March 2010

Lenten Labyrinth Walk Sat 3-20

Everyone is welcome to attend an Open Labyrinth Walk at Assumption Gym on Saturday, March 20, 2010, 2116 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA, 1-5:00 p.m. The walk is sponsored by Church of the Assumption and The Laughing Flower Labyrinth & Landscape Co.

The event will begin with a Lenten-themed presentation and a brief Christian history of the labyrinth from 1-1:30 p.m., followed by an open-house walk for reflection from 1:30-5:00 p.m. People of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome to walk and pray or meditate on any topic. See poster/photo for more information.

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Season for Nonviolence Walk Sun 3-28

The Center for Spiritual Living Anacortes, is hosting an indoor labyrinth experience for public use on Palm Sunday, March 28th , in the Anacortes Senior Activity Center Great Room, 1701 22nd St. Everyone is invited and welcomed to walk the labyrinth for quiet reflection in commemoration of the Season for Nonviolence and the principles of nonviolence taught by Gandhi and Dr. King, or for personal growth and healing, anytime between 2-5 pm.

Myra Smith of Laughing Flower Labyrinth & Landscape Co. will open the event with an Introduction to the labyrinth. Rev. Kathleen Flynn and Rev. Ginny Kluth will speak briefly about the Season for Nonviolence. It is a national 64-day educational and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating nonviolence as a powerful way to heal, transform and empower lives and communities. Inspired several years ago on the 50th and 30th anniversaries of the assassinations of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, this 13th annual event honors their vision for a nonviolent world.

For more information about the event or labyrinths in general, please call the Center for Spiritual Living Anacortes, 360.293.4029 or visit www.laughingflowerlabyrinth.com.

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Labyrinth Brings Life-Giving Awareness

"It is quite noticeable how, in the short few weeks since the completion of our beautiful labyrinth, we have grown in our appreciation of having this creation in our garden. I am continually aware of how just seeing the labyrinth moves me to an awareness of gratitude and connectedness with Life! When I walk the labyrinth I often feel a surge of internal freedom."

- Linda Conroy, Stillpoint at Beckside spiritual retreat center, Bellingham, WA 

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/stbens/MST_WEBSITE/

Author's Note: this labyrinth was built by The Laughing Flower Labyrinth & Landscape Co. hand-in-hand with the property owners, Don & Linda Conroy. I mapped out and directed the design (which was done in the pouring rain!) and cut out the "trenches" for the bricks. Don & Linda selected the pavers and rocks, and helped dig out the trenches. Together, Linda and I placed the pavers and leveled them with sand. Linda, a life long rock collector, added decorative rocks to the petals and turns. It was a wonderful way for Don & Linda to participate in the building process and save some money on design and installation too. It was a blessing to work with the Conroys, as we talked as we worked and figured out tricky parts together, and Linda introduced me to the wonders of chai tea lattes and Christian mysticism. It was truly a creative and Spirit-led project. -MS

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Book Review - The Rose Labyrinth

"Part thriller, part historical novel, part myth and part treasure hunt...a compelling page turner" was the review that caught my eye on the back cover when I saw this paperback in a Newark Airport bookstore. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie is published by Simon & Schuster, and features a rose-colored Chartres labyrinth on the front and back. I had just visited labyrinths in Vermont and NYC, but wasn't ready to leave my vacation as I flew home.

If you also like puzzles, this book has some interesting riddles to solve, especially at the beginning, but I quickly figured out that I could also skip over the early puzzle parts and just get to the meat of the story. After the first chapter, the story clips along, and I was reminded of Dan Brown's books in the author's ability to weave history, myth and thrilling adventure. I didn't like that the book referred interchangeably to a maze and a labyrinth in the beginning, since a maze is a puzzle to be solved with dead-ends and cul-de-sacs, and a labyrinth only has one way in and out. However, by the middle and end of the book, it was clear that the author had done her research about the Chartres labyrinth, and any references to mazes were long forgotten.

One timely excerpt that my research also supports relates to the use of labyrinths during spring:

"In the twelfth century certain cathedrals were decreed pilgrimage cathedrals to relieve the numbers of people making journeys to the unstable Holy Land at the time of the crusades. Many of these had labyrinths added, which became known as the 'Road to Jerusalem.' Originally they walked at Easter, just as the classical labyrinths has been a dance of spring to celebrate returning vegetation. The experience of walking, however, was meditative, calming, focusing. Many people find it brings them nearer to heaven, ready to comprehend the will of God. For the minutes that you walk it, you are outside of time: your concerns are inward and spiritual, rather than material and temporal."

The Rose Labyrinth is fascinating and informative, and its characters are strong-willed women and caring, creative men. I would recommend it to anyone interested in a good entertaining read, especially if you are a labyrinth enthusiast. -MS

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