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(2015) The changing world religion map, Dordrecht, Springer.
Throughout recorded history people have used myth and metaphor to explain the milieu in which their lives unfolded. Human cultures emerged through the cultivation of natural resources, plants, animals and the bio-physical environment, in livelihood ways which varied through time and space. Nature also provided inspiration for symbols of the sacred, for models of societal order, individual and group identity and sense of place. This chapter explores nature symbolism with a specific focus on water and the human quest for wholeness (holiness). Given today's urgent challenge to re-discover more sustainable ways of life, cross-cultural dialogue on the sacredness in Nature would indeed be timely. Focus rests on the sacred as quest rather than fait accompli, as horizon which recedes as life journeys unfold. Water symbols in diverse milieux afford useful guidelines for human journeys toward cross-cultural understanding of the sacred.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_2
Full citation:
Buttimer, A. (2015)., Nature, culture and the quest of the sacred, in S. D. brunn & S. D. Brunn (eds.), The changing world religion map, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 71-82.
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