by Natalie Zaman
It’s comforting not having to think about where you’re going. The path is before you; you only need to trust it and follow. After the first turn or so, you might even be able to navigate it with your eyes closed. You can focus on a goal you want to accomplish or a person you wish to remember, or you can allow your mind to wander where it will. You have entered the labyrinth.
Walking the Magical Path
The concept of the labyrinth—as a pattern if not an actual pathway—is at least 4,000 years old. Labyrinths have been painted on pottery, carved on tombs, and minted into coins. They figure into a variety of cultures and spiritual practices: in India and ancient Rome, labyrinths were used as models of walled cities and therefore as protective symbols. Greek mythology saw the labyrinth as a means to trap the Minotaur. Labyrinths are ritual pathways; many Christian traditions see them as symbols of the soul’s journey through life. Labyrinths were the sites of games and celebrations, the pathways used as racecourses or processional routes. Built of stone, tiles, or turf, they are elements of formal gardens, sometimes with trees planted at their centers. Unlike mazes, which are filled with dead ends and tricks, labyrinths are composed of a single path to a central goal, twisting and turning, but always steady and true.
There are permanent labyrinths with complex patterns to be found the world over, but you can create temporary versions wherever you are, indoors or out, with these few, easily obtainable supplies: chalk, masking tape, and strings of decorative lights. With a few additional materials, your meditative walk can become a ritual to ground, cleanse, and even create an altar. I’ve suggested specific spaces and materials for each of the following labyrinth rituals, but all are interchangeable and can be adapted according to your needs.
Will you walk the path?
Creating Movable Magical Paths
The spiral is a pattern found throughout nature in nautilus shells, spiders’ webs, flower petals, and, perhaps most magnificently, the swirl of stars and planets in a galaxy. Spinning outwards, a spiral conveys a sense of expansion and growth, while circling inwards focuses on details. Both directions whirl into infinity; spirals are eternal.
Dancing with the Stars Labyrinth and Ritual
This ritual is a reminder that we are all divine creatures made of the same molecules and, contrary to whatever misconceptions may be thrown at us, important and necessary elements that light the night and day with our uniqueness. The walk inwards is a journey to the center of the universe, to be among the stars and rekindle this knowledge—and then come back to the world refreshed. This ritual can be performed during the day or night, but a more magical experience can be achieved in darkness.
Trace
For this labyrinth and ritual you’ll need the following:
Access to a large space like a patio, driveway, playground area, an unused area of a parking lot, or any floor made of a material that you can draw on with chalk
Blue and white chalk
Tealights (battery operated are safest, especially if children will be participating)
Glitter in different colors representing the elements and five small bowls to hold it: copper for earth, white for air, gold for fire, blue for water, and silver for spirit
Glitter adds to the galaxy aesthetic of this pathway, but herbs can be substituted for glitter if you prefer. Use your favorite reference to select plants that correspond with each element.
Starting in the center of your ritual area, draw a large spiral. It is important to keep the space between the lines wide (at least two feet) to accommodate your walkers. Take your time, and use a ruler or yardstick to keep the pathway even. Make the spiral as large as your space will accommodate without cutting off any of the circuits. At the entrance to the spiral and working inward, write the following phrase based on a quote by astronomer Carl Sagan:
“We are all made of star stuff.”
Next, place the bowls of glitter in the center of the spiral. Place the tea lights at random points on the lines of the spiral. Use as many tea lights as you want. The number can be symbolic: one for each person who will be walking; one for the number of years, months, etc., your group has been together; or any number that holds significance for you.
Track
Walk the spiral with a guided visualization. If you’re doing this ritual as a group, send each walker into the spiral one at a time and have your participants take turns reading this for each other:
The air around you becomes darker and colder. You are walking in space. The lights above and below you grow brighter and sharper until all that is before you is blackness, save for the stars above and all around and the illuminated path at your feet. Slowly, carefully, look down. See the words that trace the path. These words are written in the stars and written on your heart. As you walk, you read, and as you read, you hear:
“We are all made of star stuff.”
This is your mantra. Say it aloud or to yourself as you move towards the center. Feel the warmth of the words, the heat inside you, growing and glowing. See the light within yourself. See it ripple and shimmer outwards. Look at the stars around you. You love them, and they love you. They are a part of you, and you are a part of them. Know that you have come home.
When you reach the center, look down into its glittering core, the beautiful colors sparkling in the dark, reflected by the lights. Know that this is the star stuff that’s in all of us.
Take a fingerful of the copper glitter in your right hand, place it in your left palm, and think or say aloud, “I am earth.”
Take a fingerful of the white glitter in your right hand, place it in your left palm, and think or say aloud, “I am air.”
