Sancti fication of nature and implications for tourism
Dallen Timothy
Introduction
Since the beginning of human life on earth, people have found solace in the promise of the divine. This has been manifested in many ways, including a belief in a god or gods, the spiritual nature of inanimate objects, the divinity of self, or nature gods that controlled the elements and rewarded or punished people depending on their obedience or lack thereof. Several archae-ological sites, some dating as far back as 10,000 years, are believed to have been built for religious purposes– sites of worship and spiritual transformation (Timothy 2010).
The natural environment and its component parts played a crucial role in ancient worship, for they were imbued with divine powers or inhabited by holy spirits. Much of this has stood the test of time and can still be found in many religious traditions and spiritualist movements.
Most organised religions today accept the close connection between gods and nature, and many biotic and abiotic elements of ecosystems are sanctified as locations of godly interface with humankind, sites of miracles, or settings associated with religious leaders and their ministries.
Contemporary spiritual communities still venerate nature, particularly topographic features and areas of energy flow, where earth’s spirit is believed to be most profoundly exhibited. Sacred space in nature abounds in all parts of the world, with salient implications for religious tourism.
This chapter examines the primary interfaces between religion and nature, and spirituality and nature. Itfirst examines religious views and treatments of the environment and the various components of natural landscapes that are most often revered. It then highlights non-organised religious perspectives on spirituality and how these inter-play with notions of nature and sacred space. Both of these perspectives are then brought into the realm of tourism by considering how spiritual and religious treatment of nature plays out in the tourism context.
Religion and nature
Most holy scriptures are replete with references to nature. The very creation of the earth in Judeo-Christian tradition details vividly the process by which God created the heavens, the earth,
and all living and non-living things upon it. Some faith traditions believe in the spontaneous formation of the earth through natural processes. Regardless of the religious dogma associated with the earth’s creation, nature and humankind’s role in it are foundational elements of the story. According to the Bible, God created the earth as a habitat for humans. He gave humans dominion over the earth and its resources, to be stewards of his great creation, and to use the earth’s resources wisely for their sustenance and comfort.
There are multitudinous references in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Bhagavad Gita, Quran, Talmud, Torah and Guru Granth Sahib to the importance of nature and the environment in the lives of humans and in their relationship with deity. Much sacred writ teaches of the inse-parability of humans and the environment in which they live, and some believers see the earth as evidence of God’s love and very existence (Alder 1991; Foltz 2003). It also re-affirms the eminence and omnipotence of god(s) in creating places of habitation for the human race.
Adherents to some religions, particularly a variety of Christian sects, have long interpreted the scriptural promise that the earth was made for the use of humankind to mean that it can be used in excess without forethought for its care (Dekker et al. 1997). In some fundamentalist Christian faiths there is a prevalent anti-conservation and anti-green ethos. According to several studies (e.g.
Boyd 1999; Schultz et al. 2000; Sherkat and Ellison 2007), adherence to fundamentalist Chris-tianity was a salient variable in predicting a lack of support for environmental causes. This is likely to be derived from Christians’ belief in Jesus’ eventual return to the earth to reign during the Millennium. Ancient prophets foretold that upon Jesus’ return, the earth would be cleansed/destroyed byfire and then renewed. Thus, the depletion of resources and destruction of ecosystems is not seen as antithetical to the tenets of their religion. The oft-times general lack of support for environmentalism may be politically derived, in part at least, by suspicions of religious conservatives against the more environmentalist liberals (Eckberg and Blocker 1996;
Greeley 1993).
Some environmental scientists, who are Christians, however, although believing in the Second Coming of Christ, also realise the godly commission to care for the earth as its stewards.
In the words of Matthews (1972: 38),‘ … the earth needs to be looked after and … man has the responsibility to dress, to keep, and to maintain the earth as a habitable place’ where natural bounties should be used with good judgment, not in excess. Regarding earth as one of God’s great creations, Alder (1991: 27) questioned,‘Can Heavenly Father be any less pleased with the willful destruction of nature than when we break the [commandments]?… It seems to me that part of our responsibility as caretakers for the earth is to… take advantage of opportunities to protect our world’s resources’. Religious leaders outside of Christianity have also begun to support nature conservation because of its divine connotations (Sheikh 2006).
