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In these times of global culture, there is a current massive revival of Sacred Arts and artforms: ceremonies & rituals, medicine ways, healing practices, prayers, mantras & spirit chants, sacred geometries, mandalas... and of course those resurrected and still mysterious “labyrinths”...

These arts & artforms are called “sacred” because they are to be approached with a clear intention of spiritual transformation. After the sacred art experience, the practitioner is no longer the same: an overall change, the seeding of a new direction, a series of insights, a special grace, an intuitive glimpse, an irrepressible smile... some transformation has occurred. And it is not just in the mind or of the mind: it is a wholistic, multi-dimensional change that can be hard to pin point but is nevertheless felt, during & after the experience, as a bodily sensation, an emotional response or a spirit presence. The field of awareness is actually affected in more ways that may immediately be apparent. The entire Being is in fact involved: this is Sacredness.

There is a key to this Sacredness and that is the Intention: to intensely desire a transformation, an answer, a solution, an insight, a new feeling... to be willing to move forward in life, in consciousness & in spirit. To be longing, like a lover, to enter the Great Mystery of Who We Are.
Any activity (or non-activity), anywhere, approached with that clear intention is “Sacred Art”. But there are time-honored and traditional (as well as “new”) ways to create, share and experience a sacred transformation.

Labyrinths are such a sacred artform. Amazingly, they are springing up all over: in people’s yards, on refrigerators' magnets, in public buildings, in parks, on the beach..., thus resurrecting an ancient ceremonial art and re-imprinting its etheric form.

 

Labyrinths belong to the family of “Mandalas” (sanskrit for “circle that contain the Essence”). They guard, activate & amplify the spiritual energies of a place so that people who walk it can experience a feeling of grace, peace or holiness in their heart, soul & spirit.

Labyrinths can be found in all sacred cultures of the world, from the Hopi to the Australian Aborigines to the Christian cathedral builders. Like mandalas, labyrinths are archetypal collective symbols that transcend all cultures because they are grounded in consciousness itself. Labyrinths are non-denominational: people who walk labyrinths come from all life styles, religious backgrounds and spiritual practices.


The best known example of labyrinth is embedded in the stone pavement of Chartres cathedral in France (12th century). It used to be “walked” (often on the knees) in place of the actual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It was a holy experience.

If you walk the labyrinth with the full dedication of a pilgrim, you won’t be the same anymore upon exiting: the old “you” will be literally grounded and "peeled off" at the threshold stone and a purified “you” will emerge, eager to tackle new directions in your life’s journey.

The 11-ring labyrinth at Chartres

LINK: a wonderful explanation of the Chartres Laby pilgrimage
(french language)

The clergy at Chartres used to keep chairs upon the labyrinth design, thus effectively preventing people to walk it. But, in summer 1999, we had the happy surprise to learn that the labyrinth was now open every evening, for a period of time, when the chairs are removed. And, in summer 2001, we could walk a labyrinth that was "open" for a whole day per week - every Friday.

This shows the progressive re-acceptance of the sacred spirit power of this ceremonial artform. In fact, the entire city of Chartres is dedicated to the theme of the labyrinth: from designs in public parks to exhibits to experiential workshops...

A classical 7-ring labyrinth.
Note the correspondences with the seven chakras, the seven colors , the seven musical notes etc...

(The sequential order of the paths is: 3-2-1-4 and 7-6-5-8)

As a “unicursal” (one way in, one way out) path, a labyrinth is showing & teaching Centeredness. This differentiates a labyrinth from a “maze” which has many paths & dead-ends leading to confusion. Like life & destiny, a labyrinth may be a long journey but it has a specific beginning and a definite end. Like mandalas, a labyrinth offers a holistic route (meandering radius) from the periphery to the center. A labyrinth imprints a “royal groove”, a ceremonial pathway designed according to principles such as Harmonic Proportion and Alternance of Energy...

For instance, the clockwise (sunwise) and counter-clockwise (moonwise) spins of the meanders map out a balance between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Walking them help to myelinate the neuronal pathways that  bring about a better integration and synthesis of the brain polarities.

How to draw a labyrinth
(really try it !!! It's fun with kids!!!)

A labyrinth contains non-verbal, implicate geometric & numerological codes that create a multi-dimensional holographic field. These unseen patterns are referred to as Sacred Geometry and they reveal the presence of a cosmic order as they interface the world of material form and the subtler realms of higher consciousness.

The contemporary resurgence of labyrinths in the West is stemming from our deeply rooted urge to honor again the Sacredness of All Life. Indeed a labyrinth can be experienced as the birthing womb of the Great Goddess.

Thus, the labyrinth experience is a potent practice of Self-Integration as it encapsulates the spiraling journey in & out of incarnation: on the journey in, towards the center, one cleanses the “dirt from the road”. On the journey out, one is born anew to consciously dwell in a human body, made “holy” by having got a taste of the Infinite Center.

LABRYS-13, a StarWheel Labyrinth

Within the StarWheel family, SW # 61 (“Labrys-13”) pictures a labyrinth.

The center of Labrys-13 shows a 13-ring labyrinth: follow the traced lines (and jump over the arms of the cross !)... On the left & right of the center, some meanders have been expanded to fill the entire mandala: they show the “stories” and adventures one encounters by meandering through life. Shown as a bottom-top axis containing the progression of the chakra symbols, there is a column of Light that should actually be seen in 3-D as going through the center (remember, a mandala looks like a 2-D cross-section but is in fact a 3-D sphere !). On the periphery, many apprentice pilgrims are forming a queue: eventually, when they reach the north position “portal”, they will be able to descend (incarnate) into their life’s journeys. The name “labrys” comes from the shape of the openings, in the north & south positions, that resemble the antique labrys, a ceremonial double ax and magical scepter of the Amazons.

“A 13-ring cross-labyrinth, the sacred path of pilgrimage - questing for the Inner Treasure. Your traveler’s staff is topped by a labrys, the double ax symbolizing the higher & lower natures of our being. Many pilgrims are lining up at the entrance: only one - the Real You - will successfully cross the threshold, in perfect alignment with the Pathway of Light, the cosmic axis of the spinal column. On either side of the center labyrinth, you can zoom in on many diverse encounters as you enter your inner journey and meander through your life’s experiences. On the way, one has a choice: to identify with the passsing objects of ego-satisfaction or to focus upon Realizing the Totality. This is an invitation to join the Pilgrimage, a daring journey from the outer edges of consciousness into the sanctuary of your own Holy Land - the Self, the center of Consciousness.”

 

Sedona Labyrinths

 

Beautiful Sedona, Arizona, is offering a variety of labyrinths. Below are pictures of labyrinths Aya and the StarWheel Foundation helped to co-create in the Sedona area.

Chartres-type (11 rings) Labyrinth at Mago Ranch.
Village of Oak Creek, Sedona, AZ. 

 

 
Custom-designed 9 rings Cretan-type Labyrinth.
Sedona Sanctuary Center. Cornville, AZ.

 

Contact Aya
if you would like to create a labyrinth in the Sedona area

 

Labyrinth Resources: