WORLD RELIGIONS: GHUM 1052
ANALYTICAL REFLECTION: “Reflections on the Sacred”
Value: 20%: Due Date: Week 5 – June 10, 2022.
Background to the Assignment
In studying the different religions from around the world, the use of the word sacred is linked to a wide variety of objects, places, beings and times. One of the aspects of all religions is to offer a way to link or map the relationships that exist among the different understandings of ‘sacred’.
In First Nations in Canada, the Medicine Wheel offers a complex set of understandings about how human beings interact with the natural world and the spirit world.
In Buddhism, the mandala offers a path of meditation but also emphasizes the transience of the material world – nothing remains the same. In fact, in Tibetan Buddhism, beautiful coloured sand mandalas are created only to be destroyed!
In Islam, pictorial representations of the Hajj were often brought back as souvenirs by those who had participated in the Hajj. (There is an example of one such book at the Royal Ontario Museum.)
Wade Davis writes about sacred geography in his book entitled The Wayfinders Ancient cultures have an integrated understanding of the natural world, spirit world and human beings’ roles. In the chapter, “Sacred Geography,” Davis cites the spiritual importance – the sacredness – of particular places, one of which is in Canada. Davis writes:
In a rugged knot of mountains in the remote reaches of northern British Columbia lies a stunningly beautiful valley known to the First Nations as the Sacred Headwaters. There, on the southern edge of the Spatsizi Wilderness, the Serengeti of Canada, are born in remarkably close proximity three of Canada’s most important salmon rivers, the Stikine, the Skeena and the Nass. In a long day, perhaps two, it is possible to walk through open meadows, following the tracks of grizzly, caribou, and wolf, and drink from the very sources of the three rivers that inspired so many of the great cultures of the Pacific Northwest, the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en, the Carrier and Sekani, the Tsimshian, Nisga’a, Tahltan, Haisla, and Tlingit. Keep on for another three days and you’ll reach the origins of the Finlay, headwaters of the Mackenzie, Canada’s greatest river of all. (p. 116-117)
To underscore Davis’ point on the sacredness of this geography, he continues:
The only other place I know where such a wonder of geography occurs is in Tibet, where from the base of Mount Kailash arise three of the great rivers of Asia, the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, vital arteries that bring life to more than a billion people downstream. Revered by Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain, Kailash is considered so sacred that no one is allowed to walk upon its slopes, let alone climb to its summit. The thought of violating its flanks with industrial development would represent for all peoples of Asia an act of desecration beyond all imaginings. Anyone who would even dare propose such a deed would face the most severe sanctions, in both this world and the next. (p. 117)
The Assignment: Research and Writing Process
1. Choose two experiential artifacts which you would recognize as being sacred or having sacred quality. You may choose artifacts from one religion, several religions or other sacred traditions. Explain why you have chosen the two artifacts. Length: One paragraph – 150 words maximum.
2. For each artifact, research the historical, cultural, religious, social background for each artifact so that you can explain how and why the artifact is considered ‘sacred’. Your research should answer the questions of identification, and association/meaning. You are required to have three sources for each artifact – a total of six sources are required.
Length of Written Component for Artifacts: 200 words x 2 experiential artifacts = 400 words maximum. This may be written as two paragraphs.
3. Go to the website of the Royal Ontario Museum. Use this link to their research website: https://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research
a. Find one artifact at the museum that is sacred or has sacredness.
b. Include the museum website details and photo, if possible.
c. Explain why you chose this artifact and how it contributes to your understanding of the sacred. (This could be historical, sociological, linked to ritual or culture…)
Written Length: Maximum: 200 words
4. Write a paragraph in which you define the term “sacred” using the experiential artifacts to illustrate the definition of sacred.
Written Length: 150 words maximum.
The Assignment: Visual Component – Connecting to the Sacred
Think of how different religions represent their beliefs – the use of geometric forms: circles, squares, triangles are all used. Or, consider how the natural geography of sacred locations becomes symbolic for the religion and therefore the beliefs connected to it – the use of rivers, mountains, oceans, trees are also used.
1. Create a visual definition for the term “sacred” as you have defined it. The artifacts you chose (the two plus the one from the ROM) must appear in your visual.
The visual definition may be done in any format. You may use whatever medium you like – paint, coloured pencils, coloured paper etc. The visual may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. This is your choice. You may use a computer…
2. Write a short paragraph to explain how your visual presents “the sacred”. (150 words maximum)
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ANALYTICAL REFLECTION: “Reflections on the Sacred”
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