Sacredness is both arbitrary and non-arbitrary.

What makes an object, a place, a structure sacred? What makes a stone, a crystal, a figurine, or an idol sacred? Mostly because we say so—we have a collective story that denotes and promotes the object from inanimate to divine. Sacredness is a shared acknowledgment of the station of an object.

I have always found the idea of idols as sacred hard to grasp. What makes a statue of a religious figure special? How is this particular shape of copper or stone different from any other? Why should we pray to these objects and expect a divine shift?

There is certainly utility in praying to an object—it is much easier for our human brains to relate to a physical object as a representative of the abstract than it is to pray into the formless void, trusting that a supreme divine entity will hear us. Sacred objects make it easier to connect to the divine.

I'll posit that it's important, however, to distinguish between the object itself and the sacredness it represents. The object is a representation, not even a vessel or a channel, but merely a physical fixture that we can hold on to, an assistive device for our spiritual process. If the object is destroyed, it does not mean the spiritual force it represents has been harmed in any way.

Are there things in this world that are inherently sacred? I am not sure. Sacredness is at the confluence of human experience and the physical world. Is something sacred if there are not humans there to deem it so? If a human does not acknowledge a figure as sacred, how can its sacredness be perceived?

The closest I've found to inherently sacred things are the vast physical structures of the natural world. I am currently sitting before some of the most powerful mountains in the world—the Bernese Oberlands in the Jungfrau Region, before the Eiger, the Wetterhorn, the Mönch. These mountains have a power behind them, something that draws people from all over the world to bask in their glory. They may not be explicitly noted as spiritual objects, but there seems to be power behind them that draws people to them.

The Peruvians believe the great mountains, the Apus, have their own spirits. Maybe this is true of all mountains. Maybe all mountains, all natural beings in the world—mineral, vegetable, or animal—have their own spirits that echo and emanate in the world.

Maybe you can relate. Have you ever felt a spiritual force while in nature? Have the mountains and lakes ever felt alive in their own way? Have they brought you to a sense of sacredness?