Preparing to walk the labyrinth

People have approached labyrinths in many ways—sometimes as artlessly as possible. You don't have to bring any expectations with you. Kids naturally are drawn to enter and to play in them. Over the centuries sometimes they have been sites for dancing—sometimes ceremonially and sometimes just whimsically.

There are three simple parts to walking a labyrinth: you walk inwardly to the center; you are in the center; you walk back out again. That simple archetypal rhythm has been associated with many things—as a form of birth/re-birth, for instance...and so as an opportunity to return to one's own center.

There's a potential fourth step as well—and that's whatever recollection or preparation one chooses to do before entering the labyrinth. It seems natural, sometimes even inevitable, to find affinities between the twists and turns of the labyrinth and the twists and turns in one's own life.

So gathering oneself, paying attention to how one feels—including how one's body feels in the moment—can be very helpful. Often someone brings a question or an intention—not an expectation—to one's walk. People have had surprising experiences. And very ordinary ones. It's all alright.

We'll have a brief gathering at 6 pm to help us prepare to walk the labyrinth. But you can walk (or not walk) any way you'd like. You can walk when others are in the labyrinth, and/or you can come back a little later to walk all on your own.

We're looking forward to seeing you.