Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred
For many thousands of years, and across all religions, the journey of the pilgrim from the world in which he lives to the sacred centre, or Holy of Holies, has been symbolized and illustrated by concentric designs such as mandalas, labyrinths and temple architecture. Through a coincidence of geology...
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ftdatacite:10.17863/cam.12848 2023-05-15T13:58:58+02:00 Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred De Pomereu, Jean 2004 https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.12848 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/266777 en eng Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository All Rights Reserved https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/ Text Thesis article-journal ScholarlyArticle 2004 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.12848 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z For many thousands of years, and across all religions, the journey of the pilgrim from the world in which he lives to the sacred centre, or Holy of Holies, has been symbolized and illustrated by concentric designs such as mandalas, labyrinths and temple architecture. Through a coincidence of geology, glaciology and plate tectonics, the topography of Antarctica echoes these designs almost perfectly - the coastal regions and southern ocean corresponding to the picturesque outer ring or structure, the minimalist ice shelves and Polar Plateau corresponding the prayer/assembly hall as well as to the difficulties that must be crossed along the way, and the centre or axis corresponding to the Geographic South Pole. Through the combination of this tectonic coincidence and the existence of a "natural", empirical and un-shifting centre at 90°South - one which, by definition and unlike traditional centers of pilgrimage, cannot be transferred - Antarctica and the South Pole pose highly relevant questions about the nature of pilgrimage, the role of human projection and the ineffability of the ultimate mystery. Thesis Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelves South pole South pole Southern Ocean DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Southern Ocean South Pole Polar Plateau ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-90.000,-90.000) |
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Open Polar |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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ftdatacite |
language |
English |
description |
For many thousands of years, and across all religions, the journey of the pilgrim from the world in which he lives to the sacred centre, or Holy of Holies, has been symbolized and illustrated by concentric designs such as mandalas, labyrinths and temple architecture. Through a coincidence of geology, glaciology and plate tectonics, the topography of Antarctica echoes these designs almost perfectly - the coastal regions and southern ocean corresponding to the picturesque outer ring or structure, the minimalist ice shelves and Polar Plateau corresponding the prayer/assembly hall as well as to the difficulties that must be crossed along the way, and the centre or axis corresponding to the Geographic South Pole. Through the combination of this tectonic coincidence and the existence of a "natural", empirical and un-shifting centre at 90°South - one which, by definition and unlike traditional centers of pilgrimage, cannot be transferred - Antarctica and the South Pole pose highly relevant questions about the nature of pilgrimage, the role of human projection and the ineffability of the ultimate mystery. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
De Pomereu, Jean |
spellingShingle |
De Pomereu, Jean Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
author_facet |
De Pomereu, Jean |
author_sort |
De Pomereu, Jean |
title |
Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
title_short |
Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
title_full |
Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
title_fullStr |
Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred |
title_sort |
antarctica: a geography of the sacred |
publisher |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.12848 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/266777 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-90.000,-90.000) |
geographic |
Southern Ocean South Pole Polar Plateau |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean South Pole Polar Plateau |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelves South pole South pole Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Ice Shelves South pole South pole Southern Ocean |
op_rights |
All Rights Reserved https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.12848 |
_version_ |
1766267334841860096 |