Walk the Labyrinth

Labyrinths: my classical studies lead me to think immediately of Theseus and the minotaur; archaeology brings up thoughts of Sir Arthur Evans and the excavations at Knossos, which revealed (art historical thoughts of) frescos of bull jumpers. As a lesbian, I know that the labrys, or doubled-headed axe, is a symbol of lesbians, strong women, the non-well-behaved women who make history.

But this was a labyrinth that you walk, the kind of the floor of Chartres cathedral, the kind cut into gardens and floors all over the world, the kind that UU churches have created temporarily and permanently all over the country. This one was on the kind of huge blue and silver tarp that you can buy at Costco, made of red duct tape, with concentric circles, starting at a cross, creating a winding path.

I walked the path, first, by myself, desperately needing some calm reflection after days of harried chaos and disorder. Soon, I was joined by Mama, who walked with me a bit but then had to referree snacking children. The kids joined me soon, running where I walked, crossing the lines, where I carefully followed the prescribed path. But all ways to walk the labyrinth are welcome. Reaching the center, I walked back through, nodding at other friends who had joined the path. It's odd, while you can follow the path as you walk it, I found it almost impossible to predict where I would be next, which circle would be my next. Even from the center, I couldn't exactly discern the path I had tread, nor the way I would get out, except for the first few steps I would take. It all looks so regular but it is a little--what's the word that means throwing you a little off-balance--unbalancing? Except that the exercise itself was so centering, made me so present, even in just a few steps and minutes. Standing in the center, I did have some thoughts about "man as the measure of all things" as I stood at the center of all of those walking around me; but it wasn't a feeling of power or control or superiority encompassed by that humanist concept but a much more Zen (to borrow from precisely the wrong religious tradition) thought of "well, I got here first and now it's time to go on." And that's what I did, took the path--the same path, though it didn't feel familiar or the same--around and around, and exited the labyrinth, not dizzy at all but balanced and calm. Exactly what I needed.


Love will guide us , Peace has tried us
Hope inside us will lead the way
On the road from greed to giving
Love will guide us through the dark night.

If you cannot sing like angels
If you cannot speak before thousands
You can give from deep within you
You can change the world with your love.

You are like no other being,
What you can give no other can give
To the future of our precious children,
To the future of the world where we live.

Hear the song of peace within you
Heed the song of peace in your heart
Spring's new beginning shall lead to the harvest
Love will guide us on our way.

Sally Rogers' "Love Will Guide Us"