ABSTRACT
A place has the power to embody the values and beliefs of a culture and to serve as a pilgrimage site only if it speaks to the deepest understanding of the nature of reality that is woven through the culture. Sometimes such a sacred place holds ideals that are still circulating, but no longer adequately articulate the contemporary experiences of the culture. Cultures often cling to a story that has not evolved to incorporate the present because it feels safe, if not life-giving. Sometimes a sacred place plays the prophet in moving a culture into embracing a new vision, one that is challenging and risky because the new paradigm it embodies is not yet fully incorporated into the narrative that makes sense of and unifies the culture, and indeed may clash with the more comfortable story that made sense in the past. As we saw early on, pilgrimage sites are never static places and their narratives never unchallenged or unchanging. Just because they do embody the values and beliefs of living, dynamic cultures, there will always be contestation and change, which the sites must reflect.
