Mebane Labyrinth

How cool is this?

2012-01-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

via: http://saltyoat.blogspot.com/2011/12/embroidery-project-labyrinths.html

Small changes

2012-01-18T21:41:00.001-05:00

The daffodils I planted last Fall have started poking their little noses up. It's been a mild winter so I have mixed feelings about that. I have a small fear that there will be an unexpected cold snap that will give them a little freezer burn.

I"m hoping not, but recognize the possibility.

AND. I've made an addition to the center. I've put a plastic container under the bench that holds a pencil, a pen and an empty book. I don't know that anyone will be inspired to write/draw/whatever, but it's there should someone be so inclined.

It's not pretty, but it hasn't blown away and I think it's effective.

Decorating the labyrinth for the holidays

2011-12-23T08:16:00.002-05:00

That would be gilding the lily, don't you think?

RiverLink labyrinth in Asheville, NC

2011-11-25T15:52:00.003-05:00

Visiting family in Asheville for Thanksgiving gave us the opportunity to wander around the River Arts District where there is an excellent labyrinth waiting for anyone to come walk. It was built in a day in October 2010 by members of RiverLink and some of their supporters. I found it via the World Wide Labyrinth Locator.

It is next to The Cotton Mill building between the railroad tracks and the road. It is a 7-circuit "Petite Chartres" made of river rocks with fine gravel over landscaping fabric to control weed and grass growth. There is a collection of talismans left by previous walkers that is beginning to form a spiral.

It is next to a gutted building with graffiti here and there. There is more vividly colored graffiti on a nearby water tower and some brightly painted houses on the other side of the tracks.

Access is a little awkward because there is a fence between the Cotton Mill parking lot and the lot that holds the labyrinth and no sidewalk or parking by the road. But traffic doesn't go blistering past and the walk on the roadside is brief.

I think it's a great use of the space.

Salt labyrinth

2011-08-25T22:43:00.000-04:00

The story behind Yamamoto's salt sculptures is sweet and sad. His sister died of brain cancer more than a decade ago. To honor her memory, he began sketching with salt -- in Japan, a traditional symbol for purification and mourning. The meandering patterns are meant to convey a sense of eternity.

More maze than labyrinth, still an amazing memorial.

Night walking

2011-08-22T23:38:00.000-04:00

I walked again, tonight.

A friend's husband died recently and she requested that those who walk labyrinths do so in his memory. I have done so twice since he dropped the body and probably will again because his change of state remains a background awareness lately. In part because she has been writing about her new life without his presence and in part because various odds and end around me remind me that life is short.

I have a desire to go to Toronto.

2011-07-30T23:35:00.000-04:00

It has never really been a city that has drawn me, though I have a friend who fantasizes about moving there. But, a casual comment on FaceBook (yes, I am on FaceBook) sent me Googling labyrinths+islam and I found this very interesting link. (Clicking through leads to all sorts of interesting pages.)

The comment I was making to my friend was "You don't have to be Xian to use labyrinths and you don't have to be NOT Xian to use them. I love that this a truly inclusive spiritual tool." and it occurred to me that I have walked labyrinths with Christians, Pagans, Jews, Buddhists and atheists, but I have never seen Muslims mentioned in connection to labyrinths. So, I looked for them.

And a "universal truth" seems to be that people who are into them are into them, no matter what their beliefs.

Birthday in Wyoming

2011-07-17T11:53:00.005-04:00

Happy birthday to me!

Friday was my 51st birthday and Chuck and I are in Wyoming where my father is serving as a chaplain for a month at the Chapel of the Transfiguration. The Chapel is a part of St. John's. While we were wandering around downtown Jackson, we found this lovely labyrinth outside St. John's. I walked it. (Of course). What a great way to celebrate the beginning of my personal new year.

It is an 8 circuit Chartres variation surrounded by lilac bushes that happened to be blooming right now. Easily accessible, not at all private.

Location:Jackson, WY

At the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island, NC Outer Banks

2011-06-21T20:55:00.001-04:00

You go up the cross and choose left or right. Eventually, you come back to the top of the cross from the other direction. If you don't choose to come out, you just loop around and around.

Lighting

2011-06-17T07:22:00.000-04:00

I have nearly 100 glass flowerpot candle holders.

They were used on the dining tables at the wedding reception of a couple of our friends and were intended to be souvenirs for the guests. Many people didn't choose to take them with them and when Tracy asked if anyone had a use for them, I spoke up. I think they're great. They are clear glass and tea lights drop right in the bottom.

I have made hangers of wire to put some of them around the fence when I've had parties in my back yard, but never used all of them. One hundred is a lot of candles.

