Bryan Deel: Making Nature Sacred: Symbolism between the Plymouth Colony and the Israelites

One reason that I agree with the interpretation that there is significant symbolism between the Plymouth colony and the Israelites is the fact that both believed that faith could triumph over harsh nature. The Plymouth Colony believed that the wilderness was hideous and full of man-eating beasts, as did humans back in Moses' time period. Both Pilgrimages were treading territory that have not been experienced before. Furthermore, both believed that the Spirit of God and his Grace would get them through whatever challenges they would encounter.

Bryan Deel: Landscapes of the Sacred Axiom #2

Lane's second axiom of sacred place states, "Sacred Place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary" This idea caused me to think about how Native Americans will perform certain acts in order to make places sacred. This is also true when you feel as if a place is sacred to you personally, such as a restaraunt that you became engaged in or the road on which you rode your first bike. These actions cause place to be set apart and unique.

Bryan Deel: Noland Trail Speculation

During our class on April 21st, I realized while walking along the Noland Trail that silence assisted me in experiencing my own “vision quest.” While walking I focused on a certain tree and noticed the patterns on the tree bark, and realized how complex the ridges and edges were on the outside of the tree. I began to reflect on how intricately everything in this world is made, whether it is the human body, animal, plants, or even tree bark. This idea suggests parallelism between my experience and the Plains Indian’s vision quest in that I observed the benevolence and mystery of God, similar to the Indian’s trust in the spirits of nature.