Other religions and spiritual traditions have long acknowledged the role of religion in protecting the environment. Many traditional spiritual practices valued the protection of landscapes, water bodies and forests through their religious beliefs, protection of sacred sites and certain hunting taboos, and in so doing have helped to preserve biodiversity (Xu et al. 2005). According to a study by Owen and Videras (2007), people who adhere to spiritual belief systems that are not part of organised religion, or who do not even possess a belief in God, but who none the less believe in the individual spirit, are more inclined to exhibit pro-conservation and pro-environmental attitudes. This derives primarily from their beliefs in the oneness of humans and the earth, that humankind is part of nature, not separate from it, and therefore a harmonious human–nature relationship must be nurtured. The Owen and Videras study concluded that environmental action is determined by a variety of socio-demographic traits, one of which is spiritual beliefs.
Whether a religion’s leadership and membership view the earth as a resource to be consumed at will or as a blessing from God to be protected and utilised with caution, the majority of faith Dallen Timothy
organisations have accepted certain ecosystems or natural features as sacred space, imbued with power and sanctity. The veneration of ecology (geopiety) derives from two primary sources.
First, according to some creeds, features of the natural realm (e.g. rivers and forests) are intrinsically sacrosanct through their association with the earth’s creation, human life, healing powers, habitat of spirits or abode of the gods. Second, ordinary landscapes or physical features are enshrouded with hallowed significance following a divine visitation, angelic ministry or mighty miracle. For example, the Jordan River, although a crucial water resource in an otherwise arid land for millennia, achieved religious significance for the Jews when, according to ancient scripture, the Lord temporarily dammed up the overflowing Jordan River so that Joshua, the successor of Moses, and the Israelites could return to Canaan and vanquish Jericho. It later gained additional importance for Christians as the location where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist.
Sacrosanct environments
Believers have always sought environments and ecosystems that either exude a sense of spirit or that have been officially designated as holy places by faith organisations. This section highlights some of the most common sacrosanct components of the physical environment revered today as sacred space, including mountains, caves, rivers, forests and natural landscapes.
Mountains
Mountains and their environs are among the most sacred spaces on earth. Religions and spiritual philosophies of all sorts have venerated mountains for millennia. In many faith traditions and for many individuals, mountains are viewed as being literally andfiguratively closer to deity than any other geomorphic features in the natural realm. Like the ancient Tower of Babel, constructed in the hope of ascending to heaven, the height of mountains was symbolic of reaching the sky, and by visiting them people could be‘within reach’ of their Creator. Mountain scenery is likewise often revered as one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, where the very awe and inspiration of God can be seen and felt (Nicholson 1959, cited in Towner 1996: 142). In the words of one mountain scholar:
As the highest and most impressive features of the landscape, mountains have an unusual power to awaken a sense of the sacred. Their soaring summits, the clouds and thunder that swirl about their peaks, the life-giving waters that flow from their heights, these and other characteristics imbue them with an aura of mystery and sanctity.
(Bernbaum 2006: 304) Buddhism, Taoism and Shintoism all accept mountains as sacred sites, and many mountains in Korea, Japan, China, Sri Lanka and other majority Buddhist countries are among the most important religious landscapes (Chen 1995; Guo 2006). The ancient Chinese believed mountains to be pillars separating earth from heaven and the abode of wise men and sages. The Tien Shan range has long been viewed not just as the abode of gods but the physical embodiment of gods, considered the holiest mountains in China for more than 2,000 years (Shackley 2001: 128). To the ancient Greeks, Mount Olympus was the domicile of the gods, seriously worshipped and feared.
The isolation of mountains has played a critical role in religion as well. For some groups, mountains served as protectors against evil or otherwise negative outside influences (Kay 1995).