I'm thinking that as the solar lights burn out, as they eventually will, I'll replace them with clear glass flowerpots. Tea lights are cheap and readily available. I can leave the holders upside down so they don't collect rainwater and invert them when they need to be used.

This will mean people who want to use the labyrinth at night may want to let me know they are coming, though if they bring their own candles, they won't need my preparation.

It will also mean that when it snows, I won't have the alien landing strip glowing underneath the whiteness. But snow clouds block the sun and the lights don't glow very brightly then, anyway.

I love candles flames burning around the labyrinth. They make my heart glad and my eyes happy. The solar lights are very functional, but, to my amusement, not as warm.

We had a walker (or 2), today

2011-05-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

And she asked a couple of questions I hadn't thought to address previously.

Do you want people to “check in” with you first?

This isn't necessary. It is my habit to ignore people who are in the labyrinth and to avoid coming outside if I see that it is in use. I want it to be a contemplative experience that isn't disturbed by me any more than I can help. If you want to say "hello" or need a drink of water after you have walked it, you are welcome to knock. If you are in a zone and want to stay quiet, I completely understand that and am not offended by your leaving without speaking.

If you come at night, (it is lighted with little solar lights at each turn) it's a good idea to let us know you are here, just so you don't catch me wandering around in my PJs.

Do you prefer folks use the yard gate opposite the driveway gate?

The gate at the end of the driveway is more convenient than the one on the far side of the house and I'm comfortable with you using either one. The little gate was put in to make yard work easier; it doesn't get much action otherwise.

Any preferred parking area?

Parking along the driveway is fine. When we have people over, we tend to slot the cars between the trees so anyone that wants to get out can do so easily.

Another thought that occurred to us was How long can we stay?

As long as it takes. We have benches by the trees to facilitate pre- and post-walk contemplation. Sit as long as you need to in order to get the best benefit from the space.

Stone Knoll Spiral in Calvander, NC

2011-05-14T16:04:00.008-04:00

There's an interesting place on the side of the road on the way to Carrboro from I-40 on Old Hwy 86. It's a stone spiral that was built by architect John Hartley at the entrance to Stone Knoll neighborhood.

Stone Knoll is a very nice subdivision with large, interesting houses on large, wooded lots that tend to be ornamented with flowers, gardens, yard art, hammocks and comfortable lawn chairs, play sets and a general air of happy, affluent families.

The side closest to the highway is a field of wildflowers and there is a little turn off from John Woods Road into the field.

There are 4 tall standing stone in the cardinal directions and a flat stone in the middle. These five have plaques with poems on them. Hotlinks are to other websites that have the texts of the poems.

In the East is Maya Angelou's Inaugural Poem written for Bill Clinton in 1993

To the North is Wilderness by Carl Sandburg

Wendell Berry has a poem in the West.

And in the South, Mevlâna Jalâluddîn Rumi

There's a memorial tree over to the side but still within the spiral.

It appears that Donna Lotstein was a lover of horses.

The stone in the center has the Navajo Way Blessing Prayer

I've seen a couple of places online refer to this installation as a "stone circle", but it isn't a circle. If you are actually in it, you can see the spiral winding into the trees and outward, eventually petering out in the direction of Old 86.

You can even see it in Google Maps.

View Larger Map

Labyrinth Farm

2011-04-23T18:24:00.000-04:00

We're growing things in raised beds next to the labyrinth. Because I like keeping track of things and looking back to see how things have changed, we have another blog about our vegetable efforts.

If you have wandered around here and wonder what any of the stuff growing in the yard is, you can probably find an explanation there.

April 2011

2011-04-12T07:36:00.001-04:00

We are remulching the labyrinth. I say "we" but I mean Chuck. He has done everything that has been done so far. I had a tough day at work yesterday, so I had a glass of wine while he moved wheelbarrows full of mulch from the pile that was delivered from Mebane Shrubbery to the center and spread it out. The fresh layer looks nice. There were some thin spots that are getting lifted up.

Unlike the original mulching, this doesn't require moving the rocks so the labyrinth is still available while improvements happen.

However, it will not be available Saturday evening/night, April 30. I've decided to have a garden party so it won't be meditative after 5.

New bench

2011-03-20T08:33:00.002-04:00

This is my anniversary present from my wonderful husband. We found it at the Carrboro Farmers' Market, yesterday.

It was made by Riley Foster of Foster's Custom Steel at 2010 Mill Creek Road, Mebane. I am a good ad for his work. I have one of his propane tank suns on the shed and he made the gate at the top of the steps onto the deck.

He said he isn't giving me a commission for advertising for him, though.

Night walk

2011-03-19T09:19:00.000-04:00

I walked last night under the moon at 99% full and perigee. It was marvelous.

