I have waited for this book for a very long time.
It has been twenty-two years since I first discovered the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral. Like many pilgrims, I was excited to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site and take in the famous “Chartres Bleu” stained glass windows and flamboyant Gothic architecture. I was not disappointed. From the moment I entered the Western Portal in Chartres Cathedral, I was changed. Yet it was not the stupendous stonework and stunning glass that created this deep, cellular disturbance in my being. It was, instead, an enigmatic pattern that inlaid the floor of the nave—a sinuous labyrinth which stretched nearly forty-three feet in diameter across the cathedral.
I was unprepared for the Chartres labyrinth. It was not mentioned as a feature in the guidebooks that originally inspired my journey. This raised a series of questions for me that have driven my personal quest for over two decades: What is this magical form called a labyrinth and what are its origins? Why did the Gothic architects expend such time, care, and resources to create it? What is it used for and why isn’t more known about it? How can we work with it in the modern world?
Over the years of my own labyrinthine journey, I have read just about every book on the labyrinth I can get my hands on. I have usually been unfulfilled by the offerings that are available. Of course, there are perfectly lovely labyrinth books out there. There are beautiful books about how to pray in the labyrinth and cerebral books that tell us what to think about them and even how to build them. Each of these efforts is worthy of its place in my library, but none of them satisfied the real desire of my heart: a more complete book about the labyrinth, which combined what we know, what we feel, and how we can experience this uniquely powerful tool in our lives.
When I first learned that Tony Christie was writing, I was thrilled. I knew I was finally closer to holding a book in my hands that would satisfy all of my labyrinth cravings.
I have known Tony personally now for a good few years and am proud to call him my dear friend and brother on the greater spiritual path. His wisdom is matched by his charm and his compassion, and he is the rare teacher who can slip back and forth to both sides of his brain: Tony can rattle off the appropriate measurements and geometric facts about labyrinths at the same time that he can give you advice on how to work through your more challenging personal issues in meditation and prayer. Tony Christie is a walking encyclopedia on not only the labyrinth, but on many and varied aspects of spiritual teachings and practices the world over. The fact that he was going to share some of that wisdom with the world was cause for celebration.
I first met Tony when he traveled from Ireland to Los Angeles to meet with me after I built my first labyrinth. He measured it both in terms of geometry and energy, and it was in that meeting when I first glimpsed his brilliance. I also understood that I was standing in the presence of real commitment. Tony “walks the talk”—he travels all over the world to both learn and teach and really lives this journey every day in a way that is both rare and inspiring.
I was honored to be one of the first to view Tony’s completed manuscript, and I am thrilled by the finished product. Here, finally, was the book I have been waiting for these twenty-two years: a thorough, inspiring, entertaining volume on the magic that is the labyrinth, written by a master.
Solvitur ambulando!
Kathleen McGowan
Los Angeles, California