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[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Cherry-Blossoms-Mishima-Taisha-Shrine-Shizuoka.jpg |right|frame]]

[[Image:lighterstill.jpg]][[Image:Cherry-Blossoms-Mishima-Taisha-Shrine-Shizuoka.jpg |right|frame]]

A sacred place (of shrine) is first of all a defined place, a [[space]] distinguished from other spaces. The [[rituals]] that a people either [[practice]] at a place or direct toward it mark its sacredness and differentiate it from other defined spaces. To understand the [[character]] of such places, Jonathan Z. Smith has suggested the helpful [[metaphor]] of sacred space as a "[[focus]]ing lens." A sacred place focuses attention on the forms, objects, and actions in it and reveals them as bearers of religious [[meaning]]. These [[symbols]] describe the fundamental constituents of [[reality]] as a religious [[community]] perceives them, defines a life in accordance with that view, and provides a means of access between the human world and [[divine]] realities.

A sacred place (of shrine) is first of all a defined place, a [[space]] distinguished from other spaces. The [[rituals]] that a people either [[practice]] at a place or direct toward it mark its sacredness and differentiate it from other defined spaces. To understand the [[character]] of such places, Jonathan Z. Smith has suggested the helpful [[metaphor]] of sacred space as a "[[focus]]ing lens." A sacred place focuses attention on the forms, objects, and actions in it and reveals them as bearers of religious [[meaning]]. These [[symbols]] describe the fundamental constituents of [[reality]] as a religious [[community]] perceives them, defines a life in accordance with that view, and provides a means of access between the human world and [[divine]] realities.