The Sacred and the Holy

The Sacred and the Holy OVERVIEW When the scientific study of religion was fully established in the latter decadesof the nineteenth century, one of i...
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The Sacred and the Holy

OVERVIEW When the scientific study of religion was fully established in the latter decadesof the nineteenth century, one of its principle concerns was to trace religion back to its earliest expression in history. A number of influential theories about the origin of religion were proposed by scholars. Because the often-scanty evidence did not go back very far into human origins and was not capable of being applied universally to very different cultures, the search for the origin of religion soon lost credibility and died out. It is clear, however, that the search for origins was closely related to the question of religion's essence.For example, when scholars sought the origin of religion in animism or totemism, or when Sigmund Freud traced the source of religion to infantile projection, thesescholars were, at the same time, concerned with what they thought they had discovered to be the root of religious experience. This interest in the root nature of religion-that is, what, if anything, is its commO,n,universal essence-remains a concern of scholars today. In Chapter 1, we encountered some of the difficulties in attempting general definitions of religion. Despite this problem, most scholars today agree that religion is a system of activities and beliefs directed toward that which is perceived to be sacred or of ultimate value and power. Suchthings53

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be they spiritual beings, cosmic laws, geographic places, persons, ideals, or

ideologies-are thereby set apart as sacred or of ultimate significance. Here we will discuss the sacred or the holy as the root of religious experience and practice. We will explore the nature of sacred power and the ambiguity of the sacred as taboo (from the Polynesian word tapu, meaning "to make separate or reserve"), that is, as the source of wonder and purity as well as of fear and danger. We will also examine the psychological or personal experience uniquely associated with the encounter with the holy, and how the sacred, or holy, is manifested in special places and times. Finally, we will explore a family resemblancebetween religion as the responseto what is perceived as sacred and religion as commitment to what is held to be of ultimate meaning and value or as the source of ultimate transformation.

The Concept of Sacred Power In his phenomenological description of religion in Religion in Essenceand Manifestation,the Dutch scholar Gerardus van der Leeuw points to the preconceptual experience of sacredpower as the root of all religion. "The first affirmation we can make about the Object of Religion," he writes, "is that it is a highly exceptional and extremely impressive 'Other.' ...This Object is a departure from all that is usual and familiar; and this again is the consequence the Power it generates."t In of primal societies, almost any natural object or human artifact can be the bearer of sacredpower. "During an important expedition, for example, an African negro steps on a stone and cries out 'Ha! are you there?' and takes it with him to bring him luck. The stone, as it were, gives a hint that it is power{ul."2The important role that fetishes, amulets, totems, icons, idols, as well as sacredpersonages,sanctuaries,temples, and sacramentsplay in the history of religion, points to them as special vehicles or bearers of sacred power. Certain persons--such as the king-and special times--such as the New Year's Festival-or specific activities--such as planting or sexual relations-are regarded as set apart and endowed with unique power, and therefore objects of awe, fear, and taboo. The distinction between such a uniquely effective power and that which is relatively powerless is, according to van der Leeuw, what characterizesthe contrast between the sacred and the profane. It is power that creates for the sacreda special place and value all its own.

The Ambivalence of Sacred Power A unique characteristic of sacred power is the fact that it evokes a mixed response. A person's impulse, in the face of the awesome and mysterious, is

TheSacredand the Holy.

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...power awakens a profound feeling of awe which manifests itself both as fear and as being attracted. There is no religion whatever without terror, but equally none without love. ...Physical shuddering, ghostly horror, fear,sudden terror, reverence,humility, adoration, profound apprehension, enthusiasm-all these lie in nucewithin the awe experienced in the presence ofPower.J

Purity is acquired by submitting to a set of ritualistic observances. The point above all is to becomeseparated from the profane world in order to make possible the penetration of the sacredworld without peril. The human [profane] must be abandoned before the divine can be reached. That is to say,rites of catharsis are to the highest degree negations or abstentions. They consist of temporary renunciations of the varied activities typical of the profane world. ...It is literally necessaryto be purified in order to be worthy of approaching the domain of the Gods.4 A state of purity detached from the profane cannot, of course, be maintained for very long. Life requires a return to the profane, a world i!1compatible with sanctity. Hence, on leaving the sacred region, sacred vestments-for example, those of a priest-must be removed, or one must take a ritual bath, leaving the pure and consecrated life behind before emerging again into the region of the profane. This must be done, for contact with the sacred can also expose the profane community to the danger of supernatural defilement. Therefore, in many societies, holy persons such as kings, priests, or shamans must be kept from other members of the community lest the people be defiled. In Japan, for example, the utensils used in eating by the divine Emperor were destroyed, lest someone using them become infected.

, . :"

56

Part II: Universal Forms of Religious Experience and Expression Everything can

only

accursed,

that is touched by a holy person is consecrated by this very act and be

used

by

consecration

them.

