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

Nearly the End and New Beginnings

As we near the end of our journey, with only a week to go, I am sitting here with a sort of sadness I had felt only a year and a half ago. To know that in less than a week we shall be back on home ground is a sobering feeling and I just can’t get over how quick the time went. We had traveled to Ireland and then to Scotland in what now seems a whirlwind of adventure and revelation. I had no idea it would be so fast, then again maybe I did and that is why we came a second time.

They say you have to visit Iona at least three times and if this is true then I know we will be back at least two more times. I am not sure why they say it, but something about it seems right. The next time I plan on visiting all the Hebrides Isles and spending time at many of the local sites of Holy Wells and ruins. Something about those isles, like Iona, just calls to me and I feel strongly pulled towards them.

Iona. I still dream of her, walking her slopes and passing through her valleys seems so right to me. On the hill of Dun I, I found a peace that I had not felt since I was in my 20s, in a place known as Waldo’s Canyon near Woodland Park, Colorado; something I had searched for in many locations. What is it about these quiet places that draw me from so far away?

I could tell you stories of strange happenings in those places but then I take away the mystery and awe of them, instead leaving them open to be argued or disbelieved. Why would I arm anyone with that weapon?

I keep thinking of my future, what to do for my Masters, and I keep going back to “Soil and Soul” by Alastair MacIntosh. Perhaps the reason he resonates with me is because I believe as he does and that old communities held something far more important than profit margins or “economic potential”. They hold history in a way we can only read about, or hear about from some old soul who had been in “that” time, and I yearn for something like that to be in the here and now.

It has given me a lot to think about. To take my cultural studies background and do exactly what I have wanted and bring into it sustainable studies in an effort to preserve such special places, not just in America but anywhere in the world where such a site exists. This “past” we research is alive in ruins, stories and music, we have but to only tap into the generational well to receive it and be patient enough to learn it while preserving it. Why is this so hard to do?

I find myself answering before I even contemplate it and I do not want to seem brash or quick witted but it is usually because they sit upon, or near, some precious resource. A resource not thought of so long ago, as needs were basic, which only today has become a market commodity. It makes me think of the old sites in America, how I wish to be able to find those, and how we can help all Americans preserve them.

So where do I go from here and how do I proceed?

I have a good idea, and even better ones at how to be ecologically minded, the trick is getting there in a way that shapes a framework for others to follow. That my friends is the bigger goal!