Mount Sacred

Mount Kailash in Asia, the Black Hills in North America, Uluru in Australia: around the globe, numerous mountains have been and continue to be attributed sacredness. Worship of these mountains involves prayer, meditation and pilgrimage. Christianity, which long showed little interest in nature, provides a foil to these practices and was one factor in the tensions that arose in the age of colonialism. Decolonisation and the 'ecological turn' changed the religious power of interpretation and imparted new meaning to discourses about sacred mountains. This succinct and erudite study demonstrates how, globally, these mountains remain outstanding examples of cultural diversity and convergence points of issues such as gender justice and environmental protection.