Wisdom Ways Labyrinth, Saint Paul, Minnesota, April 2009, photo © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
It’s the first Saturday in May. Happy May Day weekend! Hope you got out and enjoyed World Labyrinth Day, “a global event intended to bring people from all over the planet together in celebration of the labyrinth as a symbol, a tool, a passion or a practice.” A few weeks ago, two of our friends began building a labyrinth in their front yard. I told them to be sure and document the process and to register their labyrinth at World-Wide Labyrinth Locator.
World Labyrinth Day is designed to inform and educate the public, host walks, build labyrinths, make labyrinth art and more. Part of the celebration is to invite others to “Walk as One at 1,” setting off a rolling wave of labyrinth walking as the Earth turns by walking at 1:00 p.m. in your local time zone. In Minneapolis, Central Lutheran Church had their doors open to walk their labyrinth from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The labyrinth in the photograph is the Wisdom Ways Labyrinth near the Carondelet Center at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Carondelet Center, built in 1912, is a stately brick Beaux Art landmark that originally served as the Novitiate for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. A few years ago, I walked the labyrinth there over the course of a year, a practice in all seasons, rain or shine. In April, I returned to walk after a long absence. It felt like coming home.
Here’s what the Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality says about the Wisdom Ways Labyrinth:
You are invited to experience an ancient walking meditation by walking our outdoor 77-foot diameter replica of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France. Walking the labyrinth is an ancient spiritual act and a physical meditation that has been rediscovered in our time. Anyone from any tradition or spiritual path can walk into the labyrinth and, through reflecting in the present moment, benefit.
The pattern of this labyrinth is a replica of the great 42-foot labyrinth embedded in stone within the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France, southwest of Paris. There is evidence that the Chartres labyrinth was first installed between 1194 and 1220. It was used in sacred devotion to take the place of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for those unable to make the actual trip. The center is the goal and is shaped like a six petal flower.
A labyrinth is an ancient circular pattern found in many cultures around the world. In its classical form, this sacred path has one concentric circular path with no possibility of going astray – unlike a maze, there are no dead-ends or false trails in a labyrinth. Labyrinths have been found in almost every spiritual tradition in the past 4000-5000 years in such areas as Egypt, Greece, Italy, France, England, Sweden, Peru and North America.
Red Converse All-Star Walks Labyrinth, Carondelet Center, Labyrinth Bench Press, Circle Bench, Saint Paul, Minnesota, April 2009, photos © 2009 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Labyrinths on red Ravine
- At The Labyrinth’s Center
- Slow Or Fast?
- prayers to ghost ranch labyrinth haiku
- Labyrinth — March Mandalas
- (Geo) Labyrinth Finder
- labyrinth haiku
- Spring Walk
- Labyrinth Walker
- Labyrinth
-posted on red Ravine, World Labyrinth Day, May 2nd, 2009 with gratitude to Lesley for alerting us to World Labyrinth Day
Happy May Day, QM, and happy World Labyrinth Day! I enjoyed reading about the Wisdom Ways Labyrinth. And I am intrigued by how the pattern is maintained in the grass.
I have mentioned before, but I would love to build a labyrinth on our property. I don’t think it’s anything we could do this year, as we have some other things we are trying to attend to, but in the future.
I’ve been noticing labyrinths on personal properties. I don’t know if it’s because I’m more awake to them or if they’re new. They don’t look new, so probably the former.
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ybonesy, the weekend was perfect. I actually was speaking at an all day event on Saturday and didn’t get a chance to walk the labyrinth. But during a break, near 1pm, near the time I was going to be speaking, I did a slow walk around the large room in a labyrinth pattern and thought of everyone out there walking labyrinths around the world. It was comforting.
The grass pattern on the Wisdom Ways labyrinth seems to maintain itself. At least partly. But I think I read the groundskeeper does groom it during the summer. It’s hard to get high enough over it to get a good shot. In the summer when the grass is high, the 6 lotus petals in the center are much more pronounced than they are this time of year. And you can walk it barefoot. It was a little chilly to be doing that the last time I was there. It’s such a great space though. Open and good energy.
I hope you end up putting a labyrinth on your place some day. I’m looking forward to seeing the one our friends end up with. They have just started it and I don’t know the pattern yet. I’ll keep you posted! 8)
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Have I suggested this before, QM?, or maybe you’ve thought of it, you or they should take photos of the process and do a post on it.
I was not so slowed down yesterday. A little too fast this weekend over all, although Saturday night, perhaps in the spirit of World Labyrinth Day, I had a nice relaxing evening. We got more rain. Yeah! Always a good thing in the desert mountains.
Meant to say that I love the red high-tops and the circle bench.
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ditto on the sneaks! mine are checkered 😉
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Heather, checkered sneakers fit you perfectly! I can picture them, too. Nothing like high tops to take you back. I feel free when I wear them. 8)
ybonesy, it’s raining here this morning, peaceful and quiet. A good day to write. I did mention to them to photograph their process. But maybe I’ll ask if I can take a few shots as well. They might have worked on their labyrinth this last weekend. Haven’t checked in with them yet on that.
BTW, one of those circle benches looks like it might have been around forever. The other might be newer. I photographed the older one. I’d like to know the history of those benches. If the Carondelet Center has been around since 1912, they might have been around a while, too.
It was so nice here last weekend! The first real Spring weekend in my eyes. Our cherry tree is blooming for the first time! It takes a few years for them to bloom and we noticed these white blooms everywhere yesterday (it had about 5 cherries last year; I expect more this year). The lilacs take longer to bloom and it’s got blooms this year for the first time, too. I think Liz planted it maybe 5 years ago? I’ll have to check on that. It’s garden season!
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Another tremendous post on the subject. I spent a good hour the other night after you’d posted it following all the links. A little disappointed that the locator wasn’t able to come up with one anywhere near me though. Drat!
Thanks for your visit and encouraging comments QM re: the mandala. I’m looking forward to the rest of your series.
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Norm, thanks so much. Ah, that’s a bummer about no labyrinth in your area. Hard to believe. There seemed to be so many of them at the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator. I’m guessing that some private labyrinths aren’t listed anywhere, yet people still open them up for others to walk. Maybe you’ll bump into someone who has one on their land there.
A lot of times when I travel, I’m so busy with everything else, I don’t take the time to go walk a local labyrinth. I was excited that my brother found a brick one in Martinez, Georgia that Mom and I visited a few years ago. That one was huge! Many churches have labyrinths, another source where you might locate one. Thanks again!
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Yes, I had thought that some of the older churches or universities would (ought) to have one but, it doesn’t seem so. Here it would have to be indoors in order that it get used on a regular basis. Well, not that different from there I suppose with equally long winters now that I think about it.
Maybe I should propose it to the city as it’s a multi-cultured, multi-faith discipline which excludes no one.
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REMINDER: World Labyrinth Day is this Saturday, May 1st, 2010 (LINK). Find a labyrinth with the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator in this post and walk in your local time zone at 1:00 PM. Walking meditation at it’s finest. Change happens slowly, one step at a time.
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It’s World Labyrinth Day, May 1st, 2010. Find a labyrinth near you (Locator Link in the post), walk as One at 1pm in your time zone. We are heading over to walk our friends’ labyrinth that I mention in the first paragraph in this post. They have completed the one in their front yard. It’s also May Day, Beltane, and a blustery one at that. A good day for those bonfires! Happy Spring.
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