Yesterday I posted this gorgeous photo on facebook
Thanks to my good friend Patty Doty, I found out that this marvellous lavender labyrinth is in Kastellaun Germany.
I love labyrinths and as many of you know we construct one each year for our Celtic retreat on Camano Island in August and a couple of years ago even had participants making their own finger labyrinths. I have also blogged about the significance of labyrinths here and still hanker after the labyrinth that Craig Goodwin created out of his backyard vegetable garden.
Going online this morning to do some research on labyrinths for my upcoming book I discovered that the Labyrinth Society celebrates World Labyrinth Day on the first Saturday of May – which just happens to be next Saturday so it seemed a good time to post again about labyrinths. I have not posted resources to help one explore and create one’s own labyrinth and thought that this was a good time to do that.
Here is the list provided by the Labyrinth Society, though these are not specifically Christian.
- Find a labyrinth
- Download a finger labyrinth
- Walk a virtual labyrinth
- Make a 7 circuit labyrinth
- Make a Chartres labyrinth
- Activities for kids
Many Christians, because of the non Christian roots of this tool are skeptical and even condemning of its use. This is a well balanced article that explains some of these concerns. However labyrinths are gaining popularity amongst Christians and I personally have found them to be a very helpful tool for mediation.
Some of the best Christian resources come from Jonny Baker and the people at Proost in the UK.
Hold This Space Pocket Liturgies [pdf]
Navigatio Pocket Liturgies [pdf]
Landskapes – Labyrinth Meditations, Eucharist, and Spirit of the New.
The labyrinth Network Northwest also has some great resources available. – It is an extensive list and I am very glad that I did not need to reproduce it.
And this pdf on Labyrinth Prayer not only explains the labyrinth & provides some prayers to use in walking it but also mentions some great books on labyrinths.
Bosco Peters just made me aware of this video that he uploaded for his post Twists and Turns of Holy Week. Thanks Bosco.
I also really enjoyed this video introduction to labyrinth walking.
2 comments
What a gorgeous photograph! I’ve always been intrigued by labyrinths, and I love the various resources you’ve taken the time to share with us. I’m thinking about having my students make a small labyrinth for an upcoming craft, and you gave me some terrific resources about how to do just that. Thank you so much for sharing!
Your welcome Margo. You might also like to download the Prayers of a Different Sort – A Children’s prayer guide which has a labyrinth plan in it too. The kids always love the labyrinth at the Celtic retreat. It is a great way to teach them about prayer