Books like The Sacred and the Profane

01

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell · Philosophy

The Hero with a Thousand Faces, first published in 1949, is Joseph Campbell's account of the monomyth — his term for the single underlying story structure that, he argues, appears across the world's mythologies, folk tales, and religious narratives.

02

Myths to Live By

Joseph Campbell · Philosophy

Myths to Live By collects a series of lectures Joseph Campbell delivered at Cooper Union in New York City between 1958 and 1971.

03

The Varieties of Religious Experience

William James · Religion & Spirituality

The Varieties of Religious Experience originated as the Gifford Lectures delivered at Edinburgh in 1901–1902 and immediately became one of the most celebrated works in the study of religion.

04

The Perennial Philosophy

Aldous Huxley · Religion & Spirituality

The Perennial Philosophy is Aldous Huxley's anthology and commentary on the mystical traditions of the world, arguing that behind the diversity of religious forms lies a single metaphysical core: the divine ground or ultimate reality is one; the human soul contains a spark of this reality; the purpose of human existence is to realize this identity; and the path to that realization requires ego-transcendence through contemplation, virtue, and love.

05

The Idea of the Holy

Rudolf Otto · Religion & Spirituality

The Idea of the Holy is Rudolf Otto's analysis of the non-rational dimension of religious experience — the distinctive quality of encounter with what he calls the "numinous," an experience that cannot be reduced to any moral, rational, or aesthetic category but is the core of what religion is actually about.

06

1984

George Orwell · Philosophy

Nineteen Eighty-Four is George Orwell's 1949 novel about a future England called Airstrip One, governed by the totalitarian Party under the figurehead Big Brother.