SACRED SPACE
VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1
Spring 1978
When we examine our own experience as well as the records left to us in earth and stone, we see that sacred space is not just any space; itmust be defined by something, and contained by this definition. It is enclosed by boundaries which are not necessarily walls and a roof; its boundaries are the boundaries of power--the limits of the operation of a force contained in it. There are still such places. But what is the power with which they affect us? Perhaps it is a magic whose secret has been forgotten, but a secret still decipherable in the symbolism through which we are permitted to approach it. How can we find an interior "space," our own place of possible becoming? What is born, what is worshipped, what is sacrificed in this temple? What force is generated, and what instantaneous event or lifelong process could be the destined result of this causal power? In this epoch of search for oneself, is there some sort of clue to be found here? Perhaps we are, in fact, simply and miraculously, places where something could happen. --from the editorial Focus
ARTICLES
AN INDIAN TEMPLE: THE KANDARYA MAHADEO Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
An extract from the noted Indian scholar's newly published papers.
HYMM OF MAN
Translated from the Rg Veda by Barbara Stoler Miller
GEOMETRY AT THE SERVICE OF PRAYER: CISTERCIAN MYSTIC ARCHITECTURE Robert Lawlor
An illumination of St. Bernard's dictum: "No decoration; only proportion."
THE SACRED SPACE OF JUDAISM Irving Friedman
The exile of the Jews from their holy places.
AS LAKES REFLECT THE SKY Richard Smithies
The personal observations of a traveller to many sacred places.
THE WINDS, THE WATERS, AND THE LIVING QI Andrew L. March
Perspectives on geomancy in China.
ARCS: THOUGHTS ON SACRED SPACE
A selection of quotations.
THE NAZACA MARKINGS Thomas Bridges
Aerial and speculative views of the mysterious markings on the Peruvian desert.
FROM THE HEIGHTS OF MACHU PICCHU Pablo Neruda
COSMOS IN STONE Helene Fleury
Researches into the source of megalithic culture.
IF SHE'S NOT GONE, SHE LIVES THERE STILL
P. L. Travers and Michael Dames discuss their ongoing fascination with the megaliths of Britain.
TANGENTS: Reviews
Ursula K. Le Guin on Star Wars and Close Encounters
Karen Laub-Novak on "The Age of Spirituality"
Edward Willinger on "Dance in America"
EPICYCLES: Traditional Stories from around the World
THE ALCHEMIST and THE PHYSICIAN Jewish
THE HOUSE OF THE DOUBLE AXE Greek
THE FOUR DIRECTIONS Lakota (Native American)
TALES OF A DEMON Indian
