Some of us have never walked a labyrinth and so we may be asking,  Just how does a person walk a labyrinth?  What are the rules?

First of all, there is no one correct way to walk a labyrinth.  Each labyrinth walk may be an entirely different experience from other labyrinth walks. 

Can more than one person walk a labyrinth at a time?  Yes.  There is no restriction on how many people can walk at one time. 

Well, what if the person in front is walking as slow as a tortoise?  Be polite and considerate, but feel free to pass.  People walk the labyrinth at different paces.  We can all live together on and off labyrinths peacefully.  Amen.

Should you talk to the other person walking the labyrinth?  Typically, people like to walk the labyrinth in silence.  So don’t speak to others.  Of course, if no one is on the labyrinth and you are walking the labyrinth with a friend with whom you’ve prearranged being chatty Kathy’s while you walk the labyrinth together, go for it.  But if others show up you’ll have to zip your lips.  Personally, though, I recommend silence.  God can be heard in words and noise, but our lives are filled with noise and chatter.  Time in silence can be good for us.

Can I dance the labyrinth?  I knew somebody was going to ask that.  Of course not, this is a Baptist labyrinth.  No, if you are on the labyrinth by yourself feel free to sing, dance, or play a trumpet.  But if others are present, everything changes.  You should not be a distraction to other labyrinth walkers.

What if nothing happens when I walk the labyrinth?  What if I’m disappointed with my labyrinth walk?  Well, labyrinth walking may not be for you, but I would encourage you to have intentions when you walk the labyrinth, not expectations.  Expectations set us up to feel disappointed or lead us to think we didn’t walk the labyrinth correctly.  Don’t put pressure on yourself.  Rather, simply have an intention.  Today when I walk the labyrinth my intention is to open myself, my heart, my mind to thinking about a health problem I have.   Today I walk the labyrinth with the intention to get my life more in balance.  I walk with the intention of praying about a conflicted relationship I am in.  I walk seeking guidance.  I walk to practice being thankful.  I walk to be released from the power of depression.  Will you still be depressed?  Maybe.  But what if a labyrinth walk empowered you to say, I will not be defeated by my depression. ------ Or perhaps you just walk and see where you mind goes.  My intention today for this walk is to be wide open to whatever happens during the walk.   

I predict all your labyrinth walks will not be ecstatic experiences.  The labyrinth will not provide you with perfect bliss or a perfect life.  But I also predict your time on the labyrinth will not be a waste of time, and, could very well over time provide you with moments of insight and empowerment.

Entrance To The Labyrinth Questions

1. What were the early years of my life like?

2. What new beginning do I need in my life?

3. What new beginnings have I had in my life?

4. Am I a self-starter or do I have trouble "getting the ball rolling"? (What might I be afraid of? What are the various dynamics of my ambivalence and inability to act?)

5. What doors have been closed to you? (Why have those doors been closed?)

6. Who are the people and what are the events that have opened up a whole new world to you, a new way of understanding yourself and the world?

7. Think of when you became a Christian. How do you feel God has changed you since that first step of following Jesus?

8. Are you a parent of a young child? What are your hopes and dreams for the beginning of their life?

9. Are you in the beginning stages of a relationship? What thoughts and emotions are swimming in you as you are thinking about this relationship?

10. What is something I started but did not finish? What can my not finishing something tell me about myself? Am I ambivalent about what I started? What can I learn about myself from my ambivalence? Do I fear failure because of.....past failures, experience of a very critical parent or partner/spouse, or because I am too critical of myself? Do I tend to be passive agressive?

11) What new thing could I do to make the world a better place?

12) Is the current pace of my life too fast? [Walk the labyrinth slowly as a way of saying to yourself that you need to slow down.]

13) [For Wedgewoodians] What can I do to make Wedgewood the church it needs to be?

14) [For Wedgewoodians] What do I have to give to Wedgewood? What do I need to receive from Wedgewood?

