Sacred Places

English: Colossal seated Zeus from Gaza, Roman per...

The mythical Mount Olympus in northern Greece. Vie...

Mount Olympus

Sacred places represent the essential spirit of human kind, and at some point in time, was part of a significant event, ceremony, or spiritual worship. People venture to sacred places to satisfy the human spirit's desire for communion with themselves and their collective humanity. Sacred sites are the most loved and visited places on planet earth. When one arrives at a spiritual destination they find themselves closer to their individual realities. These places have the power to awaken the soul and enlighten the mind. Though some places today, such as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, exist today as sacred places, they usually carry a different significance from those of mythological nature, such as Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus is Greece's highest mountain and home to the gods of Greek mythology. It was the home of the divine family, the twelve most important ruling gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. In mythology, though some places are physically there, they embody meanings far beyond the scope of the events that happened and even beyond the limits of the physical locations themselves (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p.321).

Sacred places that are considered in mythology are found in such places as waters; landforms such as mountains, canyons, and caves; trees, gardens, or forests; and blessed isles or magic realms. According to Mircea Eliade, such objects as icons and religious utensils, such places as temples and special groves, and such times as religious festivals are designated as sacred, because only certain limited activities can properly be performed with or within them (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 20). So, to be sacred is so much more than being evident and physically present, as is the case with Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus although evidently is a mountain and a...