Podcast 78: Labyrinths: Ancient Paths Alive Today

A labyrinth is not a maze.

There are no dead ends. No tricks. No wrong turns. Just one winding path inward, and one path back out again.

In Episode 78, we talk about labyrinths as ancient tools for meditation, intuition, healing, sacred geometry, Earth wisdom, ceremony, and community. We share stories from Chartres Cathedral, Alaska, retreat centers, finger labyrinths, portable labyrinths, and a 150-foot mown grass labyrinth on Ohio farmland.

Find a labyrinth. Walk it. Trace it. Dance it. Sit with it. Let the path do what paths do.

Transcript

Linda: Hello, and welcome to 2 Crones and a Microphone. We are so excited to be with you today. I’m Linda.

Betty: And I’m Betty.

Sally: Sally here.

Linda: Today we’re going to talk about a topic that is near and dear to all three of us, and that is labyrinths.

Sally: Labyrinths: ancient paths alive today.

Linda: There has been a tremendous resurgence in interest in labyrinths worldwide over the last twenty-five years or so. We’re going to walk you through the difference between a labyrinth and a maze. We’re going to talk about books, resources, personal experiences, and how labyrinths can be used for meditation, healing, intuition, ceremony, and community.

Betty, you had a great idea. Why don’t you hold up this beautiful labyrinth?

Betty: This one is a replica of the Chartres labyrinth. You can see the white lines here. Those are the walls. You would enter from the bottom and begin walking the path.

Linda: One of the key things about labyrinths is that there is no wrong turn. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth is one continuous pathway that ultimately leads you to the center. Even though it twists and turns, there is no guesswork involved. There is no puzzle. There are no dead ends. It is a clear path that leads inward, and then you follow that same path back out again.

So why walk a labyrinth?

Labyrinths can be used symbolically. They can be used as walking meditation, choreography, dance, celebration, ceremony, personal transformation, psychological transformation, and spiritual transformation. There are so many ways to use them.

The one Betty is holding is a replica of one of the most famous labyrinths in the world, the 11-circuit labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France. “Circuit” refers to the number of paths that lead you inward toward the center.

Sally: Betty and I were fortunate enough to walk that labyrinth some time ago.

Betty: And why walk? Because who doesn’t want to open up to the possibility of change, peacefulness, and healing that might come from a little bit of intentional walking?

Linda: It’s really beautiful. Labyrinths embody what is known as sacred geometry. There are patterns and proportions built into them, but there is no single right way to make a labyrinth. There is no one style that is the only style.

I have a beautiful wooden labyrinth that I did not take off the wall because it is extremely heavy. It was a gift. I’ll post a picture of that on our Facebook page, 2 Crones and a Microphone, and send a copy to Sally so she can include it in a blog.

There are so many kinds. I also have a metal one somewhere, and I have a 7-circuit labyrinth that I painted on a ceramic plate. I use that as a finger labyrinth, tracing the path inward and outward as a meditation.

Betty: I just ordered a 9-foot labyrinth from Etsy that can be put outside. We have gatherings here and classes at Minerva, and this will give people the opportunity to make use of a labyrinth. For me, it’s a fantastic meditation tool.

I could put it in my living room during inclement weather, or we could use it at Minerva. There are many, many uses for a labyrinth. My personal use is usually for meditation.

It’s a lovely way to bring yourself to center. Your focus becomes focused. In that focus, you may bring down your blood pressure, slow your heart rate, and quiet your mind if it is racing with worries or thoughts. It brings everything to a focal point. At the end, you can walk out of the labyrinth feeling calmer and refreshed.

I’ve been fortunate to walk the Chartres labyrinth, but one of my other favorite labyrinths is outside Juneau, Alaska, at a Catholic retreat center. When you walk that labyrinth, you look out over the ocean. The ocean meets the sky, and it feels endless. If you look up as you walk, it brings a whole other dimension to the experience.

Linda: That’s gorgeous.

I first started walking labyrinths and became intentionally interested in them around the year 2000. I was living in Connecticut at the time and worked with The Labyrinth Society in New Canaan, Connecticut. The Labyrinth Society is still alive and well today, and it offers teaching tools, downloads, videos, and information about labyrinths worldwide.

At that time, for seasonal festivals like the equinox and solstice, and other important days such as the time before Thanksgiving, they would work with a local church to lay out a large portable replica of the Chartres labyrinth, about 30 feet by 30 feet. We were able to walk it ceremonially.

They also had a 7-circuit labyrinth, often known as a Greek or classical labyrinth, and a 5-circuit labyrinth, which is a shorter walk.

