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Today I was looking for labyrinth images and ended up going into full research mode on their use as profound tools for healing, meditation, and spiritual growth. They are easy and cheap to build and at least one will be a part of our community. I'm posting the summary of my finding and several images here.
Definition: The labyrinth is a maze-like walking path, a sacred space, to think, gather your thoughts, ask for courage, etc. It is a place to look inward but to also survey progress and movement. It is a symbolic ritual that involves walking, which is an interesting twist. Due to this walking as part of the ritual, Dr. Artress calls this a "body prayer." The labyrinth is not a maze, as mazes usually have more than one path, and the labyrinth is one path, winding around. You cannot get "lost" in the labyrinth. It has one path, that leads to the center, and back out. The general idea is to quiet your mind, and use the walking inwards toward the middle to think about releasing and letting go of things that are in the way of your health, progress, success, etc. Then when you reach the center, you meditate and pray and stay as long as you want, absorbing energy and gathering strength and peace. Some labyrinths have benches in the center. Then you take the path out, becoming empowered to make changes, yet this is also the path you took in, which is symbolic. You start to have a sense of growth as you come to the labyrinth with different issues, different things you walk in and out with, over time.
From: http://healing.about.com/cs/spirituality/a/uc_labyrinth.htm
The labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint found in all religious traditions. It has only one path, so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives, it touches our sorrows and releases our joys, so we walk it with an open heart and open mind.
The Chartres Cathedral in France has a labyrinth inside the cathedral and many labyrinths in the United States are patterned after this one. Apparently it started out being a pagan ritual, and the churches decided to include it in their gardens to get the pagans to come to church. Unfortunately, what they discovered was the pagans came to the gardens and walked the labyrinth and didn't come into the churches. The next best thing to do was to actually make the labyrinth pattern on the floor inside the church, so in about the 1200's Chartres Cathedral did exactly that!
Three Stages to Walking the Labyrinth
There are 3 stages to our walk into the labyrinth. The first stage is Purgation, a releasing and letting go of the details of your life. The second stage is Illumination, when you reach the center, this is a place of meditation and prayer to receive whatever there is for you to receive. The last stage is Union, which is joining God, your Higher Power or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for.
A few experiences/testimonials I found...
Guidance...
As we lined up to go into the meditative walk, I knew I was supposed to be one of the first to go in. It just so happened that the lady in front of me pushed me forward and I went in first. I was trying to meditate but you also have to focus on the pattern and follow it, so I was breathing and focusing and doing really well. Then I came to the center and I literally got stuck there. My palms came out and I felt like I was holding light beams in my hands and I kept hearing the phrase "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first!" So I stayed in the center as the other 45 people came in and went out. Then I began to realize that some people were turning around and coming back for a 2nd and 3rd trip! Uh-oh, I told my guides, I didn't plan on staying in the middle forever and they'd better get done whatever needed to be done ASAP! About 15 minutes went by before I began to feel the light beams in my palms shut off, and about 2 more minutes went by before my feet got unstuck. I was then instructed to go to my room immediately and sleep for awhile after this. "No kidding" I said. I felt so blasted, yet so at peace. It was truly a wonderful experience.
The Joy of Laughter
It was many years ago. I was spending a week at my favorite retreat, The Golden Door. As I hesitatingly stepped onto the labrynth feeling a bit self conscious I was suddenly thrust forward into a gleeful dance and joyous laughter. The feeling stayed with me for the rest of my visit. I feel the need to do it again, soon.
—SYLVIARESNICK
Gentle Kiss
My husband and I came across a spiritual garden center in the outback of Maui. They had a shaded labyrinth which we start to walk. My husband made it to the center well before I did. He's usually not one for waiting. But he did wait and when I met him in the center he gently kissed me. Maybe that's what we both have been waiting for. We've been married 42 years.
—Guest Karen
Walking a Labyrinth
There is a labyrinth about 10 miles from my home, in a park, and I love to walk it. Depending on my frame of mind, sometimes I walk it when I am feeling content with my life and come out feeling more connected with the world, in total peace and harmony. Other times, especially if I am feeling very unconnected with the world, concentrating on only the journey, not the destination can sooth me. I wish I had one in my backyard so I could walk it whenever I needed to either reconnect with the world or gain some inner peace.
—Guest Elaine
Walking the Labyrinth
I have a local labyrinth close to me in an old carousel building that I walk often, especially if I need help during my books (and I've included a labyrinth as a walking meditations in my work). Usually any anxieties I have are calmed and I am grounded and centered by walking the labyrinth. I am very aware of the four directions when I walk and in the center of the labyrinth. When I return down the path, it's faster and when I am done, I'm ready to work again!
—Guest Robin D. Owens
Walking Up-Hill
I walked a labyrinth a couple of years ago. It was only a temporary design in a church hall on a weekday afternoon but I experienced such a feeling of walking up-hill towards "something." Then the return journey felt really like a descent back into the real world. Amazing sensation.
—Guest maureen
Life and interactions
I walked a traveling labyrinth that visited our medical center. What struck me most was my interaction with the other people walking the labyrinth and how that mirrored real life. We never know where other people are on their journey when we first meet them, or whether we will meet them again. The Chartes labyrinth brings you closer and further from others walking it, but it is very hard to tell where they have come from and where they are going. Also, having to follow somebody slower or feel pushed by somebody faster. We all have our own pace. It made me contemplate tolerance and acceptance.
—Guest Wendy B
Sticky Like Glue
I tend to live in my head a lot, I mean A LOT. I over analyze everything. I've also been told by a couple of healers that I tend to live outside of my body. When I stepped inside the labyrinth I became very aware of my body. My feet felt like they were glued to the path. I believe now that they were magnetized to the path as a constant reminder that I had feet. This helped get me out of my head. I was forced to consciously will my body to pick up my foot at every step. I was initially uncomfortable and I wanted to hurry and get the walk over with. The lesson I got out of it was the importance of not ignoring my body. Meditating on this experience helps bring me back to a more balanced spiritual/physical awareness.
—Guest Nate
My Own Experience...
As of this posting, I've only had one labyrinth experience but it was profound to say the least. Setting one's desire to enter a labyrinth and walk it with spiritual intent can be a VERY powerful experience. Each person will experience the labyrinth in a very different way as you can read from the various testimonials I've posted... my experience was equally unique and profound and one much better shared in person. Here is a picture of the first labyrinth I experienced, located just outside of Zion National Forest.
Our labyrinth will be a reflexology labyrinth with soft stones for the more adventurous interested in barefoot walking and stimulation of all the reflexology points on the feet...
