Whether the thing that is sacred to us knows or in some objective sense possesses the sacredness that we attribute to it isn’t clear. It is more like a spirit that inhabits it, that perhaps we do or don’t recognize. Often you can get someone to see or understand or feel the sacredness of something. It isn’t that hard. You just have to immerse them in the story, in the structure of meaning. And then usually they will understand. At least a little. Whether certain things are more appropriate vessels for a spirit or better avatars of sacredness seems to be a possibility. I think there is a real sense in which we can discuss how well something represents a certain spirit and how worthy of its sacred status it is.

The truth is, we live primarily in a world of meaning, not objects. We see meaning first, consider meaning first, interpret meaning first. Only later do we reflect upon the object itself in any detail, if at all. And the world of meaning is the world of sacredness. So to our eyes the world is full of spirits. And the most mundane objects are symbolic of and indicative of them. For modern humans no less than ancient.