Symposium, “The Creation and Contestation of Sacred Space,” Saturday Feb. 9
At this symposium key issues revolving around the subject of the “sacred” were discussed. Sanctity was examined through a cultural, historical, religious, and political lens. Each lecturer shed light on the definition of the sacred relative to a specific group of people and highlighted contemporary issues questioning pivotal role of the sacred to society as a whole.
- Jodi Magnus: She discussed the sacred in a comparison between the ritual pure versus impurity. Here a timeline was provided highlighting the historical Judaic pure and its transformations paralleling societies architectural standards. She discussed the set up of community areas and the locations of litrines, drawing a distinction between the location of hte impure and hte meaning of it to the Judaic society. She compared hte Qumran Sectarians for whome excrement represented the impure and the Rabinic sect for whome excrement seemed to be of pure nature. She made sure to draw a line between ritual purity and cleanliness emphasizing the difference between the two.
- Maria Subtelny: This lecturer drew a parallel between the body of man and the body of the cosmos. Man was discussed as a being of sanctity in respect to Sufi Islamic traditions. She used poetic verses from Rumi alongside verses from the Quran to explore the realms of the believers heart. The heart was the ultimate sacred space where the metaphorical Ka’bah was located. The Ka’bah being the most holy site to muslims, for Sufi’s the intentions within the heart of the believer are of ultimate importance.
- Zeff: Sacred Space in respect to Tibetan Mandala practices was discussed and portrayed. The various functions of the mandala such as: consecration of space, construction of sacred space, and were discussed both at a physical and metaphorical level. The sand mandala represents: (1) views of the divine figure, (2) a sacred enclosure, which marks off ritually pure space within which distractions cannot be found, and (3) provides a blueprint for the construction of buildings. As a map the mandala is a representation of a micrcosm. Here the mandala could represent the centre of the world, the axis mundi. At this center is the seat of the Buddha who is surrounded by his advisors in a heirarchical manner. As a sociopolitical map, the mandala is divided by the four cardinal directions whose symmetry in turn provides a map for the governemental heirarchy. The mandala not only stabilizes the metaphorical realm of the cosmos but also reflects stability and structure upon the physical world.
These three lecturers discusses three very distinct notions of sacred space. Jodi Magnus discusses sacred spaces in religious confines basing her discussion on the interactions of humans under religious sanctions. Maria Subtelny discusses sacred space within the religious believers heart paralleling the realm of the divine. Zeff discusses the creation of both a physical and a metaphorical sacred space and its mirroring upon the political heirarchy of the given state. All three of these lectures discuss the boundaries of physical and metaphorical sacred space through the lens of religion.
Contestation of Sacred Space
- Neil Keating: Dr. Keating discusses the contestation of sacred space held sacred to the indigenous people of Six Nations located in Ontario, Canada. He initiates by defining the term “foreclosure” based on religion and applying it to his argument. He questions why the given space is sacred to the indigenous communtiy… what makes it sacred to them … and if it is the history of crimes inflicted upon them what makes it sacred to them…? All of these notions are tied into one definitive idea which is that it is the land which is held sacred to them. The notion that sacred space can be found everywhere for the indigenous people.
- Dr. Asher: Dr. Asher discussed the idea of contested sacred space in India. She uses the Bodhgaya Mahabodi Temple, Babri Masjid, Taj Mahal and various other shrines to prove her point. In examining these sacred sites she examines the creation of a third sacred site which is created by a community. This cultural or communal sacred is the result of the intermingling of religions. Sacred shrines which are visited by Catholics, Hindus, and Muslims alike, the three dominant religions of India were the basis of her argument which highlighted the creation of the hybrid sacred space. Through this it was questioned as to whether or not a universal sacred could ever be established…
The contestation of sacred sites has been evident around the globe due to the proximity of clashing religious groups. These clashes rarely ever result in the acceptance of one anothers sacred sites, yet it has been done. Highlighting the common sacred sites promotes the lingering idea of a universal sacred advocated by Oleg Grabar. These ideas of the sacred will continue to be questioned by societies. Overall, each lecturer shared a definition of the sacred through the eyes of a different group of people. The “sacred” could be found in actions, emotions, the physical, and the metaphorical realms making each part of the universe sacred, although not universally sacred yet individually sacred.