One of the dogs insisted on barking at me some, but the rest of them just wanted to sleep. The little solar lights are just enough to let me get around without stumbling, but not so bright that they detract from the moonlight.

Tonight there is going to be a full moon at perigee and it is expected to be huge. It would be a shame for it not to be used. I'm looking forward to it.

We are farming by the labyrinth

2011-03-18T07:37:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, we got cinder blocks and built raised beds for vegetables. This week, we've been filling them with compost. This weekend, we'll be planting. Eventually the blocks will be stained so that the beds don't look quite so "industrial."

I love having the labyrinth as the center point of the yard. There are flowers and fruit trees around it; now, food is joining the collection. I have a couple of cloned lilac bushes, still very small, that are part of a phenology study. Eventually, one will scent the labyrinth.

Just knowing it is there and waiting for me drops my blood pressure when stresses at work are getting to me.

If you have any curiosity about our adventures in gardening, I made another Blogspot for it. We are calling it Labyrinth Farm.

The dogs are behaving better

2011-03-03T07:46:00.000-05:00

My husband bought a Dazer touted as an Ultrasonic Dog Deterrent and we've been using it. They aren't totally silent, particularly when I am doing yard work near their fence, but they are no longer as obnoxious. We can use most of the yard, including the labyrinth, without the Hellish chorus. Two of the dogs tend to be the most persistent. The other 4 have learned to shut up.

TKF Foundation

2011-02-11T00:15:00.001-05:00

I found a really nice website tonight.

Distraction

2010-09-24T00:29:00.000-04:00

My neighbors have dogs that bark when we are in the back yard. They have become a metaphor for the distractions of the World.

I'm concerned that what I see as metaphor will make the labyrinth useless to other people.

And then I realize that there is only one other person who uses it besides the people who live in this house. She hasn't said anything about it. I'm hoping that means the dogs don't bark at her.

Spring Renewal

2010-04-06T07:26:00.004-04:00

We have renewed the labyrinth. Mowing and weedeating all summer was a hideous chore. Chuck did it without complaining. But, he finally had enough. We called Mr. Torrey of Torey's Tree Service and Landscaping for an estimate.

Two weeks later, Mr. Torrey and his helper piled up the rocks and scraped the grass off the spot. They laid down black plastic and covered it with mulch. Then, my family replaced the labyrinth. It took a little while. Chuck and I damaged ourselves being too enthusiastic the first Saturday. Christopher did some while he was on Spring Break and it is completed.

We had found some very nice and inexpensive copper solar lights in the interim between first talking to Mr. Torrey and his start on the work. We got 24 (a full display box) and waited. There are 2 at the entrance and one at each turn. It looks like we have a helipad in the backyard at night. The wabi sabi collection of glass jars with tealights worked, but these will always be ready.

I have it listed on Google Maps and on the World Wide Labyrinth Locator. I'm not sure what else to do to let those that would use it know it is here.

I didn't want it just for me.

This brought happy tears to my eyes

2010-03-28T20:07:00.005-04:00

This is an exerpt of a larger essay that can be found by clicking here.

A Slight Sashay... By Sherry R. Belul

I was walking the labyrinth when I realized that on stage the African body prayer was beginning. I could hear the drumming and sense the energy of the room as 500 people got up to begin to dance. In my mind, I was thinking, "Oh, man. I wish I weren't on this labyrinth. I wish I could be dancing right now instead of solemnly walking this long, winding path." When just moments before I had been thoroughly enjoying the quiet meditative state of walking the labyrinth, now I felt trapped. And I had that junior high school lunchroom feeling of being at the wrong table. All the fun was being had "over there." Where I wasn't. I was still doing walking meditation, one foot slowly in front of the other, following as exactly as I could, in the footsteps of the woman in front of me. But my mind was churning. I'm the sort of person who always has to do things "by the book." In this case, the "book" (a set of rules in my head, of course) said that one must not leave the labyrinth before completing it. And that one must be serious and meditative on the path. So I walked, one foot in front of the other, hands held in prayer position in front of my heart, watching and following the footsteps of the woman in front of me. Anyone from the outside would have seen a spiritual look on my face and in my posture. But my mind was dark and brooding.

And then something happened. Margie, the woman who brought the labyrinth, stepped onto the labyrinth from the side. Not the place you're supposed to start! She stepped on, and she started dancing the labyrinth. And the woman in front of me started sashaying to the music. She picked one foot up and placed it down, jauntily at an angle with some real oomph to it. I started sashaying. Margie was twirling and whirling and moving to the music as she danced the labyrinth. The woman in front of me was swinging her hips. People around us were smiling and moving to the music. I raised my arms over my head and began moving them like swans flying in time to the music as I, too, started twirling on the path, weaving gently around people. The labyrinth had become some sort of fairyland for me, where anything was possible. The "rules" (did they even exist?) were broken in order for life to flow in and move us. No longer was I at the wrong lunchroom table, but all the tables were the right ones. Everyone in the whole 30,000 square foot pavilion seemed to be having fun. No one was left out of the joy.