For others, their quietness and seclusion facilitated divine visitations. Mount Sinai was chosen by Religious views of the environment
God as a suitable location to bestow the Ten Commandments on Moses. St Katherine’s Mon-astery rests near the spot thought to be the meeting place of Moses and God. Later, the Quran mentions Mount Sinai on several occasions as being a holy place, like Mecca. Several Islamic sacred sites, including mosques, have been erected on the mountain, and it has become an important pilgrimage destination for Muslims and Christians (Shackley 1998).
Many angelic visits have taken place on mountains and hills throughout the world and according to many faiths. In Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina, the Virgin Mary appeared to three young Catholics in the early 1980s on Crnica Hill outside of town. The site has been officially recognised by the Roman Catholic Church and is one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Europe (Vukonic´ 2006). According to the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith was visited by an angel on the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York, where he received ancient engraved plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon.
Caves and grottos
Caves have been considered sacred space since the beginning of humanity. This comes largely from a sense that they are part of the womb of Mother Earth and represent birth, rebirth and regeneration. According to legend, the god Zeus was born in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete.
Sacred caves exist all over the world and have yielded many informative archaeological sites. In various parts of the ancient world, holy men and prophets lived in caves for their protective properties, but also because of their concentration of spirit.
The Cave of Hira on Mount Hira, a few kilometres from Mecca, is one of Islam’s holiest places. It is believed to be the location where Mohammed was visited by the angel Gabriel and received revelations from God, which then became the earliest portions of the Quran. Grottos are very important in Roman Catholicism, primarily because of Marian apparitions or sites of miracles. Likewise, there are many sacred caves and grottos in the Holy Land, including the location near Gethsemane where Jesus’ apostles slept while he suffered in the garden. Many ancient homes and workshops in the Holy Land were located in caves and grottos, so today many sacred locales associated with Christianity and Judaism can be found in rock faces or in subterranean caves. The birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, shelters associated with the shepherds’ field near Bethlehem, the Garden Tomb (the Protestant location of Jesus’ tomb), the burial tomb of Mary, the birthplace of Mary, the Tomb of Lazarus, the place of the annunciation, the presumed workshop of Joseph in Nazareth and many more sacred places are all believed to have been in caves or grottos and have been marked as such.
In addition to being created naturally, caves have also been carved by Homo sapiens for millennia as burial sites, shelters, worship centres and homes for deity. Several cave churches in Turkey and Ethiopia have been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and are important cultural attractions. The cliff shores of Lake Prespa, in northern Greece, are home to several sacred caves enlarged by monks to house shrines. These are important pilgrimage destinations and cultural tourist attractions at the borders of Greece, Albania and Macedonia.
Rivers
Like mountains and caves, rivers have a long history of being sacrosanct, primarily for their healing powers and as divine origins of gods (Cooper 2009). Rivers are mentioned frequently in holy writ. The Jordan River, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Nile are mentioned many times in the Bible and other Jewish scripture. Each of these is special in its own right in Christianity, Islam Dallen Timothy
and Judaism. The Nile’s historical association with Moses and the ancient Israelites’ escape from Egyptian slavery is of particular interest to Jews and Christians.
Rivers have spiritual qualities of cleansing and healing. The Ganges River in India and Bangladesh is the holiest of all rivers for Hindus. It is worshipped as the Goddess Ganga and its waters are believed to have healing powers and an ability to purge a person’s sins. For Hindus, a bath in the Ganges is a vital part of their spiritual life and a personal goal for many (Nyaupane and Budruk 2009; Singh 2006). Also from a forgiveness perspective, thousands of religious tourists are baptised each year in the Jordan River to demonstrate their devotion to God and to receive forgiveness for sin. Immersion in the river symbolises a rebirth, a clean slate and a recommitment to righteous living.
Forests
Forests have always radiated varying degrees of mystique. Throughout history people have revered forests and groves as spaces where spirits reside. Some people approached them with fear and trepidation, whereas others honoured their spiritual power. Sacred groves and forests can still be found in India. In certain parts of the country almost every village had its own sacred grove of varying sizes, which was the property of gods. Many of these groves still hold a spiritual sig-nificance and are used today as places of worship (Chadran and Hughes 1997; Shackley 2001). In West Africa, sacred groves are deemed to be thefinal resting places of tribal chiefs or homes of gods, and certain‘profane’ behaviours, such as hunting reptiles, drumming, whistling or cutting trees are strictly forbidden (Shackley 2001). From a Christian perspective, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also maintains a sacred grove in upstate New York, where Joseph Smith, the church’s founder, witnessed a heavenly visit in the early nineteenth century (Hudman and Jackson 1992; Olsen 2006).
