Labyrinth Walk

[mari4212]

I didn't get to post on this yesterday, because Dad was on the computer when I got home and I went to bed early, but my mother and I went to walk a labyrinth (this: http://www.oldstandrews.net/labyrinth/labyrinth.html) with her prayer group on Tuesday evening.

It was...amazing. The room where it was set up was so calming, dimmed lighting, little votive candles everywhere, quiet. There was the large floor labyrinth set up towards the front, and on tables in the back there were these medium sized finger labyrinths and very small stylus labyrinths to use in addition to or instead of the walking labyrinth.

For the most part, it was just the five of us from the prayer group, with one guy who left shortly after my mother and I arrived, and another man with his son who got there about midway through our group's walk. His son was so cute about it, running through the spirals. When we were talking afterwards, Jane, the reverend at St. Andrews, mentioned that when she had researched labyrinths before, that was one of the things which came up. Adults slowed down when they walked the labyrinth, but children ran for the sheer joy of it. I'd love to do it both ways, actually. Going slowly, you get lost in it. You sink into the pattern of walking and turning, and stop really thinking about anything, even where you are in the pattern. But running? I'd imagine that would heighten the dizzying spirals, and you'd just get carried away in the movement and the rush that comes out of it.

I'd wanted to do labyrinth prayer for such a long time, ever since I first heard about it. I wasn't disappointed in it, it really was quite moving.

I do think I would have gotten more out of it if I had more practice with meditating, though. I have a feeling it would have deepened the experience. And there are people at school who I would love to walk a labyrinth with, because I feel like they'd get a lot out of it as well. Especially since, for something which is so solitary, I did feel extraordinarily connected to the others as I was walking the path, particularly when it was just my mother, Jane, and I walking together.

Comments

[petitecrivan.livejournal.com]

When we took my brother to visit USI, we saw that they have a labyrinth over there. I've seen a little bit about them and it looks very interesting. If I had one that I could get to, I would try it. The one at USI is in a very central location...it'd be like placing one in memorial plaza. Sort of weird.

[lady-tigerfish.livejournal.com]

I would love to walk a labyrinth someday. Our religious studies department (by which I mean mostly the chaplain, with the religious studies department thinking it's really cool and advertising it) puts up a floor-labyrinth every year during finals that people can walk for meditative purposes, but there's a big difference between the real deal and a big rug. Glad you got so much out of it; I really do think they're a beautiful tool for meditation.