The woman in front of me and I both stepped off the labyrinth just as the African music was ending. Without a word, she turned to me and opened her arms. We hugged. Then parted.

Whenever I start to slip into despair, I think about what it felt like to hug a stranger after having sashayed and twirled the labyrinth in silence with her. I think about the surprises life offers, like people dancing on a labyrinth. I think about what it means to have hundreds of people spend a Saturday in San Francisco visualizing peace. I think about sitting in the audience, eyes closed, as we are asked to send wishes of comfort and ease to those sitting next to us. And those sitting next to them. And to the whole room. And to all of San Francisco. And to the U.S. And to all of the world. I think about the moment I started to cry during this meditation, because for a brief split second, I felt it could happen. I believed that not only was peace possible, it was happening. In that split second I imagined I could feel everyone in the world at peace and free of suffering.

I'm still in the same café. The rain is falling and that man behind me is still talking about politics and war. But I am not afraid or angry or lonely. I'm imagining your faces. Those of you who I know. And those of you whom I've never met. I'm smiling, as I think about how fortunate I am to spend a morning with people like you. I suspect there will be a slight sashay to my step as I get up to take my dirty dishes to the counter.

In Lovingkindness,
Sherry

Reprinted from "Simply Celebrate," a free email newsletter by Sherry Richert Belul, Copyright 2004.

Takin' up rocks

2010-03-13T16:05:00.004-05:00

Chuck talked to the landscape guy on Wednesday. Mr. Torrey gave him a fair price to take up the labyrinth and, then, put down black plastic and mulch.

We get to replace the labyrinth.

So, today, between rain events, I started taking out the pieces that I don't want piled in a heap with glacial rocks dumped on top of them. Or, worse, scraped up and hauled off with the grass.

I have picked all kind of small things out of the heartspace. Seashells, a small (squirrel?) skull, the black plastic cap that says "Made in China" and "Do Not Remove", the little Buddha, a blue tile, a glass bead, a concrete star with glass bits in it, an egg timer and rocks, rocks, rocks. Amethyst, quartz, peacock ore, marble from Iona, a pebble from Lake Erie, carborundum from Hiddenite, snowflake obsidian, labradorite, amazonite, black tourmaline, agate and did I mention quartz?

This yard grows quartz. Not the pretty quartz they sell in rock stores. Big, honking lumps of milky rock that makes planting ANYthing a pain. But, I always have rocks when I need 'em. :-)

I moved the river rocks Ingrid brought me from the stream in her back yard and the candle holders at the entrance. It started a cold rain before I got the chunks of granite Kristal contributed to the entrance.

It's looking oddly bare out there.

Interesting website

2010-03-03T21:57:00.003-05:00

AMERICAN KANG DUK WON KARATE in Watertown, New York, has a labyrinth and information about labyrinths.

Labyrinths I have walked

2010-03-03T21:33:00.006-05:00

The first labyrinth I ever walked was a 3/4 size Chartres replica on canvas.

It has eleven circuits.

-----------------------------------------

The second was a Cretan labyrinth at a womens' retreat center outside of Asheville, NC

It has seven circuits.

--------------------------------------------------------

I walked a Santa Rosa labyrinth at a nursery in Michigan after I had nearly decided that was the design I wanted to use for the labyrinth I wanted to put in my yard. It was made of 586 lavender plants and cinched the deal. I bought a gazing ball from them to put in the heart space of labyrinth that I was planning.

I like the heart space and that you approach it twice when you go in and twice when you go out. I like the number 7 because it is 4 plus 3 and those are significant numbers in different mythologies. I like that it is symmetrical.

My discovery of labyrinths

2010-03-03T20:37:00.003-05:00

I used to be Episcopalian. And when I was, one of the churches I went to was the Church of the Holy Comforter in Burlington, NC. And I got suckered into being a member of the Adult Christian Education Committee. I've forgotten how that happened. But one of the things that was coming up was a labyrinth.

They (we) borrowed it from Holy Trinity in Greensboro. And the committee was responsible for tending to it.

I volunteered to take a day of personal leave from work to be there during the day on Friday. I had the time available and I was moved to do it. It was very similar to being moved to speak in Meeting with I was Quaker. It was the right thing to do at that time and I couldn't choose any other way.

There were candles to keep lit and fountains to keep watered and CDs to keep playing. We had a blank book for people to write thoughts in as they finished with colored pencils and markers, should they need them. There was a bowl of stones for worrying as one walked. There were benches inside the door for taking off shoes, or meditating before or after starting.

