Wisconsin's Natural Health Guide |
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The Labyrinth: Walking a Sacred Path
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BY DONNA KOCH, OSF Many people speak of their spirituality as a journey, walking a spiritual path. Some are expanding their spiritual horizons by literally walking a spiritual path, the labyrinth. The labyrinth can be described as a powerful contemporary spiritual tool which can be a path of prayer for all people seeking the divine, regardless of the tradition in which they stand. Walking the labyrinth invites us to experience gratitude for the gift of life. It challenges us to refine the way we live together on this fragile earth home and provides the energy, vision, and courage to meet the demands of this Century. The labyrinth is a symbol of wholeness and completeness which draws us into receptivity rather than assertiveness. Walking the labyrinth is not about problem solving but about calming the problem solving side of the mind so that our creative, imaginative, contemplative, reflective side can be free to express itself. For instance, the clockwise (sunwise) and the counter-clockwise (moonwise) spins of the path map out a balance between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Archeologists and historians believe that the first labyrinths were in Egypt and central Italy around 4500 B.C. There is evidence that they were built at entrances of tombs to keep the evil spirits out. No one knows the origin of their design. The origins are lost in pre-history. Some of the earliest forms of the labyrinth are found in Greece, dating back to 2500 B.C. Labyrinths were so much a part of society that their design was embossed on coins and pottery. They were also used as sacred gateways and many ancient people posted them on doorposts or graves and also at the entrance to cities and towns. It is believed that fishermen in Sweden and Finland built labyrinths and walked them before going out to sea to ensure a good wind and a good catch. An idea that spirals in and out of many local legends is that the labyrinth represents uterine energy. This comes from the fact that ancients thought that the intestine was the uterus, or womb. Many ancient people related the labyrinth to childbirth in various ways. The labyrinth of Crete contained 272 stones – the same as the average number of days in the human gestation period. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has a single path that leads to the center. There are no false turns, barriers or dead ends. There is no right or wrong way to walk the labyrinth. Walkers find their own pace. Whoever enters with expectations rather than openness is going to be disappointed. The labyrinth is your teacher, but don’t tell it how to be your teacher. Walking it leads to the center and out again along the same path. You cannot get lost. The labyrinth has been used for centuries as a pilgrimage, a way back home. By following the path, you can use the labyrinth to quiet your mind and find illumination and peace at the center of your being. It is a fact that people from both ancient and modern cultures around the world and throughout time have looked to the labyrinth as an archetypal symbol of journey and spiritual renewal. There are many types of labyrinths. The two most common ones are the seven circuit style know as the classical or Cretan labyrinth and the eleven circuit labyrinth. Labyrinths are used in a variety of ways: walking, coloring, drawing, journaling, contemplation or meditation. They can be painted on canvas, mown into a lawn, woven into a tapestry, made of clay, wood or sand, or shaped in terrazzo tile. The labyrinth offers a significant metaphor for our life. The path represents our passage through time and experience. Its many turns reflect the journey of life which involves change and transition, rites of passage and the cycles of nature. At times throughout the journey we may feel lost, but trusting the path and continuing to move forward, we find our way to the center. When walking the labyrinth with others we discover that, though we may be at different points along the journey, we are all on the same path. Many of the Christian labyrinths appear relatively late in history, around the 12th Century. One of the most famous Christian labyrinths and one that has survived intact, is the eleven circuit labyrinth found on the floor of the Chartres cathedral in France. In the middle ages when Christians committed themselves to Christ they also committed themselves to making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When they could no longer make the physical pilgrimage they walked a symbolic pilgrimage on a labyrinth built into the floor of the nave of a cathedral. It was called the poor man’s journey to Jerusalem. Going into the labyrinth also symbolized a trip to the underworld and the trip out was a resurrection. From ancient times, the labyrinth was associated with pilgrimage routes and rituals of self-discovery. Labyrinths serve as windows or portals where time stands still so that we can remember who we are and what we are doing. Labyrinths are tools and must be treated that way. They can take us to the holy but they are not the holy. They are useful for people who are tired of words because they can help us focus in the quiet. They can help the seeker find a pattern in the chaos and begin to make sense of life. The labyrinth lets people walk together and separately without agreeing on everything. We can limp as well as walk the labyrinth! ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: “The healing labyrinth – finding your path to inner peace” by Helen Raphael Sands Walking the labyrinth is an intensely personal endeavor. There is nothing that is supposed to happen. No one can predict what experience the labyrinth will generate. In all spiritual traditions there is some mechanism designed to get us beyond the surface, beyond appearance, opinion and conditioning, beyond ego, illusion and intellect, beyond imitation and personality. Real freedom lies in going deeper and arriving not at some foreign or unfamiliar place, but at ourselves, our wise, innocent and loving selves that God has created. There we find healing and forgiveness and unlimited potential. (p. 6 forward) Four sides: can dedicate to the Four elements, (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) from the Celtic tradition. Four directions, (north, south, east, west) from the Native American tradition. Four archangels (Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael) from the Christian tradition. (p.12) Native American Tradition: Hopi labyrinth is a symbol of emergence or birth and creation and is known as Mother earth. It appears in two forms, the first - meaning mother and child has squared pathway lines which simultaneously suggest the baby curled in the womb and the newborn infant cradled in loving arms. The straight line at the entrance/exit represents both the umbilical cord and the birth canal. The second rounded version is slightly different; it symbolizes the Sun Father, the giver of life and its pathway is the journey through life. This version also denotes the concentric boundaries of territories that were claimed by the Hopi. (p.27) Christian Tradition: As the church became increasingly powerful in the Middle Ages, it sought to control or erase supposedly non-Christian rituals. Although the labyrinth was essentially a pagan symbol, the Church leaders found it easy to assimilate it into Christian art: with its single path to the center it was a perfect illustration of the single path to salvation. For this reason the labyrinth was left to flourish. Petaled Center: (Chartres) 6 flower petals loop around the inner, open space so that the center represents the flowering of energy. The center of the labyrinth represents the feminine, embodied by Mary, Mother of Christ in the Christian faith. In the images of flower and path, the masculine and feminine traditions are united. Pilgrims tread the pathway with Christ, yet their journey is also held and sustained by the feminine – Mary his mother, Mystic Rose. In this place, where masculine and feminine are in balance and where love moves, transformation and healing can take place. |
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