Rachel Goodwyn-Outside Reading #3

Another article I read is “Sacred Landscapes and the Phenomenon of Light,” by Barbara Weightman. Light is used as a basic symbol for most if not all religious experience, and its symbolism infuses all geography of sacred landscape. It can be seen as sun, fire, or characteristic of being and place. Also is serves as a metaphorical bridge between ones religious experience of a place and the interpretation of landscape. The way light falls on a particular place or site can change the experience one has of the place because in different lighting different things are illuminated and others shadowed. When a sacred site is established one’s inner light should or hopefully will outweigh the outer darkness of a sinful world and the religious journey will begin. The article also asserts that understanding how specific environmental objects, landscapes, and structure are a part of spirituality is extremely important to the understanding of geography of religion.