The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Europe - IUCN

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The word, sacred, has an etymology from Old Latin, saceres, that connects it to concepts of protection and of being ‘set aside’. The etymology of the word ‘holy’ derives from the Old English, halig, connected to hal meaning ‘health’. To return again to the medical analogy, we need such health-restoring set-aside if we are to seek regeneration of what is broken in the Earth and its peoples. This is biological but it is also cultural, for there is something about timeworn practice associated with particular sites that seems to be connected with their effect on consciousness. T.S. Elliot puts it thus in Four Quartets (1959: 50–51): ‘If you came this way, Taking any route, starting from anywhere, At any time or at any season, It would always be the same: you would have to put off Sense and notion. You are not here to verify, Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity Or carry report. You are here to kneel Where prayer has been valid’. Static and dynamic concepts of sacred natural sites Thus far in this paper I have explored SNSs generally as phenomena that, through impacting on consciousness to varying degrees, connect natural nature to human nature. Here in Western Europe these links have become attenuated. Science is sometimes blamed for this, but I have tried to Mt Roineabhal 2 Isle of Harris Benbecula Lewis Harris Jay 1 Isle of Iona Skye Scotland Govan old parish church 3 Glasgow Mull Jura Inverness Orknay Glasgow Edinburgh show that SNSs can potentially benefit from, and not be destroyed by critical empirical enquiry. From this position I now want to suggest that SNSs should be understood not just as static entities that have long been recognised and often protected – albeit sometimes in a rather fossilised museum-piece manner. They should also be understood as dynamic processes. This allows for sites to be reactivated in cultural recognition, and even imaginatively recreated in consciousness. The following three case studies from Scotland illustrate these three positions of recognition, reactivation and recreation. Recognised sacred natural sites – Example: the Isle of Iona Aberdeen Iona is said to have been established as a monastic site by St Columba of Ireland in A.D. 563. To stand beside the 237
‘One should take notice of this story, and carefully think about the extent and nature of the sweet visits by angels that no one could know about but which, without doubt, were very frequent, for they generally came to him as he remained awake on winter nights or as he prayed in isolated places while others rested’. (Adomnán 1995: 218). Iona Abbey. eighth century St Martin’s Cross at the Abbey entrance is to witness Biblical scenes carved in stone that have withstood nature’s elemental blast for nearly two-thirds of Christian history. The island is owned for the nation by the National Trust for Scotland. It is a well-established and highly protected SNS with 130 000 pilgrim and tourist visitors a year. We can therefore view it as ‘recognised’ and its status is secure. George MacLeod who founded the Iona Community described Iona as a place where the boundary between the spiritual and the material worlds is ‘tissue thin’. Writing just a century after Columba’s death in 597 Adomnán, the ninth abbot describes how Columba went to a knoll and prayed all night with his arms outspread towards the heavens. A monk witnessed a host of angels gather around the saint, ‘flying down with amazing speed, dressed in white robes’. The knoll is to this day known as Cnoc nan Aingel, the Hill of the Angels. An interesting feature is Adomnán’s endorsement of empiricism. He says: Reactivated sacred natural sites – Example: Mt Roineabhal, Isle of Harris This site hosts the medieval church of St Clement on the lower slopes of Mt Roineabhal (Roin-e-val). Local tradition dates it back to the Culdees and the Druids. Although Roineabhal is only 460m in height, it rises directly out of the sea. With stunning views in all directions it has the awe-inspiring character of a much larger mountain. It is the highest in south Harris, a designated National Scenic Area. Between 1991 and 2004 a battle raged to stop Roineabhal from being turned into a ‘superquarry’ to export roadstone (McIntosh 2001). One part of the protest involved my bringing Stone Eagle, the Mi’Kmaq war chief from Canada, and Donald Macleod, a Calvinist professor of theology, to testify at the government public inquiry. Our witness focussed on the ‘creation’ reflecting the majesty of the divine and this helped to reactivate local awareness of this. A wide-ranging campaign led to the quarry being stopped. Today visitors speak of their ‘pilgrimages’ to the mountain. As one native tradition bearer has said: ‘If it wasn’t a sacred mountain before, it is now.’ 238
Page 1 and 2:
The Diversity of Sacred Lands in Eu
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The designation of geographical ent
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table of contents 7 All creation gr
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All creation groans and sighs... Hu
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The borders of science In two areas
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ment. Their intention is the same a
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Introduction to the proceedings of
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have preceded the establishment of
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unique position in Northern Lapland
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Greece, the only monastic republic
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References Aikio, A. (2000). The ge
Page 28 and 29:
Greetings from the Saami Parliament
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Lake Inari. Some of them are planne
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Words of welcome Tarmo Jomppanen Th
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threatened. It is extremely importa
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The concept of indigenous religions
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Kola Sámi oral tradition it is nat
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tic religion today; it is thought t
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References Bäckman, L. (1975), Sá
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Archaeology of sieidi stones. Excav
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fell tops, rock formations, islands
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to know more about the way their an
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jects, cigarettes, alcohol, candles
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place have been considered importan
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Manker, E. (1957), Lapparnas heliga
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Conserving sacred natural sites in
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abies), but they can also be from o
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Sacred natural sites and customs In
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were carried out. It was concluded
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The sacred grove (hiis) of Tammealu
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cial conservation area (IUCN Catego
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Glossary Looduslik pühapaik - a SN
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The location of the Mikytai Site in
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The Mikytai Alka Hill in the landsc
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The topography of sacred places in
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the mid-seventeenth to the first ha
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Zilais kalns - Blue Hill in Latvia
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gators in many publications have be
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It is worth to mention that the ric
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Cukurs, R. (1936). Valmiera - Burtn
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Alevi-Bektashi communities in south
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Additionally, the central concept o
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tine state. By the eighteenth centu
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The most venerated natural elements
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people) (Kressing, 2002) and Bektas
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Balkans and Asia Minor. Most of the
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Mélikoff, I. (1998), Bektashi/Kizi
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Part Three: Managing lands of mains
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The cultural and spiritual sites of
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has been dedicated and since time i
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December 1991. It was founded in 19
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ison, elephants, rhinoceroses, lion
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These places often became places of
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1200 BC to AD Iron AD to 476 Roman
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As was mentioned above, there is a
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Holy Island of Lindisfarne and the
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es facing Holy Island Lindisfarne.
