#1 Wilderness as Sacred Place: Lane's 4 axioms

Afton Reed

I guess I always thought of sacred place as nothing more than a place that someone felt connected to in a positive way. I never knew there were specific things that make a sacred place a sacred place. But, there are actually 4 axioms that characterize sacred place.These 4 axioms include: "A sacred place isn't chosen, it chooses." Which means that a place has a sacred quality that draws a person in. The place is divine and reveals itself to the beholder of the sacred.The place chooses to show itself to the person, the person doesn't merely pick it at random. The next axiom is "sacred place is an ordinary place, made extraordinary." This is pretty self explanatory. But to expand upon it, sacred place is geographically normal, nothing special, but the rituals that take place there make it sacred. The place isn't sacred without the person using it as a sacred place.The third axiom is "Sacred place can be tread upon but not entered." A sacred place can be overlooked to someone who is not informed of the place's sacred qualities. The sacred place can be physically walked on, but only when the person has the knowledge of the sacredness can they truly enter. And lastly, "sacred place is both local and universal." A place can be recognized as sacred by outsiders, because they share a similar bond with a place.