Practical Spirituality and Sacred Mountains

CONSTANZA CERUTI

Ghandi Marg

Ghandi Peace Foundation

Lugar: New Delhi; Año: 2015 vol. 36 p. 615 - 630

0016-4437

In the western world mountains are considered in connection to the resources that they offer - their glaciers as reservoirs of water, their entrails as containers of various minerals, their forested slopes as providers of lumber, and their feet as enriched agricultural lands. Occasionally, mountains may be ?seen? beyond their role as providers of material resources to become objects of aesthetic contemplation, sources of artistic inspiration, winter playgrounds or places of relaxation where urban dwellers can find some peace of mind. On the other hand, in traditional societies, mountains have always been looked upon as sacred. The universal sacredness of mountains has been acknowledged in a diversity of ways, according to the different cultural frames and religious systems involved. Sacred mountains have often played important roles in practical spirituality as places of power, destinations of pilgrimage, altars of sacrifice and places of refuge. All over the world, traditional societies have encouraged their members to overcome their fears and sharpen their intuitive skills during initiation rituals, religious ceremonies, pilgrimage and spiritual retreats that take place on elevated terrains. In the first part of this paper I will summarize nearly twenty years of personal research in the fields of high altitude archaeology and anthropology of sacred mountains, in an attempt to provide an overview of the multiplicity of ways in which mountain cultures in the Americas, Oceania, Europe, Africa and Asia have interacted with the landscapes that they perceive to be sacred. In the second part of the paper I will explore some of the connections between modern mountaineering and spirituality. In the discussion I will seek to identify values shared by native communities and mountaineers in different parts of the world, by analyzing the transformative potential in the experience of mountains and their sacredness. Traditional societies have long been aware of this, but the industrialized world is only starting to explore and acknowledge the role of mountains in modern practical spirituality.