This work is a classic example of research in the field of the history of religion .. Religious ideas are presented here not only in chronological order, but also united by a common understanding of the diversity of religious life of all cultures and continents. Eliade masterfully knows the methods of comparative anthropology and demonstrates the general trends in the development of religious ideas. For the historian of religions, every manifestation of the sacred is significant: every ritual, every myth, every belief and every image of the deity reflect the experience of the sacred and therefore carry the concepts of being, meaning, truth. The book presents religions and their traditions from the end of the ancient period to the late Middle Ages, and further to the Reformation and Enlightenment. The work also includes additional chapters on the religions of ancient Eurasia, Tibet, magic, alchemy and the Hermetic tradition.