The sacred and the profane in the traditional culture

The article discusses the Genesis of religious beliefs and archaic cultures that are associated with the formation of the opposition “sacred” and “profane”. Analyzes the concept of E. Durkheim about the ambivalence of the sacred, the sacred and profane relationship with collective and individual modes of being human. It is shown that Durkheim came from a paradigmatic position on the prevalence of collective experience over the individual, rooted in everyday life. If the myth was a representation of the sacred, was the kind of epifanii, the encounter of man with the sacred numinous forces, was viewed as a kind of transcendence in the modern world, the myth acts as a false form. It is constructed out of the elements and ideas of modern civilization, instrumental and profane, unlike the myths-prefermenu, carrying a great sacred charge, magic attraction and a deadly threat at the same time. In one of his new incarnations of the myth is perceived as part of the ideological system of society.