The sacred is all around us, woven with stories and starlight, in the rich texture of the soil, and in certain dreams that come on certain nights. And yet it is also hidden, fading from sight, forgotten, lost in the dramas of daylight, in the harsh light of a civilization with its ever-present smartphones and computers. This is the strangest story of our present time: that something so essential, the oxygen of the soul, is left unnoticed, even in its absence. Our culture searches for answers to so many questions – the particles of existence, the genes that make up our body – and yet leaves unasked what is most vital. What has happened to the sacred that alone can give meaning to life – the simple truth that was known to all cultures before us? Like the forests we have clear-cut centuries ago and no longer even remember, we do not know what we have lost. And we as a culture are not even asking the question, not even considering what this might mean.

~ Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, from “The Loss of the Sacred and A Prayer for the Earth”

Aurora Borealis, Alaska – photo from bigstockphoto.com, used with permission