15) How has church or spirituality been a problem for me in the past? How might church, personal involvement in mission activitity, and/or spirituality transform me?

 

Center of the Labyrinth Questions

1) Who or what is the center of your existence?

2) Who or what holds you together?

3) Are you distracted? Do you need to be more centered?

4) Do you find yourself getting caught in the middle of other people's conflicts? How can you keep loving each of the people in the conflict while not getting caught in the middle and taking on the stress of their relationship?

5) How long do you think you will live? Are you at the middle of your life? What do you want to do with the time you have left?

6) Are you a young person headed toward adulthood? What new responsibilities and opportunities are you seeking?

7) In some of our relationships a good bit of time may have passed and a lot of water has gone under the bridge. What have been the joys and hurts of such a relationship? What aspects of the relationship have been swept under the rug? What needs to be forgiven? What are times you've had together that remind you of how blessed you have been? What are your hopes for the future of the relationship?

 

Exit Questions For Labyrinth Walking

1) What are some of the endings you have experienced?

2) What deaths have you mourned?

3) What are some exits you need to take in life?

4) What are some things you need to end in your life?

5) Where do you go next in your life?

6) What friends and communities do you have to help you live in the world?

7) What do you want to do before your life ends?

8) What fears do you have about the future?

Just after the Labyrinth was finished, I decided to walk it. This was on a Thursday and so I had finished my bi-weekly workout at the senior center and had a few minuets before meeting the Wedgewoodians, uh Christians, for lunch.

Now as some of you know, I have had three surgeries on my right knee in two years. And I have had foot surgery also. So this was to be a test. If I could walk the Labyrinth with its crooks and turns and its gravel pathway, then just about anyone would be able to do it. Well, like I said, I had a few minuets to kill before lunch and so I was going to quickly walk the Labyrinth. Wrong!!!!!! One does not quickly walk Wedgewood’s Labyrinth. You walk the Labyrinth at the pace the Labyrinth dictates. So on my very first turn, I almost fall flat on my face.  I steadied myself and slowed down. But as I was walking, I fell into the rhythm of the labyrinth and actually started meditating. Low and behold the noise from the street became white noise and I could hear the trees sway in the breeze and also hear the birds singing.  Amazing.

I made another turn and there was the center of the labyrinth just one row away. I thought to myself, “it can not be this easy” and it wasn’t. The next turn took me completely out to the outside edge of the darn thing and I felt bad. I had been so close to the center and now I was nowhere near it. But I walked on and quieted down and listened to my own heart beat and also listened to that small voice in the back of my head. You know the one that tells you what to do but you don’t listen to it. So I was listening and walking. The next thing I know, I am at the center. It felt good. I was at the center. My center, God’s center, the universe’s center. And then came the let down. I had to leave the Labyrinth and go meet the Christians for lunch. So I started back and felt a little sad to have to leave the center behind and then I turned a corner and there I was just one row away from the center and the memory and the thrill of centeredness filled me again. A few more steps and I was out. Then I was awash with the thrill of having set out to perform a task and actually completing it. But at the same time as I walked away, it was as though I was leaving an old friend behind. Then the relieving thought came to me:  I will walk the Labyrinth again.

 

Edging - 1,362 linear feet

Crushed Concrete/Gravel (RCB) - 49 tons

"Alabama stone" - 8 tons

Brick chips - 1 ton

Mulch - 8 yards

 

Built by:

WB Design Group
Charlotte, NC
WWW.WBDESIGNGROUP.COM
“Developing pristine outdoor living spaces for the greater Charlotte area”

Please contact us:

Owner
Wade Baxely
704-891-2165

Administrative Assistant
Timothy Hutchison
704-718-4389

Synopsis of labyrinth building procedures:

WB Design Group drew upon its skill and focus for excellence to develop this meaningful and unique landmark. Once the center of the labyrinth was established, ground preparation began. We spread, leveled then smoothed a circular gravel foundation. To ensure proper spacing, we painted the labyrinth design onto the smoothed gravel. We firmly set the pathway borders into place by positioning each stone paver by hand, then nailing them down. The central petals and all curves required meticulous stone cutting and exact measurements so all pieces would beautifully fit together. After piecing together the puzzle, the final layers of gravel were spread. Then, to compliment the labyrinth, WB Design Group encircled it with dark mulch. It has become a fine addition to Wedgewood Baptist Church.

