Holy Personal: Looking for Small Private Places of Worship

By Laura Chester

Holy Personal Looking for Small Private Places of Worship Laura Chester Photographs by Donna DeMari Foreword by Thomas Moore Discovering private spiritual spaces in America. " This] book represents the best way of doing theology--keeping it relentlessly human and thoroughly concrete.... The ultimate effect of a worthy spiritual life would be beautiful lives in a beautiful world. This beautiful book is an excellent start." --from the Foreword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul "In the world of the holy personal, ordinary people enter the mysteries of the microcosm. One of the charms of the private chapel is its small scale, which can transport one back to 'spiritual childhood.' In fact, the smaller the space, the more the imagination is engaged. The idea for this book came unexpectedly, almost like being surprised by love when you are not seeking it out. As with love, I had to follow, see where this pilgrimage would take me, moving from one small sanctuary to the next, from one radiant story onward, connecting me to these small bird nests of worship and to the wonderful spirited people who had built them." --from the Introduction Holy Personal: Looking for Small Private Places of Worship begins with the design and construction of the author's own private chapel, activities that compelled her to set forth on a pilgrimage to 28 other private places of worship--temples, chapels, stupas, and shrines. Her text delves into the spiritual paths that lead people to create private places of worship. Donna DeMari's luminous photographs reveal the personal and private nature of these unique places. Holy Personal documents the American landscape as well as the American soul. In New England, Chester visits a root cellar chapel and one converted from a garage. She discovers an American stavkirke in Door County, Wisconsin, a Mother Goddess altar in San Francisco, and a straw bale milagro chapel in Arizona. The author describes the origins of a chapel made from tires in Alabama and one fashioned from wine casks in California. All these creations, whether formed out of found or traditional building materials, invite Chester to pose many questions. What spiritual path leads someone to create a private place of worship? Does such a space conflict with or supplement worship in a more public sense? How might a priest, rabbi, or minister react to a place of worship that is so individual? Does a private space nurture a marriage at a deeper level? Why do artists so often feel moved to explore their spirituality? Holy Personal, says Chester, "furthers the idea of honoring our differences, while being mindful of our oneness.... It] bears witness to a yearning for religious privacy, a deep desire to create for oneself a holy chamber, a place where creative expression joins hands with devotion." Laura Chester has been writing, editing, and publishing poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for over 25 years. Her most recent books include a new edition of Lupus Novice, an account of her personal struggle and breakthrough with the autoimmune disease S.L.E.; a short story collection, Bitches Ride Alone; and a novel, The Story of the Lake. She has edited several important anthologies: Deep Down, Cradle & All, and The Unmade Bed. Donna DeMari was the first and only woman photographer to shoot for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, in both 1994 and 1995. For 14 years she lived between Paris, Milan, and London, working as a fashion photographer. Her most recent exhibition of photographs, "Horse Show," was at the SAS Gallery. She is currently working on a book of horse photographs, Flying Mane.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253338042
• ISBN13: 9780253338044
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Good but not what I was expecting

I bought this book because I thought that this book would surprize me with pictures that facinate me and filled with eye candy and interesting ideas or people. What I found was something less "fantastic" but more personal. The book is written from an aspect from a personal perspective of the authors travels. Written from the authors first person impressions and interviews. When I first got the book I flipped through it and didn't find it exciting, I might have forgotten about the book because of the less then fancy impression but I started reading a few chapters here and there and the Author writes about each picture... what was happening when she took the picture, and what it means to the person who created the place of worship. The book turns out to be very well written, amazing "feel good" impression of looking into a personal view of peoples spirituality.

Holy Reviews

PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY says that Holy Personal "is a fascinating, in-depth study of how spirituality can express itself in that most intimate of worlds, the home." John Manikowski for the Berkshire Eagle writes:"beautifully written, lavishly illustrated." In describing Little Rose Chapel he goes on to say-- "Every detail has been carefully planned, created and designed from within a deeply spirited heart, through immense love and with a devotional direction that almost seems fantasy like, but it is real." BOOKLIST says, "Holy Personal honors the presence of the Divine in the midst of life." And Clarissa Pinkola Estes for THE BLOOMSBURY REVIEW writes: "In Holy Personal, two dozen devout souls speak about their handmade sanctuaries, many of which shelter images of Mary and various santos. It is clear water from the artesian well. These site builders symbolize in real time the holiness they feel in their hearts. From a Moonlodge in New Mexico to stupas, from a Sandstone Cathedral to a Garage Chapel, we follow the artistic devotions of those not bound by the doctrinaire, but are instead freshly cut by the thorns of the Mystical Rose, those who can live in the atomic moment of merger with the Divine, who are overflowing with gratitude--this last being one of the holy proofs that Spirit has in fact visited the longing soul. The photographs by Donna DeMari, are worthy of long meditations."

holy personal rings my bell

This is a carefully researched and beautifully written book with excellent photography. I recommend it for anyone who has an interest in religion and/or spirituality. Is is truly inspiring.