The sacred appears in myths, sounds, ritual activity, people, and natural objects. Through retelling the myth the divine action that was done “in the beginning” is repeated. The repetition of the sacred action symbolically duplicates the structure and power that established the world originally. Thus, it is important to know and preserve the eternal structure through which man has life, for it is the model and source of power in the present.

The recognition of sacred power in the myth is related to the notion that sound itself has creative power—in particular special, sacred sounds. Sometimes these sounds are words, such as the name of god, divine myth, a prayer, or hymn; but sometimes the most sacred sounds are those that do not have a common meaning, for example, the Hindu om, the Buddhist oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ, or the Jewish and Christian “Hallelujah.”

Closely connected with verbal expressions of sacred power are activities done in worship, in sacraments, sacrifices, and festivals. Part of the importance of religious ritual is that in the realm of the sacred all things have their place. In order for human existence to prosper (or even continue) it must correspond as closely as possible to the divine pattern (destiny, or will). Different religious traditions have different theological and philosophical formulations of the meaning of sacraments. In Roman Catholic Christianity, a sacrament is “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” In Brahmanic Hinduism a saṃskāra (sacrament) is a sacred act that perfects a person and that culminates at the end of a series of saṃskāras in a spiritual rebirth, a symbolic “second birth.” In both of these cases, the sacred action establishes the relation between the divine and human worlds.

Other sacred activity includes initiation, sacrifice, and festival. Initiation rites among nonliterate societies both expose and establish the world view of the participants. The initiate learns the eternal order of life as proclaimed in the myth. Life is viewed essentially as the work of supernatural beings, and the initiate in this ritual is taught this secret of life and how to gain access to divine benefits. The initiate learns the tabus and is often given a sacred mark—e.g., circumcision, tattoo, or incisions—to express physically that he is part of the sacred (original) community. In other religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism, an initiate to a special holy (often monastic) community within the larger religious community is designated by a change in name and wearing apparel, denoting his special relation to the sacred.

In festivals and sacrifices two religious functions are often combined: (1) to provide new power (energy, life) for the world, and (2) to purify the corrupted, defiled existence. Religious festivals are a return to sacred time, that time prior to the structured existence that most people commonly experience (profane time). Sacred calendars provide the opportunity for the profane time to be rejuvenated periodically in the festivals. These occasions symbolically repeat the primordial chaos before the beginning of the world; and just as the world was created “in the beginning,” so in the repetition of that time the present world is regenerated. The use of masks and the suspension of normal tabus express the unstructured, unconditioned nature of the sacred. Dancing, running, singing, and processions are all techniques for re-creation, for stimulating the original power of life. Ritual activity moves power in two directions: (1) it concentrates it in one place, time, and occasion, and (2) it releases power into the everyday stream of events through its self-abundance—the primal vibration reverberates throughout existence. The new energy dispels the old, depleted, polluted energy; it cleanses the constricted, clogged, hardened channels of life.

One of the most important forms in which man has access to the sacred is in the sacrifice. The central procedure in all sacrifices is the use of a victim or substitute to serve as a mediator between the sacred and profane worlds. The sacrifice (Latin sacri-ficium, “making sacred”) is a consecration of an offering through which the profane world has access to the sacred without being destroyed by the sacred. Instead, the sacrificial object (victim) is destroyed in serving as a unique, extraordinary channel between these two realms. In sacrificial rites it is important to duplicate the original (divine) act; and because creation is variously conceived in different religious traditions, different forms are preserved: the burning or crushing of the “corn mother,” the crushing of the soma stalks, the slaughter of the lamb without blemish, the blood spilling of a sacred person, such as the firstborn.

Sacredness is manifested in sacred officials, such as priests and kings; in specially designated sacred places, such as temples and images; and in natural objects, such as rivers, the sun, mountains, or trees. The priest is a special agent in the religious cult, his ritual actions represent the divine action. Similarly, the king or emperor is a special mediator between heaven and earth and has been called by such names as the “son of heaven,” or an “arm of god.”

Just as certain persons are consecrated, so specific places are designated as the “gate of heaven.” Temples and shrines are recognized by devotees as places where special attitudes and restrictions prevail because they are the abode of the sacred. Likewise, certain images of God (and sacred books) are held to be uniquely powerful and true (pure) expressions of divine reality. The image and the temple are, in traditional societies, not simply productions by individual artists and architects; they are reflections of the sacred essence of life, and their measurements and forms are specified through sacred communication from the divine sphere. In this same context, natural objects can be imbued with sacred power. The sun, for example, is the embodiment of the power of life, the source of all human consciousness, the central pivot for the eternal rhythm and order of existence. Or, a river, such as the Nile for the ancient Egyptians and the Ganges for the Hindu, gave witness to the power of life incarnated in geography. Sacred mountains (e.g., Sinai for Jews, Kailāsa for Hindus, Fujiyama for Japanese) were particular loci of divine power, law, and truth.