Cross-Cultural Perspectives Toward Historic Sacred Places

Leví, Daniel; Kocher, Sara

doi:10.15368/focus.2011v8n1.2

Cited by 6 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…According to the emotion-anchored definition, the sacredness of a place corresponds to the emotional experiences that emerge from the interaction between people and the place (Carmichael, Hubert, Reeves, & Schanche, 1994). Levi and Kocher (2010) and Shackley (2001) have underlined the important role of cultural background in sacred place assessment. Different religious backgrounds can elicit different types of emotional experience.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, sacred places nearly always have a prominent and elevated part dedicated to religious services. Furthermore, they are characterized by strong verticality, an emphasized use of symmetry, and clear boundaries between areas of different sacredness (e.g., the chancel versus the nave, the area of enclosure in a monastery versus the area in which laymen can enter) (Brill, 1994;Levi & Kocher, 2010). There are many elements that connect religion experience with the expression of dominance (Geertz, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Religious places can promote meditation and reflection, which lead to feelings of peace, pleasure, and serenity (Herzog, Ouellette, Rolens, & Koenigs, 2010). Levi and Kocher (2010), for example, have reported strong feelings of belonging to the Buddha and its teachings, and an improvement of meditation and religious feeling when Buddhist monks visit a temple. In the Buddhist philosophy, sacredness is mainly a cognitive/mental state, but the experience can be influenced by the place design (Levi & Kocher, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Levi and Kocher (2010), for example, have reported strong feelings of belonging to the Buddha and its teachings, and an improvement of meditation and religious feeling when Buddhist monks visit a temple. In the Buddhist philosophy, sacredness is mainly a cognitive/mental state, but the experience can be influenced by the place design (Levi & Kocher, 2010). Temple decoration and architecture can promote a relaxing response which is comparable to the attention restoration that humans experience in natural environments (Kaplan, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sacredness is also a component of place identity-the meanings and feelings which a group of people associate to a place (Hague, 2005). Historic events can often lead a place to become perceived as sacred (Levi & Kocher, 2010). In many traditional cultures, sacredness is believed to be a primary and intrinsic characteristic of a place (Bianca, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

Costa

Bonetti

2016

Perception

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Geometrical and environmental factors in the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness were assessed by 137 participants in five tests. In the first test, a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm was used to test the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness in geometrical figures differing in shape, verticality, size, and symmetry. Verticality, symmetry, and convexity were found to be important factors in the perception of sacredness. In the second test, participants had to mark the point inside geometrical surfaces that was perceived as most sacred, dominant, and attractive. The top and the center areas were associated with sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness. In the third test, peaks and elevated regions in landscapes were evaluated as more sacred, dominant, and attractive than valley regions. In the fourth test, three figures sharing the same area but differing in horizontal and vertical orientation were evaluated on eight scales. The vertical figure was evaluated as more sacred, dominant, and attractive than the horizontal figure. The fifth test demonstrated the significant role of space seclusion and inaccessibility in the perception of sacredness. Geometrical factors in the perception of sacredness, dominance, and attractiveness were largely overlapping.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

Costa

Bonetti

2016

Perception

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The value of midbrain morphology in predicting prognosis in chronic disorders of consciousness: A preliminary ultrasound study

Chillura

Naro

Micchìa

et al. 2017

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

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Traditional Institutions' Management of Sacred Forests in Tanzania: History, Narratives, and Evidence from Njombe Region, 1880s-2019

Mgaya¹

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<p>Forest management entails interdependence between nature and society at different levels and systems. In Africa, one example of the interdependence of nature and society is ‘sacred forests,’ groves of trees with special religious importance to a people’s culture. In Tanzania, sacred forests are comparatively small in area, scattered over the entire country, and primarily managed by local village lineages, or kinship groups. In these communities, the close interaction in a small-scale society acts as a monitoring and sanctioning device. The patches of sacred forests have historically been managed as part of local tradition. Their management demonstrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), the linkages between biodiversity and cosmology, and the intersection between the social and the natural sciences. Scholars of traditional forestry in Tanzania have for decades compared sacred woodlands with the state- or private-owned forests. Comparing these different forest management systems cultivated a ‘relic stance’ in much of the scholarship regarding sacred groves. The predominant tone of sacred forest scholarship has been to describe sacred landscapes as static communal sites without exploring their associated constitutive dynamics. In such an interpretation, sacred forests have been regarded as remnants of the primordial past, a frozen view of these fragments of woodlands. Studying sacred groves without considering the institutions that uphold them is problematic, as it assumes traditional institutions have continued to be stagnant, interacting with sacred forests in the same way throughout time. This thesis studies traditional institutions’ management of sacred forests by the Bena people of Njombe, southwest Tanzania, 1880s–2019. The Bena are a largely unstudied group. The study uses a qualitative, mixed-method research approach, including interviews in Swahili and Bena, documentary evidence from the Tanzania National Archives, anthropological reports, participant observation, and online documentaries. In applying a mixed-method approach, the thesis bridges history, anthropology, ethnography, and ecology to study forest management as an ongoing process of interdependence between nature and society. Rather than exclusively looking at the sacred forests as geographic locations, this study underscores their socio-ecological aspect and asserts traditional institutions’ dynamics as a key in explaining their history in Njombe. Thus, the thesis not only foregrounds the existence of such patches of forests in Njombe but also unpacks the institutional, cultural politics to reveal the contestations and appropriations around the symbolic, cultural, economic, and ecological value of sacred sites among the Bena community. By using a knowledge-practice-belief complex systems lens, this thesis expands beyond simplistic narratives of inertness, to focus on historical, cultural, economic, and political dynamics that are internal and external to communities that have often helped sustain sacred groves’ traditions or contributed to their degradation. The thesis argues that the Bena sacred forests are embedded in a cultural matrix which is very different from the socio-cultural, economic, political, and ecological landscapes from which they evolved. While managing sacred forests was traditionally an integral part of cultural systems designed to sustain livelihoods and spiritual well-being of the community, the relationship between the land and culture has shifted dramatically within different historical periods, altering the steadiness of the sites. In pre-colonial Njombe, chiefs and elders controlled the use of natural resources, but the relationships of the inhabitants to the forests changed with shifting social and environmental conditions. During German and British colonial rule, differences in perception of the landscape defined the contest over sacred forests between the indigenous people and the foreigners. The materially driven world has increasingly necessitated redefinition of sacred landscapes in post-colonial Njombe. The meanings attributed to sacred forests, derived from traditional Bena cosmology and which drive current conservation policies, have changed, and adapted to new circumstances. The shift represents the flexibility and evolution of local institutions and ecological knowledge, which illustrates the power of fluid, dynamic local communities. The change also emphasises the divergent approach of current conservation programs, which view sacred forests as static and contained.</p>

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Cross-Cultural Perspectives Toward Historic Sacred Places

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

Geometrical Factors in the Perception of Sacredness

The value of midbrain morphology in predicting prognosis in chronic disorders of consciousness: A preliminary ultrasound study

Traditional Institutions' Management of Sacred Forests in Tanzania: History, Narratives, and Evidence from Njombe Region, 1880s-2019

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