On Hierophany

One example of hierophany is the apparition of angels. This is a new word I overheard this morning. It occurs when the divine realm manifests — or the word intrudes — into our quotidian realm. The natural one, an untidy fleshliness of the ordinary. Or the sacred and profane is another way to say this. I asked whether it is a hernia, and the answer was no. A herniated condition is viscera on viscera — a disc, organs, the skin, or nerves. Besides, such a comparison would be profane. A figure of speech already exists, I said, in a hieratic silence of cursive writing long ago dead. Not long ago, those two phrases dwelled in separate worlds. I dare you to use the word hernia in a poem, said a friend. So I not only used the word, I invited God into language. Or God existed before language, while God is also the word. Remember, all theophanies are forms of  hierophany. However, the converse is not always true — not all hierophanies are theophanies — or God visible in our world.