...Contact

and

with

defilement,

have

fane objects. They render them untouchable, and communicate

to them their formidable

it exactly

is

fatal. the

withdraw

The same

divine effects

and upon

the pro-

them from circulation,

qualities.5

The Holy as Mysterium Tremendum and Fascinans The primal

experience

of sacred

power

with

the accompanying

feelings

of

awe, fear, purity, and danger, is pursued with great psychological insight by Rudolf Otto in his classic and influential study, The Idea of the Holy. Otto regards the holy as an experience peculiar to religion. He acknowledges that the holy often is associated with morality and that inevitably conceptualized in the form of myths and doctrines. However, the holy is fundamentally rience. In order to isolate

it does become in Otto's view,

a nonrational and ineffable datum of human expethe holy from either ethical or theological concep-

tions, Otto coined the word numinous to describe this uniquely religious phenomenon. The word comes from the Latin numina and refers to those powers

or spirits

that Latin

farmers

of ancient

Italy associated

with

special

places Since and functions. Otto regards the numinous as unique, it is not reducible to any other more primary experience. He points out that the history of religion is, from one perspective,

simply

the history

of the ways

in which

the numinous

experience has been expressed in myth, ritual, and doctrine. Considered subjectively, a person's encounter with the numinous evokes a profound "creature-consciousness" or "creature-feeling." Otto describes it as the emotion of a creature" submerged and overwhelmed by its own nothingness in contrast to that which is supreme."6 Considered as an objective reality, the numinous can be suggested only in terms of the way it grips and stirs the human

mind

and emotions.

Otto

attempts

to describe

the

most fundamental of these affective or emotional responses by the words mysterium tremendum and fascinans. Each of these terms requires some The mysterium is the experience of a reality that, when encountered, is comment. perceived as lying beyond our capacity to comprehend or conceptualize fully; it is extraordinary, unfamiliar, and therefore mysterious. It is beyond our comprehension "not only because our knowledge has certain irremovable limits, but because in it we come upon something inherently 'wholly other,' whose kind and charact~ are incommensurable with our own. ...,,7 The experience of the numinous can be better understood, however, if we also grasp what Otto seeks to convey by the words tremendum and fascinans. Tremor denotes fear but the tremendum is more than fear proper. It is a feeling

of peculiar

dread

and awe. Otto believes

that religious

dread

lies at

"

~ it" {\

The Sacred

and

the Holy

57

..."T c ~c

'e

root

of the religious

'~" 0 observes, ,"O;'s feeling

for

E~dvanced

,finore

the entire

the "otherness"

and

describes

~ awe or dread.

One

b y the

si g nifies

sublimity

qualities

is the

aspect

holy

"wrath."

sion,

might

of "might"

It is symbolized

awe,

with

and

and

even

captivating

side

of the

beatitude.

While

the

"awe"

"dread"

and

citing

Nevertheless,

the

survives the

in

transcen-

in addition

to the sense

or "overpoweringness,"

by such

expressions

of

which

ex p erience

J

of creature-feeling itself as an "energy"

points

of

he

"aweful

is especially vivid. that often is felt as

as a deity's

vitality,

not only

by emotions

forms would

and

vision

of the Lord

poetry.

1. ...sitting

that

and

pas-

from

joy,

the

and

example

is the

traditions,

biblical

this

peace,

and

experience

propitiation,

of

the fascinans

adoration.

of the experience

of religious

of

attractive,

accompanying

mercy,

praise,

character

in the Temple

pity,

issue

expiation

thanksgiving,

positively

feelings

love,

range

a throne,

is also

positive

worship

universal

A classic God

upon

The

of

a wide

numinous

include

include

of joyful

from

music,

are experienced The

numinous

to the

examples

wrath.

intoxicating.

expressions

Otto

of

is, has

reflecting

'est y ). In the

(ma

the numinous

majesty,

fascinating,

provokes

has,

that

or will.

Encounters dread,

Religion

tremendum

religion,

It is

the start-

of the numinous.

~~1ti majesty," the human consciousness 'cJ";"'" Furthermore, the tremendum reveals c

of nature.

to stir,"

forms

"daemons,"

of the tremendum

ma J"estas

man,

"aweful"

of theistic

two

term

worship and

expressions

and

begins

or 'weird.'

in history."8

of spirits

or the

first

'eerie,'

of primeval

development

"uncanny"

"It

uncanny,'

mind

worship

animism of the

sophisticated

Otto

in the

religious the

beyond

of the numinous.

of 'something

emerging

feeling

~ dence,

,"ffI'"

feeling

transcended

jrpeculiar

ici,,;'

experience

the

which,

fi1lg-point ~()urse,

"~

"in

of the

as well

prophet

holy

by

as from

Isaiah's

art,

awesome

of Jerusalem.

high and lifted

up, his train

filled

the temple.

2. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3" And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, whole earth is full of his glory. 4. And the posts of the door moved was filled with smoke.

holy, holy, is the Lord

at the voice

of him

that cried,

of hosts:

the

and the house

5. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. --