Religious Iconography
Mapping the Human Experience
For most of our education when we learn about maps, we learn about them in a matter of important facts. These facts, while they are great, lack something. They lack individuality within the communities on it. It is possible that “every map has its own tale to tell” but usually they cannot, they do not tell us that the big green house has a Buddhist statue outside of it while the cream house has a “God Loves You” sign hanging over their front door (Wood, 2010). However, what if there was a map that did? What if there was a map that expressed “the experience of place” rather than just where the place is we can use maps as a different form of “expressive art” (Wood, 2010).
Mapping the Community
When choosing this topic, I assumed that I would much more points than seen above. With there being so many different places of worship within the city of Redlands I was sure I was going to find many homes with faith-based décor outside. In fact, I did not expect almost all of my points to be based on the Christian faith. With the many religious identities I have interacted with, within the Redlands community I expected to see more than one non-Christian decoration. Therefore, my experience in the field was much different than what I thought I would experience.
Categories
I chose four different categories for mapping when looking for different religious iconography. These categories were chosen after doing a brief drive around the neighborhood to see the common theme with religious decor. I also was interested in looking for bumper stickers because some people may use their car as a way to express their religious beliefs.
- Door Decor
Many people in the neighborhood focused most of their religious iconography on their front door. I also learned once I went back for pictures that some people were not finished decorating. Many homes that only had door decor suddenly had porch decor.
2. Yard Decor
Many of the different yard decor varied from a small sign to a little angel. The signs were not outright religious but words like "blessed" has become a part of the religious community. Therefore, it was easy to infer that the sign had something to do with religion.
Sample Religious Yard Decor
3. Bumper Stickers
I chose bumper stickers because from my experience many people express many aspects of their life through bumper stickers. Whether it be their marital status, political beliefs, family size or in this case religious beliefs.
Sample Religious Bumper Stickers
4. Window Decor
I chose window decor because I know many people living in apartments use their windows as a way to decorate for the holidays. Since, Easter was approaching I was interested in seeing if people living in homes also partake in that activity.
Sample Window Decor
Experiencing the Community
Interreligious Bumper Sticker
While walking around the neighborhood, I did not experience much non-Christian iconography. This caused the bumper sticker to stick out to me. Not only does this pumper sticker tell me more about the driver and about someone who lives in the house it is parked in front of . That is exactly what makes it "a good bumper sticker...it tells you...about the politics of the driver" (Dempsey, 1993). We can infer that religion is important to this person but not only the religion they practice but also the religions they do not.
White Cross Hanging Over a Window Frame
When mapping I noticed a few houses with crosses hanging on their door or over a window. I wondered if perhaps they had anything in common. From my research I found that they could be from the same denomination, Catholicism. it is “very traditional for Catholic to have crosses in their homes” and using that insight I could infer that these people with crosses outside of their home are a part of that faith (Baca, 2002). Many people consider Catholicism separate from Christianity, I wonder if we can use things like outside decor to tell the difference.
Yard Decor: The picture on the left is a small sign. The picture on the right is a statue of an angel.
From my research I found that there was an increase of religious décor in gardens. Many landscapers “say they’re seeing more interest from homeowners in religious objects for their gardens...the design impulse...reflects more inward, spiritual times” (Fletcher, 2004). The reason for this could be due to the events that happened September 11, 2001. After the attacks on September 11th there was a “quest for interdenominational understanding” which caused religious decor to be sought after even more (Baca, 2002).