"What allows a site initially known to us as topos - a mere location, a measurable, quantifiable point, neutral and indifferent - to become a place available to us as chora - an energizing force, suggestive to the imagination, drawing intimate connections to everything else in our lives?" (Landscapes of the Sacred, Beldon Lane, p. 39)
In his answer to this question, Lane places emphasis on the role of ritual and the human's actions that hone our senses towards the place, acclimating all of our being to experience of the sacred. Rituals are as old as encounters with the sacred and are often a necessary factor in this dynamic. However, I wonder to what extent you see the place itself as being responsible for the presence of the sacred. We talked in class about some of the experiences Dr. Redick and others have had in various places that often involved a ritual of some sort. Can you think of some examples where place experienced as chora had to do with some metaphysical aspect of the place itself rather than imposed human activity. The chapter "Prayer as the Decentering of Self" in Phenomenology of Prayer seems to suggest that it is possible. What do you think? Have you experienced place as chora because of something within the place itself, or is it always caused by ritual?
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