Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This poster presentation explores how spirituality, leisure and culture can intersect and create spaces of spiritual enrichment, recreation and cultural heritage. In addition, the poster examines ubication, or how the making of a sacred or spiritual space is rooted in cultural time, space an loci (Pfister, 2017). A sacred space can be identified as anywhere an individual feels meaning, healing, ritual, identity or transformation (Sponsel, 2008). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has identified 1121 irreplaceable World Heritage sites that include forests, mountains, lakes, deserts, monuments, buildings, complexes or cities that are of special cultural or physical significance. Because of the spiritual, recreational and historic nature of these sites, UNESCO sacred spaces offer a unique experience in understanding cultural legacy. These spaces are often preserved with great care, and demonstrate the value of the intersection of spirituality, leisure, and culture in sharing the human experience, leisure as transformation and ultimately preserving our world heritage.