Walking the Labyrinth | |
| The Labyrinth is a prayer tool, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres Labyrinth; laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn. This labyrinth has only one path so |  |
| there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives; it touches our sorrows and releases our joys. So walk it with an open mind and an open heart. |
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| There are three stages of the walk: Purgation -- a releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. This is an act of shedding thoughts and emotions. It quiets and empties the mind. Illumination -- is when you reach the center. Stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive. Union -- which is joining God, your Higher Power or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for. Guidelines for the Walk We come to the Labyrinth walk at various stages in our spiritual journey and with a wide variety of needs and questions present in our life. Some people find it helpful to focus their minds and hearts on a particular question as they walk the Labyrinth. Others find it most helpful to simply clear their mind and become aware of your breath and open yourself to whatever the experience on the path has to offer. Trust your experience and the Spirit to guide you on your way. You may "pass" people or let others step around you whichever is easiest at the turns. The path is two ways. Those going in will meet those coming out. Use the pace and movements that feel natural to you. You should plan on taking at least twenty minutes to walk the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is for all ages. Children find it intriguing and playful. Since this is a spiritual tool that nurtures a spirit of devotion, if you bring children to the Labyrinth, it is important that you help them to respect the mood and pace of this experience. Obviously running and loud noises are not appropriate in the room where the Labyrinth walk is being held. Symbols and Meaning: While labyrinths have been used in many traditions the Chartres labyrinth was born out of the Christian context. In the middle-ages Chartres was a pilgrimage site for Christians and pilgrims would complete their journey by walking the labyrinth. They saw reaching the center as journeying to the spiritual Jerusalem. The story of faith growing on a journey has its precedent in Scripture-from Abraham to Moses to Paul. How many other Biblical faith journeys can you think of? The labyrinth's winding path is a metaphor for the spiritual journey. It represents our journey as well as reminds us of so many who have traveled before us in faith. The rose and the cross are also visible symbols within the labyrinth. The center of the labyrinth is referred to as a rose. Mary, the mother of Jesus, has often been referred to as a rose, and Chartres is a cathedral dedicated to Mary. In mystical traditions the Holy Spirit is also symbolized as a rose. The image of the cross overlays the entire pattern, the turns at the quadrant forming the pattern. |
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| Adapted from material by Lauren Artress | |