On Sacredness and Liminality

I came here to try and define what was sacred, along with liminal, with the intent on finding the right picture in which to portray it. I am leaving here with memories of so many of my old friends, along with new friends, and the many conversations with them on said subject. It can be said a church is sacred with the altar set before the masses and the priest standing before you uttering messages of faith, or a sacred site in which the ancient Irish once stood upon waiting for the fires of the Harvest to be lit, but what it really comes down to is the community where one lives. This I learned from many conversations with community leaders, musicians and authors.

In all the pictures I have taken there are but a few that truly portray that sacredness. I am not sure any “one” picture can correctly even catch it, except for those that reveal the work of community, or the gathering of community members. I happened to catch a few; one on the isle of Iona where a set of boats are seen gathering crab traps and the other was a festival in the community of Gleann Colm Cille. Perhaps those are the only ones that truly capture the spirit of sacredness.

But notwithstanding those churches, statues, places or locations that are deemed sacred. For they, in their rightful place, inspire vast amounts of people to undergo a pilgrimage in order to gain some unseen insight or religious experience. I myself sought out to find such places for said happenstance and was fortunate to have had my own experiences, of which I will keep to myself, finding an inner peace that I had not had for some time. I can say that it was a place, on Iona, that I had this experience and it caused me to ponder on others experiences.

It is the relationships, friendships and acquaintances I met along the way that really made this whole trip worthwhile. In the conversations with them, I began to see how others view “sacredness” or “liminality”, and gain an even deeper understanding. It has also brought an understanding to the front of my mind about a search of this type; everyone has their own idea of what they are and no one way is the right way. So then I will take what pictures I have, adding a few more along during the last few days of my journey, and I will define what Sacredness and Liminalty are from my point of view, in this I will add to the vast collection of what many communities and people have already collaborated on.

"Sacredness is that which is life and Liminality is her sister known as experience, of which I am very rich with." - P.M.Sattler