Antarctica: A Geography of the Sacred

For many thousands of years, and across all religions, the journey of the pilgrim from the world in which he lives to the sacred centre, or Holy of Holies, has been symbolized and illustrated by concentric designs such as mandalas, labyrinths and temple architecture. Through a coincidence of geology, glaciology and plate tectonics, the topography of Antarctica echoes these designs almost perfectly - the coastal regions and southern ocean corresponding to the picturesque outer ring or structure, the minimalist ice shelves and Polar Plateau corresponding the prayer/assembly hall as well as to the difficulties that must be crossed along the way, and the centre or axis corresponding to the Geographic South Pole. Through the combination of this tectonic coincidence and the existence of a "natural", empirical and un-shifting centre at 90°South - one which, by definition and unlike traditional centers of pilgrimage, cannot be transferred - Antarctica and the South Pole pose highly relevant questions about the nature of pilgrimage, the role of human projection and the ineffability of the ultimate mystery