Cold Fever- Erika Sikon

Ritual and Sacred Space

Belden C. Land tells about the four axioms of a sacred place in his book, Landscapes of the Sacred: Geography and Narrative in American Spirituality. He says: a sacred place is not chosen, it chooses. Sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary. Sacred place can be tread upon without being entered and the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifual, local and universal. Each of these four axioms can be found within the movie Cold Fever. The journey itself is a typical one when it comes to the people Hirata meets and the obstacles he must overcome before ending his journey. However, this experience transforms Hirata spiritually. In the end he knows why he was supposed to perform this ritual.
Hirata travels to Iceland to perform a ritual for his parents. When he first starts his journey he wants to just go to Iceland, do the ceremony for his parents, and get home back to work. He does not realize how this journey is going to change him. To him it is just a vacation to do something for him parents.
Sacred place is not chosen, it chooses. The river became a sacred place to Hirata because that is where his parents died. Iceland is a sacred place because of all of the fairy stones. Iceland holds powers that no other place has. Hirata’s car breaks down in a random place in the middle of nowhere. He is saved by a fairy. That place is a sacred place. The powers choose for the car to break down at exactly that spot. The graveyards Hirata and Laura visit for the funerals are all known sacred places. People who live in Iceland love Iceland. It is a scared place for them. Sacred place is ordinary, ritually made extraordinary. Hirata wanted to go to that part of Iceland by that river to pay respects to his parents. For many that place is a regular place. The old guy even mentioned it to Hirata right before he crossed the dangerous bridge. He told Hirata that people cross this bridge all the time in the summer. It was nothing. However, that bridge and that journey he made alone was something extraordinary. He was learning the sacredness of Iceland and on his journey to his parents “grave.” He found another part of himself on his journey.
Sacred place can be tread upon without being entered. This is the most prominent axiom in the movie. Hirata hates Iceland when he first arrives. He does not understand all of the “magic” that Iceland holds. He drives many days without ever looking at all the pretty snow and mountains he is driving through. He does not even take the time to read signs. It is not until we meet the crazy couple that we begin to realize the beauty and sacredness of the landscape. The guy talks about Iceland and the fairy stones and points out aspects of Iceland Hirata would not have seen on his own. To him Iceland is just a cold and confusing place. He was not prepared for anything he experienced while he was in Iceland. He did not bring the right kind of clothes. He did not bring any food. All he had was money, cigarettes, and the things he needed to perform the ritual for his parents. He did not have an idea of where he was headed. Many people asked Hirata, “How do you like Iceland?” His reply would always be pessimistic like, very cold or very strange country. He did not yet understand it.

“The impulse of sacred place is centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal. Hirata was taken out of his comfort zone during this journey. He grew in his spirituality because of it. He was in a foreign place and relied a lot on other who was local to the area. You saw a small progression through the movie of Hirata to his surrounds and spirituality. It was not until he was tempted and boozed up that he began to see it all. It was perhaps a way of clearing his mind and making him more open. Also the man bathed him and fed him. It was a way of cleansing and nourishing him before he finished his journey. He clothes Hirata and helped him find his way even though he completed the journey by himself. He made it to the river and performed the ritual for his parents. He will forever have that sacred place no matter where he is.