This past week, Paris’ Notre Dame cathedral re-opened five years after fire gutted it. The joy expressed in rescuing this ancient treasure from near destruction speaks to how deeply space can affect us. Religious communities are very intentional about space, creating beautiful marvels or at times quiet or simplicity that humbles, inspires, and leaves its imprint on us. Let’s look at some of the incredible variety of sacred spaces and how they give life to religious ideas.

Islam

Islamic architecture is stunning. The tradition’s prohibition against idolatry means mosques have no figures – no gods, angels, humans or animals. Yet, just as the restrictive rules of haiku poetry yield creativity, Islamic architecture has blossomed amidst these restrictions. Three tools are key:

1. Architecture over imagery – Domes, minarets, and keyhole archways create pleasing lines;
2. Calligraphy – Employing the beauty of Arabic writing, arguably the most beautiful writing on earth;
3. Geometry – Using repeating geometric patterns.

The geometric patterns dazzle but their symmetry pleases the mind in a way that calms and soothes. Whereas fantastic colourful statues can amaze, symmetry blends calmness and amazement in one.

The absence of statues creates a kind of visual silence, the perfect aesthetic to emphasize Islam’s bare fundamental truth: that there is no god but God.

Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque is a marvel of a clean aesthetic, where white pillars, domes and archways create awe and quiet at the same time. The building echoes the Taj Mahal, another Muslim wonder with similar principles. Photo credit: Brian Carwana

Shinto

Shinto emphasizes nature’s sacredness and is grounded in notions of purity and pollution. Hence, many of Japan’s most elaborate Shinto shrines integrate nature.

Many large shrines have multiple buildings where devotees walk, pilgrimage-like, from location to location, sometimes staying outside for the entire visit while praying under an awning at each structure. There are washing stations when you first arrive and many shrines incorporate running water in the grounds, reinforcing the purity ideal while also creating a sense of calm and peace.

At a number of the most famous shrines, nature was part of the whole experience including cherry trees in blossom, old growth trees, giant stones, streams and rock altars. In Shinto, nature teaches harmony and the shrines embody this.

The Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine in Fukuoka has a living roof. One stands outside to pray and may walk the grounds afterwards which feature enormous stones with carved writings, ancient massive trees, running streams, and outdoor altars. Photo credit: Brian Carwana

Hinduism

Hinduism obliterates the boundary between sacred and mundane space. Sacred spaces are everywhere – in your cab, on the roadside, in the boat, the shop counter, the bank, the vestibule, etc.

True to Hinduism’s endless variety, sacred space is also varied. It can be the Ganges river (Mother Ganga), sacred mountains, Varanasi’s cremation grounds, a temple resplendent with flowers and fruit, or a decorated cow navigating street traffic.

At some temples, crowds were enormous, the building packed as we entered amidst the crush of bodies, the ringing of bells, and the offerings of fire and flowers. Hinduism is very plural, very yes-and rather than yes-to-this but no-to-that.

This image illustrates three types of Hindu sacred space. In the middle lies Varanasi’s famous cremation grounds, the holiest space to end one’s life. In the background are two temple structures. And just outside the image, in the foreground, is the Ganges river, India’s most sacred waters, where people come to bathe, to pray, and to deposit ashes. Photo credit: Brian Carwana

How About You?

Do you have your own sacred space? For some it’s a meditation room or a path in some meaningful piece of nature. I cherish a corner of my house where I read and have so often listened to my wife play the piano. Even more poignant for me are the streets of Mellieha, Malta where my parents were born and where my extended kin live. The place possesses some magical hold on me that I can neither define nor express.

These spaces help us bodily encounter a sense of meaning, of what is sacred to us. They can restore, inspire, console, and evoke memories or hopes. I hope you have and can create spaces that are sacred for you.

Mellieha, Malta at night. Photo credit: Marika Caruana on Wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0