People came and went all day as I sat at the entrance and tended to the bits and pieces.

Sometimes, they would walk alone. Sometimes, they found themselves walking together, stepping aside to let others pass. One man brought a book that he read at each turn.

I walked it by myself at the end of the day.

The Sunday after that weekend, we had a Sunday school class devoted to talking about the experience of walking the labyrinth. I was astounded to learn that some people got absolutely nothing from it. I had been moved, both by walking it and by tending it as others walked it. I recognize(d) that other people have different responses to things, but it amazed me that something that affected me so profoundly had not inspired a similar response in the Senior Warden.

Camino de Paz

2010-01-07T07:53:00.003-05:00

A site about the 911 Labyrinth at the website of the creator.

Labyrinth offers peace, reflection on 2009 (NorthJersey.com)

2010-01-07T07:37:00.002-05:00

I am copying the article into this post so that when it is taken down from the website, I will still have it.

Link to the original article

The only sound is the soft shuffle of bare feet touching canvas. Monks sing ancient chants in the background, candles flicker, punctuate the darkness and create a frankincense-and-myrrh like balm. People walk on a 32-foot by 32-foot labyrinth, a tool used for meditation walking — a cipher used to translate the code the heart sometimes uses to speak to the soul.

"What better way to start the New Year than with a peaceful reflection on the past and a way to charge the spiritual batteries for the upcoming year?" asked Aldo Marchetti, a regular visitor to Englewood’s First Presbyterian Church’s labyrinth this past New Year’s Eve. The labyrinth, an innovative manifestation of its outreach ministry, marks transitions in the sacred cycles of the earth and key events in the church’s liturgical calendar.

People walked labyrinths at the Temple of Carnac in Ancient Egypt. Archeologist found them in the ruins of Pompeii. More recently, a labyrinth commemorates the 9/11 victims in Lower Manhattan. Labyrinths are an invitation to begin anew, to trace old steps and take new ones.

Located in a hushed, dimly lit chapel, the labyrinth, a 1,024-square-foot piece of canvas laid on the floor, is a re-creation of an iconic one located in Chartres Cathedral. Its interlocking circuits, created by Broadway set designer Geranda Pizzarelle, begins at the "mouth" and follows a path to the center, "the goal," and back out again. During that circuitous walk participants are asked to examine their own inner lives — to seek resolution and restore the soul’s strengths.

"It’s a metaphor for life. You enter in one direction and find yourself going in another," said Dorothy Vander-Werf, activities director at the church.

Traditionally, the labyrinth experience takes place in three stages. The first, walking to the center, allows the participant to shed the daily routine and enter into a calm, meditative state.

The second, reaching the center, is a chance to mediate and "clear" the mind of negative thoughts. The third, a return to the starting point, is a symbolic rebirth. The twists and turns force the mind to concentrate and slowly shed the everyday thoughts for ones of a higher consciousness.

Madeline Waugh, a Bergenfield resident, offered her perspective. "I come here to seek a chance to focus and let my mind resonant," she said. "It’s important not to have a set agenda. Just let the mind wander as the body wanders. It really has a calming effect."

Modern-day interest in labyrinths were popularized by the efforts of Rev. Lauren Artress, a psychotherapist with a divinity degree who while traveling in France during the late-1980s discovered one in Chartres Cathedral built in 1200.

The labyrinth, covered by folding chairs, had fallen out of use. In one of those great "a-ha" moments, the reverend moved the chairs aside and carefully measured and mapped the ancient labyrinth so she could re-create one at her ministry in San Francisco. By the end of the following year, more than 800 build-your-own-labyrinth kits were sold. "It’s the combination of things — the quiet atmosphere, the soft music, the candle. It does what it intends to do. It creates an alternative reality," explained Roberta Pataki, an Englewood Cliffs resident who walks labyrinths regularly. "Simply put, I think differently when I’m walking here. Things seem clearer"

This type of walking meditation the labyrinth represents has been embraced by the American Cancer Society for both patients and staff to relieve stress. Jails have used them to relieve aggression by inmates and Morristown Hospital recommends patients recovering from surgery use them to promote healing.

"Walking a labyrinth forces you to slow down and focus. You stare at the maze-like circuits and follow the path," said Olivia Price of Demarest, a visitor to the labyrinth. "Eventually you’ll reach the center. It’s a little confusing but that’s half the fun."

E-mail: suburbanite@northjersey. com or call 201-894-6700

From Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

2009-12-13T19:42:00.001-05:00

Page 9.

And this is the room where the past pours into the future via the pinch of the now.