Forests have for many centuries been venerated as sacred in Europe and Asia. The forest conservation movement in Europe during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as protective legislation, was based largely on Europeans’ view of forests as sacred space (Bürger-Arndt and Welzholz 2005). The same is true of many forests in India and other parts of Asia (Sinha and Sinha 2008). Japan’s two primary religions, Buddhism and Shintoism, attribute spiritual and celestial attributes to trees, and many Shinto temples are set inside parks and gar-dens designed and landscaped with trees to symbolise eternal life and the divine attributes of forests (Albin and Berwick 2004: 565).
Implications for tourism
This intercourse between religion and the environment results in salient implications for tourism, including religious pilgrimage, cultural tourism, and the integration of geomantic design in tourist resorts and other settings.
Religious pilgrimage is one of the most salient types of contemporary tourism and one of the earliest forerunners to modern-day travel. Religious tourism, or pilgrimage, entails people tra-velling to hallowed sites for spiritual or religious purposes. Many pilgrims travel to seek for-giveness for sin, to be healed, to demonstrate devotion to God, to fulfil religious requirements, or to be uplifted and edified in other ways. The largest tourist gatherings in the world are religious in nature and comprise the most salient type of tourism for some countries and regions. From the beginning of time people have travelled in search of the sacred, visiting places deemed holy by religious associations and elevated individuals. For thousands of years Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims have sought access to holy rivers and mountain sites as a way of Religious views of the environment
connecting with gods and Mother Earth. Many of the locales visited in ancient days are still important destinations for pilgrim tourists today in India, Nepal and Tibet. Soon after the cru-cifixion of Jesus Christ, converts to Christianity in Europe began to visit the Holy Land, as well as sites associated with the apostles. Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Palestine were early pilgrim destinations and continue to be key stops on Christian tours of the eastern Mediterranean today.
Organised religion has varying degrees of obligation regarding pilgrimage. At one end of the spectrum, Islam requires devotees to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca (the hajj) at least once in their lifetime, unless they are physically or financially unable (Timothy and Iverson 2006). At the other end are faiths that discourage travel for religious reasons; Sikhism is a good example of this. Although Sikhs are not prohibited from undertaking religious pilgrimage, they are com-monly discouraged from it, because it is considered a waste of time and money, and may demonstrate a lack of humility. According to Guru teachings, travelling to sacred sites produces few spiritual benefits and is unnecessary, because adherents’ faith is found within themselves rather than in any location or building (Jutla 2002). Between the two ends of the spectrum are varying levels of compulsion or freedom to participate in religious tourism. Common among nearly all pilgrimage patterns is the notion of visiting natural areas and features of the physical landscape that are considered sacred. As noted above, many of these include mountains, rivers, forests and caves.
The second perspective is non-believers visiting sacred sites to satisfy their curiosity rather than to exhibit devotion (Metreveli and Timothy 2010; Timothy 2011). Many of the world’s sacrosanct places have become attractions simply because of their cultural importance and heritage value. Sailing on the Ganges, for example, to witness the unique architecture of Varanasi and to watch Hindus bathing and praying in the river is one of the most popular cultural attractions in northern India. The same can be said of many tourists’ visits to Mount Sinai or sacred forests in Japan.
Finally, several of the East Asian religions have significantly influenced the design and development of tourism in various parts of the world. Feng Shui, a crucial element of Taoism, Confucianism and other popular religious traditions, has had relevant bearings on the planning, design and operation of hotels in the Asia-Pacific region (Guo 2006). Hobson (1994: 23) identified several ways in which Feng Shui influences the management of tourism establish-ments: location of the attraction or service; exterior design; interior design and layout; marketing to those who believe in Feng Shui; and managing workers who are believers in the power of Feng Shui. Many East Asian religionists believe that lighting, layout and form can affect people’s health and luck. Poor design can be unlucky and curtail theflow of energy (Guo 2006).
