Reading a chapter from Eliade’s book "Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions," my attention was drawn to the part where he discusses "the world, the city, the house." I couldn't help but draw parallels to some of my own thoughts. He introduces us with an anecdotal example of Theodor Mommsen, a German historian, who in a lecture drew the map of 5th century BC Athens on the blackboard and calculated where one of Plato's dialogues might have taken place, all from memory, as if he were talking about the streets or points of Berlin in his own time.
Paradoxically, he was accompanied by someone who helped him find his way in that Berlin, which was apparently suppressed by a richer and more historical city like the Athens of his world.
Eliade refers to this example to illustrate the "sacred worlds" that serve as an axis in some indigenous tribes and in some individuals: "In order to live in the world, it must be founded; and no world can be born in the chaos of homogeneity and relativity of profane space," he tells us. I can't help but draw a comparison to daydreams and dissociations where one creates and lives in complex mental structures woven from memory and imagination.
This "world" functions as a psychic axis in the face of a chaotic reality that, for some spirits, is not the least bit satisfying, as is the case with me and my aversion to the post-industrial liberal societal structure. In my sacred world, there is a uniform homogeneity where the chaos of the world is absent and social structures are finely drawn. Here, aesthetics, morals, and religion play an important role. This is where I go to rest from the tedious and tense modern world. Here I move from Victorian London to an enlightened Paris, without underestimating the modest medieval villages or the manly Ancient Rome. This is where I feel most comfortable and satisfied
Paradoxically, he was accompanied by someone who helped him find his way in that Berlin, which was apparently suppressed by a richer and more historical city like the Athens of his world.
Eliade refers to this example to illustrate the "sacred worlds" that serve as an axis in some indigenous tribes and in some individuals: "In order to live in the world, it must be founded; and no world can be born in the chaos of homogeneity and relativity of profane space," he tells us. I can't help but draw a comparison to daydreams and dissociations where one creates and lives in complex mental structures woven from memory and imagination.
This "world" functions as a psychic axis in the face of a chaotic reality that, for some spirits, is not the least bit satisfying, as is the case with me and my aversion to the post-industrial liberal societal structure. In my sacred world, there is a uniform homogeneity where the chaos of the world is absent and social structures are finely drawn. Here, aesthetics, morals, and religion play an important role. This is where I go to rest from the tedious and tense modern world. Here I move from Victorian London to an enlightened Paris, without underestimating the modest medieval villages or the manly Ancient Rome. This is where I feel most comfortable and satisfied
