Landscapes of the Sacred 3 - Spencer Beeson

After reading, “Given this reciprocity, in face, one may even have to speak of the place as perceiving itself through us” I found it hard to think that place could perceive itself through our senses. What could possibly give it the ability to do that? Does place have a soul or consciousness? These are the types of questions that arise when reading this passage. Upon first reading this I think that this statement is not one that can be proven to be true. But then why would some people believe this way. Well it must be due to the scared or sublime feeling that people often experience in nature. When humans experience the sacredness of a place they enter into a realm of the unknown. For some reason they feel a connection as if they are fully at that place. Lane says, “To be fully present to any locale is to recognize the reciprocity involved in touching and being touched by its particular array of rocks, trees, animals, and geographical features.” This statement builds off of the last entry that nature participates in the human experience of it. How can a place be sacred without a human to perceive it? This would make one think that place could perceive itself through us since we are necessary for a place to be sacred or sublime. Even after this I still find it hard to fully agree with this statement. It may be possible but there is really no way to prove it, and it is more of an observation than a fact. But nonetheless, this statement is very thought provoking and gives me a what if? feeling. The best part of the statement is how it makes the reader think about the possibility of place having a conscious mind or at least some higher force behind it and this is mind boggling in itself.