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The Labyrinth and Your Surroundings
When you walk the labyrinth with the intention of gaining insights, the combined energetic effects of the labyrinth can help you to access previously inaccessible information. The labyrinth not only has a rebalancing and healing effect on you, but on everything that it and its energy field come in contact with. The labyrinth has a positive impact on the land and area where it is placed. Labyrinths reduce the levels of distorted electromagnetic fields of the earth and appear to have unexplained effects on underground water close to them. The labyrinth can open positive doorways and portals to otherwise unseen and unknown realms and dimensions. An appreciation and understanding of these effects and benefits will enhance your experience of the labyrinth. They will also contribute to a greater awareness of your own energy being expanded and positively impacted by the labyrinth. In discovering more about the labyrinth, you find out more about yourself.
The Energy Field of the Labyrinth
The labyrinth has its own energy field. As soon as a labyrinth is created, this energy starts to flow. I recall marking out one of my triple spiral labyrinth designs in a garden in Dublin, where I was painting the lines on the gravel undersurface so the bricklayer could lay the bricks along the lines. As soon as I sprayed the last line joining up the three spirals, I received a huge positive blast of energy that caused me to exclaim out loud, somewhat disconcerting the bricklayer working with me. It was a wonderful feeling to have my work acknowledged by Spirit in such a way. It was another signal for me that I was on the right path, and reaffirmed my knowing that there is a powerful energy working through the labyrinth.
This energy field varies from labyrinth to labyrinth and time to time. When a labyrinth is first made, the energy field may be quite small. It is influenced by many things, including the energy fields of the location where it is placed. The more a labyrinth is used, the more it becomes energized. Many times, I have found myself just sitting near a labyrinth enjoying the peace that is present near the labyrinth. Next time you see a labyrinth, check to see how you feel when you are near the labyrinth.
There are a number of other considerations as to what causes the labyrinth to have an energy field. Classical labyrinths and medieval labyrinths are almost always based on sacred geometry—divine proportions built into the symbol. Labyrinths built to divine proportions also carry the frequencies of nature and its creator. These labyrinths are designed to bring harmony and balance to the person interacting with them. In moving through such labyrinths, whether one is aware of their divine proportions or not, the walker can more easily reach a state of connectedness with their own divine nature. In so doing, the walker can experience a sense of love, peace, balance, and other wonderful qualities.
Every labyrinth made also carries the energetic imprint of all other similar labyrinths constructed. This is an element of the consciousness field of the labyrinth where the simple act of creating the symbol connects it with its related labyrinths and energizes it.
The Labyrinth Effect on the Earth
Labyrinths positively affect the energy field of the area in which they are located or placed. Labyrinths have a neutralizing effect on negative earth energies and geopathic stress. Geopathic stress is the harmful energy that emanates from the earth where the natural energy of the earth is disturbed by weak electromagnetic fields created by some underground streams, sewers, fault lines, tunnels, caves, and mineral formations. Living in a house with high levels of geopathic stress, or spending long times in such areas, can have ill effects on the health and well-being of the people living there.
When I was training as a space clearing practitioner, the class was doing a divining exercise to measure the levels of geopathic stress in a given area. We did this by checking the level of geopathic stress on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest. In the particular area where we were checking, most people got a measurement of seven or eight. (Note: it is not unusual for different diviners to get slightly different measures; what is important is the before and after comparison measurements from the same diviner.) After we had all checked the levels in this area, I then spread out my labyrinth on the area, which took about two minutes. We all then took our measurement of geopathic stress again. This time, most diviners recorded a measurement of two or three out of ten.
The trainer on that course told us that one time when she went to do a space clearing for a client, she had difficulty getting a reading for the level of geopathic stress on the property. She was standing outside the front of the house and was getting a zero level for geopathic stress. She checked several times and each time the result was that there was no geopathic stress. This is most unusual, and she thought that she may have unintentionally been influencing the results. She was considering leaving and coming back another day to see if she might get a different reading. Before leaving she decided to have a look around the property and walked into the back garden. In the middle of the back garden there was a large labyrinth. She smiled at the further evidence she had received of the positive effect of the labyrinth in eliminating geopathic stress and healing the land.
