Landscapes of the Sacred: Ordinary Place as Sacred Place

In the book, Landscapes of the Sacred, Lane writes “A curious transformation of consciousness occurs when ‘an ordinary place’ . . . becomes gradually (or perhaps even suddenly) a place of extraordinary significance.”

This statement represents one of the four axioms of sacred place, in particular, the second axiom. Through this quote I believe Lane is trying to depict the notion that sacred place can ultimately be any place, of natural or ordinary setting, that comes to be known as a sacred place due to the experiences it has encountered. A seemingly natural and simplistic place can easily be regarded as a sacred place without one even realizing it. Lane uses the word topos to represent a “mere location, a measurable, quantifiable point, neutral and indifferent” and the word chora to represent “an energizing force, suggestive to the imagination, drawing intimate connections to everything else in our lives.” In other words, he uses topos to represent an ordinary place and chora to represent a sacred place. He states in his excerpt that a sacred place allows an individual to use their imagination to create connections to oneself and the environment. Lane also addresses a concept of how topos can become chora. He says that if one endures a life-changing experience in a certain area or place, then that place that was once referred to as an ordinary and bland location, is instantly transformed into a location that is important and sacred to the individual. In a way, conceiving an area as sacred is entirely subjective, completely up to the beholder. Experiences determine the divinity of a particular location.