Journey into the Labyrinth

There are many benefits to journeying into the labyrinth, whether you see it as a walking prayer, meditation, or intuitive hearing aid.  If nothing else, it’ll help you get centred and relaxed – a huge bonus in stressful times.

It took 6 years for me to find out that there was an indoor walking labyrinth here in St. John’s – just 20 minutes walk from home, in the chapel of the Waterford Hospital (open to the public Wednesdays from 12PM – 1PM).  It’s a permanent 30-foot, Chartres style floor labyrinth, but they also have a few finger ones that I enjoy .  What a blessing!

Is there one in your town? If not, you could make your own or download a finger labyrinth from The Labyrinth Society and decorate it, much as you would a mandala.

My love of labyrinths is parallel to my love of spirals. I’m sure you’ve noticed those in both my art and my logo!

It’s all about journeying inward to the centre in order to better venture outward – by going deep into the core of your Truth to find peace, strength, courage, etc.

Walking the labyrinth is a process of holistic growth that naturally flows from releasing what no longer serves us in order to connect to Spirit and the cosmic energies.

Labyrinths are also a great space to practice intuitive walkabouts, as described in a previous post.

Ask a question before you enter the labyrinth and then pay attention to the messages you receive through all your senses as you slowly wind your way to the centre and then back out again.

Finger labyrinth at the Waterford Hospital chapel

During the Merry & Bright Light Festival at the MUN Botanical Garden in St. John’s, NL

Outside the Royle Roost holiday rental in Witless Bay, NL

When I was looking through my computer files to find pictures for you, I found a letter I’d written in 2006 on the first day of my internship with internationally renown photographer and author Courtney Milne (1943-2010) and his wife / co-author Sherrill Miller in Saskatchewan. Working with them on their spiritual and artistic projects for the following 2 years was one of many blessings in my life.

I didn’t find any pictures, but these words paint the picture.

“Right before dinner, Courtney led me through a large labyrinth he built in the backyard. As we followed the path in silence for what seemed like half an hour, I became acutely aware of how it was speaking to me. Its tales and lessons are what I’d like to share with you now.

The path of the labyrinth is not unlike life’s roundabout journey. Freshly freed from its snowy coat, the flattened brownish grass was not always easy to navigate. At times, I was grateful to have Courtney’s footsteps guiding me – having created it and walked it many times before, his experience alleviated the need for questioning and struggle, leaving more time for meditation and observation.

I observed, for example, that red brick markers were placed strategically along certain bends to make the path clearer. These markers, placed by the labyrinth’s creator, weren’t unlike the many signs and synchronicities God places along our Path to guide us through our lives. They aren’t always as obvious as these red bricks, but if we simply let go and live in the flow with awareness, not fighting the current of life, we too can easily see and turn at the bends.

Prickly bushes along the path also caught my attention. These natural markers reminded me that nature provides us with an opportunity to reconnect with our soul and our life’s purpose. Their subtle clues can be as powerful or even more meaningful than the manmade red bricks.

The labyrinth offered other lessons too. It clearly showed how the path gets clearer and easier to navigate the more others have walked on it ahead of us. For the more people have walked it, flattening the grass, the clearer its twists and turns are. How many times have our journeys been helped by the fact that others have journeyed there before and now offer their lessons in order to lighten our load along the way? How many times have I heard or read that everyone’s purpose in life is to help others through whatever experience we have successfully navigated through ourselves?

The lessons were a lot more than about how to navigate through life, however – they were also about our choices on how to live it.

Once in awhile, my analytical side got involved, wondering if we were turning back towards the beginning or whether this was leading us anywhere in particular. Time became an issue during those moments that I became goal oriented. That’s when Courtney would stop, bend down and pick up some wild sage to smell – a nice reminder that life is indeed a journey, not a destination. Literally stopping to smell the flowers – enjoying the process – is so important. Just noticing someone else doing so helped bring me back to the present moment.

I started noticing more after that – like the small piles of deer scat here and there. I couldn’t help but smile and remember that scene in the movie “Forest Gump” when the slogan “Shit happens” came to being. Well, that’s just it. Shit does happen and instead of getting all dramatic about it, we can always choose to smile and lift our feet a little higher to step over it without missing a beat on our meditative journey.

And then, just as I had let go of trying to figure out where this journey was leading me to, we came to an unexpected opening, the centre of the labyrinth where Courtney and I sat and broke our silence to talk about our hopes and goals for the next 3 weeks.

This was a truly beautiful beginning to working together. The long quiet walk to the center, with its reminders, lessons and reflections, helped create the space for our spirits to communicate.

But just as I was feeling the profundity of the moment, the labyrinth offered me yet one more lesson – the importance of humour.

Sherrill came out of the house and straight to the center of the labyrinth, bypassing all the twists and turns and any ceremonious “rules” and seriousness to ask if I would be willing to eat mixed grains that weren’t organic as part of the dinner she was preparing. And just as her actions had modelled, I answered that I was happily willing to be flexible with my diet. After all, being too serious and making everything a struggle can’t be healthy!

After having been given that gift of humour, I wasn’t too disgruntled that we too, on our way out, chose not to walk the labyrinth back, as I had been taught to do. There was something quite freeing about bee-lining it back to the house for dinner. The labyrinth was obviously teaching me to loosen-up a little – always a good lesson!”

Grandora labyrinth – photos by Sherrill Miller.

I got to walk that labyrinth quite a few more times after that and found within it exactly what I needed at the time.

Feel free to share your labyrinth stories in the comments below? Where was it? How did you benefit?