Timers line the walls. Not hour-glasses, although they have the same shape. Not egg-timers, such as you might buy as a souvenir attached to a small board with the name of the holiday resort of your choice jauntily inscribed on it by someone with the same sense of style as a jelly doughnut.

It's not even sand in there. It's seconds, endlessly humming the maybe into the was.

------------------------------------------

So, yesterday I put an egg timer in the heart space of the labyrinth.

Maintenance

2009-11-10T06:55:00.004-05:00

Once again, we're considering the best way to keep the labyrinth manageable. The grass crawling over the rocks is a pain to mow around and it wears out the string on the weedeater in nothing flat. Salt helps but is a very temporary measure. It's about to be the end of mowing season and we're looking at what to do over the winter to get ready for next year.

The latest idea is to take it up, have someone come in to scrape up all the grass, put down the weed-averting landscaping fabric and replace the stones with mulch in the path.

Chuck is thinking that mulch would allow walking barefoot more readily than pebbles. I'm not sure I think it will make a significant difference to feet, but if he finds it more eye-pleasing then I am for it.

---------------------------------------------------

We have had friends use it several times, but only once, to my knowledge, has anyone found it via the World Wide Labyrinth Locater and made use of it. This makes me a little sad. I like having it there because I like having it there, but I also installed it to share. and it doesn't seem to be fulfilling that purpose.

I expect I just need to acknowledge that it is there if someone needs it and that, if that is the case, they will find it.

I continue salting the earth.

2009-10-10T08:24:00.003-04:00

It really does help to keep the stones clear if I put salt down before a rain. I buy the bags of water conditioning salt from the grocery store, because that is the cheapest way to get large quantities. It only lasts a couple of weeks before new grass grows back over the place I've treated, but spot-salting is pretty effective.

There is a twisted corner of my mind that gets a giggle out of doing it. Continuing the "Labyrinth as World" metaphor, when I pour salt on areas so that I kill the grass, I am become War or Pestilence. It's not often you get to think of yourself as one of the Horsemen.

2009-09-14T22:32:00.002-04:00

I walked my labyrinth in the dark the other night. There's a turn that I missed 3 times. One time it confused me and I got turned around and found myself back in the middle. That was a first. The other 2 times I just came close to stubbing my toe.

Vash nagged me to pay attention to him while I walked. I'm not sure how a demanding cat fits into the metaphor.

I suspect that cats are simply metaphors for cats.

Tidying up

2009-05-03T23:23:00.001-04:00

You know how it is a pain in the ass to keep the labyrinth maintained? We are trying anew experiment. Watching an old season Lost a couple of weeks ago, they found a Hatch because the ground had been salted, making a bull's-eye that pointed it out when seen from a cliff. Loki and Chuck both wondered why we hadn't salted the labyrinth.

Cuz we hadn't thought of it.

So, I have poured 80 pounds of rock salt on the rocks that form the lines that make the labyrinth, today. I need 80 more pounds but they were out at my grocery store.

And I want to see how this is going to work before I do the rest, I think.

I straightened up a couple of lines that were out of alignment, first, with the help of my friend, Ann, who was my endman.

Tea Party

2008-04-26T12:55:00.000-04:00

There was a Tea Party and Labyrinth Walking at our house a couple of weeks ago.

2007-09-23T22:49:00.000-04:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

is a well written article about a concept I admire.

Here is another which includes information about Japanese tea ceremony: http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/artcurr/asian/wabisabi.html

I felt like walking the labyrinth when we came back from dinner on July 14. I put tea lights in canning jars at each turn. I didn't want to wait to get enough actual votive holders to walk in the dark and I had a basket of jelly/pickle jars in the shed.

I was one jar short. I dug around in the recycling bin on the deck and found a pad thai sauce jar that was a good size and used it.

The jars have been in the labyrinth since, waiting to be used another night.

The pad thai jar tickles me when I pass it.

Church of the Reconciliation

2007-09-02T22:51:00.001-04:00

Today went beautifully.

Dianne brought 4 friends from her Jewish Meditation group and Jeannie met Chuck and me at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro to catch a ride to the church. So, there were 8 of us walking a little, bitty Cretan labyrinth in woods behind the church.

The way to the labyrinth wasn't marked, but Val and Rachel got there a little early, so they wandered around a bit and found it for us.

The stones are fairly large and the paths are very narrow. The center is taken up entirely by a HUGE rock. People had left little bits and pieces on it. There were 4 ceramic spirals, a couple of painted rocks and one pebble when I led the parade in. When I went a second time, making me the last one out, there were a couple more stones, 2 leaves and a birds feather added to the collection.

EVERYone had touched that center stone.

Most had never walked a labyrinth before. The meditation group LOVED that addition to their day and asked to be informed when we do that, again. We agreed that the first Sunday of the month works well for all of us for a regular gathering. So, we have set an official date.