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somehow helps sanctify a geographic
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ality into early Christian forms ar
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gree of reconstruction of the (redi
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housing the islanders established T
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UNESCO, (2011), Durham Castle and C
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Landscape linkages between cultural
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asin to be connected with other num
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The only remnant of the ancient Ple
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The Quadrilatero Project, threats H
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an ensemble, as they lack connectiv
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servation of the wetland ecosystem
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The wetland. Steps of protection. 1
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Sargolini, M. et al. (2006), Reti E
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Part Four: Managing lands of monast
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Monastic communities and nature con
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or ‘wild’ terrain, the longevit
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natural shelter, such as in caves.
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verse ancient Coptic monasteries in
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Therefore, ‘the actuality of mona
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The Holy Island of Arran, UK. Tibet
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Conclusion An analysis of the manag
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Mallarach, J.-M. (2005), The Way of
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Acknowledgements I am deeply indebt
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Managing the heritage of Mt Athos T
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miskis, the area has been dedicated
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the Athos authorities who have atte
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1992), and to promote the certifica
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the necessary arrangements for moni
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tive - and decisive - involvement o
Page 188 and 189: Παπαγιάννης, Θ. και
Page 190 and 191: Special Nature Reserve Milesevka an
Page 192 and 193: Serbs. From the eleventh century to
Page 194 and 195: monastery. The Venetian diplomat Ra
Page 196 and 197: Muslim populations of the region, w
Page 198 and 199: community. Thanks to the enormous e
Page 200 and 201: different needs of the stakeholders
Page 202 and 203: References Cmiljanovic, M. (2009),
Page 204 and 205: Part Five: Europe: a wealth of sacr
Page 206 and 207: Diversity of sacred lands and meani
Page 208 and 209: A rock painting portraying an elk f
Page 210 and 211: the protected areas of Finland. In
Page 212 and 213: management and conservation of the
Page 214 and 215: culture is a part of the duties of
Page 216 and 217: References Anonymous (2010a), The v
Page 218 and 219: The Carpathian Mountains, a realm o
Page 220 and 221: Throughout history, the Carpathian
Page 222 and 223: In Ceahlău National Park, Romania,
Page 224 and 225: Christian sacred natural sites Nowa
Page 226 and 227: grims; Wadowice, the birthplace of
Page 228 and 229: The Dacian King Decebalus, Porţile
Page 230 and 231: References Borsa, M., Chifelea, C.,
Page 232 and 233: The ‘sacredness’ of natural sit
Page 234 and 235: experience as part of the healing o
Page 236 and 237: Fox’s experience wears very diffe
Page 240 and 241: St Clement’s Church and Mt Roinea
Page 242 and 243: point of human ecology. From here a
Page 244 and 245: Posey, D. A. (ed.) (1999), Cultural
Page 246 and 247: Synergies between spiritual and nat
Page 248 and 249: A map of the Barents Euro-Arctic Re
Page 250 and 251: is associated with an area filled w
Page 252 and 253: tected area was included in the UN-
Page 254 and 255: Finland. The pictures on the rock w
Page 256 and 257: Concluding remarks Sometimes common
Page 258 and 259: Федотов Г.П. Будет л
Page 260 and 261: Part Six: Other related issues 259
Page 262 and 263: On the other hand, the UNESCO-IUCN
Page 264 and 265: the world (Eliade, 1959), there are
Page 266 and 267: to assess the applicability of the
Page 268 and 269: plicable as they are, eight would r
Page 270 and 271: References Burckhardt, T. (1958). P
Page 272 and 273: Inputs and comments from the worksh
Page 274 and 275: equally effective tool as interpret
Page 276 and 277: Conclusions Results The Delos3 Work
Page 278 and 279: growing, even within legally declar
Page 280 and 281: ny, beauty and the interconnectedne
Page 282 and 283: the world, make to the conservation
Page 284 and 285: 2.7. Friday 09.00-10.30 Session 4:
Page 286 and 287: Appendices Appendix I: Workshop par
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Pirjo Seurujärvi Park Superintende
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P. 102 Ggia: el.wikipedia.org/wiki/
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The ecological footprint of the Del
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International Union for Conservatio
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