The power of place -Kristen Gladfelter

The power of place is simply amazing. The book “Landscapes of the Sacred”, goes into great detail about place. Lane writes, “Some cultures even speak of people dying who stray too far from the life-sustaining strength of the native landscape. Peter Mattheissen observes how the Ona Indians of Argentina, now extinct, were unable to tolerate relocation from their native soil, dying off within weeks of their forced removal.” The fact that people start dying off when the must leave their “place” indicates how sacred it really is. People share a connection with the Earth whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. From the foods that we eat to the clothes that we wear, we cannot survive without the Earth. The strength varies, however, we depend on the Earth to survive.