Rachel Goodwyn- Lane’s Axioms

In Landscapes of the Sacred, Lane describes four axioms, or rules that help people understand the character of sacred place. The first axiom is that sacred place is not chosen, it chooses. For example, in the Bible when Jacob wakes up from his dream about angels descending and ascending a tall staircase to Heaven he says the rock where he had laid is head is surely a sacred place. Jacob did not choose that rock thinking he would have a dream there he just had a dream there and as a result the sacred place chose. The second axiom is that sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. Many people make the pilgrimage to Mecca every year and this ritual pilgrimage has made not only the destination, but also the journey sacred. Thirdly, sacred place can be tred upon without being entered. Many times people can walk through a sacred place without realizing it, because of their minds’ are preoccupied with what they should be doing. Lastly is the fourth axiom, which says the impulse of sacred place is centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal. Lane asserts that we are all driven towards centeredness or a focus on a certain place of divine encounter, but then we are driven out from that centeredness realizing God isn’t confined to one location.