Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path, exactly where you are meant to be right now.  And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and love.”

Caroline Adams

We are all on the path. Exactly where we need to be. The Labyrinth is a model of that path.

A Labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path; The Labyrinth represents a journey to our center and back again out into the world; Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience; We can walk it; It is a metaphor for life’s journey;  It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to “That Which Is Within.”

Labyrinths and mazes have often been confused. When most people hear of a Labyrinth, they think of a maze. A labyrinth is not a maze; A maze is like a puzzle to be solved; It has twists, turns, and blind alleys. It is a left-brain task that requires logical, sequential, analytical activity to find the correct path into the maze and out.

A Labyrinth has only one path. It is unicursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The trail leads you on a circuitous route to the center and out again.

A Labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze, many choices must be made, and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a Labyrinth, there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not; A more passive, receptive mindset is needed; The option is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.

At its most basic level, the Labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are.

The Labyrinth is a beautiful walking prayer practice that encourages awareness of the journey with God, Source, Divine, Spirit, and self. As it gained popularity in the Middle Ages, the Labyrinth became one way to practice pilgrimage rather than make the journey to Jerusalem. It consists of three phases of movement:

1. Going into the Labyrinth and letting go of all that keeps us from connecting with God, Source, Divine, Spirit.
2. Arriving at the center of the Labyrinth, which represents the state of union with God, Source, Divine, Spirit.
3. Leaving the Labyrinth and returning to the world in a new way accompanied by God, Source, Divine, Spirit.

Feeling Subtle Energy

The most common similar experience is feeling subtle or universal energy. A commonly held belief is that this energy is from the spiritual world, but it interacts with the physical world experienced as subtle sensations or feelings. I experience it as a tingling, sharp sensation usually at fairly specific places like the top of my head, between the eyebrows, in the middle of the chest, or sometimes on areas in my body where there was an injury, like my lower back. Sometimes I feel it as a general tingling throughout my body. Others think it as warmth or a sensation in the palm of their hand. My hand starts pulsing when I put my palm over a mound energy line that I have dowsed.

Dreams

Another collective experience I had while in Labyrinths was that I had many vivid dreams. The dreams, in general, were educational and also promoted an energy attunement. I view my dreams as representing some aspect of myself — a typical dream: a universally despised and feared of running fast and away from someone or something. Bursting with self-righteous anger, I tell myself it is only a dream. The dream ends. Using dowsing, I discover that the dream is showing me an aspect of myself, the self-righteous anger that is no longer needed, and the energy representing that attitude can now be removed. I ask my subconscious mind to show me that energy. I typically feel it as a tingling sensation or a slight ache or sensation somewhere in my body. I then use the releasing technique to pull out the energy. Next, I ask my higher self to send down energy to balance my fields and to recycle the energy that left. Several other people have told me that they often had dreams after being in a Labyrinth.

Metaphor

The Labyrinth is also a metaphor for what is sacred in our lives. Through its twists and turns, its ancient spaciousness holds everything we experience — our minds and emotions, our physical beings and our spirits, our losses and gains, our successes and failures, our joys and sorrows. When we walk the path inward, we carry our burdens with us. When we meditate or pray in the center, we ask for grace, forgiveness, and understanding. When we walk the path outward, we are lighter, more joyful, and ready again to take on our life’s challenges.

Labyrinth in my Life

The Labyrinth that is my life has taken me through many twists and turns. Yet it is my sincere belief in the inherent meaning of life that has steadily informed and inspired me, leading me deeper into my life path, deeper into authentic essence. When we explore our lives as Labyrinths of meaning, with all of the design features of classic Labyrinths that I’ve noted above, we deepen our experience of life.

A labyrinth can be a powerful tool for personal enhancement and development.  It is designed specifically for this purpose.  When walking the Labyrinth, we find our perspective continually changing.  Our vision and physical bodies are never facing the same direction for long — It is a technique to coax our inner knowing from within.

Further, the spiraling inward motion is a physical replication of our spiritual tendency to seek within the highest truths to find eternal freedom.  When we are moving outward from the source, it is an action that we have made the divine connection, and now we are expressing our completeness outwardly – mostly sharing our highest good with all around us.

It is important to note that walking the Labyrinth (mentally or physically) is not intended to be overly challenging.  There are no dead-ends with the Labyrinth, only meandering waves of smooth lines designed to nudge us back to our destination gently.

The labyrinths are often confused with mazes — big difference.  Mazes are designed to challenge the intellect and strategic skills, whereas the Labyrinth is an exercise in soul development.

Just Thoughts

There are plenty of labyrinths in Nature we can observe as an effort to encounter a richer understanding of the complexity of our consciousness.  Animals have helped a great deal in meandering through personal cycles.  Here are a few animals associated with the Labyrinth…maybe they’ll guide you too:

• Octopus
• Spider
• Snail
• Ram
• Snake

For more information on Labyrinths: https://labyrinthsociety.org/resources