102,819
edits
Changes
no edit summary
[[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.
As meaningful space, sacred space encompasses a wide variety of very different kinds of places. It includes places that are constructed for religious purposes, such as temples or temenoi, and places that are religiously interpreted, such as mountains or rivers. It includes spaces that can be entered physically, as the outer [[geography]] of a holy land, [[imagination|imaginatively]], as the inner geography of the [[body]] in [[Tantric yoga]], or visually, as the space of a [[mandala]]. Sacred space does not even exclude non-sacred space, for the same place may be both sacred and non-sacred in different respects or circumstances. In [[tradition]]al [[Maori]] [[culture]], for example, the latrine marks the boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead. As such, it is the ritual place at which an unwanted spirit can be expelled or the help of the spirits obtained. Therefore, it is sacred. And it is still a latrine. Similarly, a house is a functional space, but in its construction, its design, or the rites within it, it may be endowed with religious meaning. A shrine that is the focus of religious activity on certain occasions may be ignored at other times. In short, a sacred place comes into being when it is interpreted as a sacred place.
As meaningful space, sacred space encompasses a wide variety of very different kinds of places. It includes places that are constructed for religious purposes, such as temples or temenoi, and places that are religiously interpreted, such as mountains or rivers. It includes spaces that can be entered physically, as the outer [[geography]] of a holy land, [[imagination|imaginatively]], as the inner geography of the [[body]] in [[Tantric yoga]], or visually, as the space of a [[mandala]]. Sacred space does not even exclude non-sacred space, for the same place may be both sacred and non-sacred in different respects or circumstances. In [[tradition]]al [[Maori]] [[culture]], for example, the latrine marks the boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead. As such, it is the ritual place at which an unwanted spirit can be expelled or the help of the spirits obtained. Therefore, it is sacred. And it is still a latrine. Similarly, a house is a functional space, but in its construction, its design, or the rites within it, it may be endowed with religious meaning. A shrine that is the focus of religious activity on certain occasions may be ignored at other times. In short, a sacred place comes into being when it is interpreted as a sacred place.