Jared Free - "Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild"

In response to one of the comments made by Snyder I inadvertently developed my thesis for the research paper that was just submitted earlier this week. While living on land in the Sierra Nevada rang of northern California, which the original people, the Nisenan, were forcibly removed from, Snyder reflected that, "It seems there is no one left to teach us which places in this landscape were once felt to be sacred." Particular in North America. Snyder adds though, "With time and attention, I think we will be able to feel and find them again." This point led me to the revelation that society is completely insignificant when it comes to determining sacred space. It does not take the endorsement of the community or population to make a landscape sacred. Rather, individual admiration and appreciation is all that matters. We don't need our ancestors to reveal to us which landscapes were sacred; because all they would be revealing are the landscapes that were sacred to them. We must realize our own sacred landscapes, many times we experience them without even knowing it.