This beautifully illustrated guide explores the connections between people, faith, and landscape and features plans, reconstructions, and stunning photography of little-known holy sites. Beginning with the magnificent cathedrals, mosques, and temples of the world’s great religions and concluding with earthworks, and holy mountains, wells, and rivers, it traces the wisdom these spots embody and explores the ways in which we gain spiritual insights from them today. The examination of sites of pilgrimage, sacred stones, and places of isolation and meditation—from the Chapel of the Nativity of Christ in Jerusalem to Mount Tai Shan, the most revered of China’s five sacred mountains—make this an essential reference work for anyone fascinated by ancient traditions and religions.
David Douglas is a full-time writer with a special interest in psychology, spirituality and the environment. He has written screenplays, scripts and plays.
Rather than a true atlas, this is a beautifully illustrated survey of 63 sites of religious and spiritual significance divided into six topics: "Places of Worship;" "Sites of Pilgrimage;" "Kings, Saints and Sages;" "Places of Isolation and Meditation;" "Sacred Stones: Stone Circles and Megaliths;" and "Sacred Land and Water." Having written several books on similar topics, Douglas provides an informative overview and narrative for each location intended for the general reader. As expected, the selection of sites is subjective, and the author himself notes that "there are...many places not featured here that would easily qualify as sacred sites to many people, many cultures, many faiths." However, nearly one-fourth of all sites that Douglas has chosen are in the British Isles, six out of eight in the "Sacred Stones" section alone. Jerusalem appears in three sections. Conversely, all ancient Egyptian and Mexican sites are ignored, along with Machu Picchu in Peru. Overall, the emphasis seems to be on locations sacred to current living religions. BOTTOM LINE This atlas is directly comparable to James Harpur's Atlas of Sacred Places: Meeting Points of Heaven and Earth (Holt, 1994) and the books in Brad Olsen's "Sacred Places" series. Although it is certainly eye-catching, Colin Wilson's Atlas of Holy Places & Sacred Sites (DK, 1996) is more comprehensive, providing regional coverage, a gazetteer, bibliography, and more.—Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Sys., Ft. Pierce, FL
[Page 93]. Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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