As one of the fundamental building blocks of fiction, setting anchors a story in time and place. The Celestine Prophecy is set in the geographical space of Peru on the cusp of the third millennium, which the Manuscript claims will usher in a new age of human evolution. The country of Peru provides a geographically diverse backdrop for the adventure story as the plot ranges from cities to villages, over mountains, and through jungles. The diversity of the setting frames the spiritual quest as a journey that involves challenges in navigating complicated terrain filled with potential obstacles.

The setting also complements the message of the Manuscript by emphasizing that its universal insights are equally relevant and accessible and not limited to certain people in special places. The insights can be grasped and lived whether one is seeking refuge in a Catholic mission or being held within the stark deprivations of a Peruvian prison. The experience one has on a mountaintop or in a highly charged “spiritual place” such as Viciente can be reproduced elsewhere in more ordinary surroundings.