Labyrinth

(lab-ah-rinth) (lab-ah-rahnth)

What is a Labyrinth?

A labyrinth is an ancient sacred geometric symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the spiraling design into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have been used for centuries in many Cathedrals throughout the world for meditation, prayer and as a healing tool.

Labyrinths are truly sacred places. The design itself is inherently powerful. The space and the experience of walking it are also very sacred and powerful and help us feel a greater sense of Oneness. It is a tool for people of all beliefs to come together for a common spiritual experience.

People come for many reasons, but most find that walking a labyrinth to be a transforming experience. Walking through the turns and counter-turns, the world begins to drop away and the spiritual and physical merge into a walking meditation. The walking pace allows us to empty our minds as we journey toward a spiritual center. The walk can soothe the nerves, calm the soul, and mend the heart.

We are all on a journey, but many of us don't know where we are going or where we have been. The labyrinth draws on a spiritual practice that is thousands of years old and spans the world's religions. Walking the path takes us intentionally along a path that cuts back and forth through a series of curves until it arrives at a center. Over 1000 labyrinths are being used in the US. Hospitals, schools and businesses are building them as respite and recreation for patients, students, congregations, employees and clients. The labyrinth is designed to be responsive to individual needs. Wherever people are in their spiritual journey, it encourages them to open up for knowledge and change. It allows for a personal spiritual encounter.

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused with one another. When most people hear of a labyrinth they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze. A maze is like a puzzle to be solved with twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left-brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and back out again. A labyrinth is thought to enhance right brain activities or tasks that involve intuition, creativity, and imagery.

How do you walk a Labyrinth?

A labyrinth starts you on a single circuitous path leading to the center. When you walk it you meander back and forth, turning 180 degrees each time you enter a different circuit. Unlike a maze, there are no dead ends or false paths. You simply follow the winding geometric path to the center, walking at your own pace. Many people walk the labyrinth slowly, as an aid to contemplative prayer and reflection, as a spiritual exercise, or as a form of pilgrimage.

Each person's walk is a personal experience. How one walks and what one receives differs with each walk. Some people use the walk for clearing the mind and centering. Others enter with a question or concern. The time in the center can be used for receiving, reflecting, meditating, or praying, as well as discovering our own sacred inner space. What each person receives can be integrated on the walk out. Your walk can be a healing and sometimes very profound experience or it can be just a pleasant walk. Each time is different.

A labyrinth walk has 3 distinct parts. The first is the Inward Journey, the letting go of the barriers and busyness that stand between our spiritual oneness, the Creator or God and us. After letting go, we should be more able to spend time quietly in the center of the labyrinth in silence, meditation or prayer. The Center of the labyrinth symbolizes our spiritual oneness or Creator, the central point around which our lives and journeys revolve. The time spent in the center is time spent being open to God's leading. The Outward Journey symbolizes incarnation. We journey out of the labyrinth carrying something of our encounter with the Creator and out into the world with us

At its most basic level the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are. Labyrinths have also been known to help balance the chakras.