, conversely, mourning days. Examples of both can be Holy Week, Easter, Christmas time, solstice days, periods of the equinox, full moon, etc.
In any case, the sacred time organizes the ritual life of the cult, determines the sequence and frequency of the rituals.
Knowledge
Extremely popular at all times was the search for secret knowledge - some secret information that promised its owners the most dizzying benefits - power over the whole world, an elixir of immortality, inhuman strength and the like. Although all such secrets belong to innermost knowledge, they are not always, strictly speaking, sacred. Rather, it’s just secret and mysterious. Sacred knowledge is information about the other world, the abode of gods and beings of a higher order. The simplest example is theology. Moreover, this is not only confessional theology. Rather, it implies science itself, studying on some supposed otherworldly revelation of deities, the world and the place of man in it.
Sacred texts
Sacred knowledge is recorded primarily in sacred texts - the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas, etc. In the narrow sense of the word, only such scriptures are sacred, that is, claiming to be the vehicles of knowledge from above. They literally contain sacred words, not only the meaning of which, but also the form itself has meaning. On the other hand, its own semantics of the definition of sacredness allows one to include in the circle of such texts another type of literature - the works of outstanding spiritual teachers, such as the Talmud, The Secret Doctrine of Elena Petrovna Blavatsky or the books of Alice Beilis, which are quite popular in modern esoteric circles. The credibility of such works of literature can be different - from absolute infallibility to dubious comments and inventions. However, by the nature of the information contained in them, these are sacred texts.
Act
Sacred can be not only a specific object or concept, but also movement. For example, what is sacred action? Under this concept a wide complex of gestures, dances and other physical movements with a ritual, sacramental character is generalized. Firstly, these are liturgical events - the offering of a guest, burning incense, blessings, etc. Secondly, these are actions aimed at changing the state of consciousness and transferring the internal focus to the sphere of the other world. Examples include the dances already mentioned, yoga asanas, or even simple rhythmic rocking of the body.
Thirdly, the simplest of sacred actions are called upon to express a particular, most often prayerful, disposition of a person - hands folded on his chest or arms raised to the sky, a sign of the cross, a bow and so on.
The sacred meaning of physical actions is to separate the spirit, time and space from profane everyday life and bring to the sacred area both the body itself and matter in general. For this, in particular, water, shelter and other objects are blessed.
Conclusion
As can be seen from the foregoing, the concept of sacredness is present wherever there is a person or the concept of the other world. But often those things that fall into the realm of ideal, most important representations of man himself fall into this category. Indeed, what is sacred, if not love, family, honor, devotion and the like principles of social relations, and if more deeply - the characteristics of the internal content of the individual? It follows that the sacredness of an object is determined by the degree of its difference from the profane, that is, guided by instinctive and emotional principles, of the world. At the same time, this separation can occur and be expressed both in the external world and in the internal.