Spiritualism, spirituality and nature
At this juncture, it is worth noting that spirituality and religiosity are not synonymous. Individuals may be religious but not spiritual, and there are millions of people in the world who claim to be spiritual but do not adhere to organised religion. Even atheists and agnostics are known to have spiritual experiences– when they feel a strong connection to nature or a sense that they are in fact only a small part of a greater transcendent and universal realm of existence. Beyond organised religion, there is a whole set of experiences and worldviews that can be classified as spiritual.
Some of these are examined below.
Indigenous spirituality and nature
Native peoples throughout the world have for millennia venerated nature as an important element of life. Animism, or the belief that biotic and abiotic components of the environment Dallen Timothy
possess souls or spirits, is one of the oldest spiritual philosophies. Topographic and weather-related features, including rivers, thunderstorms and mountains are seen to be living, breathing entities that, together with humans, comprise a single ecosystem. Most indigenous societies adhere to some degree of animistic beliefs, from which legends, literatures and livelihoods derive. Native Americans of the US southwest count the buttes and mesas of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico among their most sacred spaces. The indigenous Australians revere Uluru (Ayers Rock) for its mystical powers and consider it one of thefirst creations, as well as the abode of spirits. There are thousands of examples, such as these, of aboriginal peoples revering unique outcrops, misshaped hills and mountains, unique vegetation, distinct canyons, and valleys, suggesting that their inimitability testifies of their spiritual origins or of earth’s powers manifest within them (Brockman 1999).
New Ageism
One of the contemporary world’s reactions to a growing dissatisfaction with organised religion was the establishment of a New Age spiritual philosophy during the mid-twentieth century.
Increased disillusionment with traditional religion and a desire for a more wholesome lifestyle have led approximately 20 million people to adopt non-religious, yet spiritual, worldviews, largely in the developed countries of Europe, North America and Asia (Aldred 2000; Timothy and Conover 2006). This movement emphasises self-improvement for mind, body and soul through harmony of the universe, ancient spiritual traditions, the sanctity of nature, earth’s powers, animism, extraterrestrial visitation, past-life regression, yoga and meditation, and self-deification (Timothy and Conover 2006).
New Agers glean elements of organised religions and non-religious movements to meet their own spiritual needs. The New Age movement can be seen in part as an amalgam of various nature religions, including neo-paganism, Wicca and Taoism. Adherents practice earth worship and nature reverence, and they see humans as being part of the environment, not apart from it. In most cases, New Ageism is a personal quest for spiritual enlightenment and embraces the one-ness of humanity, the environment and the universe. Most New Agers combine nature religion with self-religion (as opposed to god religion) and seek tofind their own versions of truth in the cosmos. In addition, they each must find the ‘god’ within themselves through spiritual journeys in nature (O’Neil 2001). Goddess worship, or adulation of Gaia (Earth Mother), has become popular in recent years and is an obvious way of appeasing the spirit of the earth (Ivakhiv 2003). For devotees, nature promotes spiritual development and transcendence beyond the limitations of the physical world (Albanese 1990; Timothy and Conover 2006).
Secular spirituality and the environment
Secular spirituality exists in several forms. This is the least‘religious’ of the trends discussed so far, but adulation and inward emotional stirrings are assuredly involved. Mass followings of pop culture icons are a good example. For instance, there is a significant segment of the population who adores Elvis Presley. His home and grave at Graceland (Tennessee, USA) have become a
‘pilgrimage’ destination for millions of Elvis fans (Alderman 2002). For many aficionados, a visit to his gravesite provokes emotional outbursts, tears, singing and prayer.
The same type of cult appeal is true for many Americans and Canadians regarding the countryside and natural areas of North America. There is a widespread nationalistic romanticism in the USA regarding what is often termed the‘countryside idyll’, which glorifies rural living and traditional livelihoods (Ioannides and Timothy 2010; Timothy 2005). For many people, rurality is synonymous with wholesomeness, goodness, quality of life and honesty (Willits 1993).
Religious views of the environment