The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden

dc.contributor.advisorChidester, David
dc.contributor.authorBadenhorst,Ursula
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-15T08:41:04Z
dc.date.available2023-08-15T08:41:04Z
dc.date.issued2009_
dc.date.updated2023-08-15T08:40:24Z
dc.description.abstractThe argument of this dissertation is that the garden can be considered a proleptic eschatological landscape outside of time. To prove this argument I pull together strands of philosophical reflections on death, history of religions analysis concerning sacred space and time and monastic spirituality. I develop this argument by focusing on the enclosed garden, which has connected with it, in myth and metaphor, abundant meanings concerning life after death in a paradisiacal state of bliss. These meanings also become evident in the physical layout of the garden, which, when analyzing it in terms of substantial and situational definitions of sacred space, becomes a prime example of a sacred space, linked physically and symbolically to an eschatological space. The enclosed garden plays a very important role in monastic spirituality as it is not only associated with the cloister, but also with the Virgin Mary, which both offer the monk a gateway to eternity in Paradise. Physically the enclosed garden becomes the very center of the monastic precinct, offering through a ritual-sensory experience of its spatial qualities an experience which allows the monk a moment of spiritual transcendence. It is also, thus, in this moment, when the monk's physical experience of the garden is woven together with ideas of paradise as an abode of eternity, that the garden becomes a sacred space which can lift him outside of time to experience paradisiacal happiness. This requires a process of hermeneutical interpretation from the monk and the theorist reflecting on this encounter. It is a dialogue between the garden and its interpreters, which leads to the conclusion that an encounter with the sacred never stands in isolation.
dc.identifier.apacitation (2009). <i>The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitation. <i>"The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation 2009. The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Master Thesis AU - Badenhorst,Ursula AB - The argument of this dissertation is that the garden can be considered a proleptic eschatological landscape outside of time. To prove this argument I pull together strands of philosophical reflections on death, history of religions analysis concerning sacred space and time and monastic spirituality. I develop this argument by focusing on the enclosed garden, which has connected with it, in myth and metaphor, abundant meanings concerning life after death in a paradisiacal state of bliss. These meanings also become evident in the physical layout of the garden, which, when analyzing it in terms of substantial and situational definitions of sacred space, becomes a prime example of a sacred space, linked physically and symbolically to an eschatological space. The enclosed garden plays a very important role in monastic spirituality as it is not only associated with the cloister, but also with the Virgin Mary, which both offer the monk a gateway to eternity in Paradise. Physically the enclosed garden becomes the very center of the monastic precinct, offering through a ritual-sensory experience of its spatial qualities an experience which allows the monk a moment of spiritual transcendence. It is also, thus, in this moment, when the monk's physical experience of the garden is woven together with ideas of paradise as an abode of eternity, that the garden becomes a sacred space which can lift him outside of time to experience paradisiacal happiness. This requires a process of hermeneutical interpretation from the monk and the theorist reflecting on this encounter. It is a dialogue between the garden and its interpreters, which leads to the conclusion that an encounter with the sacred never stands in isolation. DA - 2009_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Religious Studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2009 T1 - ETD: The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden TI - ETD: The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229
dc.identifier.vancouvercitation. The eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Religious Studies, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38229en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Religious Studies
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.subjectReligious Studies
dc.titleThe eschatological garden: sacred space, time and experience in the monastic cloister garden
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMA
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