The labyrinth

Two weeks ago, I read an interview with Dr. Lauren Artress about walking the labyrinth. The labyrinth is a circular pattern found in ancient cultures world-wide and was used during the Middle Ages as a substitute for pilgrimages to Jerusalem (since travel at that time was so perilous). The most well-known is probably the labyrinth inlaid into the stone floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. Dr. Artress, Episcopal priest and psychotherapist, reintroduced the labyrinth as a form of walking meditation and a path of prayer in her book, Walking a Sacred Path.

There are two labyrinths at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Since Grace Cathedral is only half a mile from ACT, my wife and I decided to give this a try after our final play (see this post). I was very curious to see if I would gain any personal or spiritual insights from this ancient technique. In the interview, Artress says:

Walking the labyrinth really somehow turns the key and the lock for many people. Many people feel that we aren't living out what they're here for; that they haven't found their sealed orders. And, of course, sealed orders can change, too, as you move into a different phase of your life ... [The labyrinth] uses the metaphoric part of the brain. When you're walking the path, it is symbolic of your path in life. You realize that we're not only human beings on a spiritual path; we're spiritual beings on a human path. That beautiful inversion begins then as your spiritual self sees the bigger picture - [you realize] your presence here on earth is valuable, and you have something to contribute ... People who are very hard on themselves, beating themselves up, giving themselves negative messages all the time, begin to hear that in a new way. In fact, they begin to realize that they're doing it. And so the sense of ease, non-judgment and self-acceptance, all of those things flow out of the labyrinth walk ...

One woman came up to me and said, "You know, nothing happened to me in the labyrinth except I felt a deep sense of peace." I don't know what I said to her, but I may have said facetiously, "Oh, gee. I'm sorry. Only peace?" So we do discount. When somebody comes up and says nothing happened in the labyrinth, I always ask them, "What did nothing feel like?" Because then that connects them to the experience and then they realize they had a whole flow of feelings while they were in it.

When we got to Grace Cathedral, there was a wedding going on inside so we ended up walking the outdoor labyrinth. There was only one other woman there at the time. On my way towards the center, I remember getting frustrated that it was taking so long. It wasn't about the journey but about the destination (see this post). On the way out, I remember worrying that I hadn't paid attention and made a wrong turn - that I was going the wrong way. As Artress puts it, the labryrinth turned out to be a "mirror of the soul".

Afterwards, I compared notes with my wife. We both agreed the labyrinth was a good metaphor for life with all its twists and turns - sometimes coming quite rapidly and other times after long stretches of calm. I also made the observation that the path gets you pretty close to the center very quickly but then you wind your way back out to the perimeter for a long time before finally making your way to the center. I think that's an excellent metaphor for the spirtual journey that I'm on. I've had a burst of spiritual activity and got relatively close to God pretty quickly (see this post for example). But now I'm on this long, winding path trying to figure out what it all means and how I want to incorporate all of this into my life. I'm sure there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way, plenty of times when God seems very distant or that I'm going in the wrong direction. But the trick (as with the labyrinth) is to trust the path you're on. It will lead you where you want to go.

As Artress puts it, "you just simply follow the paths. A lot of people confuse this. [A labyrinth is] not a maze. It's actually designed to help you find your way. It's not designed for you to lose your way in it ... [People] are confused in our language. A maze has cul-de-sacs, dead-ends, many entrances or exits, and so you're brought out into the outer world, kind of trying to find your way. It's often anxiety-producing, too. A labyrinth, because it has one path, is really a spiritual exercise - you simply trust the path. Then you realize how much is in the way of just trusting the path, even though your cognitive mind knows that it will take you to the center. You meet yourself. You might be anxious. You might be judging. You might be scolding yourself that you're not going to do it right."

It's unfortunate I don't live closer to Grace Cathedral. I'd like to walk the labyrinth more often. I think it would be good for me. Perhaps it's just added incentive to visit my brother up in San Francisco more often.