TAKE THE PATHWAY
THROUGH PRAYER AND MEDITATION
TO INNER PEACE.
Walking the Labyrinth
At All Saints
Next Labyrinth Event
Neighborhood Labyrinth Walk
Wednesday, 3 October
and Every First Wednesday of the Month.
Come and go any time
between 7 – 8:30 p.m.
X
Instruction
offered at 7 p.m.
X
Accompanied by
THE HISTORY
abyrinths
have been around for over 4000 years and are found in just about every major
religious tradition in the world. They have been an integral part of many
cultures such as Native American, Greek, Celtic and Mayan.
One of the most famous legends concerning a Labyrinth is the Greek hero Theseus and the Minotaur. Theseus, in order to free the Greeks from this dread monster, used a ball of twine to find his way through the Labyrinth at the King Minos' palace at Knossos on the Isle of Crete and killed the fearsome beast. In stark contrast to this fearsome image, in North America the Hopi Indians called the labyrinth the symbol for "mother earth." Labyrinths, like Stonehenge and the pyramids, they are magical geometric forms that define sacred space.
Christians used Labyrinths during the crusades, as symbols representing their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Today, labyrinths are being used for reflection, meditation, prayer and comfort. They are found in many sizes and shapes, and are created in sand, cornmeal, flour, painted on canvas, fashioned with masking tape or string for a temporary design, or built in a permanent fashion from stones, cut into turf, formed by mounds of earth, made from vegetation, or any other natural material.
There are three
basic designs -- seven circuit, eleven circuit, and twelve circuit. The most
common design found around the country today is the seven circuit, These seven
circuit designs were found on pottery from over 2000 years ago. At All
Saints, we have a portable seven circuit labyrinth based on the design in found in
Chartres
Cathedral near Paris. That labyrinth is an 11 circle labyrinth and All
Saints is the seven circle St. Paul Labyrinth a la Chartres.
Labyrinths are not Mazes: Many people make the mistake of thinking a labyrinth and a maze are the same. A maze has dead ends and many trick turns. A labyrinth has only one path leading to the center and back out again. There are no dead ends. Even Theseus had only one path to find the minotaur on the Isle of Crete.
Walking
the labyrinth, you meander back and forth, turning 180 degrees each time you
enter a different circuit. As you shift your direction you also shift your
awareness from right brain to left brain. This is one of the reasons the
labyrinth can induce receptive states of consciousness. Some uses the labyrinth
to clear the mind. We at All Saints use the labyrinth to reflect,
meditate, and pray. The experience, if you open yourself to it, is
profound and each time you do it is different. Left:
Senior Warden John Prescott plays the Celtic Harp during All Saints' monthly labyrinth
walk.
In our own Diocese, one of the leading proponents for reviving the Labyrinth is The Rev. Canon Lauren Artress at Grace Cathedral. In 1992 Rev. Artress brought the form to the Grace Cathedral. Since then, over one million people have walked the labyrinth on it's grounds, In her book Walking a Sacred Path, The Rev. Artress discerns for us the essential need that can be filled by walking the labyrinth. "We lost our sense of connection to ourselves and to the vast mystery of creation," The web of creation has been thrown out of balance."
All Saints parish intern Davidson Bidwell-Waite, who coordinates all our labyrinth activities has brought All Saints Labyrinth to to many outside the parish including All Saints' prison ministry project in San Francisco. On July 27, 2006 over 50 women from the Walden House SISTERS Project, an In-Detention Recovery Program, participated in a 4 hour Labyrinth “Retreat” in the gym on the 5th floor of the jail, along with their program leaders, members of All Saints and Episcopal Charities, who funded acquisition of the portable canvas labyrinth. While guards kept a distant and respectful watch, the inmates engaged in 2 walking meditations and shared their experiences afterwards, sitting choir style in the narrower section (usually containing aerobic equipment) between the 2 program areas of the facility
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. Come Walk the labyrinth at All Saints Episcopal Church every first Wednesday of Month between 7:00 and 8:30pm.
History Text Adapted from Angelfire.com. Other text provided by the Webmaster and Davidson Bidwell-Waite. For more on Labyrinth designs The Labyrinth Company.com
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