Search Results (166)

Sacred heritage landscapes face significant challenges in engaging Generation Z tourists. To understand their visual processing and emotional responses, this study grounded in Cognitive Appraisal Theory (CAT), employed a mixed-methods approach with Chinese youth. Study 1 (N = 35) uses eye-tracking to examine the visual attention of Gen Z to different sacred heritage types, revealing that natural sacred sites yield the highest First Fixation Duration (FFD) and Average Fixation Duration (AFD), alongside stronger subjective preferences—highlighting the role of biophilia and perceptual fluency. Study 2 constructs a moderated mediation model with a questionnaire (N = 300), identifying a “Novelty → Awe → Place Attachment” pathway and the moderating role of mindfulness. The research identifies the specific visual processing patterns of Gen Z and provides a psychological model for place attachment, offering empirical insights for designing intergenerationally inclusive heritage landscapes. Full article

In the history of Turkish-Islamic culture, every stage of human life—from birth to death—has been ritualized with profound symbolic and spiritual meanings. Turkish religious music has functioned as a fundamental element in these transitional phases, possessing both aesthetic and devotional dimensions. In individual rites of passage such as naming, circumcision, beginning school, and marriage, as well as in collective rituals such as bidding farewell to and welcoming Hajj pilgrims or observing religious days and nights, Turkish religious music has held a significant place. Confronting death—an inevitable and sorrowful reality of life—Turkish society has employed religious music as a consolatory and spiritually guiding medium, transforming it into a ritual mode of expression intended to soften the disruptive impact of death and to give meaning to the mourning process. Sufi order funerals represent one of the manifestations of this aesthetic depth. In this context, (Janāza) funeral ceremonies are not merely occasions of farewell but also rites of metaphysical acceptance and surrender. Since death is considered not an end but “wuṣlat,” that is, reunion with the Absolute Truth (al-Ḥaqq), within Sufi thought, the funeral rites of Sufi orders have been shaped accordingly. In Mawlawī, Bektāshī, Jarrahī, and Rifāʿī orders, not only the canonical funeral prayer (ṣalāt al-janāza) but also various forms of religious music are performed, imparting both aesthetic and spiritual depth to the ceremony. This study aims to examine the religious musical practices present in the funeral ceremonies of these four major Sufi orders, all of which have historically maintained a close relationship with music. A qualitative ritual-musicological approach has been adopted; semi-structured interviews were conducted with the Shaykh of the Rifāʿī order, the Zakirbaşı of the Jarrahī branch of the Khalwatī order, and a Dede of the Bektāshī order. The data sources of the study consist of interview materials, archival-based works, literature on the history of Sufism, sources on Turkish religious music, and digital recordings of Sufi orders’ funeral rituals. The limited number of interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis, while textual analysis and contextual interpretation were employed to examine in detail “the musical forms, thematic structures, performance contexts, and symbolic functions” present in these rituals. Preliminary findings indicate that the music unique to Sufi order funerals fulfills multiple functions, including “spiritual consolation, strengthening social solidarity, doctrinal expression of belief in the afterlife, and transforming mourning into a sacred experience.” The funeral traditions of the four orders examined possess distinctive musical structures, and these structures constitute an identifiable aesthetic form within the Ottoman and Turkish religious-musical tradition. It has also been determined that the repertory performed in Sufi orders’ funeral ceremonies is largely rooted in the tekke (Sufi lodge) musical tradition and that various forms of Turkish religious music are prominently represented in these rituals. This study has brought to light the religious musical repertory performed within the funeral rituals of Sufi orders—an area that has remained insufficiently explored to date—and has demonstrated that this repertory exerts positive psychosocial effects on both Sufi adherents and other participants in their approach to death. In this respect, the study sheds light on the repertory of Turkish religious music and offers an original contribution to the scholarly literature. Full article

This study critically examines India’s secularism through an interdisciplinary analytical framework that explores the complex intersections of religious dynamics, legal structures, and political contestations. Sites of worship, functioning as sacred spaces, legal entities, and political symbols, have become focal points for multifaceted power dynamics. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 (hereinafter the Places of Worship Act) aimed to resolve historical disputes by institutionalizing a “status quo” as of 15 August 1947. However, the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi–Babri Masjid dispute is widely seen as marking a shift in adjudicatory emphasis, with archaeological reports and scriptural materials accorded heightened probative weight vis-à-vis the Act’s status quo principle. In its wake, appeals to “historical justice” have helped channel controversies over sacred sites into legal forums, where disputes are increasingly framed through evidentiary and procedural lenses rather than solely as property conflicts. Subsequent litigation has, at times, been mobilized within broader ideological projects that center Hindu identity in national politics, with the potential to reshape sacred space and public memory through legal–administrative pathways and to recalibrate the practice of secular adjudication in India. Full article