Take a fingerful of the gold glitter in your right hand, place it in your left palm, and think or say aloud, “I am fire.”
Take a fingerful of the blue glitter in your right hand, place it in your left palm, and think or say aloud, “I am water.”
Take a fingerful of the silver glitter in your right hand, place it in your left palm, and think or say aloud, “I am the spirit that resides in all things.”
Close your eyes for three breaths before you return to the world. As you walk back, sprinkle the glitter on the path, leaving a trail of light behind you. Remember, light is eternal, and that which you release will return to you infinitely.
Once you have completed the circuit, stand at the edge of the spiral and chant, “We are all made of star stuff,” over and over. Raise your voice with each repetition while at the same time raising your arms over your head to release the energy and send out love and acceptance for all beings. If you’re doing the ritual as a group, form a circle around the labyrinth and join hands. Chant as a group and raise a cone of power to release the energy.
If possible, leave the labyrinth intact to be absorbed back into nature through wind and rain.
May Day Meander Labyrinth and Ritual
Not all labyrinths are symmetrical. The Snoopy Labyrinth at the Charles M. Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, traces the shape of everyone’s favorite beagle, but the Snoopy path’s goal does not have a central end. Its overall shape and site are particularly special: according to creator Dr. Lea Goode-Harris, “Walking the Snoopy Labyrinth, your body aligns with the natural energy of the land.” Among the places to stop and contemplate on the path is Snoopy’s eye bench. Sit here and your gaze is focused on the direction of the summer solstice sunrise.
Meandering labyrinths planted with objects and experiences for reflection—music to listen to, objects to hold, words to read, or pictures and scents to trigger memories—are appropriate elements for life passage rituals, like initiation, handfasting, preparing for birth or death, grieving, healing, and entering adolescence. They can also be used as a means of celebrating birthdays, sabbats, and Moon cycles. Use this May Day meander as part of your Beltane celebrations or as inspiration to carve out your own unique path.
Trace
For this labyrinth and ritual you’ll need the following:
Access to a large, grassy outdoor space like park, field, back garden, or the common area lawn of an apartment, condominium, or townhome complex (This ritual ends with a Maypole dance, which can also be done inside depending on your space and number of participants. Being indoors gives you the opportunity to have the path “meander” in and out of various rooms that can be decorated for ritual use.)
Several lengths of decorative light strings—how many will depend on the size of your space (Strings with many lights close together in a tube will work best for this ritual. If you don’t have access to electricity, make sure you have battery-operated lights.)
Wire coat hangers cut into 6-inch pieces and bent into U-shaped pins (These will be tapped into the ground to hold the light tubes in place.)
Hammer
Pole or piece of wood at least 9 feet in length
Pots of marigolds, one for each participant (Healing and protective flowers are associated with Beltane.)
Masking tape
Red and white ribbons that are 2 to 3 times the length of your pole, one for each participant (The traditional Maypole is tied with red and white ribbons: red for the God and white for the Goddess. The red ribbons also symbolize energy, and the white symbolize purity. Dancers make a circle and spiral around the Maypole, weaving these energies together.)
Black permanent markers
Appropriate music for a Maypole dance and a means to play it
There are only two rules to follow when making the May Day meander: the path cannot cross over itself, and you need to leave a large enough area at the end to accommodate your Maypole and all of your walkers. Unlike the spiral where participants walked in the pathway between the chalk lines, walkers on the May Day path will follow the line of the light. Connect your strings of lights together and lay them out. Work with your landscape: allow the light to curve around rocks, trees, and structures. (Warn your walkers about changes in the terrain if there are any.) Use the hammer and coat hanger pins to secure the light tubes in place.
Next, prepare the marigolds and ribbons. Place a piece of masking tape around each marigold pot. Write a line from the song you’ve chosen for the Maypole dance on the masking tape with the marker, and then write the same message on one of the ribbons. (Alternatively, you can make up your own collection of affirmations to write on the pots and ribbons.) Make one set for each participant; each should have its own unique song line or affirmation. Place each ribbon and flower set at random points along the route.
Set up your Maypole in the center of the area at the end of the path. A Christmas tree stand can serve as a Maypole stand, but it should be weighed down with bricks or stones so that it remains stable during the dance. As an extra precaution, a brave volunteer can be assigned the task of holding it steady during the dance—but give him fair warning that he might get a bit tangled up!
Track
Start the music and put it on a loop before sending your walkers into the labyrinth. As each walker enters, instruct her to silently ask the Goddess for a Beltane Blessing as she walks the path and to take one ribbon and flower set; tell her to take the set that calls to her. Stagger your walkers slightly so that they don’t run into each other.
