A love letter to the year’s labyrinths
Recalling six memorable labyrinth moments as I rev up for World Labyrinth Day
Dear labyrinth, as World Labyrinth Day approaches, I want to thank you for the amazing past 12 months. I’m stunned as I reflect on how profoundly you’ve quietly supported me during this year of change, with the power of embodied ritual.
Thank you for helping us say goodbye. The blue-tape labyrinth we made on the beloved, mutilated floor of 12759 Caswell helped us let go of our old home.
Thank you for helping us say hello. The man-in-the-maze labyrinth we discovered, in an unlikely office park in Northampton, MA, supported us in our new home.
Thank you for helping me reconnect with old friends. After a couple years of COVID-caution, meeting up with old friends in real life felt like a big deal, but the Battery Park contemplative labyrinth made it easy and fun (and rain-sprinkled).
Thank you for helping us light each other up. Midwinter this year we held our Family Labyrinth Day on a Chartres labyrinth in Santa Barbara. We each held a candle as we walked, and whenever the breeze blew someone’s candle out, another family member re-lit it with theirs. The children especially loved it, and caring for each other’s candles brought a feeling of quiet grace to the walk.
Thank you for helping me connect with a child. Bringing along my little handheld double labyrinth when I was a houseguest in a new house was a perfect way to make a new young friend. Walking the Grace Cathedral labyrinths with my 8-year-old nephew as part of our first trip together brought enchantment and hilarity and insight.
Thank you for helping heal a relationship. An old collaborator and I had had a very rocky time and a big fight. Instead of trying to talk it out, we walked a mile to a labyrinth, and the path was able to mysteriously bring grace back into our connection.
“Throughout the long history of labyrinths whenever and wherever society is going through rapid change and development the labyrinth has blossomed. Now, humanity is seeking the sure path of the labyrinth in an uncertain and confusing world.” -Jeff Saward
Each time, the labyrinth showed up effortlessly, at just the right time and place, bringing loveliness to confusion, pathway to chaos, and grace to stuckness. I’m just realizing that all these new labyrinths in my life have appeared within the first year since I became a Veriditas-trained labyrinth facilitator. I can’t wait to see what the labyrinth will show me in the next 12 months. Thank you, Veriditas and especially Lauren Artress, for building a welcoming and well-held portal into the mystery of the labyrinth.
If you would like to bring labyrinths into your life on this World Labyrinth Day or anytime this month, here are some resources to get you started:
You can use the World-wide Labyrinth Locator to help you find a walking labyrinth near you.
If you’re curious to see what real labyrinths look like, check out the beautiful, sacred, fun work of master labyrinth builder Lars Howlett.
Just want to learn more about what labyrinths are about? This Gothamist piece about labyrinths in NYC is also a wonderful introduction to labyrinths generally.
If you are involved in higher education, you might enjoy exploring 2023’s World Labyrinth Day theme: labyrinths in educational settings.