the labyrinth

it’s been a few days since i walked the labyrinth…

i needed to filter and reflect before i shared.

for those who don’t know…. what is a labyrinth?

a labyrinth is different from a maze ~ a maze has dead ends and is a puzzle…

a labyrinth has one way in, one way out. the path is winding. just as you think you are getting close to the centre, it veers out, and you find yourself walking the perimeter.

the labyrinth is a metaphor for life.

it is symbolic of life’s journey. a pilgrimage. the shape of a womb, a brain, a path, a circle and a spiral intertwined.

a labyrinth provides the space for walking meditation.

to spend moments, hours immersed only in walking, thinking, introspection.

~

so we went to a labyrinth last weekend.

a convoy of five cars, filled with laughing women and a token man.

we drove through old parts of Canberra. old houses and old trees. we saw horses in fields.

we pretend to drag race on the freeway. we drive the wrong way and end up in the same place and the same time anyways. the labyrinth of life.

we find ourselves in country NSW. we drive through the beautiful old towns of Sutton and Gundaroo. The towns are old old old… almost as old as white settlement in Australia. The buildings are beautiful and rustic. I want to take pictures of the roofs. deep red, palings missing. delicious.

I want to come out here to wander the small country streets and have a photographic adventure. to luxuriate over the capture of moments and images.

the fields are green.

in a car with two beautiful spiritual women, I see a new Canberra.

A new beginning of me.

i sit in the back and look out the windows.

there is a rainbow heart sunlight. transposed against the australian landscape.

the road to the labyrinth was long and winding. it turned into long roads of gravel and dirt. an adventure in just getting there.

when we get there … it is a property called “Rachum” ~ Hebrew for womb, compassion, all encompassing love. a place for new life to come through.

the hosts ~ Allison and Shona are endearing spirits. their introduction, facilitation and leading of the day was just beautiful.

the labyrinth ~ a beautiful paving of second hand bricks set amongst australian bush and old trees.

we talked about it, meditated on it,

we thought about our expectations for the labyrinth walk,

then we released those expectations.

and one by one, in silence, we walked it.

around around, turning, movements, left, right, north, south

four directions

i was the last to begin walking it

i found as i was walking the path of the labyrinth i would have to stop at certain sections

stop because i couldn’t move

i couldn’t take another step until i stood it out

stood it out by breathing, relaxing, looking at the mountains

just being motionless for moments

waiting out whatever it was i felt

before taking baby steps onwards.

when i eventually got to the centre of the labyrinth,

there are six half circles like a flower around it.

i migrated around them in a clockwise fashion

in the first all i could do was lie in it, foetal position,

and breathe against the cementing. i lay there for a while.

as i moved around the half circles, i could begin to sit up

then meditate upright

then stand.

in the last, as i stood facing the centre,

i heard a drum being beaten by one of the other women up the hill

and i found myself dancing

dancing like a belly dancer

like a yogi like a shiva like a goddess

dancing within myself

and without myself

reckless abandon.

without music except for the sound of my own heart and feet

the melody of my innerness

and the beat of a drum.

and then, i walked out softly.

re-emerged into the world.

over an hour later.

then we had a sumptious lunch

with deb’s amazing hearts in tarts

the view from the shelter was sublime

we talked shared giggled and played with pastels.

we walked the labyrinth again and watched others do the same…

took photos

and reflected.

what did i learn from the labyrinth?

to trust in the path

that we will get where we are supposed to be

that the journey is our own and we can’t walk it with another in the exactly same way

that inside each of us is a baby, a buddha, a gandhi, a dancing shiva.

all these things and more.

the labyrinth ~ a pilgrimage inwards.