 

Lauren Artress, The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform

Lauren Artress, Walking a Sacred Path:  Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice

Gernot Candolini, Labyrinths: Walking Toward the Center

Helen Curry, The Way of the Labyrinth: A Powerful Meditation for Everyday Life

Penelope Reed Doob, The Idea of the Labyrinth from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages

Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion, Praying the Labyrinth: A Journal for Spiritual Exploration

Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion, Pondering the Labyrinth: Questions to Pray on the Path

Richard Kautz, A Labyrinth Year:  Walking the Seasons of the Church

Hermann Kern, Through the Labyrinth

Sig Lonegren, Labyrinths: Ancient Myths and Modern Uses

W.H. Matthews, Mazes and Labyrinths: Their History and Development

Helen Raphael Sands, The Labyrinth: Pathway to Meditation and Healing

Helen Raphael Sands, The Healing Labyrinth:  Finding Your Path to Inner Peace

Jeff Saward, Labyrinths and Mazes - A Complete Guide to Magical Paths of the World

Jeff Saward, Magical Paths - Labyrinths & Mazes in the 21st Century

Donna Schaper, and Carole Ann Camp, Labyrinths from the Outside In: Walking to Spiritual Insight - A    Beginner's Guide

Melissa Gayle West, Exploring the Labyrinth:  A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth

Virginia Westbury, Labyrinths: Ancient Paths of Wisdom and Peace

Charlotte Labyrinths

http://www.charlottelabyrinthgroup.com/

Labyrinth information from Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth

Labyrinth Society

http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/

Labyrinthos

http://www.labyrinthos.net/index.html

Labyrinthos - The Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth, one of the best known labyrinths in the world

http://www.labyrinthos.net/chartresfaq.html

Labyrinthlocator.com

http://labyrinthlocator.com/

Labyrinths.org - Labyrinth locator

http://www.labyrinths.org/lablocators.html

Labyrinths in North Carolina

http://www.labyrinthsinnc.com/index.html

Labyrinth Resource Group

http://www.labyrinthresourcegroup.org/

Labyrinths International

http://www.charityadvantage.com/QuadCity_Labyrinth_ProjectAYSDYT/Home.asp

From the Charlotte Labyrinths Group

Discover the Labyrinth - Come Walk With US
Labyrinth and Lunch

Did you know that there are fifteen, yes FIFTEEN labyrinths in/near Charlotte, NC?

Starting in January, 2012, we will meet on the second Tuesday of each month to walk and experience what the different labyrinths in/around Charlotte have to offer. 

For more information on Labyrinth and Lunch  or to participate, contact Kathy Mansfield  Heron39@aol.com 

Schedule:

10:30am

Meet at the designated labyrinth

10:45am - 11:45am

Walk the labyrinth together

11:45am – 12:45

Travel to a local restaurant for lunch, once the weather gets better we can “brown bag” it.

Labyrinth Schedule:

January 10 – Myers Park Baptist Church
Feburary 14 – Sardis Baptist Church
March 13- Davidson College labyrinth (meet at church @ 10 am to carpool)
April 10 - Avondale Presbyterian Church
May 8-  Wedgewood Baptist Church
June and July, no scheduled walks
August 14 – South Tryon Community Church
September 11- Almetto Howey Alexander Labyrinth @ the McCrorey YMCA
October 9 – The Oratory, Rock Hill (meet at the church @ 10 am to carpool)
November 13, TBD
December 8, TBD

 For more information on where to walk in Charlotte, go to: www.charlottelabyrinthgroup.com