Landscapes of the Sacred: Devils Tower

When considering a specific landscape to be sacred, there are many factors taken into account. Prior to any knowledge regarding a sacred landscape, many people believe that sacred landscapes are solely places of worship. In some cases this is true, however, the character of a sacred place can be explained using four guiding axioms. The sacred place chooses, it is not chosen. The sacred place is an ordinary place, made extraordinary, the sacred place is tread upon with being entered and the sacred place has an impulse that is centripetal and centrifugal. It is important to define these axioms to distinguish a sacred landscape from a religious place of worship. An example of a sacred landscape is the Devil’s tower in Wyoming. The Devils Tower is a sacred site to more than 20 American Indian Tribes who perform personal and group ceremonies. American Indian religion often focuses on a place and the events connected with said place, in this case there are multiple narratives on the creation of the Devils Tower across multiple American Indian Tribes. Many of these narratives tell of a bear that was chasing a couple of American Indians until the rock they were standing on was raised and they were saved by The Creator. The unique shape of the Devil's Tower is attributed to the bear's clawing attempts to capture his prey. 

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