The ancient Romans were a superstitious lot, assigning a different god to take the blame for every aspect of their miserable lives. Genius loci, for example, was the protective spirit of a(ny) place, which in modern usage generally denotes its defining character and atmosphere.
ㅤ
We can think of ourselves as awaking the “spirit manifest” that is reflected within us whenever we have experienced something or some place truly remarkable, perhaps inexplicable. The automatic reaction amplifies the experience-- a rush of giddiness, the prickly chill of some deeper connection that we can only sense but not name.
ㅤ
Is it a good spirit or bad? beneficent or malevolent? Because of the multiverse, plausibility lies not in a structure’s very existence, but in the likelihood that it is common—one of a billion examples-- and not a singularity, an aberration, or a cancer. There is no test to be given or proof to be had, only the collective experience of its users.