Profanes

Profanes is a term used in religious studies, anthropology, and sociology to denote aspects of life that are secular, ordinary, or non-sacred, in contrast to the sacred. In this sense, the profane encompasses everyday activities, common objects, and mundane spaces that lie outside ritual or temple life.

Etymology traces profane to the Latin profanus, literally “outside the temple” or “before the temple,” from pro- “outside” and fanum “temple.” The concept has been developed to highlight how cultures distinguish what is regarded as sacred or set apart from what is considered commonplace or ordinary. The distinction between the sacred and the profane is a central analytic pair in many theories of religion and ritual.

In sociological and anthropological usage, the profane is not merely the opposite of the sacred but a realm with its own norms, routines, and significances. Emile Durkheim and later scholars described how societies demarcate sacred domains through rituals, symbols, and prohibitions, while the profane constitutes the continuous ordinary life of individuals and communities. Some scholars also discuss how practices can move between these spheres through sacralization or desacralization, transforming profane objects or spaces into sacred ones, or vice versa.

In contemporary English, profane can also refer to language considered obscene or vulgar, a meaning distinct from the religious sense of the term. While “profanes” as a plural noun is uncommon in everyday usage, it may appear in scholarly writing to refer to non-sacred aspects or laypeople within a given tradition.