Places as persons
Andean apus, Mongolian ovoo sites, Himalayan territorial deities and Australian country all describe landscape features with agency, standing and claims.
Rules of access
Approach, offering, silence, gender restriction and seasonal closure are common. Violation is a cause of illness and misfortune in many diagnostic systems.
Sacred sites as legal battlegrounds
Mining, dams, tourism and infrastructure repeatedly collide with sacred-site protection. Heritage law is currently one of the main arenas in which these traditions are defended.