Sacred Place Experience

The Wednesday over Spring Break I went with my hometown friends on a walk. We found ourselves in the backwoods near the county line bordering Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania. As we went further into the woods, we ended up at a hidden quarry. We had heard that it existed but we had never seen it for ourselves. It was beautiful :] There were waterfalls and cliffs reaching sixty feet tall, hidden from everyday view by its surrounding trees. There were caverns we were able to explore and a huge secluded river to swim in. For a place within such proximity of a loud city, it seemed to be a location far away from the rest of world. As the sun set, we sat in silence together and listened to nature. We closed our eyes and heard the wind blow through the trees’ branches and leaves. We heard the babbling of the water as it rushed over the rocks and logs, and we recognized the sounds of crickets and various birds. The whole experience for me was incredibly peaceful. With such a hectic life I never take time to sit in silence with those I love and enjoy the air around us. Although those friends and I are already very close, the sense of being in another place, especially one which was so tranquil and undisturbed by the world, had us develop an even stronger, much more intimate bond. I felt the numinosity and the genius loci of the area affecting us. It was awesome. It was transcendent and I felt as if I was not on Earth but in another dimension, one more calm and serene, which had me believe my friends and I had stumbled upon a spiritually sacred place.

- Emily Schulz-