What are sacred spaces?

Answer 1

Sacred spaces are spaces that are set aside for a purpose that is not "profane." It of course depends on what you deem to be sacred or profane of course. It is arguable that a library is sacred to knowlege, a school room to learning, a chapel to prayer...

Of course sacred speaces in the conventional sense are generally dedicated to particular divinities. For example a mosque is sacred to Allah in a sense, although a Moslem would say that a mosque is not neccisarily a sacred building, at least some would. A christian church is sacred to Christ, and the holy trinity, a synagogue to Yahweh... A masonic lodgeroom to Jah-Bul-On or the Grand Architect of the Universe.

A speace can be sacred simply because it is put aside for a spiritual purpose. Or it may be sacred because it is in that space that some particular higher function is carried out, some say that courtrooms are sacred to Justitia - Blind Justice.

Answer 2

Sacred Space - a place where worship services are held on a regular basis. ie: In the AD of New York a wedding must take place in "Sacred Space." Back yards are out of the question. Until about 20 years ago weddings between a Catholic and member of the Jewish faith were married in a Unitarian Church... For the Catholic party, it qualified as Sacred Space.... For the Jewish party, there were no statues -- to them, a violation of the first commandment. 20 years or so ago, Cardinal O'Connor permitted a dispensation (favor) to be granted to allow a Catholic - Jewish marriage to take place in a Reception Hall, as long as it was not in the same room as the reception was taking place. The reasoning behind this was that a wedding between two Jewish individual's usually took place in a reception hall, whereas a marriage between two Christians usually took place in a Church (Sacred Space)