The creation of a sacred building requires that it conform not only to the wishes of its creators, but that it fall in alignment with both natural as well as spiritual law.


Although at first this statement appears to be rigid in its intention, the fact is that there are certain prerequisites for the succesful completion of a truly sacred building, a structure or space within which the sacred can become manifest. This short essay will attempt to summarize the fundamental criteria that need to be kept in consideration when undertaking such a challenge.



It needs to be remarked, however, that modern understanding of the technology of the sacred continues to fall behind the legacy we can perceive in the great sacred buildings of the past. It is my hope that, through the dissemination of our extant knowledge and through the continuing efforts of the elders of many traditional societies, the knowledge necessary for the creation of the sacred enclosures of the future will be able to flourish and improve.




It is important to note, consequently, that as a collective dream, contemporary sacred architecture has become imbued with a particular type of energy which is associated with aspiration and longing.


This is due in part to our lack of understanding of the processes of sacred design, and is also a by product of our society’s need for romantic fullfillment. In terms of oriental geomancy and cosmology this is often understood as a yang force, directional in nature, energetically active, and localized in the upper realms: it seeks to be, rather than to serve.


In addition, the very fact that the conception of a structure stems from visionary processes, similarly presents a directed approach which is yang. Hence it is necessary to categorize the majority of such projects, at this point in time, as a yang force seeking to become real in the plane of space and time.

In order for this process to unfold successfully, it is necessary that it be embraced by the yin aspect of its own reality, since it is in the union of yin and yang that manifestation takes place.


Hence it is possible to say that a sacred project needs to move into a yin phase in order to accommodate the excess yang that its inception possesses. This will require that yin forces be marshalled on its behalf. Of these the most important are the earth itself, the underground water courses, the form which the structure will ultimately assume, and the community for whom it was conceived.

In addition, it is also clear that for such projects to become reality they must also partake of the full surrender of its creators to the will of Heaven, as its is the pairing of Heaven and Earth that will be responsible for their manifestation.




Ritual, prayer, and celebration are therefore important aspects of this process and can be conceived not only as agents of its manifestation, but in a certain sense as part of the creation itself. By this I understand not only the need for a physical container for the sacred, but also for a constituency and a recurring process of use and learning that will take the sacred enclosure into the future.




Originally writen by alexstark and most pictures collected from pinterest