What do you consider sacred?

wil

wil

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Where have you been where you considered it sacred ground.

Now I'm not saying because someone said it so.

But because you felt it, experienced it so.

Now I've got the occasional tingle and goosebumps sitting in various churches, cathedrals, monasteries, temples, etc.

And I've been to Sedona and the vortex area of North Carolina and a few other sites that make folks say wow...

But the biggest buzz I can currently remember is walking around Monument Valley...

How about you?

 
The old groves at the Redwood State Park in California.

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Yosemite and the Tuolumne backcountry.

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The Ancient Bristlecone Pines in the Eastern Sierra.

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The Grove at which I do ritual in the mountains near my home (the only photo that is mine).

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Lots of places feel sacred to me, but for different reasons. When I was in Notre Dame in France, and some of the old chapels in southern France, they felt sacred, but not on their own. They felt like they held the hundreds and even thousand+ years of people's devotion and prayers and faith, which they did. But mostly I feel sacredness when I am in mountains and with old trees, when I am out in wilderness. It's where I resonate and connect, being the earth-centered critter I am. :)
 
Can't see your pics Path (my bad, not yours), but I agree that the old grove Redwoods, Yosemite, and Tuolumne are gorgeous. I've had hard copy pics I took years ago I'd love to be able to post, but don't have access to a scanner. Haven't been to the Bristlecones, but it's on my list to see Methuselah.

Wil, I agree Monumant Valley is a special place, as is Shiprock, and it goes without saying the Grand Canyon. Having driven long haul truck I've been fortunate to see if only briefly many beautiful places that have a deep spirit about them. The Moab region of Southeast Utah is one, I tell people to think of the backgrounds of the old roadrunner cartoons, the rock and mountains are just as red and orange, and the arches are natural. The Virgin River gorge outside Las Vegas is a peculiarly interesting place I find beautiful. The Dalles on the Columbia river in Washington state is a unique site. The Black Hills of South Dakota have a special spirit about them. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado is another fascinatingly beautiful place. The Catskills in New York, and the Fingerlake region are pretty cool. I enjoyed the Laurentain mountains of Quebec when I was fortunate enough to drive through once. The Appalacian Trail at the two spots I got to see in Georgia and North Carolina were more than just pretty. The Pacific Coast Highway around Santa Barbara California is a nice scenic drive for a metropolitan area.

The place I never tire of, and always feel at home though I've never lived there, is the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the lower end near the North Carolina border, just over the mountain from Roanoke. Floyd County, and the mountains surrounding it, beckons to me anytime I am near. I suppose it has something to do with my folks some generations back being from that area, but I find it amusing that I had a liking for that part of the mountains before I knew the family history. Cherokee land. :)
 
Another vote for the Black Hills. My grandfather's ashes were scattered over Crazy Horse. It's a very impressive place.
 
Where have you been where you considered it sacred ground?

I would have to say when I went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land..

The sense of history and the place where the Prophets and Messengers of God walked is still strong in my view.

Below is the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel abo9ve the Bay of Haifa:

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Below is the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Bahji near Akka:

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What do I consider sacred?

LIFE.
It is the only sacred thing there is.
Ground is just ground.
Buildings are artificial contrivances.
But some places are really grand and impressive and put a sense of awe and wonder into a person....that is, if they are open to such things.
 
wil said:
Where have you been where you considered it sacred ground.
Click to expand...

The great accomplishments of human genius and creativity are what I experience as profoundly sacred. (Basically, it is the ends-in-themselves of human life that are sacred for me. All together, it is human happiness and flourishing that is sacred.)

For example, I've been to Cape Canaveral to take the NASA tour. There is sacred ground, if ever there was any.

I wish I had seen a shuttle launch, or any space launch, but I haven't had the opportunity yet. I'll bet that I would experience that event as immensely sacred. It's not that the rocket launch itself is sacred, but it is what it signifies regarding the human mind and human potentials.

Give me one rocket launch over a thousand sunsets!

Boeing_Delta_II_rocket_launches_NASAs_Kepler_satellite_from_Cape_Canaveral_Florida.jpg



eudaimonia,

Mark
 
just been watching the moon landing 20 years ago and forgot how immensely emotional and evocative it was; then as now passers by interviewed thought the money could be better spent on more pressing earth bound concerns!

All stone circles are sacred and holy circular at any time of day; this one is near my work 10 miles away, the north east is replete with them


Tomnaverie NJ486034

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some great pictures posted here.


Church of Holy Sepulcher, Sinai Dessert, local hill I am sure there are angels up there sometimes, other than that its fairly transient like there was a place in my city where if i stood there I could feel all this energy coming out of the ground but that only happened a few times, and bizzare charismatic manifestations at my local church which meets on a sunday in a school hall.
 
