Cosmology and Sacred Landscapes

Cosmology is literally the “science of nature,” from the physics of Aristotle and Newton to the mythical cosmograms of Tibet. A cosmology is any composition or cultural construct relating to the structure and process of systems of creation. Included are the origins of physical elements of earthly or astronomical spheres, the genesis of the material world, and the order and function of the observable universe, including the planets, the solar system, and celestial bodies. Quite simply, a cosmology is any cultural belief related to the creative forces responsible for the composition of the universe.

Landscapes are integral to any cosmology, though not all cosmologies emphasize that landscapes are sacred. Landscapeis a powerful term, with considerable utility for describing and giving context to cultural beliefs and worldview regarding the natural world in which people live. Hence, it is important in the context of cosmology. People live in landscapes, but landscapes are more than social space. Long the domain of geographers who fashioned “landscapes” from “spatial-scientific” or “structural” geographical theory, broader understandings of non-Western cosmologies have brought deeper comprehension of landscape and its relationship to cultures.

For the anthropologist, landscape has two primary meanings: It is a “framing convention” that provides the backdrop for how a study is presented, and it is a means to attribute the ways that local people view their cultural and physical surroundings. As a spatial element, landscape is intertwined with time, in that it is not a static or abstract entity, but a part of social practices. The term landscape dates to the renaissance. In art history, it is based on a geometric perspective in media renderings meant to be viewed in a way that projects a picture involving some aspect of geographic features that can be perceived in a realistic fashion.

Anthropologists have long recognized that many indigenous people view and map landscapes differently than is done in the West and that often conceptions of land and landscape are permeated with notions of the sacred. Among the Andonque of the Columbian Amazon, the land is conceptualized as specific features identified as being both within and outside of their territory. These features include mountains, hills, flat savannahs, and rocks. Each feature has been purposely named by a religious specialist, is “owned” by a specific supernatural force, and is identified socially by specific mythic events that occurred there. This landscape extends well beyond the actual territory of the community. This conception of the world is not fixed or permanent. Shamanic [Page 574]intervention in the form of specialist communication with specific landscape features results in symbolic remodeling of both the landscape and the ceremonial ways people interact with and are influenced by it.

Specifics about the sacred landscapes are learned: As people grow, they become aware of the relationships between land and ancestors, as well as their social responsibilities, by physically moving through the land. There are dramatic indications of links between memory, ancestral power, and the land. Recently, residents of northern Australia visiting southeastern parts of the continent identified features in the natural environment as being part of their ancestral landscape. This is particularly relevant in that the individuals in question had never been to southeastern Australia before, and little was known about the mythology of the area or the original inhabitants, who had been forcibly removed in the 19th century. This knowledge is part of an ancestral grid, learned through interaction with and observation of highly ritualized activities, and then experienced by traveling to different places. Each place is connected in this chainlike grid, which reflects an individual's current kinship group as well as ancestral validation of links to the land. The landscape is seen as composed of segments that reveal ancestral ties to specific areas of the land. “Because ancestral beings not only created the landscape, but also placed people in a particular relationship to it as perpetuators of the ancestral inheritance, the landscape is viewed simultaneously as a set of spaces for people to occupy” (Morphy, 1995, p. 192). Even in land disputes, such as when a group moves into a new land and takes over, they view this as the land taking over the people, thus preserving the continuity. When previously unoccupied land (or that for which direct links are no longer articulated) is settled, there exist “mechanisms for creating or recreating the linkages” (Morphy, 1995, p. 186).

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