OF
A Trails Media Guide ~ Available Fall of 2001
This Preface
and
Table of Contents are
offered as a pre-release preview of the book. As such, there will be some minor changes
before print publication. For pre-release book reservations, comments and/or to
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Thank you.
“Ancient
sites beckon you to hit the road soon”
From
actual fortune cookie received by authors before traveling over 9,000 Wisconsin
miles
Where Does One Find The Sacred?
People have always sought
out those special places where there seems to be a strong connection with the
divine. The ancient Celts referred to them as “thin places,” where the veil
separating Earth from the spirit world was virtually transparent. They are the
places that inspire feelings of awe, of reverence, of reassurance.
Throughout history, certain
geographical spaces have attracted people of a certain religion or belief system
– sometimes, more than one. Jews, Christians, and Moslems all claim the
Jerusalem as a sacred city. Early Christian churches were often built on land
already considered sacred.
For the traveler seeking to
find the spirit – however he or she chooses to define that term – Wisconsin
provides countless opportunities. Most sacred sites simply exist quietly. There
may be one right down the street, and you may not know it. This book will help
you find some of them. Some will still need to be discovered. When we began to
list the sites for inclusion, we found no single resource for the information in
this book. We found many instances of cultural or scientific selectivity and
lots of confusing and contradictory data.
Certainly, every person
defines the concept of sacredness differently. You may have your own sacred site
in your home or backyard that is yours alone. You may find someone else’s
beliefs strange, and therefore find someone else’s sacred site hard to accept
or comprehend. This book will provide locations and descriptions of sacred
spaces you may want to visit – either because they reflect your own belief
system or they teach you about someone else’s belief system. We purposely did
not include the private or fragile places that we became aware of, unless the
owners or protectors approved or insisted that we do so.
The State of Wisconsin is
blessed to be home to huge number of sacred sites, many of which have features
that make them unique in all the word. We started with an accumulated database
over 850 sites. This database included some of the oldest holy places in the
state. These sites have meaning for ancient peoples as well as modern people.
They transcend time and dogma to truly become “thin places.” Since
sacredness is outside of time, sites of great antiquity as well as brand new
structures are included in the guide.
Because Wisconsin has so
many sites considered sacred by various people, we had to choose criteria
carefully for inclusion in this book. Among those sites are retreat centers,
churches, temples, cemeteries, and effigy mounds. Generally, each sacred sites
described or listed in this book has one or more of the following qualities:
v
It is considered sacred by a group
(or groups) of people, not an individual.
v
It is on the National Registry of
Historic Places, or is otherwise of historic significance. Properties on the
National Registry must be associated with either events of broad historical
significance, or with the lives of persons of outstanding importance; other
elements in the evaluation of NRHP sites include distinctive characteristics of
a particular architectural type, or high artistic value. For this book we also
included sites that were the subject of legends, which made them culturally
significant.
v
It is otherwise unique. Some of
the sites have national significance.
Then we rated the sites in
four categories: historic relevance, uniqueness, aesthetic beauty, and intrinsic
value (the “awe” factor). Obviously, these are highly subjective categories,
but the transcendent quality of these places needed a certain subjective,
perhaps spiritual, response. Although historic and scientific information is
included in this guide, this guide is intended to be an experiential guide. We
traveled over 9,000 miles to qualify the sites included. This guide represents
the highest-rated sites.
Most of the sites can be
visited for free, or for a small admission. State parks require a fee that can
be in the form of an annual pass for all state parks. The public may view all of
the sites listed here. Some are open all the time; others require advanced
arrangements (we’ve included phone numbers and contacts so you can call
ahead). Some can only be viewed outside, usually due to antiquity.
Various rules of conduct
are appropriate for various sites. For example, some churches may require formal
dress. Silence is appropriate at most sites, especially at Native American
effigy mounds. It is inappropriate to picnic on the mounds. It can be considered
rude to walk on graves (including burial mounds). There are some other
guidelines that apply to the traveler in all places:
