Jillian Daniel - Landscapes of the Sacred 1

In Lane's book, "Landscapes of the Sacred" there are four axioms that provide as guidelines for how to define a sacred place. The second axiom states"that sacred place is very often ordinary place, ritually set apart to become extraordinary. A sacred place can be anything raning from a religious monument to an open field. According to this axiom, the sacrality of the spot is dependent apon the actions that are played out there. An example of a sacred place being made "extraordinary" through rituals can be seen through any Muslim follower. As part of the Muslim religion, one prays multiple times throughout the day. They have certain customs that are followed during prayer, but no specific place where it needs to be done. The Muslim can chose where they want to engage in their religious practice. If they repeatedly perform their rituals in the same spot, that location may become sacred to them even if it's merely a certain corner of their bedroom. After repeatedly performing rituals in a certain location, one will most likely start to associate that spot with their religion, thereby making it sacred. As discussed in Lane's book, landscapes commonly take on the role of a sacred place. For instance, he mentioned that the island of Delos was made holy through the brith of Apollo. This island wasn't necessarily anything extraordinary due to it's phsycial traits, in fact it's a rather barren area. This shows that any single act that holds religious importance to any person or organization can make the place sacred due to the emotions and values that are embedded in it. This axiom can be related to my own life as well. Without fail, before every holiday dinner my family says a prayer. For special occasions, we always sit at the same table and say the same prayer. Because of this, I associate the room where this takes place with my religion.