The Labyrinth

The Labyrinth

Painted on the floor of the barn at Laurelview there is a large labyrinth.  It serves as a worship device, and is often the center of a vesper service during a week of camp or a weekend retreat.  There are numerous ways to experience the labyrinth, but generally each worshiper walks its path alone, in contemplation and spiritual grace.

Below you will find a general description of the spritual significance of the labyrinth.

The Path of Grace
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 own 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 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 in and out.

A labyrinth has only one path. It is uni-cursal. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path 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 once choice to be made. The choice to enter or not. A passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice 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.