Daniel Bogert - Hermeneutical Circle

In his book, Lane talks about Paul Ricoeur's idea of the hermeneutical circle. He speaks of a "deliberate pattern of mystery, demystification, and the subsequent reawakening of wonder" in experiencing sacred space. Key to this idea is his belief that "the dissolution of myth as explanation is the necessary way to the restoration of myth as symbol." Perhaps I do not fully understand what he is saying here, but the way I interpret it is that sacred place only acts as a symbol but has no "real" spiritual power. It may have spiritual power in the sense that it makes us feel better or provides us with a sense of meaning; however these are merely subjective experiences that are not connected to any real objective power. The problem I have here is that if place is not connected to any real spiritual power, then why is it even worth studying? When Lane talks about sacred place as an "axis mundi" or a gateway between worlds, does he really believe this is true? Can one actually enter different spiritual realms completely different than life on earth? From what I get from the reading, we are only "symbolically" entering these realms. In other words it may feel like we are entering a heavenly realm, but in reality it is only our minds tricking us into thinking we are experiencing something meaningful. We have not actually entered into an objective world that exists outside the normal realm. But again, if there is no objective spiritual force or energy, than how can this concept even be studied? If it is a "symbol" and is only subjective, then the experience will be different for everybody. I may have just interpreted Lane incorrectly, but I'm very confused as to whether he actually believes there is a true spiritual force outside the material world or if he believes this force is simply a "symbolic" projection of meaning onto a world that is in fact meaningless.