The
Spirit of Place Symposiums:
Seeking The Modern Relevance of Ancient Wisdom
By James A. Swan, Ph.D
"Modern man will never find
peace until he comes
into harmony with the place where he lives." Carl Jung (Pantheon, 1964)
Introduction
The ancient Greeks spoke of the "genus loci," or spirit of a place.
They sited a shrine to honor the Earth Goddess Gaia at Delphi in Greece
because the unique personality or spirit of that place was divined to
be especially suited to Gaia residing there. Understanding the forces
that drew the early Greeks to reach that decision may well be a concept
that is at the very root of developing sustainable human societies on
earth and creating tourism programs that maximize the unique values of
each destination.
Like trees, the human spirit needs roots, and a primary root of the
psyche is in the land. Psychiatrist Carl Jung was an explorer of those
deeper regions of the mind, the unconscious, where symbols and primal
energies originate. Jung declared there were two types of unconscious:
personal, which is unique to each person, and collective, which is
shared by all humans, and seems to have loose boundaries with other
objects and creatures (Dell, 1968). In our sleep, the unconscious comes
to the forefront, and Jung observed that people tended to have dreams
of a similar archetypal nature when sleeping at certain places. Jung
called such place perception "psychic localization," and asserted that
it was an important part of human nature (Swan, 1990, 1992).
East Indian scholar Ananda Coomaraswamy agreed with Jung about the
unique association between place and consciousness and noted that myths
were frequently linked to certain places. He coined the phrase
"land-nam," a term derived from the Icelandic tradition of claiming
ownership of a place through weaving together a mythic metaphor of
plants, animals and geography of a place into a unique mythic story
(Luzac & Co., 1935).
The spirit of place or archetype of the land plays a strong role in
traditional societies, where it is commonly held that each place has a
personality and some places are associated with spiritual sentiments.
Ancient wisdom deserves respect and preservation, but what additional
value may such concepts as the spirit of place have for modern society?
The Spirit of Place Symposiums
From 1988 to 1993 my wife Roberta and I produced a five-year series of annual symposiums -- The Spirit of Place: The Modern Relevance of An Ancient Concept -- seeking to help restore the wisdom of the past about the significance of place and explore its meaning to modern times. Each symposium was begun with an open call for papers, inviting people from all disciplines and cultural heritage backgrounds to share in a common quest for understanding the subtle power of place. Nearly 300 speakers participated in the programs, four of which were held in the United States -- University of California at Davis, Grace Cathedral, Mesa Verde National Park, and at the San Rafael, CA, Marin Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright -- and one was held in Sendai, Japan. Speakers represented disciplines as diverse as aerospace engineering, biophysics, psychology, architecture, biology, law, history, anthropology, music, dance and art. Members of 20 different American Indian tribes participated with speeches, music singing and dancing, along with others from Eskimo, African, Polynesian, and Oriental ethnic backgrounds. The rule that was used to organize such a diverse group was that they had to participate as peers, equal experts in whatever their profession. Thus panels blending a salmon fisherman with a physicist and an aerospace engineer with priest and a farmer became a common search for truth where many new alliances were forged. At each program, we concluded with a performance inspired by special places. Artists who performed included flutists Paul Horn and R. Carlos Nakai, dancer-choreographer Anna Halpern, keyboard artist Steven Halpern, Japanese recording artist Jun Hirose, and the rock-fusion band Earth Spirit (Swan, 1991; Swan and Swan, 1996). Some 9,000 people total, attended these symposia.
Lessons of The Spirit of Place
In producing these programs our principle goal was to explore the
modern validity of this ancient concept. We did not to try to start a
spirit of place movement. Rather, we hope that what has taken place
will set the stage for others to conduct programs that will advance our
understanding of the power of places everywhere.
In these five programs, listening to nearly 300 speakers, formally and
informally, we heard common themes emerge. The following are some of
these shared areas of agreement:
1)Among indigenous cultures all around the world, the belief in the
existence of special places of power and spirit seems universal. It is
commonly believed that some places have spiritual powers, and these
places are normally seen as cornerstones of traditional cultural belief
systems. Modern society has often not paid much attention to sacred
places, which is a source of great concern to traditional cultures.
Another concern is that modern cultures tend to see places as only
having value to the past or to other cultures, rather than to society
in general.
2) At each of the five Spirit of Place symposiums researchers and
designers from many disciplines agreed that gaining a sense of place is
a very important part of their work, yet there is very little research
on this topic or professional organizations seriously investigating the
topic. Modern people are often aware of the unique spirit of a place,
but do not have a vocabulary to express their feelings, except through
art.
3) A characteristic style of art seems to arise from a geographic
region; it is a voice that speaks to us through indigenous art of the
spirit of that place. Drawings, paintings, carving, sculpture, stories,
songs, poetry and dances, are all fed by the spirit of a place. The
artist's mind is not so encumbered by the constraints of intellectual
reasoning and so it becomes a more clear channel for the unconscious to
expressed. He or she gives voice and form to the spirit of the land.
4)The experience of place is multi-faceted and influenced by culture,
personal uniqueness and modality of awareness. There may be many more
sensory processes by which we perceive the earth and nature than modern
science and psychology are willing to admit. Ancient traditions such as
Chinese Feng Shui assert that we have at least 100 senses to perceive
place. The needs of modern society for ecologically conscious design
suggests that in the training of designers we should seek to cultivate
the inner designer as well as training professional skills.
5) Each place has a unique quality which in turn influences what can
best be done there.
