Kyle Shipe; Lane's Three Approaches

The first time I read Lane's three approaches to understanding a sacred place I was confused. But after rereading them and looking at how Lane applies them to a place like Medicine Wheel Wyoming, I was able to get a better grasp on them. Lane first discusses the ontological approach. In this approach Lane talks about the actual place "manifesting its own inherent, chthonic power and numinosity...where supernatural forces have invaded the ordinary." At Medicine Wheel the Native Americans believed that the great spirits of old lived there and were still present there. They had respect and fear for the great spirits and they naturally associated Medicine Wheel with the great spirits. A second approach is the cultural approach. Lane says that, "every human attribution of sacrality is always a social construction of reality." Culture and religion always overlap, and there is always some type of conflict at the place that is sacred. The third approach is the phenomenological approach, and it suggests that the place itself participates in the perception of it. This is to say that the way we look at a place is affected by the nature of the place itself. Overall Lane's axioms provide a great definition of sacred place, but his three approaches help make sacred place more personal and applicable to my life.