After seeing an apparition of the angel Gabriel in a cave on the sacred mountain of Hira, Muhammad took control of Mecca in AD. He destroyed pagan idols, with the notable exception of the statues of Mary and Jesus.
After his destruction of the pagan idols, Muhammad linked certain ancient Meccan rituals with the Hajj pilgrimage to Mt. Arafat another pre-Islamic tradition , declared the city of Mecca a center of Muslim pilgrimage, and dedicated it to the worship of Allah. In other words, he developed a pilgrimage practice and route that incorporated pre-existing holy places and rituals. Rather, he made them the centerpiece of the Muslim religion, based on his belief that he was a prophetic reformer who had been sent by God to restore the rites first established by Abraham and that had been corrupted over the centuries by the pagan influences.
Thus, by gaining both religious and political control over Mecca, Muhammad was able to redefine the sacred territory and restore Abraham's original order to it. In the years following the death of Muhammad in AD, a succession of Caliphs sought to extend the influence of Islam throughout the Middle East. It is an irrefutable historical fact that as Islam spread across this geographic region, its first great mosques were situated directly upon the foundations of pre-existing holy places.
Jerusalem is an excellent example. That ancient sacred site, whose name means City of Peace, has hosted several millennia of different cultures and their temples. Of vital importance is the fact that each shrine, temple, mosque, and church was built upon the same physical place.
This holy place had been venerated for a hundred centuries before the advent of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as also was the ancient city of Damascus, in Syria.
In Jerusalem, all at the same place and overlaid upon one another like books in a stack, were built temples to the Aramaean god Haddad and goddess Atargatis, followed by the Roman god Jupiter, two temples of the Jews, then a Christian church of St. John, and finally an Islamic mosque. Five different cultures with five different religions — and each of those religions using the exact same site for their major religious structures.
Although certainly a measure of syncretization, this is also an undeniable indication that places such as Jerusalem have a continuous, powerful quality. Numerous different types of power places and sacred sites may be found around the world. Based on three decades of visiting many hundreds of sacred sites in one hundred and twenty-five countries and reading more than a thousand books on the subject, I have identified the following list of distinct categories:.
When reading this list it is important to understand that some of these categories overlap and that many sacred sites could be listed in two or more categories. Nonetheless, the many different ways to indicate the types and locations of power places are clearly evident. Ancient legends and modern-day reports tell of extraordinary experiences that people have had while visiting these holy and magical places. Different sacred sites have the power to heal the body, enlighten the mind, increase creativity, develop psychic abilities, and awaken the soul to a knowing of its true purpose in life.
Seeking to explain this miraculous phenomenon, I suggest that there is a definite field of energy that saturates and surrounds the immediate locality of these sacred places. Concentrated at particular holy sites is a subtle field of influence extending in space and continuing in time. How may we explain the origin and ongoing vitality of these site-specific energy fields? What is it that makes a power place a power place? What invigorates their undeniable spiritual magnetism?
In my research, I recognize many different factors that contribute to the localized energy fields at the sacred sites. In the detailed writings on my web site, SacredSites. Previous sections of this introduction discussed the first three categories.
The fourth factor contributing to the power of the sacred sites is perhaps the most mysterious and the least understood. This is the accumulated force of human intention and the effect that it has upon the amplification of the power or the influence of a sacred site. Just as photographic film a small piece of earth can record the energy of light, and as audiotape another small piece of earth can record the energy of sound, so also can a sacred site a larger piece of earth record or somehow contain the energy and intention of the millions of humans who have performed a ceremony there.
Within the shrines and sanctuaries is the intention — the energy — of countless priests, priestesses, and pilgrims who have gathered there over hundreds or thousands of years. Praying and meditating, they have continuously charged and amplified the presence of love and peace, healing and wisdom. The megalithic stone rings, Celtic healing springs, Taoist sacred mountains, Mayan temples, Jewish holy sites, Gothic cathedrals, Islamic mosques, Hindu shrines, Buddhist stupas, and Egyptian pyramids are repositories of the concentrated spiritual aspirations of humanity.
