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A hierophany is a manifestation of the sacred. The word is a formation of the Greek adjective hieros (, 'sacred, holy') and the verb phainein (φαίνειν, 'to reveal, to bring to light').
Eliade argues that religion is based on a sharp distinction between the sacred and the profane.Eliade, Mircea. 1958. Patterns in Comparative Religion. New York: Sheed & Ward. p. 1. According to Eliade, for traditional man, myths describe "breakthroughs of the sacred (or the 'supernatural') into the World"—that is, hierophanies.Eliade, Mircea. 1963. Myth and Reality, translated by W. R. Trask. New York: Harper & Row. p. 6.
In the hierophanies recorded in myth, the sacred appears in the form of ideal models (the actions and commandments of gods, heroes, etc.). By manifesting itself as an ideal model, the sacred gives the world value, direction, and purpose: "The manifestation of the sacred, ontologically founds the world."Eliade, Mircea. 1961. The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, translated by W. R. Trask. New York: Harper Torchbooks. p. 21. According to this view, all things need to imitate or conform to the sacred models established by hierophanies, in order to have true reality: things "acquire their reality, their identity, only to the extent of their participation in a transcendent reality."Eliade, Mircea. 1959. Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. New York: Harper Torchbooks. p. 5.
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