Also, why does a tree's affect differ from say an aluminum flagpole, a stone differ from a piece of cement, grass differ from a polyester carpet?
Actually, I'm not sure that there's any real difference, depending on your focus. Some Pagans have posted here that various natural settings are very influential to their spirituality... Full moons, new moons, seashores, sunsets, deserts, stars, ocean, forest, snow, etc... As I hold a shamanic view towards spirit, I think that our root beliefs are what create our reality... I don't necessarily think that it is so much an intrinsic energy property of grass versus carpet that makes us react to it differently; I think that it is our own experiences with such settings that give them more or less power over us... Speaking for myself, I can say that since I grew up in an area that never gets snow, but had the good fortune to go on camping & skiing trips in Colorado as a youth, I find snow to be magical, spiritual, serene, calming. I think that anyone's focus on a certain setting being conducive to spiritual connection, whether church, nature, or whatever, has to do intrinsically with the individual's own experience. I would theorize that someone who'd grown up in a house with wood floors, and then moved into a house with wall-to-wall carpet, while never having any major experience with the outdoors, might actually be more prone to find their spiritual connection in a carpeted place, or whichever of the 2 they remembered as being the happiest childhood experience...