What is Spiritual Geography?

Abstract

The publication of two books with the term spiritual geography in their subtitles indicates some measure of broad public interest in geography and provides an opportunity to speculate about the implications for the discipline. The two books are Beliefs and Holy Places: A Spiritual Geography of the Pimeria Alta, by James S. Griffin (1992) and Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, by Kathleen Norris (1993). Reviews of the two books appeared in the New York Times. The publicity thus given to popular, intellectually stimulating books subtitled geography cannot be overlooked by geographers. This type of wide notice is unique and often sought, and the theme is one occasionally discussed by cultural geographers. It allows geographers to ponder the meaning of their discipline to nongeographers. Although the use of the word geography is welcome, its association with the word spiritual may be mixed blessing for many geographers. The basic question that arises from reading these books is, What is spiritual geography? One wonders why Griffin and Norris chose these two words to define their subjects. Reviews in highly influential newspaper suggest an interested readership that is searching for answers about the human condition. In academic circles, the search has expanded to include radical interpretations of reality. As Griffin correctly states, there is growing body of literature that reflects multidisciplinary expansion of radical thought in the postmodern era. The concept of place as means of human identity is clearly evident in literature. Depending on perspective, there are many pieces of good and not-so-good literature that examine relationships among earth, place, and people, as well as among people in specific place. I have chosen to focus only on those books subtitled spiritual geography. Other terms have been applied to the ideas that Griffin and Norris cover. An example is spiritual ecology, which Carolyn Merchant discusses in Radical Ecology (1992). She examines how ecologists are beginning to interpret earth order and process from contextual and nonlinear time perspectives. To her, spiritual ecology is a product of profound sense of crisis in the ways that twentieth century humans relate to the environment and focuses on the transformation of consciousness, especially religious and spiritual consciousness. Like postmodern social scientists, ecologists are attempting to redefine human relationships with the earth and with each other as means of survival. Griffin and Norris offer two strikingly different topics and regions, yet both speak to common needs and abilities of humans to survive. Humans must somehow organize reality to compensate for the disparity between the known and the unknown. The known or the real must be balanced against the unknown or the ideal. In radical terms, one defines the other in temporal and contextually framed existence. As specific and unique individuals in space and time, Griffin and Norris have written about places that momentarily trap and illuminate this supernatural ability of humans to adapt, create, and re-create their surroundings. Both authors describe the building of human-land relationships from personal observations and research. Norris writes about her sense of identity in the northern Great Plains, and Griffin writes about religious subculture along the Arizona-Mexico border, regionally known as Pimeria Alta. Both authors consider their regions holy. They discuss the events and conditions that led them or others to allow the supernatural to dominate. For Griffin, spiritual geography is about place of religious tradition. He describes Pimeria Alta as place where three centuries of cultural existence and cohesion have created blend of native and exotic religious beliefs. The fusion of beliefs can be observed across the region. In fact, the extent of the syncretic belief system demarcates the region. Through personal observations, ethnographical research, and library research, Griffin is persuasive in his description of holy place. …