The complex relationship between the traditional sacred and people’s perceptions and practices of the sacred in society are sometimes difficult to grasp. One must consider the intricacies of what makes places sacred, as well as societal views of the relevance of those sites to modern life.

When discussing the “sacred”, it is natural to think in terms relative to religion, but these concepts can also be applied to cultural trends, essentially creating a “civic sacred”. It is important to look for certain components that must be present in order to relate the site to other sacred places.

Whether the site is affiliated with religion or not, there are commonalities that exist. These civic sacred sites are often developed by a non-affiliated sort of “cult” following, with a collective consciousness that is performed on an individual basis, creating a pseudo-religion with its own “sacred” traditions and dogma.

One excellent example of this is the intriguing dynamic of the site of Graceland. Located in Memphis, Tennessee, Graceland is the commemoration of Elvis Presley’s life and death, a privately-funded, publically-supported tribute to the “King’s” career and influence. Though this may not be the first place one thinks of when pondering “what is sacred?” a review of the elements of other sacred sites provides many similarities, and Graceland is shown to have all the proper ingredients to qualify it as a sacred site.

This analysis can help dissect the nature of the sacred, by forcing one to pare away the layers of religion and tradition, and allowing for a more succinct definition of how a place becomes sacred and what elements it must contain.

This conglomeration of history, culture, and tradition, when combined with the physical commemorations form a comprehensive representation of all the components of the “sacred” that qualify Graceland as a sacred site. If there was a checklist for “sacred” components, Graceland could easily fit: altars, pilgrimages, shrines, use of nature, ossuaries, artifact preservation, a prophet, music, royal connotationsthe list of similarities to religion is strong.

This comparison is not a new concept in popular culture; Paul Simon wrote a song called Graceland in 1986 citing the trip as a spiritual journey to a holy place, “Maybe I’ve a reason to believe, We all will be received, In Graceland”; a 1998 film, Finding Graceland, with Harvey Keitel and Bridget Fonda, deals with the theme of a resurrected Elvis with spiritual messages.