I found another labyrinth in Sonoma, near the Plaza. It is a very nice outdoor one in a ring of redwoods. This is my third labyrinth and it is a 9 circuit one.
I was in Sonoma with Crystal and Karen on a Spa Day. We had just finished eating lunch under a canvas umbrella during a serious downpour. It was raining so hard that the water hitting the canvas was being pushed through as a fine mist. It was wonderful. Tasty hamburgers with local cheese, good friends, wonderful weather.
Afterwards we went over to were I spied this labyrinth in front of the Trinity Episcopal Church. I had been looking for a 9 circuit and lo, there one was. It was in a large clearing of matching redwoods with some oak trees outside one side. The labyrinth was delineated with rounded stones and covered in leaves, it being autumn and all. The sky was a mottling of clouds. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
I have made another labyrinth page for this one.
The pages so far are:
Sibley , my first one.
Grace Cathedral, my second one.
Trinity, Sonoma, my third, and latest one.
Soon I will make an over all labyrinth page. I have linked them all so you can get from one to another.
re: labyrinths
Hey, Gina. You’ve talked several times in these entries about visiting the labyrinths, that walking one has a spiritual component for you (something I’ve heard from others as well), and so on. One of the things I was wondering if you could talk about – what, generally, is a labyrinth *for*, in spiritual/religious/etc. terms? what is it supposed to do, or to lead you to, for lack of a better term? I’m curious, because yeah, they’re physically kinda cool, but I’m missing some elements of understanding.
feel free to email if you don’t want to respond in comments.. anathema AT therouteofallevil DOT com
Re: labyrinths
It is probably questions other might have so I will give an overview here.
The thing I like most about the Labyrinth is that is is just a bunch of lines on the floor. It only has the worth and the sacredness you give it. What I see the point of the Labyrinth is as a tool. It can be just to focus your mind, a meditation or something much deeper, a connection to something inside yourself or even outside yourself. For each person it is different.
On the spiritual side, some say the path in and back out is a metaphor for the journey of life. Rev. Artress (the one that started the labyrinth movement at Grace Cathedral) has said that everything in the labyrinth is metaphor. I find that walking it on my own with no one else around is good for quieting myself down. More meditation than anything else. When I walk it with others that are there for the same reason, it strikes me at a really deep level and is very moving. A friend walked one by herself and was surprised when she found she couldn’t leave it. I think it is different for each person. Something Rev. Artress repeats over and over is that there is no right way or wrong way to walk a labyrinth.
I don’t feel qualified to really talk about this stuff, because all I can do is repeat what I have been told. It is kinda like going to class and telling friends what I can remember when the class is still available.
If you are interested in the more spiritual side of the labyrinth, I would highly recommend attending one of the monthly harmony walks at Grace Cathedral. There is one this Friday and I have to miss it because I am going to the Cirque. It will be the first one I have missed since I found them in Aug and I am not pleased with the timing of when I bought my Cirque tickets.