Is nothing sacred?

Let’s talk about our cultural conceit.

The mysterium tremendum et fascinans in the heart of Australia: Image by author

“If you have a soul, this is a soul-turning place.”- Joe Hildebrand

Nearly three decades ago, in the international bestseller The Sacred Balance, renowned environmentalist David Suzuki argued that the source of our planetary crisis is our self-imposed disconnection from nature. We have forgotten how dependent we are upon the planet’s biosphere, but if we care to look, there are deep connections between science and ancient wisdom. Listening to both, Suzuki says is a way for us to reconnect to the interconnectedness of all life, human and non-human by recognising the sacred balances that exist within and between all life forms and the planet’s physical chemistry.

But three decades later, the pursuit of endless growth drives ever more material extraction, emissions continue to rise and planetary boundaries are being crossed. Where in our material, secular, post enlightenment, postmodern, post truth culture is any sense of the sacred?

Mid-last century there was another influentual book titled The Sacred and The Profane, where philosopher Mircea Eliade argued there are two different modes of being in the world, two different ways homo sapiens conquers the cosmos. Archaic man, homo religious, sought sacred space and sacred time in order to exist meaningfully, creating the…