Culture

Earth's Sacred Wonders

Many of the world’s best-known landmarks have been inspired by faith and today more worshippers than ever are flocking to these sacred places. For some people they’re sanctuaries for quiet contemplation. For others, they’re sites for astonishing acts of worship, dangerous challenges and extraordinary deeds of devotion, rarely seen by outsiders.

Visions of the Divine

54m 39s

Follow a young Yazidi woman as she searches for salvation in Iraq. Meet an orthodox Christian who must deliver a holy flame into the hands of his bishop in Jerusalem. In Nepal, a Buddhist painter battles the elements to honor Buddha’s birthday.

Episodes

  • Visions of the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Visions of the Divine

    S1 E3 - 54m 39s

    Follow a young Yazidi woman as she searches for salvation in Iraq. Meet an orthodox Christian who must deliver a holy flame into the hands of his bishop in Jerusalem. In Nepal, a Buddhist painter battles the elements to honor Buddha’s birthday.

  • Closer to the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Closer to the Divine

    S1 E2 - 54m 29s

    Travel to Japan, where a Shinto devotee undertakes a grueling challenge at a sacred waterfall. A young Muslim helps re-plaster a mosque in Mali. At a New York City cathedral, an Episcopal priest brings people and their pets closer to God.

  • House of the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    House of the Divine

    S1 E1 - 54m 34s

    Meet a Muslim paramedic who helps fasting worshippers during Ramadan in Jerusalem. A Cambodian man risks his live to save his ancestral spirits from the jungle. A Buddhist warrior monk in China faces a test that will change his life forever.

Extras + Features

  • Balinese Hindus Hunt Demonic Spirits: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Balinese Hindus Hunt Demonic Spirits

    S1 E3 - 2m 59s

    On the island of Bali in Indonesia, Hindu devotees believe that demonic spirits stalk the land, and that every year they must be hunted down. The hunters use spirit traps to catch them, and then destroy the spirits with fire. The final step is the Day of Silence when everyone on the island is required by law to stay indoors and keep quiet.

  • Episode 3 Preview | Visions of the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 3 Preview | Visions of the Divine

    S1 E3 - 30s

    Follow a young Yazidi woman as she searches for salvation in Iraq. Meet an orthodox Christian who must deliver a holy flame into the hands of his bishop in Jerusalem. In Nepal, a Buddhist painter battles the elements to honor Buddha’s birthday.

  • The Mescalero Apache Coming of Age Ceremony: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Mescalero Apache Coming of Age Ceremony

    S1 E3 - 3m 1s

    In a sacred tepee built for the occasion, Mescalero Apache girls undergo a grueling Coming of Age ceremony during which they must dance all night. It is believed this allows them to take on the power of White Painted Woman and so become women themselves.

  • The Great Mosque is Replastered: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Great Mosque is Replastered

    S1 E2 - 2m 58s

    It's the day of the replastering of the Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali. The rivalry to replaster the central minaret is so fierce, the day begins with a race between the masons to reach the top first. As dawn breaks, the masons get to work. But now they have the rest of the mosque to replaster and they must complete the job before the mud dries out.

  • The Procession of Animals at St. John the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Procession of Animals at St. John the Divine

    S1 E2 - 2m 51s

    It's the morning of the Feast of St. Francis, patron saint of animals. At the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, animals and their handlers are arriving for the grand procession down the cathedral's aisle to be blessed by the Bishop of New York.

  • Episode 2 Preview | Closer to the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 2 Preview | Closer to the Divine

    S1 E2 - 30s

    Travel to Japan, where a Shinto devotee undertakes a grueling challenge at a sacred waterfall. A young Muslim helps re-plaster a mosque in Mali. At a New York City cathedral, an Episcopal priest brings people and their pets closer to God.

  • Climbing the Towers of Angkor Wat: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Climbing the Towers of Angkor Wat

    S1 E1 - 3m 1s

    The temples of Angkor in Cambodia are constantly threatened by jungle plants taking root. Today the gardeners must climb the high towers of Angkor Wat to remove saplings they have spotted growing on the ancient stonework.

  • The Night of Power at Al Aqsa: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Night of Power at Al Aqsa

    S1 E1 - 2m 55s

    Hundreds of thousands of worshippers flock to Al Aqsa in Jerusalem to pray on the Night of Power near the end of Ramadan. It's the holiest date in the Muslim calendar and the busiest night of the year at Al Aqsa. The volunteer paramedics of the Red Crescent treat a steady stream of casualties, many of them with injuries caused by overcrowding.

  • Episode 1 Preview | House of the Divine: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Episode 1 Preview | House of the Divine

    S1 E1 - 30s

    Meet a Muslim paramedic who helps fasting worshippers during Ramadan in Jerusalem. A Cambodian man risks his live to save his ancestral spirits from the jungle. A Buddhist warrior monk in China faces a test that will change his life forever.

  • Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Preview

    S1 - 30s

    Many of the world’s best-known landmarks have been inspired by faith and today more worshippers than ever are flocking to these sacred places. For some people they’re sanctuaries for quiet contemplation. For others, they’re sites for astonishing acts of worship, dangerous challenges and extraordinary deeds of devotion. Discover what people do for faith in some of the most sacred places on Earth.

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