is a visual analysis and spiritual journey exploring the similarities of religious holy grounds. Within the thousands of sacred sites there is an alliance between them of beauty, intrigue, mysticism, power and energy. The images contained in sacred places help to visualize these alliances in hopes of better understanding the uniting spiritualism of these peculiar and extraordinary places.

By combining images of cathedrals, mosques, temples, altars and religious shrines, the mythical practices of each separate dogma can be broken down into their fundamental similarities. Exploring the meanings of these architectural structures and their placement on consecrated ground, we can find a universal feeling and power that these sites evoke. For instance, a visit to a golden temple may evoke the same mystical feeling as a visit to a sacred cave. It is the sensitivity toward a spiritual force which is felt and its power invades the soul.

Sacred sites may include Buddha's tree of enlightenment (Bodh Gaya, India), Druid stone monuments (Whiltshire, England) or the Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem, Isreal) which is sacred to three of the world's major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. They are places of transcendentalism -- places which help escape the physical body and lead to a journey in a spiritual realm.

Erecting great physical structures adorned with our most precious earthly gems, we pay homage to our creators while allowing them also to provide refuge for our confused souls. As pilgrims entering these consecrated sacred sites, we must admit to our human weaknesses and struggle to understand ourselves on a deeper level. Consequently, these Sacred Places are fundamental to our sense of self. They help determine who we are, where we came from, and where we will eventually end up. They are places to be entered and experienced -- penetrating their exteriors in search of truth.

While in pursuit for these truths, and reveling the basic premises of each sacred place, I believe we do not find the separateness which marks the physical boundry of each sacred site, instead we unveil the spiritual similarities which unite them. The force which brings forth all religions and commands us all to erect great architechture, no matter its name or face, is the absolute truth. This force is the singular harmony which unites us all. Whether is be the words of Buddha which have led to the creation of glorious stupas or the grottos devoted to Mary the mother of Jesus, each sacred site is universal as a powerful symbol of truth. These sites are the relationship between humans and the universe, and we build these devotional places as recognition and homage to the eternal unknown.