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Definition 1. Landscapes appear by way of the perception and formation of the ‘natural environment.’ They are the consequence of special forms of subsistence (‘cultured landscapes’), and the expression of social conceptions of order. Religiously motivated ‘imprints’ on a landscape are of various kinds. The structuring of space, the formation of centers, → boundaries, sacred places, or taboo zones, are all lasting manifestations of value concepts. The contrast between ‘cultured land’ civilization …

Tree and Forest as Place of Worship and as Symbol 1. Trees and forests had been a component of cultic practice since time immemorial. A distinction must be made between ‘sacred trees’ and constructions such as the world tree, trees of life, ancestor trees, and tree diagrams. All of these forms can be read as an expression of an individual or a societal self-communication. There are contrary ascriptions of meaning, however. The tree can symbolize either the cyclic renewal of life and fertility, and thereby…