This paper places La Casa de las Golondrinas, a Pre-Columbian rock image site, in its Kaqchikel Maya cultural context. This is an exploration of both the cultural situation of the paintings and the meaning of a selection of the images. A comparison of sacred locations in contemporary use in the Kaqchikel highlands to the prehistoric locations of La Casa de las Golondrinas reveals that the same features are present in both the contemporary and Pre-Columbian milieu. Further comparisons show that there is a concordance of themes in the Pre-Columbian rock art with those found in the Kaqchikel ethnographic studies. Some of the matters covered are portals to the spiritual world, mythological deities and other spiritual beings, sacrifice and ritual celebrations, and the quincunx, which defines the sacred world’s four corners and center. This paper discusses a variety of single images and image clusters pertaining to seasonal rituals and creation using ethnographic information by Kaqchikel Maya archaeological and cultural scholars, the Popul Vuh, and sources on Maya cosmology and art. Full article

This study aims to advance knowledge in the concept of therapeutic milieus by connecting nature, spirituality, and health to develop sustainable destinations. It combines the advantages of a conceptual paper and a multi-case study, offering a range of solutions demonstrated with three types of settlements: a county capital, a middle-sized town, and a small town. The GIS analysis identified several areas where the co-existence of thermal water, sacred sites, and verdant landscapes is in abundance, and five potential study areas were selected. Additional selection criteria included the GDP of the counties, visitation data, and synergy potential. Field work using field notes and photographs reconfirmed the results of the mapping and found unique value propositions that could enhance the value of health tourism. The theoretical research suggested three areas with synergy potential: culture, gastronomy, and sports. Based on the findings, a framework for therapeutic milieus showing three different scenarios was prepared. As for the economic and social implications, the research highlighted that adopting a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating insights from geography, cultural studies, and psychology, could make destinations more resilient, thus benefiting both tourists and locals. This study represents a substantial contribution to the milieu theories by incorporating natural, cultural, and spiritual elements into a flexible framework for therapeutic milieus. Future research may explore therapeutic milieus outside the Christian context or investigate the demand side. Full article

Challenges caused by secularization, ideological pluralism and the transformation of religious institutions in the modern world have raised the question of what role the Christian priesthood plays in a changing society. The focus of this study is the Orthodox priesthood in Russia in the context of its historical development and theological conception. The article analyzes the position of the parish clergy, which, despite its theoretically exalted and sacred status in the Russian Empire, remained socially vulnerable and dependent on both the state and the community of believers. Particular attention is paid to St. John of Kronstadt, whose ministry became a model for a new type of pastoral care. This combined ascetic strictness, Eucharistic revival, and deep involvement in the lives of the laity. An analysis of Fr. John’s diaries reveals the following: in contrast to the Western tradition, where the crisis of the priesthood is often associated with its excessive sacralization and separation from the laity, in Russian Orthodoxy the response to the challenges of modernity was the sacralization of both the clergy and the entire parish community. This author suggests that, under the circumstances of revolution and persecution, the ideal of the ascetic priest and spiritual father contributed to the formation of stable church communities, which remains relevant in the context of contemporary discussions on the place of religion in the secular world. Full article

This article illuminates the cosmology of Raa Haqi (often called Dersim Alevism or Kurdish Alevism), a rarely examined strand within Alevi Studies. Existing scholarship’s emphasis on identity politics and sparse ethnography has left Raa Haqi’s mythological and cosmological dimensions underexplored. This paper approaches Raa Haqi through a dual authority framework: (1) Ocak lineages and Ocak–talip relations—sustained by kinship institutions like kirvelik, musahiplik, and communal rites such as the cem—and (2) jiares, non-human agents from the Batın realm that manifest in Zahir as sacred places, objects, and animals. Methodologically, I conduct a close, motif-based reading of folktales compiled by Caner Canerik (2019, Dersim Masalları I), treating them as ethnographic windows into living theology. The analysis shows that tales encode core principles—rızalık (mutual consent), ikrar (vow), sır (the secret knowledge), fasting and calendrical rites, ritual kinship, and moral economies involving humans, animals, and Batın beings. Dreams, metamorphosis, and jiare-centered orientations structure time–space, ethics, and authority beyond the Ocak, including in individual re-sacralizations of objects and sites. I conclude that these narratives do not merely reflect belief; they actively transmit, test, and renew Raa Haqi’s cosmological order, offering Alevi Studies a theory-grounded, source-proximate account of Kurdish Alevi mythic thought. Full article

