Carved labyrinth at Whispers of Nature |
“Our lives are an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn. That there is no end in nature but every end is a beginning.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I spent part of May 5 walking in circles. Sometimes such
circuitous movement is a result of confusion and frustration, or it’s evidence
of procrastination. But that day, my circling was intentional.
Three years ago, the Labyrinth Society, an international
organization founded in 1998, designated the first Saturday in May as World
Labyrinth Day. I learned about this commemoration from friends Susie and Nick
Teague. In 2006, they founded Whispers of Nature
and since then have been developing an outdoor labyrinth. In honor of the global
labyrinth event, Susie and Nick invited the public to walk the unique maze
they’ve created.
Path surrounded by herbs & flowers |
While
the precise origin of the labyrinth is unknown, the earliest datable labyrinth
was built in Greece around 1300 B.C. This ancient tool for walking meditation can be found in schools, prisons, parks, hospitals, spas,
churches, and retreat centers. Many
labyrinths around the world replicate the one laid in the floor of Chartres
Cathedral in France around 1200 A.D.
It has eleven circuits, or concentric circles, with a twelfth, at the
center, in the shape of a six-petaled rosette. The labyrinth at Whispers of
Nature has seven circuits, surrounded by a medicinal herb and flower garden.
Whatever its design, the labyrinth is viewed as a metaphor for life’s journey.
There is no magic formula, no “right” way to walk a
labyrinth. It’s a mystical practice of the simple action of putting one
foot in front of the other, following the labyrinth’s unexpected turns, and
ending up at the center. A sign at the Whispers of Nature labyrinth offers
simple instructions:
“Follow
the single path in and out. You may use it as a walking meditation, play
music, or sing. Your walk may be joyous, quiet, thoughtful or
celebratory. Choose your intention each time you walk.”
On World Labyrinth Day, I walked with intention and
attention for three friends who are on their own walks with cancer, visualizing
them held in a circle of love.
Sculpture at the center of labyrinth |
Sunshine glistened off the glass ornaments in
the garden, and the wind whispered through the lavender, poppies, calendula,
tulips, mint, and dozens of other plants I couldn’t identify. As always happens
for me when I walk a labyrinth, I had moments of being uncertain of the route,
of thinking I’d missed a turn, and then resting in the knowledge that the path
would guide me if I trust it, slow down, and let go.
When I returned home, a copy of Western Friend waited in my mailbox; the issue’s theme – “Friends on Aging and Dying.” The magazine fell open to “Every End Is
A Beginning,” an essay by Susan Tweit, recounting her husband’s death from
brain cancer. The title is taken
from the Emerson quote above. I
can’t imagine a more fitting thought to carry forward from my walk on World
Labyrinth Day—and every day.
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