In the conception of early human civilization there existed nothing supernatural because the spiritual dimension was an essential part of the natural world. Hence holiness, if defined as the essence of the natural, existed before mankind began to recognize and to distinguish the qualities of the spiritual versus the natural world. So it remains a matter of definition if holiness (or sacredness) should be regarded as a quality per se or of human making.

If we were trying to reflect upon the initial stages in the relationship between small-size („tribal“) societies and their natural environment we got to retreat to places that remained unaffected by ideologies and ways of life opposed to the understanding of holy or spiritual being universal - and not just distinct attributes of mankind.

The island which now bears the name of Kyra Panagia had remained such virgin place; it retained the very holyness that has no human history: a sanctuary of the all-natural and all-spiritual in a timeless synthesis.

People must have lived in the realm of this archipelago since the dawn of mankind (cf. the article about Gioura). ...weiterlesen "Kyra Panagia – the Holy Island"