I benefited so much from that. Sometimes it was simply lovely to walk and ask, “What does my body need today? How can I listen to my intuition?” The labyrinth gave me space and time to walk intentionally.

Some labyrinth groups are very intentional about how they want people to walk. But I’m here to say: break the rules. It’s fine. You can dance along the labyrinth. You can skip. You can sing. You can walk out across the path if you need to. There are many ways to experience and use a labyrinth.

Some traditions include rhythmic drumming, rattles, and spiral dances. Spirals are among the oldest sacred patterns found around the world. A spiral dance can move inward, turn, and move back out again, following rhythm like a heartbeat.

Labyrinths are transformative. They play with metaphor and sacred geometry. They can become spiritual pilgrimage. That was part of the meaning of the Chartres labyrinth. In the Middle Ages, people who could not make the dangerous pilgrimage to Jerusalem could walk or kneel the labyrinth as a symbolic pilgrimage.

Labyrinths are also wonderful for community building. They create a shared experience, even though each person’s walk is unique.

Sally: I always like to jump in and say: if you have trouble walking, or if you can’t get to a labyrinth, there are still ways to work with one.

Betty and Linda have shared small labyrinths that can be traced with a finger. You can also go online, print out a labyrinth, or use a labyrinth on a computer screen and trace it with your finger.

I have a small round metal labyrinth that Betty gave me years ago. It fits in the palm of my hand. You can use your finger or a stylus. You don’t have to travel great distances. If you can’t get to a community labyrinth or one of the famous labyrinths, print one out and use your finger.

My sister-in-law uses a marker as a point of contact and traces the labyrinth that way. I usually use my finger, but her method is interesting and meditative too.

So if walking is not available to you, that should not prevent you from using a labyrinth as an opportunity to focus, center, and connect.

Linda: Absolutely. A labyrinth can be used in so many ways.

Last summer, a friend of mine and I, at his request, created a mown grass labyrinth on his farm. He had a large space, which not everyone has, and we began by listening to the land. We called in the four directions and asked Mother Earth and Father Sky to bless the space.

He wanted a five-sided, pentagonal shape. We oriented it with the four directions and then used a riding mower to create the path. Before mowing, we marked it with spray paint to make sure the spiral was even and properly placed. It took a couple of hours to get it set up.

The result is a large spiral path leading inward to a center space. It is on flat Ohio farmland, so as you walk you can see trees in the distance, nearby farms, fields, and a big barn. It is innately peaceful to walk that cycle. It is a simple spiral, one of the most basic and ancient forms of labyrinth.

There is also a story connected to that labyrinth. One of his aunts died last fall, and the family gathered on the farm. We placed a small altar in the center with her picture, flowers, and other meaningful items. Each person could carry a candle if they wanted. They could walk, run, pray, say a sentence, or say nothing. It did not matter.

It was meaningful for the family to have something embedded in the landscape. There were children there, and I told them, “Just run. Do whatever you want. There are no rules here. Think about your great-aunt and how lovely she was.”

There are so many ways to use a labyrinth.

Betty: That’s a lovely example of being creative with a labyrinth.

Linda: Labyrinths date back very far, and spirals date back even farther. The classical labyrinth appears on ancient coins from around 2,000 BCE. So we are talking about a symbol that has been around for thousands of years.

There is also the story of Ariadne, whose name means “bright one.” She was the daughter of King Minos and is associated with weaving and thread. In the myth, the Minotaur, half bull and half man, lives at the center of the labyrinth. Ariadne gives Theseus a thread so he can enter the labyrinth, find his way to the center, and then find his way back out again.

The story often focuses on Theseus slaying the Minotaur, but I’m interested in Ariadne and the thread. Who resides at the center of the labyrinth? Our own heart. Our own consciousness. Our own ability to transform and become wiser.

Betty: I think that’s absolutely true.

As I said, I use the labyrinth as a meditative practice, and I’m looking forward to having one outside. I have the perfect spot for it.

That reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, I set up a labyrinth in the back. It was a beautiful wooded spot. We had it mowed and ready. We used stones, shells, and crystals to mark it.

Linda, who works with me, came over, and her children were young at the time. School had been canceled, so she brought them with her. Suddenly, they came running in saying, “Mom, Mom, look what we found! All these shells and stones! They’re beautiful!”

They had deconstructed a major part of the labyrinth.

So now I have one that can be rolled up. It will not be deconstructed.

I have another story too. When you go on retreat, look to see whether there is a labyrinth nearby.