Six of us went to a nearby Cuban restaurant afterward and continued visiting. Before we left, we decided that the October walk will be at my house. I offered, mostly so that the people who have never walked it could do that very thing and they seemed to be delighted at the prospect.

Meditation in the Santa Rosa

2007-09-02T18:14:00.001-04:00

Before we went to the Church of the Reconciliation in Chapel Hill to walk their labyrinth, Chuck and I walked mine, this morning. I took a little book I have and put it in the center. then I walked in and opened the book, randomly.

The book is A Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles. I have had it for some time.

In the center of my labyrinth, I opened to page 157 and read

'Tis this one hour that God has given;
His Now we must obey;
And it will make our earth a heaven
To live today - today.
~ Lydia Avery Coonley Ward

I was tickled to read "Be here. Be now." in the language of a 19th century poet.

Pondering

2007-08-28T23:08:00.000-04:00

Chuck and I walked my labyrinth recently. I was fairly chatty while we walked, which isn’t really usual. He didn’t ask me to shut up and I was chatting about my perspective of the path. I figured we’d have ample opportunity to walk it silently other times.

What was going through my mind, then, and continues to spin through my thoughts is how a labyrinth represents Life to me.

It is a meandering path. Frequently, you think you are going one direction and find that you have ended up turned around and going somewhere else. The end is often a surprise. There may or may not be other people going with you. And sometimes when you seem to be traveling together, you are headed in opposite directions. And things outside your own journey can be distractions or affect you in some other way.

As I walk, I often consider what the things outside the labyrinth represent. Do my pets represent Spirit Guides? Is my shed a metaphor for the Halls of Valhalla? Could my wooded area represent the Wood Between the Worlds in the Chronicles of Narnia? When I hear my neighbors chatting on their deck, should it evoke the voices of angels or gods?

Or should I instead consider my walk the path of Jonah, traversing the bowels of the Great Fish? More than once the circuitous route has called to mind the Belly of a Beast.

It reminds me of the folds of a brain, too. Which would make me a Thought and that gives rise to another round of existential postulation

I had been wishing to explore other labyrinths in the area. There are many, according to the Labyrinth Locater on the Grace Cathedral website. Chuck was willing so we have planned an outing on Sunday. My intention is to go to one, public and /or easily accessed, labyrinth a month. I have been inviting friends.

I’m excited about this.

Boys inthe labyrinth

2006-11-27T23:04:00.000-05:00

My sister and her sons came to see me Wednesday night. We got our part of the Feast ready and went to High Point on Thursday to join our parents and her husband at our cousins' house. Our uncle and aunt were down visiting their oldest daughter's family, so we had a good gang of family together.

BUT

Before we left Thursday morning.

Ingrid wanted to walk the labyrinth.

So, Forrest, who is 7, went first. He walked in, hit the middle, said "Whaddoo I do now?" and whipped back out. He stayed on the path, but seemed to feel like it was more of a physical exercise than anything else.

(Not everyone gets anything from the unicursal path. My son, who worked so hard to help me build it totally does NOT get anything from it. That's just how it goes.)

I went next.

Sawyer, who will be 4 on Dec 27, came in behind me. He stayed in the path, mostly. A couple of times he tried putting his foot over the line and then pulled it back in to the "right" side. Once, he stepped over completely, looked up at me and laughed and then stepped back. He examined the path as he went.

Obviously, I got to the middle before he did, so I got to just watch him make the last 3 turns. When he hit the straightaway, he grinned, put his arms up and ran in to me. We had a big hug and smooch while we waited for him mom to catch up.

We went back out in the same order and he was just as inquisitive and as intentional going out as he had been coming it. While Ingrid and I sat on the bench talking a little, he started back in, kind of playing with the boundaries of the path, walking to a turn, deciding to stay on the path rather than step over, looking at the rocks or the mushroom growing by them.

When Ingrid called him to come out because it was time to go, he came out by the path.

He is a groovy little man.

Labyrinth in Mebane!

2006-10-19T22:39:00.002-04:00

It is about 60' in diameter. The center is 8' in diameter and the path ranges from 3' to 4' wide.
I did it free hand, so it is a little wobbly. I had walked a Cretan labyrinth near Ashville in the spring and it has BIG variations in the widths of the path. I found that I like that metaphor. There are times in our lives when the way is broad and easy and other times when it is more constricted. So, I felt less obligated to make meticulous measurements for my own labyrinth.

I first walked a labyrinth in 2001 at the Episcopal church I was attending. It was a canvas 3/4 siize Chartes replica and borrowed from another church andit rocked my socks. I had this huge, ugly, empty field in my backyard that I had been trying to think of a way to beautify and the idea was born.

