Iniciace, rituály, tajné společnosti – Eliade Mircea (2024)

Initiation is a set of rituals, cults, ceremonies, and trials that lead to a fundamental change in the religious and social status of the person undergoing the initiation. They enter chaos and undergo a ritual death, becoming a sort of blank slate and starting anew, so that from a natural being, they can become part of the spiritual life of their community – a being connected with gods, ancestors, and how things were at the 'beginning.' Eliade, in his meticulously substantiated work, compares archaic initiations across various cultures on all continents (America, Australia, shamanism, India...), addressing the initiation of both men and women, the role of secret societies, warrior rites, and initiation within major religions, especially Christianity. In all initiations, he confirms a similar sacred experience – the experience of an inseparable bond between humans and the world of gods, spirits, animals, ancestors, and nature. Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) was one of the most famous world religion scholars and a writer of Romanian origin. He was born in Bucharest and lived in India from 1929 to 1931, preparing for a doctorate on the topic of yoga. He then taught philosophy at the University of Bucharest and served in diplomatic services. In 1945, he definitively moved to France and taught at...