Years ago, I was at Omega. You all know I was in the Army, and the Army had sent me for a class on stress management because soldiers were coming back with PTSD. It was a very difficult experience. We had to go through our own material in order to understand what PTSD was like, and the stories people shared were horrific and draining.

Outside our cabin was a labyrinth. After class, I would go out and walk it because I needed to de-stress and get my energy back.

My roommate was a social worker and was attending some music classes nearby. One of her friends said to her, “I’m a little worried about your roommate.”

She asked, “Why? What’s wrong?”

He said, “I keep seeing her walking outside your cabin in circles, and I’m concerned about her mental health.”

It was just me walking the labyrinth. He didn’t know it was there.

Sally: Walking in circles.

Betty: Walking in circles. But it worked. It was a huge help. It helped me put myself back together after the emotional onslaught of that class.

Sally: Those are amazing labyrinth stories. I don’t have anything quite so fun or intense, but I will say that I love taking my shoes off to walk a labyrinth.

I took my shoes off at Chartres in France. That labyrinth is made of very old stone. The chairs usually sit over it, and they remove them only at certain times so people can walk it. We were fortunate to be there when the chairs had been removed.

To walk barefoot on those stones, where thousands of people have walked over centuries, was transformative. It blurred the boundaries of time.

Even in other labyrinths, it is lovely to take your shoes off and put your feet on the earth, whether you are standing on old stone, grass, or ground. That connection itself, what we might call grounding, is an amazing experience.

And I do love the story of someone thinking Betty was walking around in circles and being concerned. It was actually the opposite.

Linda: It is another way to let the earth receive whatever stressors we are carrying. Right now, we all have stressors in different ways. It is part of life, and it is part of what is happening in our psyches, our communities, and the world.

A labyrinth can be a way to carry your stress inward and drop it along the way. You can use the center as a place to refocus, reground, and reintegrate with what you need from the earth, your psyche, spirit, the elements, or the divine. Then you can intentionally carry that renewed energy with you as you walk back out.

Sally: We didn’t plan a wisdom practice, but I’ll offer this suggestion.

Think of Ariadne’s thread. As we wind through whatever situations we are facing, we can imagine carrying a thread to the heart of things. We can remember that there is a way through.

You can walk inward, allow certain emotions or burdens to remain within the labyrinth, and leave what you need to leave at the center. We’ve talked before about burden baskets. You can imagine placing your burden in a basket, or leaving it in the flower center or core of the labyrinth.

There is always a way out.

Sometimes, especially lately, it can feel like there is no way out of our troubles: financial troubles, spiritual troubles, work-related troubles, personal troubles. The labyrinth reminds us that there is a way to wind our way through. We can follow the thread inward, face what is at the center, and wind our way back out again.

Linda: Beautiful. Thank you, Sally.

I did a little research to make sure some resources are still current. Veriditas is one of the long-standing organizations connected with the modern labyrinth movement, and it offers teaching tools and resources. The Labyrinth Society also has excellent information, and the Labyrinth Locator allows you to search for labyrinths near you.

You can search by state, country, ZIP code, or other locator information, and it will show labyrinths in your area. It can tell you which ones are public, which are temporary, and which require an appointment.

Before we recorded, I searched Ohio and found many listed labyrinths. I searched Pennsylvania and found many there too. So even if you are traveling, this can be a resource for finding a labyrinth nearby.

Sally: I’ve used that site when I wanted to take students to a labyrinth. I used it to find open labyrinths in Oregon. It’s a great site.

Linda: We’ll be sure to post those resources.

There are so many other things we could say about labyrinths, but we want to encourage you to take a chance. Find a labyrinth. It can be online, a finger labyrinth, a printed labyrinth, or a walking labyrinth in your area. Give it a try and stay curious.

It doesn’t have to be a big deal, and it might be truly transformative. Please let us know what you find.

Betty: Yes, we would love that conversation. We have listeners from all over the globe. Let us know if you were able to find a labyrinth in your area.

Linda: On that note, we are helping you navigate the muddy waters of our time. Please subscribe. If you’re on YouTube, press the like button and subscribe to our podcast, wherever you listen or view. Become one of the family. We have a big extended family across the globe, and we’d love to welcome you in.

Sally: And as I usually say, go find your glimmer. Glimmers are those tiny moments that help re-center us, re-engage us, and reconnect us to the web of all that is.

Linda: You can also go to twocronesandamicrophone.com and subscribe to the newsletter. You can check out our blogs there as well. The monthly newsletter follows the twelve moons of the year, and it is free to sign up.

And on that note, remember always that you are surrounded in beauty.

All: All is made beautiful. Bye-bye.