Following are snippets of shared conversation before we walked the labyrinth at SpiritWoods in Stillwater, MN. Mary Freitag, our host, shared reflections and then each participant shared perspectives.
“When we are still, we experience within. At our core center, we find peace. Pathways in life twist and turn. When we turn away from the center, we are reminded we are going to the center.”
Gratitude is essential and fundamental.
“At the Center is love and union with the Divine. All elements can teach across faiths. The four directions – north, south, east and west – of the Native American traditions. The lunations representing the lunar cycle.”
When planning her labyrinth, she asked “Where does the labyrinth belong?” and how could it be built with minimal cutting of trees? She went back and forth with the landscape architect who kept returning to a certain part of the yard. Mary kept insisting on certain measurements and the landscape architect kept affirming that the space he was in had the requirements. 60’x61’ and 40’. The space accommodated what Mary required and she kept rejecting it. Finally, the scales fell from Mary’s eyes She realized the space where the landscape architect had been standing in and describing was indeed the sacred space she desired. She rescued bricks from a demolished building, the incident with the bobcat machine turning over, mixing the sand with cement for a softly firm footing and to encourage moss to grow over time for a lovely underfoot feel.
Other reflections from members:
The flower is a seed pattern for a processional labyrinth.
Creatively connect with center, God and community through the White Bear Lake Arts Center.
We tend to walk when things are not so great. Invite people to move into a place of gratitude.
I’ve been on a labyrinth my whole life because I often feel lost.
I want to walk with people in my heart but not my head.
Math is about finding patterns which is a right-brain activity. The left brain is involved, not exclusively. There is more to life than the left brain. Mathematics has a spiritual side. Consider the Georgian Labyrinths that are artfully constructed.
Trying to find “the path.”
Windows…doors…thresholds.
Trust the process.
A Baptist church in Alabama (?) has a labyrinth.
The Labyrinth Society’s Gathering, last weekend in September in Scottsdale, AZ, “Weaving Our Stories.” What story does the labyrinth tell? i.e. the materials, who comes to walk, the animals. (See Mary’s story that begins this blog.)
“You need to have the community supporting the labyrinth project or you may as well not do it.”
Children’s labyrinths.
“The labyrinth has been life-giving for me.”
1080 Labyrinth 