Sacred ground

Every place may be said to have its own spirit and it may also be said that each place determines the human activity appropriate to it. There are particular centres of power which affect the visitor profoundly and which clearly have always done so, as they are frequently the site of ancient temples or other monuments - Stone Henge, the Pyramids, Delphi, the Himalayas all affect the individual with a sense of the numinous, of awe. These power centres have been compared with the vital organs of the human body, part of the living make up of mother earth. They can often be shown scientifically to have special environmental properties (high negative ion content in the atmosphere, unusual magnetic fields, etc). Such sacred places have the power to inspire people, to energize them and to link them more closely with the spiritual. They become the focus of pilgrimage and are often associated with physical and mental as well as spiritual healing.