Anywhere which is isolated, secluded, deserted, solitary.....

Anywhere that hasn't been touched by mankind, Nature, the wild.... What is left of it.

As far from humanity as possible.

The more dense the population of man, the more I feel ill.

Shawn: Ground isn't just ground.... My "back yard" is filled with life.... Mighty oak tree's that have surpassed most humans.... Birds, insects, deers, fish... The grass the plants... There is more life than you could even imagine...
 
17th, I entirely concur. While I can feel sacredness in human-made places, in the sense that so much effort and energy has gone into them, I connect with God in Nature. That is where my soul feels free and peaceful and happy.
 
I respect your opinion, to me, I find it ugly;

"wow look at this temple!"
"wow check out that bajillion kajillion ft tall building!"

To me it is just another of many, many wounds we put on the planet, but wounds heal. :)

(all man makes will return to ash I mean) Although we have left a fair few scars too ;/

But I certainly cannot feal -peaceful- around humans.... A chaotic, noisey lot. I feel like I struggle to even breath when there are too many people around me... heh..

I know, I know it is -all me- but I feel hatred, anger and frustration around people... So it is best to be avoidant....

Nature.... Ah the pure essence... Give me that any time over eye sores created by man. :p
 
I suppose mushrooms being sacred isn't such a strange idea. There are some who hold Mescaline and Peyote sacred, just as others hold coca sacred.

I am thinking that whatever inspires a reach within for greater things can probably be considered sacred. I've been to Cape Canaveral as well, and while I don't think I could describe it as a sacred place, it *was* to me a very inspiring place. (Haven't seen a launch up close either, but I did see an evening launch from about a hundred miles away and that was a treat!) Looking at some of the skyscrapers being built today just amazes me, and there are bridges like the one in West Virginia considered the highest bridge that make me wonder at the feats of engineering. Deep diving sea vessels, supercolliders, semiconductors, modern medical proceedures like electron scalpels and magnetic imaging...certainly there are a list of wonderful accomplishments worthy of inspiration.
 
The Bible is an inspiring collection of writings, for probably between 1/4 and 1/3 of the world. Other people find inspiration in the Vedas, or the Suttas, or the Quran. I agree the Bible is an inspiring and sacred text.

I guess there are levels and degrees of inspiration. The sacred things I think bring us to reach for those spiritual / metaphysical things. Those things held sacred I think for most would be those things that help us in our reach for the Divine.
 
17th Angel said:
(all man makes will return to ash I mean) Although we have left a fair few scars too ;/

Nature.... Ah the pure essence... Give me that any time over eye sores created by man. :p
Click to expand...

Ever see the show "Life Without People"? Life After People - History.Com

A bit over a year ago, I visited Fort Worden State Park in Washington. We stayed a few days and I meandered across the acres of old bunkers, now crumbling back into the earth, taken over by ferns and wildflowers. At this sight, I felt so much peace. The beauty of the Earth was taking over even the concrete remnants of our battlegrounds. If we don't learn to live in harmony with Nature, we will one day return to dust, and Nature will beautify all our scars by covering over with water, vines, trees... To me, this is a comfort.
 
Never heard of it.... But, I am sure to take heed of it now.

There are so many events in the small blip of mankinds existance.... Where they have attempted to be the paramount controller... You know, I mean like the most dominant force.... And in these event's Earth/Nature.... Bring man to it's knees and I don't know why it just makes me smile to watch man be crushed and humbled.....

And you see situations all over.... Earth's climates brought down the most advanced civilisations..... Egypt a power, thriving.... Brought to desperation, a gathering along one remaining river... Perhaps they began to see certain topics to be of more importance than their own mighty pride.

Netherlands more recent times, with the most advanced and intelligent engineers.... This time not consumed by sand, but water... They struggle to fight a losing battle. In Crete it rained fire :O.... Wait....

*stops himself* babbling.... Scars being covered.... Oh yes... chernobyl Is one of the classic examples.... You know of the wildlife and eden like qualities of chernobyl? Man's most powerful and dreaded force went wrong, big ass nuclear destruction.... Man deserted this area.... Now? Now animals thrive and live in peace.... Buildings crumble and fall... And replaced by bushes and trees.... Wolves, Wild horses, Eagles! Even the house cat has become a wild animal lol... There is indeed a dominant force in this realm... And thank goodness, it isn't that of mankind.

The nature man.. The wilds... It is sacred... Perhaps if we wish to exist more than a blink of eye in time we should learn our place instead of attempting to make everything else learn it's place... Cause we are the only small little minute beings that are not conforming. And I would find it hard to wager on who will wipe out that chaotic lot.... Nature.. Or will the large ego ridden self destructive lot do themselves in. Either way the world, the universe, the nature... It'll go on, and mankind, but a dream.
 
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