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…and love where you live
Spirit of place is defined as the tangible (buildings, sites, landscapes, routes, objects) and the intangible elements (memories, narratives, written documents, rituals, festivals, traditional knowledge, values, textures, colors, odors, etc.), that is to say the physical and the spiritual elements that give meaning, value, emotion and mystery to place. Rather than separate spirit from place, the intangible from the tangible, and consider them as opposed to each other, we have investigated the many ways in which the two interact and mutually construct one another. The spirit of place is constructed by various social actors, its architects and managers as well as its users, who all contribute actively and concurrently to giving it meaning. Considered as a relational concept, spirit of place takes on a plural and dynamic character, capable of possessing multiple meanings and singularities, of changing through time, and of belonging to different groups. This more dynamic approach is also better adapted to today’s globalized world, which is characterized by transnational population movements, relocated populations, increased intercultural contacts, pluralistic societies, and multiple attachments to place.
from the QUÉBEC DECLARATION ON THE PRESERVATION OF THE SPIRIT OF PLACE
My Paganism is a religion of location. Modern terminology might call it bioregionalist or topophilic. More traditional terminology might say that it is based in the idea of “spirit of place” or by the Roman idea of genius loci. My faith sits at the point where these definitions overlap, not wholly part of any of them, instead, part of all of them.
This is where we live.
Our home is about three blocks inland from where the sea meets the sky, but this is where we spend the largest chunk of time outside.
Most mornings, when the tide is low but on its way in, I start my swim here. Every once in a while, I share my swim with a pod of dolphins cruising along just offshore. More often, my only company is a couple of crabbing boats or a lonely sailboat out for an early jaunt.
Nearly every day, the kids dig in the sand and play in the waves at the beach that hosts this view. They know which rocks the big crabs live behind, where to dig for soft shell clams, how to tell a boy crab from a girl, and all of the different kind of shells that hermit crabs make their homes in on our beach. Chickadee has necklaces of jingle shells and Sharkbait, who can’t otherwise sit still to save his life, can hover motionless behind a ghost crab hole until its resident makes its appearance.
My husband and I held our children’s baby blessings in this place. We have celebrated a number of holidays, religious and secular, here. I have come to this spot in anger and frustration as well as joy and elation. I have cried here, and prayed, and bled as well.
This is not just a place where I live, it is the place where I live.
There are a million different ways to live local– farmer’s markets, supporting small businesses, getting to know your neighbors, walking or biking rather than driving, volunteering for local charities, being a tourist in your own community, etc. Every community is different and every individual’s situation is different, and the ways that we can participate in our local communities meaningfully vary widely.
But to be spiritually meaningful, it starts with really living where you are. It starts with getting to know the spirit of your place, as a personal relationship with your land-base and your community. To truly live where you are, you have to learn to love where you live as an active devotion.
***This has been a post for the annual Pagan Values Blogject–this year I’m blogging on my personal values and how they are informed by and in turn inform my spiritual and religious beliefs. In past years, I’ve blogged on the values that are central to our family (hospitality, service, integrity, and conservation) as well as those that I think are uniquely represented in the wider Pagan umbrella (respect, plurality, sacredness, and experiental gnosis). Other posts this year for this year include “my body, my temple”, and “pass it on”***
I’m going to have to think about this….I completely agree and I think I’d love to have the same relationship with place…so much to think about though as it is not as simple as “home is where the heart is”. Very thought provoking post, thank you.
this is really interesting to me because i do not have this connection to where i live, and i miss it. i grew up in the navy, living primarily in New England where I feel deeply connected. Except I’ve lived in the metro d.c. area since I was 10. Somehow I have never accepted the move. At one point we considered moving further south, but the prospect made me feel a bit ill, as if i were going even further from home. so i wonder, does this mean i belong elsewhere, or that I just haven’t worked hard enough (or at all) to adjust to this “new” place i’ve lived in for more than 30 years!
hmmm…i’ll have to think about that…
I can totally relate to this actually…it took me a while to really *love* it here. Actually, it took going back “home” to where I grew up and figuring out that “home” wasn’t home anymore. One of the things though, that has helped me was finding the little pieces of Virginia that remind me of the other places I love…and finding places and things that I love just for themselves. Some of them are pretty obvious–like the beach, some of them are less obvious…like the horseshoe crab and the toad that lives in the bushes out our front door.
Sometimes though, I think its more work for some places. Its a relationship–sometimes it might be a relationship that you have to work at (like the mother-in-law) and others it might come easy, like a kindred spirit. Maybe you just haven’t found the right place or people that really speak to your soul yet…you just need to go a bit further afield! When I was back in the midwest, my “place” was a good 90 minute drive.
Absolutely, there is a great attachment with the place where we live in. The soil, the water, weather all looks very much friendly and close to our heart. One cannot forget the place where he spend his lovely days. But, there are some reasons due to which one has to shift his place and say goodbye to his homeland. One reason which I have undergone is water scarcity, due to which plenty of people have migrated. So, we all should try to preserve and save water as much as we can to avoid such migrations.
Hi Thalassa –
Great piece! I appreciate your unique perspective on place. It is something I have written about and contemplated a great deal as I live in a tiny village where there is push/push for many folks around change. I think it is tricky to strike a balance between the people in the houses (and communities) and the preservation of place and the Intangible Cultural Heritage, keeping as it “always was.”
I hadn’t seen the Quebec Declaration but it ties in very well to UNESCO’s work around ICL.
With your permission, I would like to reproduce your entry on my blog at http://www.habicurious.com, where I write about the relationship of people to their homes and communities with attributes (of course). If that doesn’t work for you I will simply link to it.
Kindest regards,
Andrea Cordonier
You are more than welcome to repost my blog! I just ask for a link back! Thanks, and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Cool, thanks! Also, do you have an email where I can reach you (in the future) instead of posting in the comments? I’m andrea@habicurious.com
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