Thin Places
- J
- Oct 29, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 13
The Magic Garden is a thin place—a portal to Sparkle Valley.
Romantics sought out these “thin places”—where the physical and spiritual worlds touch. Immersing themselves in such spaces, they believed, could unlock a deeper sense of meaning and purpose.
But this idea isn’t limited to the Romantics. Artists, philosophers, psychologists, architects, and poets across disciplines have explored how our surroundings shape us—and how certain places help us connect to something larger than ourselves. Here are a few of those perspectives:
Eric Weiner
"Thin places are not necessarily places of happiness or joy. They are sites of transformation. The thinness of the place allows us to see beyond the veil of our mundane lives and catch a glimpse of something ineffable, something that hints at the deeper meaning of life."
"I've been to many thin places, some as exotic as the muddy banks of India's Ganges River, others as mundane as a cramped corner of my childhood bedroom. What they have in common, I've come to believe, is that they invite us to come in more fully into the world and, in doing so, leave us subtly transformed."
Takeaway: Thin places are both ordinary and exotic.
Richard Rohr
"A thin place is any place where the veil between this world and the eternal world is lifted and we're reminded that we are part of a much bigger reality."
Mountaintop: "You have a sense of spaciousness, freedom, and expansiveness, which is the opposite of being cramped or confined. This is a "thin place," an experience that opens your senses, your mind, and your heart."
Seashore: "The vastness and ever-changing quality of the ocean symbolize for me the infinite mystery and potential of life. The sea is a thin place because it reminds me of my own smallness and the great mystery of existence."
Thin places offer us a glimpse into the transcendent and remind us of our connection to something greater than ourselves.
Take away: Thin places awaken the senses.
Martin Heidegger
"In such a relation to beings that are encountered primarily through the world, there are places where the world is, as it were, stretched thin and, for a brief moment, man, as it were, is able to engage in a more original manner with being and thus also with himself."
Thin places are moments of profound insight into our own existence and the nature of reality.
Takeaway: Thin places inspire.
Gaston Bachelard
"The space we love is always in excess of what we require of it."
"A house that has been experienced is not an inert box. Inhabited space transcends geometrical space."
Bachelard believed that the spaces we inhabit are not just functional, but are important elements of our inner lives. They shape our memories, dreams, and imagination.
Takeaway - Space is the gateway to imagination.
Edward Casey:
"Place is...a fundamental mode of being in the world, an experiential and perceptual phenomenon that is constitutive of human existence."
"In place, and in what can only be called the plenitude of its presence, the world shows up as itself. It is the place that provides the world with its most intense and irreplaceable presence."
To Casey space is not a neutral backdrop, but rather an active participant in shaping our perceptions of the world.
Takeaway: Place is not passive..
James Hillman:
"Wherever an interiority is to be marked, where life in the spirit is felt with immediacy, there we have a thin place, a numinous space."
Thin places are not only physical locations, but also interior states of being that allow us to go beyond the mundane.
Takeaway: Places inspire and transform.
Christopher Alexander (architect):
"A living building is not one that is closed in and sealed up, but one that is sensitively attuned to the life around it. It is, in effect, a thin place, where the veil between the material and the spiritual worlds is permeable, and where people can feel a sense of connection to the deeper order of things."
Architecture can create spaces that bridge the gap between the material and spiritual worlds,
Takeaway: Architecture is more than material.
William Wordsworth
"And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things." (Tintern Abbey)
The idea of this "presence" rolling through all things suggests a sense of unity and oneness with the world.
"Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
The day is come when I again repose
Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
'Mid groves and copses.
Once again I see
These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild; these pastoral farms,
Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!" (Tintern Abbey)
Feeling a connection to something bigger than himself, Wordsworth reflects on his experience of returning to the banks of the River Wye and the ruins of Tintern Abbey after many years.
Takeaway: Nature is thin.
Matthew Arnold
"Thin, thin the pleasant human noises grow,
And faint the city gleams; Rare the lone crow,
Flown, heavy from the hurtling storm, to find
Quiet, and in sad vagrancy to blow
His hollow horn among the empty winds
Once more, and to himself and all his kind
Sing, that he once more in a world of men may be."
Arnold contrasts the noise and busyness of the city with the peacefulness and solitude of nature, suggesting that in nature one can find a sense of belonging and purpose.
Takeaway: Escape the noise.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The truth of Nature is a deep wellspring of pure emotion, from which we drink in those eternal feelings of wonder and awe that are as old as humankind itself. In Nature we can rediscover the balance of our emotions, the purity of our perceptions, the divinity of our creativity, and the wholeness of our being."
Emerson argues that nature is a source of deep emotional connection and creativity that can bring us a sense of wholeness and balance.
Takeaway: Nature is emotions.
Phil Cousineau:
"Thin places can be found all over the world, from the mountains to the oceans, from the ancient ruins to the modern cities. They are places where the veil between the material and spiritual worlds is thin, and where we can experience a deep sense of connection to something greater than ourselves."
Thin places are not limited to specific locations, but can be found anywhere, as long as we are open to the possibility of transcendent experiences.
Takeaway: Be open to thin places.
Although thin places are subjective and can be ordinary, here are 10 exotic places often considered "thin."
Iona, Scotland
Stonehenge, England
The Ganges River, India
Machu Picchu, Peru .
Sedona, Arizona, USA
Lourdes, France
Uluru, Australia
Mount Kailash, Tibet
The Cliffs of Moher, Ireland
The Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA
Comments