Labyrinth. The word conjures up images of a maze in some medieval castle. But while the outline of a labyrinth may resemble a maze, it’s not a series of corridors filled with dead ends. It is, instead, a path.
Labyrinths are most often found in parks or church floors, not in castle dungeons. They are frequently bathed in sunlight or glowing with candlelight, not shrouded in darkness. They are tools for reflection, not a menacing puzzle to be solved.
A labyrinth is meditation tool that has been used throughout the ages by many different cultures. It is a walking path that exists to relieve stress, not create it.
Rev. Elaine Nagy is certified as a labyrinth facilitator with Veriditas, a San Francisco-based organization that she describes as the worldwide labyrinth revival organization. Nagy facilitates labyrinth walks as part of the Sundaes on Wednesdays midweek worship series at St. Albert United Church.
“The labyrinth is an ancient symbol – certainly pre-Christian – and it’s from cultures around the world,” said Nagy. “You’ll find ancient labyrinths in Crete and Iceland, in Arizona, in many diverse cultures. It’s a tool for meditation.”
The Edmonton Labyrinth Society website defines a labyrinth as a confined, guided walk with many turns toward a centre. It is designed to let you walk in a compact area while you let your mind relax and meditate.
Because labyrinths have existed since ancient times in various locations and cultures throughout the world, historians have been unable to pinpoint their origins. Some believe that the labyrinth was born from the Greek myth in which Theseus defeated the Minotaur in the centre of a labyrinth.
The most famous labyrinth in the world is located in the Chartres Cathedral in France.
According to Nagy, “the labyrinth was put into Chartres Cathedral around the year 1201 and they were all covered over for hundreds of years and in the nineties they started to rediscover this tool for reflection and meditation.”
Labyrinths come in many shapes including triangular, square, octagonal and circular like the one found in Chartres. The path inside a labyrinth moves in circuits that lead toward the centre of the design and then back out.
The portable labyrinth used at St. Albert United Church was donated by a parishioner and is actually a parachute on which a path has been painted in purple. The design is similar to the labyrinth found in Chartres, but smaller. Nagy said this particular labyrinth is called a “petite Chartres.” The outdoor labyrinth behind the church is a grass path lined in stone.
Though churches are one of the many places where they can be found, labyrinths are not religious symbols; they are spiritual tools.
“That’s one of the neat things about a labyrinth, is that you don’t have to believe any particular doctrine, you can use it to help yourself find some peace regardless of your belief system,” said Nagy. “I think the idea is that as people move their bodies, it stills their minds and releases whatever anxieties or concerns they have within them, and so it’s a tool for reflection and discernment,” Nagy said.
“It’s a form of prayer and meditation, and the walking keeps you focused,” said Shirley Serviss, Staff Literary Artist on the Wards for the Friends of the University Hospital in Edmonton.
Serviss was introduced to labyrinths 20 years ago and has been walking them ever since. An award-winning poet, Serviss wrote Step By Step for the opening of the labyrinth in the carpet on the floor of the University Hospital’s fourth level east atrium. She has since received many requests to use her poem at the opening of labyrinths throughout North America.
Many people equate labyrinths with mazes, but the two are in fact very different. Mazes contain a series of turns, many with dead ends. The turns in a labyrinth are on a single path leading in and out of the space.
Charles Bidwell of the Edmonton Labyrinth Society has been studying mazes for a decade.
“A maze is really meant to confuse you – you’ve heard about corn mazes where the plants are so tall you can’t see where you’re going next – so they’re meant to challenge you and really test you out, whereas a labyrinth is a simple, single path that goes to the centre and you just retrace that path coming back out so you really don’t have to use your mind,” he said.
In simple terms, a maze causes confusion while a labyrinth provides order – both in its physical design and potential mental and emotional benefits.
“When our life tends not to be clear, the labyrinth restores order to our lives, makes it predictable – for a little while at least,” Serviss said.
The act of focusing on walking a labyrinth’s path can quiet a racing mind by shifting a person’s focus from a problem or worry to the path on the ground. Though the walker must focus intently enough to follow the series of turns in the labyrinth’s path, there is no stress in deciding which way to turn because the person in the labyrinth simply follows the lines that are already there.
Bidwell said there are many approaches to walking a labyrinth.
“One is to ask a question as you go in and then, when you get to the centre, pause and then clear your mind if you can and then see if an answer comes as you walk back out,” he said. “And then there are people who walk it in a prayerful attitude wishing the best for someone or they walk it in celebration. I’ve heard of mothers who carry their week-old baby as they walk it and hope for a good life for them.”
Nagy said that she finds labyrinths to be a helpful tool for people who are grieving. Indeed, Serviss said that the most beautiful experience she has ever had walking a labyrinth was at a memorial for a young man who suffered a tragic death and those in attendance walked the labyrinth together at Riverdale Park in his memory.
Bidwell’s own experience with labyrinths supports the notion that walking the path has the potential to help people find clarity.
“Once I was very angry at someone … and I just stomped through the labyrinth until I got to the centre and then in the centre I sort of got the message that it takes two to tango, so there must be something that I’m contributing to this, and so I came out much calmer,” he said.
When Serviss walks a labyrinth she typically prays for people or problems on her mind on the way in and on the way out she gives thanks.
“I come out feeling released and grateful,” she said.
Though Serviss most often walks the labyrinth inside University Hospital, travelling a labyrinth’s path indoors is not her preference.
“Outdoors is so much better,” she said. “It connects you more to nature, it’s more grounding.”
There are few rules to walking a labyrinth. Serviss said you can crawl, skip, dance through them and experience them in various ways. It can also be done as a solitary venture or with others.
“The hardest part is to get over being self conscious and just focus on the process,” Serviss said.
She often focuses on the path beneath her feet to avoid becoming distracted when others are nearby.
Bidwell had some tips for first-timers.
“When you’re walking with other people, you might find that you’re coming along faster than the person ahead of you and so you wait until you get to a curve or a corner where it turns and then you would just step over and carry on in front of them,” he said.
Everyone walks at his or her own pace, but according to Bidwell it takes around 30 minutes to walk a typical labyrinth.
He said there’s no trick to walking a labyrinth.
“You just put one foot in front of the other and that allows you to quiet the judge or the critic that’s inside your brain and maybe let something deeper come out.”
There are many outdoor labyrinths in the local area in addition to the one at St. Albert United Church. Riverdale Park, Southminster-Steinhauer United Church and Louise McKinney Riverfront Park, all in Edmonton, are home to outdoor labyrinths available for public use.
The Edmonton Labyrinth Society website at www.ualberta.ca/~bidwell/SITES/labindex.htm features an extensive list of labyrinths both located both locally and around the province and even has a template for a printable labyrinth that people can trace with a finger when it’s not possible to walk one.
