Best to stay on the path
A sure bet I’ll get wet on this walk. Wellies are great in March during mud season. Sucking sound of the mud pulling my boots Both expected and not so becomes a point of distraction. The center rock gives me pause and I have decided that it probably does that for other pilgrims, too. It is a barrier but not intended as such. I step around it, remembering the dream of the horse. I make friends with the horse and the rock and with my Guide, walk into the labyrinth.
A day like New England in spring – moist, seasonally cool, a bit foggy. Remnants of fall plants litter the ground. They don’t block the path, but need stepping over, and actually considering their role.
The little puddles make me think of the ephemeral pools of later spring where we would find the dark spotted orange newts. This past autumn my nieces and I found them on our walk at the Ledges in N.H. An indicator of the general environmental health of a place.
Trails exposed
Further along a winding half tunnel crosses the path. A rodent that is safe traveling under the snow is now at risk from above by raptors on the move. So, I follow it across the lawn to the edge of the drive where it disappears. Re-tracing my steps I pick up my path between the rocks and dormant plants. Sparkly Rock makes a good stop. So, I think, listen, watch, breathe, feel. All that sentient stuff.
Even in death the grasses, stalks and random leaves have intriguing colors, shapes and textures. Do fashion types look at nature to capture colors and textures for the next season’s hits? What use do these skeletons from last year have? I can think of some.
Earth, Air, Water, Ice
The path alternates between squishy and more solid footing. And I have to walk through a long stretch of surface water. At Second Bench I sit and reflect on my morning Sauna Reiki and visualizing this walk. I’m following it pretty closely. Guide with me as I entered, going along with, allowing distractions. At Second Bench on the outer circle closer to the road Guides assured me “We have your back. You are supported.” Integrated Energy Therapy concepts. As the circuits become smaller I know I am closer to the center and suddenly am far away both physically and emotionally. I’m “home” in New Hampshire – out by the brook, in the tall grasses, amid the alders, stepping hammock to hammock. I thank Daddy for showing me these things as a kid.
Living. Hollow. Doomed. Magnificent.
At first bench I sit and am simultaneously on the front porch with one to be a friend, held close in comfort, “It’s all right.” Then, at the magnolia tree – is it a vortex? I touch each trunk, note the fresh woodpecker hole then, like the kids and almost every adult I have seen at Center, climb into the cradle of Center’s arms.
For once, I follow the entire path back out, striding quickly and just like in the Sauna walk, I approach the entrance and walk right through the rock (metaphorically speaking) and don’t even realize it. I am out of the labyrinth and the Guide just let me go on my own, because I can do it now.
A weight has lifted today. I was blessed with the honor of giving two Reiki sessions with clients and my own Sauna Reiki which perhaps cleared the air. Opened the heart.
1080 Labyrinth 