axioms

Lane concludes proposes four axioms of sacred space. They are listed below:

• Sacred place is not chosen, it chooses.
• Sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary
• Sacred space can be tread upon without being entered
• The impulse of sacred space is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal

The first axiom means that sacred space can never be constructed; it already exists and can only be discovered. The second axiom means that the common is made grand through ritual action. The third axiom speaks to the nature of a sacred space and the link between a sacred space and story; one can share geographical space with a sacred space, but the space remains normal without proper understanding of the associated stories. The last axiom is the most complex. Here Lane argues that we are simultaneously drawn to, and away from, sacred sites. Human beings are constantly moving between sacred spaces as their lives dictate. As such, the sacred cannot be confined to specific spaces. Lane also says "a sacred place is a stories place". Therefore, the axioms are the chapters of the story that fate has decided is our life because life is essentially everyone's ultimate sacred journey.