The labyrinth had an instantaneous effect dramatically reducing geopathic stress levels in the land. The healing qualities of the labyrinth have a positive effect of neutralizing harmful earth energies in an area, and healing the earth. If you think that your property and land needs an energetic lift, building a labyrinth is a great way of raising the energy of where you live.
The Labyrinth Effect on Water
Labyrinths have an ability to affect underground water. Sig Lonegren, geomancer and dowser, tells an interesting story of a modern Chartres labyrinth at Benton Castle in southern Wales. Within weeks of the labyrinth being constructed, it was noticed that a water dome was present underneath the centre of the labyrinth, where there had not been one before the construction (Lonegren, n.d.).
A water dome is a column of pure water that rises from the centre of the earth towards the surface. Often these water domes do not reach the surface, and are sometimes known as blind springs. They follow the path of least resistance as they rise through the earth’s crust. It seems the labyrinth not only cleared the land energetically, but it also created a vortex with a magnetic effect a certain distance all around the labyrinth, drawing in the water to underneath the labyrinth. You can often experience some of these positive effects of feeling clearer and more centred when you are near the labyrinth, and especially when you walk the labyrinth. Perhaps the draw that some people feel towards the labyrinth can be partially explained by the high water content in our bodies being positively affected by interaction with the labyrinth!
The Labyrinth as a Portal
A portal is a gateway, or entrance, to another dimension. Portals can be one-way or two-way, allowing information and energy to pass through the portals in one or both directions. Portals can be positive or negative depending on what energies pass through them. The labyrinth acts as a positive portal, and by accessing and entering the portal, information previously unavailable can be accessed.
Walking the labyrinth, or tracing the labyrinth symbol with your finger, helps generate the labyrinth portal. Many people have had insights and revelations on the labyrinth that they have not had elsewhere. The activity of circling towards the centre creates an energy vortex that forms an opening into otherwise concealed information. The more a labyrinth is used, the more effective it becomes as a portal. The energetic force is usually most concentrated at the centre of the labyrinth. However, the node or centre of the cross in the classical labyrinth is sometimes more powerful. This is the spirit point in the classical labyrinth from which everything else emanates.
While I am not aware of anyone physically travelling through the labyrinth, I have experienced another dimension while on a labyrinth and at the centre of the labyrinth. My experience of a vivid past life experience while walking the labyrinth at Chartres when I was transported back almost eight hundred years can be attributed to it functioning as a portal. On one occasion when I was giving a labyrinth workshop, one of the participants came out of the labyrinth with tears running down her cheeks. I checked in with her to see what was happening for her. She said that they were tears of joy. As she walked the labyrinth, she said that she became enveloped in a brilliant white light. It was as if she was walking in the middle of immense love and light. When she reached the centre, it was as if there was no one else on the labyrinth but her. She felt that time was standing still and that she was at the centre of something so wonderful that words were not sufficient to describe it. She wondered if she should ask a question, but she felt that she had no need for answers at that moment. She was experiencing a great depth of feeling and heightened awareness, and just wanted to stay in that beautiful space. Then she realised that this beauty was inside her and that it was always with her. So, she walked out of the labyrinth with tears of joy streaming down her face.
On another occasion when walking my back-garden labyrinth, I had an experience that I can only describe as interdimensional. I had walked into the labyrinth and was standing in the centre. After a few moments, I noticed a subtle movement of the energy field around me. Remaining as detached as possible, I observed the movement progress so that it felt like the ground underneath me was slowly moving downwards, then gently upwards. These waves of energy that gently raised and lowered me became more frequent. As I looked across the circuits of the labyrinth the whole labyrinth was moving in undulating ripples. I lost all awareness of my physical surroundings and experienced myself being held and floating in a sense of timelessness and spacelessness. It was as if I was being held on a giant wave of creation. I was aware of a sense of nothingness, and was also aware of everything. I was transported for those few moments into another dimension—through the portal of the labyrinth.