The built environment can serve as an amplifier of the powers of a
place, or it can negate the influence of locality, yielding what Frank
Lloyd Wright called "cash and carry architecture." Architecture and
design that honors the spirit of place and gives it meaning and form
expresses beauty and nourishes health and creativity. Architecture is
ultimately a ritual in structural materials.
6)The act of making a pilgrimage to special places is among the oldest
and acts of human respect for nature and spirit, and one of the least
understood and appreciated by modern society, despite the facts that we
undertake pilgrimages by the millions each year. Psychology needs to
better understand the value of pilgrimage to human life as it may be
one of the most important ways that we can discover our meaning, find
health, and be inspired, as well as build reverence for nature.
7)The lack of feeling connected to a place, especially a place where
one lives and works, can be an important source of mental and physical
stress. People need to feel peaceful where they are, and maintain a
psychic connection with a place of natural beauty if they do not reside
in one. Actor James Earl Jones, who gained his awareness of the power
of place by growing up on a dirt farm in northern Michigan has
observed: "I have always thought it quite wonderful and necessary to
keep connected to nature, to a place in the country landscape where one
can rest and muse and listen" (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1993).
8) Geomancy is the spiritual parent of modern design. Many ancient
geomancies understand the importance of the relationship between place
and personal experience and take elaborate measures to insure people
are harmonized with the spirit of a place. When principles of design
from Feng Shui and other geomancies are applied to modern buildings and
communities, positive results occur. We need to set aside our limiting
beliefs and appreciate the power of such approaches in the same fashion
that western science has acknowledged the healing values of
acupuncture, even though modern science cannot prove the existence of
the life force chi and other geomantic concepts.
9)Modern science is beginning to measure the subtle properties of
place. We now know that air ions, electrical and electromagnetic fields
do influence health and well-being. More research needs to be devoted
to the study of subtle environmental fields. Documenting the existence
and value of these fields, may well lead to a whole new art and science
of design with modern science and ancient wisdom working together.
10) In a Spirit of Place keynote, psychologist Robert Sommer observed
that people can become "a voice" for the spirit of that region as much
as for a human community or a relationship. John Muir, for example,
seemed to embody the spirit of Yosemite Valley. The Lakota holy man
Black Elk was a voice for the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rachel
Carson was inspired by Cape Cod to write about "the sense of wonder" in
nature as well as the dangers of pesticides to ecological balance.
Becoming a voice for the land creates a "psychic anchor" that seems to
be important to mental health.
11) The spirit of place concept is less understood by modern society,
and one result is that conflicts about the value of place can and do
arise between traditional and modern cultures.It is easy to flame the
fires of conflict in such situations, creating enemies to raise funds
to wage wars that should never have to exist. This kind of
self-righteous scapegoating is as exploitive as developers who wish to
commercialize sacred places for the sake of pure profit. The more
difficult task is to build bridges of respect and cooperation between
traditional and modern cultures, but it is the only path that can lead
us to greater harmony and understanding.
12) We need new laws and land-use categories that facilitate honoring
the power of place, including recognition of sacred places. Creating
the public policies that yield such laws will require cross-cultural
communication, cooperation and understanding unprecedented in modern
society.
Conclusion
The consensus among participants in the Spirit of Place Symposiums is that we must rediscover the wisdom about the power of place and turn it into practical concepts that will guide modern people to live in harmony with the earth, as well as show respect for ancient traditions. Learning to plan and design with respect for the unique spirit of each place is a touchstone of responsible eco-tourism that respects traditional cultures and provides important benefits to modern culture as well.
"While he was true to earth, his architecture was
creative."
Frank Lloyd Wright, The Future of Architecture (1970).
This paper is drawn from Dialogues With The Living Earth, an anthology based primarily on Spirit of Place presentations and published by Quest Books in 1996. James and Roberta Swan would like to express gratitude to the Beldon Fund, the L.G. and Mary C. Skaggs Foundation, Laurance Rockefeller, The University of California at Davis Extension Service, Grace Cathedral, the US National Park Service, and the people of Sendai, Japan, for their generous support for the Spirit of Place symposiums.
Bibliography
Coomaraswamy, Ananda. 1935 The Rig Veda As Landa Nama Book London,
England: Luzac and Co.
Jones, James Earl. 1993 Voices and Silences. New York, NY: Chas.
Scribner's Sons, p.358.
Jung, Carl 1964 Civilization In Transition: Vol. 10 Collective Works of
Carl Jung New York, NY: Pantheon.
Jung, Carl 1968 Man and His Symbols New York, NY: Dell.
Lawrence, D.H. 1923 Studies In Classical American Literature. New York,
NY: Thomas Seltzer and Sons, p.8-9.
Swan, James 1990 Sacred Places: How The Living Earth Seeks Our
Friendship Santa Fe, NM: Bear and Company.
Swan, James ed. 1991 The Power of Place Wheaton, IL: Quest Books.
Swan, James and Swan, Roberta 1996 Dialogues With The Living Earth
Wheaton, IL: Quest.
Wright, Frank Lloyd The Future of Architecture New York, NY: New
American Library, 1970, p.41.
Highlights
The "genus loci" or spirit of place is an ancient concept about valuing the land that may have many important implications for modern design and science. It may well be an important key to human health and creativity, as well as design excellence.
Geomancy is the spiritual parent of modern architecture and design. There are many documented cases of positive results from use of geomancies, especially Chinese Feng Shui. Like acupuncture, which has yet to be understood in the west, the overwhelming success that comes from such systems urges us to study them with an open mind.
The concept of a sacred place is universally held by cultures around the world. There is growing data to support the unique qualities of many of these places. Recognizing them and planning to insure their protection honors traditional cultures, and insures that modern people may continue to benefit from their power.