Axioms of scared places according to Landsscapes of the Scared posted by Diana Cox

The author in chapter one points out many different axioms or rules which are able to guide the student of American spirituality to understand the character of a scared place.
I thought these rules would be informative for anyone writing a paper about a sacred place. The first rule or axiom is that a scared place is not chosen, it chooses. For an example a place can “create” people. People can find religion, peace, hope, or be forever changed in a scared place. On the other hand people can create the place. People build places for the purpose of something spiritual; whether it is a place of worship or a place of ritual. The second axiom is that a scared place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. Religion and ritual acts bring the place to life, for example the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. Three different religions have worshipped there and hold that place to be a scared place in their religion. Islam believe it is the Dome of the Rock is a place where the prophet Muhammad descended into the seventh heaven, Judaism and Christianity believe it is the place where Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac. These rituals bring the Dome of the Rock to life. The third axiom is that a scared place can be tried upon without being entered. A person can occupy a space without dwelling in the space. Ones symbolic participation in a place of significance is never totally available to scrutiny. How can one measure another’s participation in a scared place? The answer is you can not, how someone participates is not the important part of a scared place it is the participation in the place that is more important. The last axiom the author mentions is that a scared place is both centripetal and centrifugal. The religious impulse periodically moves both toward and away from the center point where contact with the holy is made. The place focuses on a particular divine encounter. For example, Muhammad descending into heaven would be a sort of divine encounter. These examples of the Dome of the Rock and rules are for learning and understanding the character of a scared place. I hope that these rules help others as much as they have helped me in understanding scared places.