Sacred Space
This week during religion, we focused on the concept of why people go on pilgrimage. After reading The Sacred and The Profane, I really understood the whole idea of pilgrimage a lot better. After class discussion, we came to the conclusion that people pilgrimage because it makes them feel more order and creates a sense of safety or stability from being closer to a sacred place and farther away from all the chaos. We learned that not all space is the same. Some places are more real or sacred than others which is why they are seen as the ultimate places to be.
In the reading, there was also a lot of talk of being in the center of the world. I didn’t totally understand the importance of this at first, but again after discussion I learned that the center is for the sacred. That is where the more sacred and real things can be found and it is far from all the chaos that threatens from the outside. The center is where the most holy things can be found, so that is where everyone wants to be to feel that security as I mentioned.
With this concept, the world is perceived to be flat and there are places that one can go in order to reach heaven. Those places are known as the axis mundi. This is kind of a ladder that connects earth with the heavens. There are a lot of structures and such that can be viewed as the axis mundi that we went over in class such as mountains, ladders, trees, or church steeples. They are raised up, usually in the center of something, in order to have a clear path to heaven.
I mentioned all of the things I did in my post because I found it all to be very interesting and I never really even thought about any of it before. For example, I always thought that steeples had some sort of meaning, but after reading this I understand their purpose. I realized that they are raised up in order to be closer to heaven. It allows for that connection to heaven from down on earth. I don’t think I have ever looked at it that way before.
We even broke this down to more of an individualistic view in class. In my house for example, I would say that the axis mundi would be in my living room because that is where my family all gathers together. For that reason, I see it as the most important place in the house. Each of our homes is also where we feel the most comfort and safety which is why we perceive them as being the axis mundi compared to the world. That is where we have the most familiarity and the highest feeling of order which also means non-chaos. I am glad that I can now understand the ideas from this reading more clearly, and be able to connect them to my life. A lot of things I never thought about make so much more sense to me after discussing this reading.
September 14th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
Kelsey, I agree to the fullest on your topic choice, because I have chosen to write about the same one. I am glad someone else was as intrigued as I was while learning about sacred space. You mentioned that you had always known church steeples had a purpose, that purpose was just unclear to you. I had the same perspective while learning this material, and have gained a better understanding. When reading this you informed us that your own personal sacred space is your living room. Would you consider any other places to be an axis mundi, such as the softball field, or somewhere here at Morningside?