Is a Labyrinth a Maze?
My first recall of hearing of a labyrinth was in listening to a Carole King album in my 20’s. There was a song, I thought entitled ”Labyrinth”, that had a line: “I’m lost in a labyrinth”. And thus I came to believe that a labyrinth was a place in which one could easily become lost, such as a maze. So, when my spiritual director suggested I walk the labyrinth behind the church grounds I wasn’t too sure about this!
It was through the risk of walking it that I learned that walking the labyrinth could be a very calming, prayerful, non-stressful experience. Rather than a maze it is a patterned walk, journey, toward the center.
Since then I’ve read more about the labyrinth and found that it developed over time as a way to represent both the journey of life and spirituality. Growing from the time when pilgrimages were made back to Jerusalem and later to selected cathedrals the labyrinth became a ritual to symbolize the end of a journey home to center.
Today we are aware that when the body, mind, and spirit are all activated together then results are generally more profound. In walking the labyrinth, then, one prays through movement of the body, use of the mind in following the path, and prayer of the spirit within. As we walk, we reach the center and often will find the issue which was the focus of the walk is clearer and we are calmer.
There are two labyrinths that I know of in the valley. One is in the desert behind the Franciscan Renewal Center and the other at Trinity Cathedral downtown. They are each different in personality but allow for the symbolic journey of prayer and centering. I’ve just become aware that one can also purchase finger labyrinths, used in a quiet place whereby one lets one’s “fingers do the walking,” as well as fabric walking labyrinths, and directions to develop your own labyrinth on your property.
So, a labyrinth is not a maze, but rather a direct route to centering through a spiritual journey that takes anywhere from five minutes to an hour. Do you need help slowing your mind and body and find meditation too constraining? Perhaps walking in a labyrinth is a possibility.
It was through the risk of walking it that I learned that walking the labyrinth could be a very calming, prayerful, non-stressful experience. Rather than a maze it is a patterned walk, journey, toward the center.
Since then I’ve read more about the labyrinth and found that it developed over time as a way to represent both the journey of life and spirituality. Growing from the time when pilgrimages were made back to Jerusalem and later to selected cathedrals the labyrinth became a ritual to symbolize the end of a journey home to center.
Today we are aware that when the body, mind, and spirit are all activated together then results are generally more profound. In walking the labyrinth, then, one prays through movement of the body, use of the mind in following the path, and prayer of the spirit within. As we walk, we reach the center and often will find the issue which was the focus of the walk is clearer and we are calmer.
There are two labyrinths that I know of in the valley. One is in the desert behind the Franciscan Renewal Center and the other at Trinity Cathedral downtown. They are each different in personality but allow for the symbolic journey of prayer and centering. I’ve just become aware that one can also purchase finger labyrinths, used in a quiet place whereby one lets one’s “fingers do the walking,” as well as fabric walking labyrinths, and directions to develop your own labyrinth on your property.
So, a labyrinth is not a maze, but rather a direct route to centering through a spiritual journey that takes anywhere from five minutes to an hour. Do you need help slowing your mind and body and find meditation too constraining? Perhaps walking in a labyrinth is a possibility.