RESEARCH BASE

Search 3,721 documents across 34 fields — every claim tier-rated by evidence

3,721 Documents 34 Sections 43,625 Citations 34,852 Keywords Indexed 4 Evidence Tiers

3,633 are the core, quality-scored corpus (34 lettered sections — see How We Work); the remaining 88 are cross-corpus synthesis documents (68 InterDocs, 12 Connections, 8 Theories) also indexed here.

2,509 results for "sacred and profane" — page 63 of 126

C_1_11 Verified Global Traditions

C_1_11 — Breath, Wind, and Spirit — Pneuma, Prana, Ruach, Qi

Across virtually every human language and culture, the words for breath, wind, and spirit are the same word — or derive from the same root. This is not coincidence but reflects a profound universal insight: breath is the

pneuma prana ruach qi chi ki
C_1_04 Verified Global Traditions

C_1_04 — Orpheus and the Descent to the Underworld Archetype

This document examines Orpheus and the Descent to the Underworld Archetype, a topic within the Global Traditions research area. Key areas of investigation include Definition and Etymology, The Common Structure, Joseph Ca

katabasis descent to underworld Orpheus Eurydice Inanna Ereshkigal
C_1_16 Verified Global Traditions

C_1_16 — Structuralism and Myth: Lévi-Strauss, Binary Opposition, and Mythemes

Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) revolutionized the study of mythology by applying structural linguistics — particularly Ferdinand de Saussure's and Roman Jakobson's models — to the analysis of myth. His central insight w

Lévi-Strauss structuralism mythemes binary opposition Mythologiques Propp
C_1_08 Verified Global Traditions

C_1_08 — Twin Mythology — Duality, Doubling, and the Divine Pair

Twin mythology represents one of the most widely distributed narrative patterns in world religion — divine or semi-divine twins appear across every major cultural tradition: the Vedic Ashvins, Greek Dioscuri (Castor and

twins divine twins Ashvins Dioscuri Castor Pollux
C_1_21 Credible Global Traditions

C_1_21 — Arctic and Inuit Mythology: Comprehensive Survey

Arctic and Inuit mythology encompasses the spiritual traditions of the Inuit, Yupik, Iñupiat, Aleut (Unangax̂), and related circumpolar peoples across a vast territory stretching from Greenland through Arctic Canada, Ala

Inuit Arctic Sedna Sila Angakuq shamanism
C_1_07 Verified Global Traditions

C_1_07 — Hero's Journey and the Monomyth

Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" (1949) proposes that the world's mythological narratives share a single underlying structure — the monomyth — in which a hero departs from the ordinary world, undergoes initiatory trial

hero's journey monomyth Joseph Campbell departure initiation return
C_4_16 Verified Global Traditions

C_4_16 — Zulu and Southern African Cosmologies

Zulu and broader Southern African cosmologies constitute one of the richest and most dynamic indigenous religious systems on the African continent, rooted in Bantu-speaking peoples' migrations into the region over the pa

Unkulunkulu Nomkhubulwane amadlozi isangoma inyanga Zulu creation
C_4_12 Verified Global Traditions

C_4_12 — Hawaiian Mythology and Kahuna Tradition

Hawaiian mythology represents one of the most elaborately preserved Polynesian cosmological systems, anchored by the Kumulipo — a 2,102-line genealogical creation chant that traces existence from primordial darkness thro

Hawaiian mythology Pele Maui Kanaloa Tangaroa kapu
C_4_11 Verified Global Traditions

C_4_11 — Berber/Amazigh Mythology and North African Traditions

The Amazigh (Berber) peoples represent one of North Africa's oldest continuous cultural traditions, with the Tamazight language family classified within the Afro-Asiatic phylum and archaeological presence documented acro

Berber Amazigh Tamazight North Africa Tassili n'Ajjer rock art
C_4_15 Credible Global Traditions

C_4_15 — Taíno and Caribbean Indigenous Mythology

The Taíno, an Arawakan-speaking people who inhabited the Greater Antilles (Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico) and the Bahamas at the time of European contact in 1492, maintained a complex cosmological system centere

Taíno Caribbean Yúcahu Atabey Guabancex cohoba
C_4_10 Verified Global Traditions

C_4_10 — Mapuche and Patagonian Traditions

The Mapuche people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina represent one of the most remarkable cases of indigenous resistance in world history — the only major American group never conquered by the Inca Empire

Mapuche Araucanians Patagonia Pillan Ngünechen Wekufe
C_5_14 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_14 — Malagasy Traditions and Madagascar's Unique Heritage

Madagascar presents one of the most extraordinary cultural puzzles on Earth: an island off the coast of East Africa whose primary language is Austronesian, most closely related to the Ma'anyan language of southeastern Bo

Madagascar Malagasy Austronesian Famadihana Razana fady
C_5_07 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_07 — Hittite and Hurrian Mythology — Kumarbi Cycle

The Hittite and Hurrian mythological traditions, preserved on cuneiform tablets from Hattusa (modern Boğazköy, Turkey), provide the crucial "missing link" between Mesopotamian and Greek mythology. The Kumarbi Cycle — a H

Hittite Hurrian Kumarbi Teshub Ullikummi Song of Kumarbi
C_5_09 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_09 — Georgian/Caucasian Mythology and the Prometheus Connection

- [Quick Summary](#quick-summary)

Georgia Caucasus Amirani Prometheus Colchis Golden Fleece
C_5_26 Credible Global Traditions

C_5_26 — World Age Doctrine: Cycles of Creation and Destruction

The World Age Doctrine — the belief that cosmic time is divided into successive ages or epochs, each ending in destruction and giving way to the next — is one of the most widespread cosmological frameworks in human thoug

world age Yuga Five Suns Hesiod ages Kali Yuga Ages of Man
C_5_13 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_13 — Vietnamese and Indochinese Dragon-Serpent Traditions

The dragon-serpent traditions of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand represent a distinctive regional synthesis of indigenous aquatic serpent veneration with both Chinese dragon symbolism (from the north) and Indian Na

Vietnam dragon rồng Lạc Long Quân Âu Cơ Champa
C_5_33 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_33 — Oceanic Mythology: Pacific Creation Stories and Polynesian Cosmology

The mythologies of the Pacific — spanning Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia across the world's largest ocean — represent some of humanity's most elaborate oral traditions, encoding navigational knowledge, ecological u

polynesian mythology maui tangaroa rangi papa creation myth pacific
C_5_16 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_16 — Animal Totemism: Species as Identity, Ancestor, and Guide

Totemism — the system of belief and practice in which a social group (clan, moiety, or individual) maintains a special spiritual, ancestral, or symbolic relationship with a natural species or phenomenon — has been one of

totemism animal totem clan emblem ancestor animal spirit animal Lévi-Strauss
C_5_29 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_29 — Moon Mythology: Lunar Deities, Cycles, and Symbolism Across Cultures

The Moon — the most visible and regularly changing celestial object — has been a primary religious and mythological symbol for every known culture. Its predictable cycle of waxing, full, waning, and new (approximately 29

Moon lunar deity Selene Thoth Chang'e Tsukuyomi
C_5_11 Verified Global Traditions

C_5_11 — Slavic Mythology — Perun, Veles, and the World Tree

- [Quick Summary](#quick-summary)

Slavic mythology Perun Veles Rod Mokosh Svarog