This study traces the profound transformation of the city of ‘Akká in Bahá’í perception, from its early depiction as “the Most Great Prison” and a place of desolation and exile to its reimagining as a holy city and spiritual center. Drawing on the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, the article examines how successive Bahá’í leaders reconceptualized ‘Akká through scriptural reinterpretation, theological discourse, and communal memory. Special attention is given to the appropriation of Islamic faḍáʾil traditions and the reapplication of biblical and Qur’ánic imagery to ‘Akká. By analyzing this symbolic and textual evolution, the article sheds light on the dynamic interplay between narrative, authority, and geography in the formation of Bahá’í sacred landscapes. Full article

Tibet occupies a central place in the avant-garde narratives of Ma Yuan (b. 1953), whose works significantly advanced the thought liberation movements of the 1980s in the People’s Republic of China. As global interest in the intersection of religion, literature, and cultural identity grows, Ma Yuan’s experimental writings offer a unique lens into the reconfiguration of religious and marginalized narratives in modern Chinese literature. While previous research has focused on his formal and stylistic innovations, this study uncovers how Ma Yuan transforms Buddhist rituals, myths, and customs within Tibetan culture to reexamine the spiritual dimensions of trauma and identity among marginalized groups. By engaging with Tibet as both a cultural reality and a mythological allegory, his narratives explore the interplay between body and soul, sacred and secular, and center and periphery within the late twentieth-century Chinese artistic landscape. This interdisciplinary study highlights how modernist literature reinterprets sacred practices and bridges Tibetan cultural heritage with China’s socio-historical modernization, contributing to broader understandings of cultural and intellectual transformations in the study of religion. Full article

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) represent the non-material relationships between people and nature, yet their intangible nature poses challenges for spatial planning and policy integration. This study examines CES in Gauja National Park, Latvia, focusing on symbolic, sacred, educational, and cultural heritage values—types often underrepresented in CES assessments. Using a Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PGIS) approach, a map-based public survey was conducted via ArcGIS Survey123, enabling respondents to mark and describe places of personal significance. While widely applied internationally, PGIS remains rarely used in Latvia, especially in planning and municipal decision-making. This study explores the use of the PGIS method for the assessment of CES, serving as a pilot application to test its suitability and potential for integration into spatial planning. Points of value were successfully georeferenced and reflect diverse associations. While well-known heritage sites were commonly mentioned, respondents also identified personally meaningful locations, sometimes situated outside the park’s formal boundaries. The findings highlight both the strengths and limitations of digital participatory methods, including issues related to response rates, accessibility, and digital literacy. The study demonstrates that mapping CES with PGIS can offer valuable insights for inclusive landscape governance and supports the incorporation of local perspectives into spatial planning. Full article

Both feeling and thought operate largely through a process of associations. Some of these are learned; some seem to be transcultural. In Western art it has long been assumed that certain arrangement of sounds, shapes, and colors evoke particular emotions and ideas. Rudolph Otto applies this idea also to the experience of the “Holy,” the “mysterium tremendum et fascinans.” This is a unique experience, irreducible to any other. However, there is a “law of associations” by which aesthetic and moral experiences evoke the “numinous” by a kind of analogy. Otto’s analysis raises the question whether there is in fact a specific experience of “the holy.” Is religious consciousness a sui generis experience, or is it rather an interpretation of experience? Is Otto’s notion of the numinous tied to a particular stage of religion? Post-Kantian transcendental theology proposes that “depth” or “limit” experiences are implicit in consciousness, and provide the basis for a variety of associations with the ultimate mystery of existence. The divine is anticipated as infinite transcendence that is at the same time radical immanence. The implicit intentionality of the divine can be implicit or can be formulated at different levels as feeling, image, concept, and transcendental intentionality. The “sacred” is an aesthetic construct signifying heightened awareness of the mystery. Sacred spaces are places consecrated to such awareness; they can be constructed in response to various aspects of communal awareness. All such aesthetic mediations of the sacred have an ambiguous relation to religious conversion. Full article