My husband was not interested in helping me install a labyrinth or in putting any money into one so it never happened. After that marriage ended, I bought a different house for myself and there was, once again, a huge, open space behind the house. My first thought when I saw the emptiness was "My labyrinth can go there."

I lived here for 2 years puzzling over how best to make it a reality before I got around to actually doing anything.

This spring, I walked the Cretan labyrinth and then had opportunity to walk a Santa Rosa labyrinth made of lavender in Michigan in June. I had already decided that I like the design of the Santa Rosa for a variety of reasons and that walk kind of put me over the edge.

When I got back from that trip, I still had some money in my bank account, so I went to a rock and gravel company and looked at all the options. I looked at a LOT of rocks. And decided that I liked the glacial rocks the best. They range from pieces a couple of inches wide to about the size of a baby's head. They are varied in color; they are roundish; I like that they have done some travelling.

I bought 2 baskets of them to the tune of 2.5 tons. They sat in my yard for the whole summer waiting for the grass to slow down its growth.

When I finally felt like it was time, I started making circles in the grass. When I had all eight circles outlined, I made the lines that divided the paths by breaking the lines of the circles I had made and opening up the sections that needed it.

I walked it to be sure that I had divided it correctly and made a couple of adjustments. Then, I started filling in the lines.

I only work on it on the weekends. By the time I get home from work and recuperate a little, it is too dark to see what I'm doing. I have about 1/4 to 1/3 of the lines filled in completely. I expect to have that finished in 2 weeks, based on how much I got done last Saturday.

A friend walked it last night. I was delighted. She had never walked a labyrinth before and she liked it. She's been listening to me talk about it for a while, so she was curious.

I have registered it in the Grace Cathedral Labyrinth Locator and intend to share it with whomever wants to use it. When I get to church in the next couple of weeks, I will be offering it to the UU congregation.

I have some Pagan friends that I have told are welcome, too. One was delighted when I told her that her coven was welcome to come to for a day or evening if they wanted to. "Evening" being a Southern euphemism. I don't care what time they come or how late they stay. Darkness just means we have to find a way to light it up, but I have a lot of jelly jars and tealights, so that is not impossible.

Santa Rosa!!

2006-10-01T22:36:00.001-04:00

It is usable.

I have the paths laid out with glacial rocks and have walked it.

They are correct.

The gazing ball I bought at the nursery with the lavender labyrinth in Michigan is in the heart space and I have marked the entrance with a shepherd's crook holding a votive. The entrance is in a generally easterly direction as I don't have a compass and didn't want to wait any longer.

I still need to fill in rocks. It is a dotted line right now. And I am waiting on the zoysia plugs I ordered to get here.

But it works. :-D

Here we go.

2006-07-03T22:30:00.001-04:00

I bought 2.5 tons of glacial rocks on Friday.

The labyrinth begins.

2006-04-16T22:18:00.002-04:00

I went with my youngest sister to her first labyrinth on Sunday morning. It is near her house and that is a VERY good thing. We both enjoyed it mightily. It was a traditional Cretan 7-circuit labyrinth on a hill under some very nice trees. It is near Asheville in Western North Carolina.

Planning

2006-04-15T22:10:00.001-04:00

This is the plan.

First, I will kill the grass with layers of cardboard or newspaper. I've been doing that in my kitchen herb/flowerbed and it is very effective.

Then, I will lay out the shape of the Santa Rosa labyrinth using these edgers.

When it is all outlined, I will cover the paper stuff with some decent topsoil.

Last, I will use plugs to plant the paths with Zoysia grass. It is heaven to walk on and thrives in very sunny yards. There was a big patch of it between me and my neighbor in the last house I lived in.

I may put some low growing flowering things in the corners of the turns.

It is always easy to get BIG cardboard boxes from work that can be broken down for the sheet mulching. I can do that all winter while the yucky grass is dormant. And I can buy some edgers each payday and then fiddle with the layout. I am thinking that I will start it around October and (hopefully) be ready to plug in the spring.

My yard is a brick full of huge chunks of quartz growing crappy grass and there is an obvious outline of the septic lines through the middle of the backyard. Putting the layer of topsoil in it rather than just letting the zoysia fill it in is a better way to insure that it will all grow well and evenly, I think.

I made an Excel spreadsheet to fiddle with the sizes of the Jerusalem and the paths. I think I want the center to 7' in diameter and the paths to be 2.5'. But, actually laying it out may change my mind.

Starting

2005-08-12T21:26:00.002-04:00

This is a 7 circuit labyrinth. I am going to try to put it in my back yard.

I have been pondering this for about 4 years.

This will give you an idea of the different ways labyrinths can be done.

This weekend, I intend to use spray paint to outline it on the grass as a preliminary effort.