Holy in the Barren - Stephen Mason

In "Landscapes of the Sacred," Lane describes how Spanish Catholics in the early 17th century saw Death Valley as a lifeless and desolate area while at the same time seeing it as "the palm of Gods hand." It seems to me like many people tend to see the holy in the lifeless terrain that inhabit many places around the world. An example of this can be seen in the old tales from sailors about the vast and seemingly empty expanses of ocean. From sea monsters to locations where you can commune with gods, sailors have always held a deep spiritual connection with the ocean. Because of the unknown and barren landscape of the ocean, sailors attribute what happens in these areas to that of the spiritual. I believe that this is in some ways the reason why Spanish Catholics saw the holy in the barren landscapes of death Valley