Sacred places

Articles, Films and practical Guides on sacred places, part of Psyche’s coverage of spirituality and transcendence.
A sunlit forest trail with a person walking on a rocky path surrounded by tall trees.
MEMOIR
1

Peak solitude

My three decades alone, basking in the company of a mountain

by Susanne Sener

Close-up of an older man in a flat cap and scarf, looking out over a misty rural landscape with blurred farmland in the background.
POETRY

Irish hills, folk music and David Whyte’s poetry form a fleeting, meditative moment

Directed by Andrew Hinton

Painting of a cat lying by a window with blue shutters, with a red and purple sky with the moon in the distance
SACRED PLACES

From the rhythms of the dying day to a cosmic journey of transformation

Directed by Simon Feat

Photo of a tree with colourful ribbons and items tied to its branches overlooking a misty lake and green landscape.
SACRED PLACES

Paganism is a potent force in Ireland’s conservation movement

Long-held beliefs in an ‘Otherworld’ inhabited by wrathful fairies are now driving a resurgence in Irish eco-activism

by Juju Lane

A person wearing a red jacket and a backpack walking on a winding path through lush green fields with hills and trees in the background.
SACRED PLACES
2

How to plan a pilgrimage

Whether religious or not, you can undertake a special, meaningful kind of journey that could leave you changed forever

by Oliver Smith

Black and white photo of ancient stone carvings with a central female figure, ornate patterns and a reclining animal.
SACRED PLACES

Why Indian Buddhism has gardens, not monasteries

Wishing trees, jewels, unfading flowers – what place do these sensual pleasures have in the ascetic life of Buddhist monks?

by Simran Agarwal

Girl standing on rocky coastline with a cooler in a cart, looking out at the ocean waves.
SACRED PLACES
1

We were born in paradise: seaside stories from a mysterious spot in Mexico

Directed by Mariano Rentería Garnica

Photo of an overhead view of a swimmer in a lane of a clear blue swimming pool with lane dividers.
SACRED PLACES

I swim to think and to stay afloat in an ever-wetter world

‘The Beames my Bones, my flesh the plankes’: in pools, I glimpse the future of our terrestrial bodies in an ocean world

by Steve Mentz

Photo of a burnt forest landscape under cloudy skies with a person and child in colourful clothing in the foreground.
SACRED PLACES
3

Our children will need to find the beauty in our burnt planet

How will our children find beauty in a world rapidly breaking into what observers call a spectacle of unremitting loss?

by Stephen J Pyne

Photo of a rocky path winding through a grassy landscape with cloudy skies and distant hills in the background.
SACRED PLACES

Nan Shepherd delved into a queer erotic kinship with nature

In the Highlands, Nan Shepherd found an erotic kinship with nature: ‘The Living Mountain’ a core text for queer ecology

by Melissa Matthewson

Ancient petroglyph depicting a human-like figure with outstretched arms and legs, etched onto a brown, weathered rock surface.
SACRED PLACES
1

Explore the rugged beauty of Nine Mile Canyon, the world’s longest art gallery

Directed by Dane Christensen