Exercise: How to Tune in to Your
Surroundings through the Labyrinth
At this stage of exploring the labyrinth it is time to move on to increasing your awareness of what is happening around you. In this regard, it is helpful to see what aspects of the labyrinth’s energy field you are aware of. This walk is about sensing what is happening outside of you. Through developing a heightened awareness of what is happening around you, you become more aware of what is happening within you. The more you discover about the world around you, the more you learn about yourself.
Your intention at the beginning of this walk is to seek awareness of any labyrinth effect that the labyrinth is having on the land where it is located. Your focus is not on you, but on the land around you.
This is slightly more difficult if using a finger labyrinth. However, it is not insurmountable. Use the finger labyrinth as a model for a larger labyrinth placed on the land, then proceed as if you were physically walking a labyrinth on the land while your finger moves around the labyrinth.
You will need to tune in to the land where you are. Bring your attention to the land where you are situated. How does it feel to you? What are you sensing about the land? When physically approaching the labyrinth, see if you can sense where you enter the energy field of the labyrinth. This can be quite close to the labyrinth, or it can be quite a distance away. It can often feel like a change in temperature, or the air feels a little heavier, or lighter. You are focusing on any subtle shifts in the atmosphere around the labyrinth. Every labyrinth is different, so you can try this exercise every time you encounter a new labyrinth. You can then compare your findings and begin to learn what places are more positive and beneficial for you to be in, even without a labyrinth.
Before you start your walk, stand for a few moments at the entrance to the labyrinth. Quieten yourself by taking several deep breaths. When you inhale, feel the air going deep into your lungs. When you are ready to breathe out, exhale with a deep sigh, letting go of all tension from your body. As you stand at the entrance to the labyrinth, feel your feet on the ground, and allow yourself to become aware of everything around you. Asking in your mind to be shown the labyrinth effect on the land will help in your sensing of the labyrinth effect.
Begin walking the labyrinth in a peak state of awareness. Your every attention is on detecting subtle shifts in the energy field. You may feel very little the first time you do this, so don’t be disappointed if that is the case. You may also feel many different sensations. You may find that the air seems heavier in one place than another. You may feel colder, or warmer, in one part of the labyrinth. You may feel that you have to stop at a particular point, or walk slower in some parts, and even walk faster in others. Give yourself the freedom to stop where you feel a shift in the energy. Where does it appear easier to walk? Where does your labyrinth feel more sluggish? If you notice something as you are walking the labyrinth, it is okay to go back a few paces to re-experience what you just passed through. This is about you becoming more aware of what is happening around you.
It is not always possible to differentiate between what you are feeling from the labyrinth and what you are feeling within yourself. Walking the labyrinth is an integrative experience, and sometimes trying to separate yourself from your surroundings is not desirable and can even be counterproductive. If your walk becomes one of integrating what is within with what is without, then allow that to be also.
If distracting thoughts come into your mind, acknowledge them. Then allow them to pass on. I have often been distracted on the labyrinth, and have sometimes walked a labyrinth twice: the first time to quieten my mind, and the second time to get a better feeling of that particular labyrinth. If you still feel that you have too much going on at this time, then give yourself permission to come back at another time to do this exercise.
The second level in undertaking a walk such as this is to ask the spirit of the land to communicate with you and tell you what changes the labyrinth has brought to the land. Allow your mind to quieten and tune in to the spirit of the place. See if you can sense back to when there was no labyrinth on the land. What did the land feel like then? How does this differ to how the land feels now?
Reflection
Take a few minutes to write down what you sensed and felt during this walk. If this is your first time doing an exercise such as this, then it may be helpful to just write without thinking or trying to make sense of what you picked up. If you think that you felt nothing, then write down that you felt nothing. There is no right or wrong in this exercise. You can always do this again at a different time and see if you get any different results.