Landscapes of the Sacred- Amanda Ewen

Landscapes of the Sacred- pg.65-72

This chapter is called “Mythic Landscapes: The Ordinary as Mask of the Holy.”  The chapter starts off by explaining that the ordinary is no longer what it appears.  The chapter had an example of canoeing down the Red River Gorge in Kentucky.  He explained that the flowers, water, and silence were all so ordinary until he realized they were actually extraordinary.  The chapter also explains that people need to be shielded from the light of God’s glory.  They need to be hidden by a mask.  They are called masks of the holy.  The holy masks are displayed in a convincing way by artists and storytellers.  I found this chapter to be very helpful since we discussed the holy masks a lot in class.