The cyclical rhythm of the labyrinth
The labyrinth is not a circle that simply retraces itself. It’s not a spiral either, which (although implies more depth) still traces a rather simple path. Labyrinths speak instead to the inner complexity of a broader cyclical process.
Springtime
Throughout the world there are religions that celebrate the arrival of spring as a time of renewal. It is easy to understand why this season inspires awe in our spirits. In places where there are four distinct seasons, spring is the time when the world seems to burst into green, life, and light after months of white, cold, and dark.
The earth, seen variously as being asleep or dead, reawakens or is reborn so that all the colors and energy that had been muted for so long explode in a frenzy of activity and growth.
Whether it be the celebration of Navaratri, Easter, Passover, Lichun, Noruz or Ostara, festivals abound as Light conquers Dark. This is a metaphor that many peoples around the world realized for several millennia.
Although traditions will attach mythological or historical narratives to these concepts (e.g. Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension), they still ultimately come from a celebration of life erupting victoriously out of death.
Seasons of Life
And yet the cycle of life goes on. Spring, the infancy of the year in most cultures, precedes a period of strength in summer, maturity in autumn, and death in winter. We mirror this process in ourselves, both physically and spiritually. We go through ups and downs, many times as a result of the time of year. Research shows the season directly affect depression and euphoria.
With this in mind, there is a spiritual practice appropriate to this particular time of year that can also have benefits throughout the calendar: Walking the labyrinth.
Ambling in eternity
Ambling through a labyrinth has been a spiritual practice for thousands of years. The Ancient Greeks immortalized Theseus’ adventures with the Minotaur, recording the story in festivals and art work. The entire palace at Knossos in Crete (thought to be the origin of the myth itself), was built with labyrinths at the core of the design.
Cathedrals have used them as decorative motifs inside their naves. They are also outside in their garden. The idea being that the penitent might walk along a cleansing path.
It is important to understand that labyrinths are not mazes. They are unicoursal, meaning that they have only one route in and out. It is therefore not truly possible to lose yourself in a labyrinth. There is only one destination. Mazes, however, are full of wandering dead ends and can yield a multitude of errant solutions.
Labyrinths, although twisted and convoluted, are not traps. In that way they convey a different philosophy or attitude about the course of our lives. They are a physical manifestation of spiritual balance.
Life’s journey
The path through a labyrinth is fascinating, if not full of stress. Just as you come to the destination (usually mere moments upon first entering), a barrier forces you to take an extended and protracted route around the obvious center. You must approach it from a slightly different angle. And you accomplish this only after many turns that come with varying intervals of frequency and acuteness.
This is one of the immediate lessons of the labyrinth. Nothing worth doing is achieved immediately, and throughout the journey of your life you will have to wander at times. And yet, you will still ultimately come to your destination, even though it requires many seemingly confusing changes in direction or perspective.
Just remember: You cannot get lost in the labyrinth. Trust the voyage and allow it to give you time to meditate. You will enter as one person, but your progression will give you time to grow. When you exit you will be reborn as someone more empowered than the one who started the passage.
Although dizzying, just like life itself, the expanding and contracting rhythms of the layers of folded turns are also soothing and comforting. They have an almost perfectly symmetrical structure, giving their apparent confusion a beautiful order.
A guided meditation
Entry
Before entering, reflect for a moment upon that which is causing you confusion, frustration or duress. Labyrinths that follow the “classical” form are generally seven or 11 layers of folds, which divide the whole into quadrants. They can be used to invoke a very structured form of meditation.
Inward
While traversing the first quadrant think directly about your challenge. Try to identify in clear terms why it requires your attention. In the second quadrant identify the sources of your conflict. In the third quadrant identify solutions. While you follow the fourth quadrant narrow down your options. Upon arriving at the center, pause and form your initial conclusions.
Outward
While retracing the fourth quadrant take the time to consider the validity of your impressions. In the third quadrant select your probable course of action. Through the second quadrant consider the consequences of your choices. On your way out of the first quadrant refine your conclusion. As you exit take a moment to appreciate the journey.
Benefits
Of course, it can also be enormously satisfying to simply let thoughts and impressions flood through one’s mind, channeling the images into a wandering daydream that provides insights gradually or at a later time.
The peaceful strolling connects the traveler not only to the physical reality of the journey, but also to the metaphysical enlightenment that comes from a meditative consideration of the process of growth.
In the end, however you prefer to experience the labyrinth, you will come out reborn as a more enlightened person than the individual who went in.