These are the places where the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Guru Nanak, Mahavira, and other sages and shamans awakened to the deepest realizations of spiritual wisdom. Given my long fascination and familiarity with the sacred power places, you might ask what my philosophy is regarding them.
I believe it is highly beneficial for people to make pilgrimages to sacred sites because of the transformational powers available at them. These legendary places have the mysterious capacity to awaken and catalyze within visitors the qualities of compassion, wisdom, peace of mind, and respect for the earth.
The development of these qualities in increasing numbers of the human species is of vital importance, considering the numerous environmental and social problems occurring in the world.
At the root of all these problems may be found human ignorance. Many human beings are out of touch with themselves both their bodies and the deeper states of spiritual consciousness , their fellow beings, and the earth they live on.
Sacred sites and their subtle fields of influence can assist in the awakening and transformation of human consciousness and thereby in the healing of the earth. In closing, let me say a few words about how to approach and benefit from the sacred sites. The experience of a sacred place actually begins well before a pilgrim arrives at the site.
First, choose an area of the world whose power places you would like to explore. Next, consult the bibliography at the end of this book or on my web site SacredSites. In the months prior to your journey, read about the places you will visit and begin to journey to them in your imagination. When you finally reach the immediate area or city of the pilgrimage site, make the conscious mental effort to approach the shrine with the focused intention that you are going to plug into the power of place as you would plug an electrical appliance into a wall socket.
This metaphor is very helpful to embody as it actually predisposes you to a more intense connection with the sacred site. Then go to the site with a free and open mind. Maybe you will wander around first and then meditate, or perhaps it will be the other way around. Alternatively, you may take a nap or pray or play. There are no rules. Simply let the spirit of the place and your own presence come into a relationship, and then let it go, letting it be whatever it is. The energy transference at the power places goes both ways: earth to human and human to earth.
The wondrously beautiful living earth gives us human beings subtle infusions of spirit, and as pilgrims, we give the earth something like planetary acupuncture in return. True, the power places were discovered mostly in ancient times but they remain vital today, still emanating a potent field of transformational energy. Open yourself to this power of cosmic grace. Let it touch and teach you, while the planet is in turn graced by your own love.
World Pilgrimage Guide. Cuba Dom. Republic Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras. England Finland. Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Lebanon. Oman Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey. Australia Palau. In total around 4, flints, bracelets and other artefacts have been discovered in the cave, which remains a fascination to geologists and historians alike. The second most famous Neolithic stone circle in Britain also happens to be the largest.
There are in fact three circles here, two smaller ones and a larger outer ring that may have once contained more than stones when it was first built, possibly between and BC. And we have marmalade heir Alexander Keiller to thank for the current henge after he cleared buildings from the site and returned many stones to their rightful positions in the s; a museum displaying treasures from the site bears his name today. The stones are at the heart of a vast henge that includes a circular bank and ditch, which encompasses an area of around 28 acres, including part of Avebury village in the process.
It is believed that the henge was linked by two avenues of stones to other ceremonial stone sites at Beckhampton and Overton Hill, while the man-made Silbury Hill nearby is also relatively contemporary and possibly part of the whole development. It is thought that ritualistic ceremonies to the gods were enacted here prior to their abandonment in BC.
Lindisfarne first gained its mystical reputation when the exiled Saint Aiden established a monastery here in AD ; Saint Cuthbert soon followed, a holy man with a reputation for healing and miracles. By , they fled a Viking raid, but not before several monks died as Christian martyrs. While the astronomical significance of the circle is still being explored the stones are aligned on the axis of the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset , the UNESCO World Heritage Site has become rather coddled by authorities, keen to reduce the number of visitors.
The website features maps showing the precise locations of more than pilgrimage places, bibliographies concerning archaeoastronomy, sacred geometry, shamanism and megaliths, and many hundreds of beautiful sacred site photographs.
Read the Introduction to Martin's book Sacred Earth. World Pilgrimage Guide. Cuba Dom. Republic Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras. England Finland. Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Lebanon. Oman Saudi Arabia Syria Turkey. Australia Palau. McKinley Denali Mt.
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