Landscapes of the Sacred 3-Tabitha Ward

In reading chapter 1 of Landscapes of the Sacred, in the passage about expecting too much from a sacred place, my first thought was how I believed in fairies when I was a child. Though fairies may not conjure the idea of something scared in most people’s mind, when I was a child this was the most sacred thing I could grasp. My idea after purchasing as many fairy books as I could get my hands on was that I could go out into the woods on a special night and find the fairies. I knew that I would be able to let into their world because I believed in them with everything I had. So, I would take my white candle and matches into the woods, along with the fairy incantations. The woods behind my house were the only true wilderness to me when I was young. I knew then that the woods held something very powerful and magic and that is why I truly believed that I would find some sort of fairy life. After I watched the movie “A Fairy Tale,” I was sure my dreams of finding and befriending the fairies would come true. As I look back at my childhood fairy finding days, I realize that I was expecting too much from the woods. The majesty and beauty that the wilderness possesses is the reason why it is so easy for a child to make believe. It is such a vast expansion of the unknown and the unfamiliar. I needed to let the wilderness let me in when it was ready to show me all it had to offer. I could not impost on the wilderness and expect to find some sort of magic.