Sacred choral music continues to hold a significant place in contemporary concert settings, with historical and newly composed works featuring in today’s choral programmes. Contemporary choral composers have continued to engage with the longstanding tradition of setting sacred texts to music, bringing fresh interpretations through their innovative compositional techniques and fusion of styles. Irish composer Rhona Clarke’s (b. 1958) expansive choral oeuvre includes a wealth of both sacred and secular compositions but reveals a notable propensity for the setting of sacred texts in Latin. Her synthesis of archaic and contemporary techniques within her work demonstrates both the solemn and visceral aspects of these texts, as well as a clear nod to tradition. This article focuses on Clarke’s choral work O Vis Aeternitatis (2020), a setting of a text by the medieval musician and saint Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1150). Through critical score analysis, we investigate the piece’s melodic, harmonic, and textural frameworks; the influence of Hildegard’s original chant; and the use of extended vocal techniques and contrasting vocal timbres as we articulate core characteristics of Clarke’s compositional style and underline her foregrounding of the more visceral aspects of Hildegard’s words. Clarke’s fusion of creative practices from past and present spotlights moments of dramatic escalation and spiritual importance, and exhibits the composer’s distinctive compositional voice as she reimagines Hildegard’s text for the twenty-first century. Full article

This article analyzes the role of parish churches, erected after 1945, in shaping the urban and social structures of the Szczecin housing estates, examining their importance and impact on the surrounding space. This research focused on three groups of churches as spatial landmarks and symbols of young heritage, analyzing their location, form, and social significance. The objective of the present research was to determine how contemporary churches perform a dominant function in space and how they affect the social identity of residents, to determine whether these churches can be considered objects of young cultural heritage. This work used field research, spatial and photographic analysis, and typological classification. Six selected churches were subjected to comparative analysis. The results indicate a clear impact of sacred architecture on public spaces and the need to formulate new monument protection strategies for contemporary sacred objects as elements of urban cultural heritage. This article fits into the current discussions on the creation of criteria for evaluating post-war architecture and its place in the structure of a developing city. We noticed the lack of tools and directions for the protection of young heritage, and suggested directions for the sustainable protection of contemporary buildings. Full article

The subject of this article is the centuries-old religious heritage of Vilnius. The aim of the article is to analyse this heritage and its reflection in the gaze of tourists. In particular, it focuses on selected Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, and Karaite sites. The methods used in the empirical study include the analysis of reviews posted on the Tripadvisor website by tourists from different countries who visited five selected sites: (1) St. Anne’s Church, (2) Holy Spirit Orthodox Church, (3) Evangelical Lutheran Church, (4) Vilnius Choral Synagogue, and (5) Kenesa. The authors employed the method of desk research, which involves the analysis of existing data. The selection of objects was made by indicating the most commented sites of a given religious tradition for which the most comments were received. In the light of the pervasive influence of social media, it is noteworthy to observe the contemporary representation of multi-religious Vilnius that is disseminated through this medium. Urban sacred spaces are not only places of worship of interest to religious people, including local and foreign pilgrims. Furthermore, they constitute an attractive urban heritage for a significant number of cultural tourists. Committed tourists, including cultural tourists, meticulously document their impressions in various forms of narrative, offering either endorsement or criticism of a particular object. In this manner, they also interpret elements of the heritage in the local urban space. Full article

From an outside perspective, it is not clear whether the Catholic Church is an active digital entity, or at least, it is not perceived as such. This paper analyses this issue. The methodology involved the monitoring of ecclesiastical Internet activity, SWOT analysis and in-depth interviews (seven) with clergy and technological suppliers of the Church in both Spain and Latin America. Results: Catholic Church digitalisation is spontaneous, as a reflection of society at large, and is heterogeneous due to its decentralised management. There is more inner acceptance of digital mediatisation for proclamation or support in faith (i.e., apps for praying) and less acceptance for the digitalised practice of rites (digital mediation in the celebration of sacraments is an open debate); however, the presence of ICTs in sacred places is increasing (i.e., liturgical books on screen). The evangelisation of the digital continent is an objective of the Church, whereby clergy influencers are the most striking but less solid case. There is almost full digital implementation at the functional level (i.e., digitised accounting and archives). Only charitable action with vulnerable groups remains analogue. Polarisation is also present, as ultra-Catholic groups are over-represented on the Internet. Conclusion: The Catholic Church is integrated in the Information and Digital Age but is also concerned with spiritual impoverishment, as online fragmentation does not feed real humanitarian communities. Full article