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Have you ever had a spiritual experience? Do you attribute that experience to the place in which it took place? This site is dedicated to those who have had such experiences and wish to learn more.
What makes a place sacred? What facilitates deeply impactful experiences at these places? What do others experience? What does it all mean? Sacred sites are universal. As a species, we share the experience of falling in love with a place or forming a relationship to a place. This is primal to us. For some cultures, these relationships permeate all facets of being. Unfortunately for us in the West, our models of understanding conscious experiences have limited our awareness of these integral relationships and this has had a devastating impact on the planet at large as well as on our psyches. Why? |
| Because we have come to be so dependent on what I consider to be a constructed reality. This way of perceiving the world is based on scientific knowledge, reason, and logic. There is nothing wrong with this way of perceiving the world. To the contrary, our way of life has been based upon it and extraordinary discoveries and inventions are made possible by modern science. I assert, however, that this model of reality is limited and our dependence on it has held us back from being able to perceive, let alone tolerate, the unknown. What happens when we are open and willing to behold the mysteries of life? Our experience of it deepens. We transform. Our lives become more meaningful and purposeful. |
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Is it possible that particular places can facilitate such experiences? Many Westerners have reported experiencing deep, profound, meaningful and transformational experiences right on our own soil. As part of my dissertation research, I have collected the stories of many Americans who have had such experiences. I am incorporating these stories as the groundwork for a theoretical model of understanding the spiritual and psychological process of relating to a place.
I am currently seeking those who have had transformative experiences at
Mount Shasta, California
and
El Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico.
If you think you may qualify and would like to volunteer for the study, please click here.