international symposia (2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2017) have been organized on hierotopic subjects. Spatial icons The concept of the spatial icon plays a central role in hierotopy and is used to describe the perception of sacred spaces. Spatial icons are understood to play a mediating role between the mundane and the sacred. They are mediatory images that are evoked, for example, in the space of a temple or sanctuary. Hierotopic creativity is a sort of art, which can be described as the creation of spatial icons. This concept applies to the way in which the perception of architecture, light, image, ritual practice, as well as various other components forming sacred spaces, is unified into a single vision. It is also used in the study both of "sacred landscapes", such as the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow, as well as of various ritual practices creating iconic medium, such as the Donkey walk in medieval Moscow. Spatial icons are essentially dynamic and performative in nature, such that the formal boundary between ‘image’ and ‘beholder’ no longer pertains. Typically, the beholders of spatial icons are actively involved in some way and become, to a certain extent, co-creators of the icons. Transfer of sacred spaces The transfer of sacred spaces is an important form of hierotopic creativity. While an original sacred space often appears as the result of a theophany, such as a divine visitation or omen, this primary sacred space is then consciously reproduced in sanctuaries or temples as a spatial icon. For example, the construction of the First Temple, as recounted in the Old Testament, can be viewed as the reproduction of the sacred space of the Tabernacle. Similarly, in the design and construction of many Christian churches, the First Temple itself has been taken as a hierotopic prototype. Multiple "New Jerusalems" (reproductions of the Holy City of Jerusalem), aimed to establish a link to the space of the Holy Land, are common both to the Eastern and Western branches of the Christian tradition. Image-paradigms The perception of sacred spaces has been analyzed by Lidov in terms of image-paradigms. According to his conception, an image-paradigm is a guiding image-vision that is created with the help of various media and that is aimed at evoking the same image in the mind of beholders of a sacred space. An image-paradigm, which is essentially different from an illustrative picture or representation, is a means