Kelly Cooke: Landscapes of the Sacred 12/3

Landscapes of the Sacred

Kelly Cooke


The four axioms of sacred place define the circumstances under which a sacred place is formed. First, sacred place is not chosen, but it chooses itself. Similar to the burning bush, things often become scared in unplanned moments that define the future. Seeking out axis mundi or sacred experience all but guarantees that one won't find it. Journey must come to you. How is sacred place chosen by the universe, and is the person chosen to experience it significant? Second, sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. The rituals performed at a place may set it apart as unique. This is chosen as the first axiom states, although the means of choosing is unknown. Third, sacred place can be tread upon without being entered. In the practice of aesthetic tourism, many tread upon the sacred ground of trails where sacred journey is experienced, but if they only seek out beauty that is all they will find. If one is not consciously interacting with their environment as more than objects, can they experience journey at all? Lastly, the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, which can also be understood as local and universal. God is never confined to one place but can be experienced locally. One is driven to find a center, both near and universally. 

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