Labyrinth Walk for Peace.
Saturday, January 25th • 1 to 3 pm
Queen Street Health Collective • 716 Queen Street • Side back door on 8th Ave
Donations are gratefully accepted for Doctors without Borders
This article is also printed in full in the WHOLife Journal
Can you imagine stepping into the past but being fully in the present? Moving through space, with intention and focus, one breath and one footstep at a time? Or, just allowing your body to start at a beginning, following along into the centre and back, without much thought at all? To me, that’s what it feels like when walking in a labyrinth, connecting into an ancient ritual yet within a contemporary space. It is a walking, waking meditation, a prayer, a modern-day pilgrimage. It can be done silently or with music.
Labyrinths are ancient, archetypal symbols that have been found throughout the world in diverse shapes and sizes, dating from earliest times, although the exact origin is unknown. It is an unicursal path that leads to a center, both physically and metaphorically. One aspect that intrigues me about the labyrinths is the spiral, such an ancient symbol of life, death and rebirth. It reminds us all of growth, expansion, change and inter-connection. It is also a circle which creates a space for containment, to allow for inner exploration, self-discovery and enlightenment. Dawn Guenther, who made a labyrinth, is drawn to these words from the internet, “As an ancient symbol of wholeness, the Labyrinth combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral, into a meandering but purposeful path. It represents a journey to our center and back again out into the world.”
According to The Labyrinth Society, they are thought to enhance right brain activity, including problem solving and conflict resolution. Speaking to this, I am organizing a Labyrinth Walk for Peace as I feel we are all called to personally take actions at this time, given the societal and global conflicts happening worldwide. I invite you to come walk with me, in the Spirit of Peace. Donations are gratefully accepted for Doctors without Borders. They provide emergency medical humanitarian care to people affected by conflict, based on need, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or political affiliation. They also speak out about the suffering they witness while carrying out their work.
The American Cancer Society states that labyrinths "may be helpful as a complementary method to decrease stress and create a state of relaxation." and Research studies concur, creating the so-called ‘labyrinth effect,’ according to John W. Rhodes, Ph.D. Chair of The Labyrinth Society Research Committee. Since the labyrinth is based on patterns found in nature, our bodies resonate with these geometrical mandalas. When the mind relaxes, the body relaxes. When the body and mind relax, there is room to become aware of our individual and collective spirituality, completing the connection of mind, body, and spirit (www.creativelabyrinths.com).
They have become increasingly popular in schools, prisons, parks, hospitals, spas, churches, and retreat centers. There is even a Worldwide Labyrinth Locator, that lists over 3400 of them. In Saskatchewan, I have walked some outdoor ones: a grass meadow one at Ancient Spirals and one at the Devic Centre, made by Michael Stodola, which is a 7 circuit 85 foot stone one, always open for free. You can also do hand labyrinths, either printed ones or from artwork such as this one shown here by Kathryn Green.
There are basically 2 main types of labyrinths from the past: the classical and the chartres. Then, in 1997, Lea GoodeHarris created a new one. According to her website, it is a seven circuit labyrinth (eight circles make seven paths), each path matches the seven-energy centers of the body. The small open space between the entrance and the goal falls on the fourth-circuit and correlates with the heart-energy-center or fourth-chakra. It has come to be called the heart-space because of this and can be found in other contemporary labyrinth designs. This heart-space is approached from all four directions when you walk in and out of the Santa Rosa Labyrinth.
I have been blessed to work at Queen Street Health Collective where there is a beautiful labyrinth in the basement. It was created by Deborah Black, who was the previous owner of this heritage building. She decided to make a design adaptation from the original Santa Rosa design. She wrote me recently saying that after marking out the design, she actually carved the labyrinth pattern into the concrete using a special concrete saw to permanently embed it into the floor. The concrete floor was then acid stained, which brings out the natural beauty of the concrete, then the lines were grouted and finally the floor was protected with a clear coat to further enhance the texture and colour, helping it to look like ancient polished stone.
I am also involved with the Saskatoon Unitarians, and almost every year, we organize a labyrinth walk in our sanctuary with a cloth made by Dawn Guenther. She recently shared her story with me:
“The Labyrinth I created in 2006 is a copy of the traditional Chartres Labyrinth. I had walked several different labyrinths at that point and was always very moved by the experience. I was in a place of unrest and grief following the death of my mom and the end of my marriage. I felt a yearning to create one as part of a journey of healing but did not have space for an outdoor labyrinth. Sewing was a fulfilling pastime that I had learned from my mom; she and I had spent countless hours doing this together over the years, particularly creating children’s clothing during the years that my siblings and I were raising young children. Somehow, the idea came to me that walking this journey through grief and loss was best served in this process of hours spent creating and drafting the pattern, measuring and cutting the fabric, doing the sewing and then walking on the finished labyrinth. It was a long process that allowed for introspection, shedding of tears, meditation and prayer. For me, it was the journey ‘into the center and back out into the world’ that grieving required of me.”
It is a heartfelt testament to the inner contentment and joy, growth and inspiration that can come from taking the time to walk carefully and with a quiet purpose, to just be in the moment, alone or with others. Please come join us in community.
