Do you struggle to Sit Still in silent, seated meditation? If so, you might consider using the labyrinth as a tool for meditation.
I discovered the labyrinth quite unexpectedly – I guess you could say it ‘found’ me. While in Lucca, Italy my husband and I decided to visit the “labirinto” that was featured so prominently in the tourist brochures and souvenirs. Not knowing anything about labyrinths at the time, we envisioned a huge maze carved into stone in the bottom of a cathedral where we could compete to see who could find their way out first without getting caught in a dead-end. I imagined it would be similar to the maze in The Shining (sans a knife-wielding Jack Nicholson!)
We spent what seemed like hours searching for the elusive labyrinth. We knew we must be close because there was a sign for the labyrinth carved into the wall of a particular cathedral. Surely it had to be here!?
Well, it turns out that the “sign” for the labyrinth (which we had taken as an indication that we were getting close) was actually the labyrinth. The famous labyrinth in Lucca is about 2 feet square and carved into the marble on the wall outside of the church! A little anticlimactic for us two who had envisioned spending an afternoon running around in it!
Although our experience of the labyrinth wasn’t exactly what we had expected, the image was very beautiful and my curiosity was piqued. What exactly was the labyrinth? What was it used for?
I discovered that the labyrinth is actually a metaphor for our search for spiritual wholeness and has been used for centuries as a tool for meditation. Unlike a maze which sets out to confuse you, the labyrinth is unicursal, meaning it has only one way in and one way out. It’s a metaphor for our journey to self and back out again into the world.
Although the Lucca labyrinth was likely used by tracing the path of the labyrinth with your finger, many labyrinths are big enough that you can walk their path.
I walk the labyrinth when I am struggling with a question that I can’t seem to solve on my own, when I want to let go of something, or when I just want to see a new perspective. I use it as a time of self-reflection and connection to something bigger than me.
If you’re interested in experiencing the power of the labyrinth, St. Paul’s Church Hall in Vancouver’s West End has a beautiful labyrinth that is open to the public. Check out their website for more information:
http://www.stpaulsanglican.bc.ca/index.php?a=Labyrinth
If you’d like to find out more I highly recommend reading “Walking a Sacred Path” and “The Sacred Path Companion” by Lauren Artress.