When participants reach the center, have them place their marigolds at the base of the Maypole, then have them read the song lines on the ribbons before tying them to the top of the Maypole. Tie the ribbons so that there is as much length as possible with which to dance.
If possible, alternate your dancers by gender and have them hold alternating color ribbons: female dancers hold white, and male dancers hold red. When the music starts, the female dancers will move clockwise around the Maypole. Clockwise is an invoking direction, and Beltane is the celebration of the beginning of the Goddess season. Male dancers will move counterclockwise, the direction used for closing. As the dancers move, they should also alternate passing their ribbons over and under each other—if done correctly, the ribbons will weave around the Maypole. (Good luck with that!)
At the end of the dance, have participants tie off their ribbon and take their marigold; the song line or affirmation is their blessing for the Goddess Season.
Tabletop Altar Labyrinth and Ritual
In Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, the Goblin King (portrayed exquisitely by David Bowie) sends a young girl, Sarah, on a quest, seemingly to find her baby brother but really to discover her own strength. In the beginning of the film we get a view of Sarah’s room which is filled with figures of mythical toys, books, and, as a bit of foreshadowing, a tabletop labyrinth. More like a maze, the object of the game—to navigate a steel ball around little wooden walls (while avoiding pitfalls) and hopefully reach the end—is mirrored in the labyrinth Sarah must traverse in the course of the story.
Labyrinths need not be walkable or complex to be effective meditation tools. Create a tabletop labyrinth that will turn, through ritual, into an altar to support your inner strength. This ritual can be done as a solitary or group activity, but unlike a walkable labyrinth, you won’t need a lot of space to create it.
Trace
To create a tabletop labyrinth altar you’ll need the following:
A table of any size (just be sure it’s a table you can spare!)
Chalk and/or masking tape
A deck of tarot cards or some other oracle that speaks to you and a reference for interpretation, if you wish to use it
A collection of small crystals and a reference for meanings, if you wish to use it (The crystals should be in a pouch or box so they can be selected without participants looking at them.)
Brief mantras or affirmations that inspire you written on small pieces of paper (If you’re doing a group ritual, make sure there is at least one for each participant.)
Place markers such as board game or chess pieces for everyone who will “walk” the labyrinth
Before you begin, clean your table of any debris or dust and smudge the space by lighting your favorite incense and carefully fanning the smoke over the table. Picture it sweeping away any cloudy energy. The size of your labyrinth will depend on the size of your table. Sketch it out in chalk before you draw it or lay it out in tape for ritual use.
Classical labyrinths are often called “seed labyrinths” because you start with a “seed” design to guide you through laying out the pattern. In the center of the table, make the seed for the labyrinth. Draw a square, then place a dot at each corner. Next, make an equilateral cross in the center of the square so that four small squares are formed. Finally, erase the lines of the first square so that all you’re left with is the cross and the four dots.
Make a series of arcs by drawing clockwise around the seed design. As you draw each subsequent arc, try to make the pathways between the lines as even as possible.
Connect the top of the vertical arm of the cross with the upper right dot. Draw over the top of the first arc by connecting the upper left dot to the right horizontal arm. Connect the left arm to the lower right dot. Finally, connect the lower left dot to the bottom of the vertical arm.
Once you have the labyrinth sketched out in chalk, you can darken the lines or use the sketch as a guide to lay out the labyrinth with masking tape. (Keep in mind that this will give you an angular, rather than rounded labyrinth.)
Track
Take a moment to ground and center before focusing on an issue for which you need help. You can also ask for general guidance for any upcoming challenges. Take the place marker that represents you and move it through the first circuit of the labyrinth. When you come to the first turning, stop and ask, “What do I need to keep in mind as I walk this path?”
Select a tarot card and take note of its meaning, then put it in the center of the labyrinth. When you’re ready, move your marker over the second circuit. When you get to the second turning, stop and ask, “What support do I need as I walk this path?”
Close your eyes and select a stone from the pouch or box. Take note of the stone’s meaning, then place it in the center on top of the tarot card. When you’re ready, move your marker over the third and final circuit. When you reach the center, ask, “What thought do I need to keep in mind during this journey?” Select one of the affirmations and keep it with you so that you can refer to it when you need to draw strength.
Continue to grow the altar, placing tea lights, small stones, shells, pieces of candy, or other offerings on the path in gratitude as guidance is received. Leave the assemblage intact until your issue is resolved or for as long as you need.
Labyrinths in the Wild
There are labyrinths to be found all over the world—some may be closer than you think! Visit the Labyrinth Society’s Labyrinth Locator at www.labyrinthlocator.com. Plug in your zip code to discover your neighborhood’s magical pathways.