What classifies something as sacred? Is it necessary for the place to be connected to a religion of some sort, such as the Kaaba or a cathedral, or is it possible for a more simplistic location to be sacred? Australian Aborigines saw certain rocks as a sacred location, the place where their ancestors dwelled, and the Celts believed that certain caves were entrances to the spirit world. Today, we have forgotten the ways of a natural sacred space in favor of a manmade one. People flock to cathedrals and churches not only for religious services, but for a more tourist-like approach. Either way there is no denying a sense of awe that you feel as you stand below the expansive ceiling decorated in ornate designs. Those who go to the churches for religious reasons feel the place as sacred, but it is possible that nonreligious people do as well.
Although many sacred spaces have a form of religious connection, many do not. Those on a grander scale appeal to many people, but a scared space can also have just a personal connection, it simply needs to evoke a greater sense of thought and emotion than that which you can feel in the everyday world. These places can be a place in nature or manmade yet hold the capability of transporting your thoughts elsewhere.
Throughout my eighteen years, I have had a few personal sacred spaces. The first was what I called my “Lilac Fort”. From the ages of about five to eight I went to that fort and let the fragrance of the flowers overwhelm my senses as I read or simple sat and pondered all the mysteries that the world held in my childhood. After I moved away from the house with the lilacs, I needed to find a new sacred space. That came as I gained mobility in my car. As I drive around back roads with music playing, I feel a sense of peace that I felt in my fort. Talking to a friend, I discovered that my feelings were similar to those as she sat in a church pew.
We all have something that makes us at peace and gives us the feeling of connectedness to a god or some unknown being, depending on your beliefs. Whether it is the Holy Land of your ancestors, a building erected in a connection to God, a secluded location in nature, or something of your own design, it is your sacred space that gives you an escape from the real world.
This was really beautifully written. Personal non-religous sacred spaces have really been undervalued, and man made sacred spaces are, as you said, overvalued. Not to undermine the importance of the Kaaba, and Parthenon, but I agree with you when you say that people need their own spaces to escape the world.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though your first paragraph express my thought and questions on sacred space very well. I also love the closing of the thought, because I know that as a nonreligious person, I am able experience religious sites as sacred spaces. I thoroughly agree with your ideas about sacred spaces need not be religious, though they can be. I remember the first time your showed be your lilac fort, so many years after it had been abandoned. I remember the first time you took me for a drive in your car. Because of this, feel I can at least somewhat experience the emotions these places invoke in you, and that helps me to understand your concept of sacred space. I believe as humans we do all have something, or somewhere, that enables us to feel at peace with our surroundings, both emotional and physical.
ReplyDeleteHave we really" forgotten the ways of a natural sacred space "? We, as humans, still seem to have a deep connection to natural sacred spaces. Whether it be sitting in a tree, the middle of a lake or lying in the grass, a natural connection seems to have more a transporting power than most buildings. Hasn't the garden always been considered a place of power? We even have a courtyard meant as a retreat at the school. My point is, nature is far from forgotten and it is still essential in the world as sacred. people still go to mountain tops to feel a connection to god, the over-soul, what have you. And that connection always has more depth than an ordinary house of worship.
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