Why the Sacred Is Both Terrifying and Fascinating

What makes something sacred—and why can it feel both terrifying and fascinating?

In this episode of North Star, we begin a larger conversation on the sacred and the profane through the work of Rudolf Otto and Mircea Eliade. Otto gives us the language of the numinous, the mysterious experience of the holy that can draw us in, overwhelm us, humble us, or unsettle us. Eliade gives us the distinction between sacred and profane modes of being—and the idea of hierophany, the moment when the sacred appears within ordinary life.

Along the way, we ask whether the profane is really “evil” or simply everyday, whether the sacred must be “wholly other,” and how ritual, myth, seasonal cycles, cosmic order, and ordinary objects can become charged with meaning.

This is the first part of an ongoing discussion. Follow North Star for the continuation in Part 2.