My Labyrinth Journey

My labyrinth journey began several years ago when I attended a labyrinth workshop at the Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference/United Church of Christ.  I had an opportunity that day to walk a large indoor canvas labyrinth - and have been intrigued ever since by the labyrinth as a tool for prayer and meditation.  Since then I have attended a couple of other labyrinth workshops and walked indoor labyrinths of various sizes and designs.  I have also walked outdoor labyrinths - at the Unity Church in Portland and at Carleton College.  I am looking forward to walking the labyrinth on the Isle of Iona in the fall.

As I designed this sabbatical time, I came to realise that building an outdoor labyrinth at our farm was an important aspect of my renewal experience. It would give me a chance not only to further explore this ancient meditation tool, but the project would also encourage me to reconnect to nature and to the earth in a deeply spiritual way.

David-Anthony Curtis from Whispering Grove in Phippsburg, Maine  is working with me on this project.  We are going to use a Baltic Design.  There will be a short and direct way to the center in addition to the more traditional circuitous route.  One will choose upon entering the labyrinth which way he or she will walk to the center. 

I wanted the labyrinth to be in a fairly shady spot, so I chose a site on the edge of the woods bordering our field.  When it rained so much this past spring, I marked off an area that somehow stayed fairly dry.  Earlier this spring and summer, I raked and cleared the circular area measuring approximately 40 feet in diameter of pine needles and tufts of grass and small plants. 

Since that time, I have also cut out roots of various sizes and dug up rocks that were breaking the surface.  I plan to use rocks from our property for the border of the center of the labyrinth and now have quite a good collection!  Paddy and Joe have also cut down about a dozen small trees in order to open up the site even more.  Now the area is bathed in dappled sunlight for a good part of the day.

I ordered rocks (rip rap sized larger than 6 inches) for the pathway borders and mulch for the pathways themselves.  This was all delivered recently (10 yards of each based on conversations with and calculations of several landscape and hardscape professionals), and so last weekend we rented a tractor to move it all as close to the site as possible.  What a time consuming job that was!

Joe also removed most of the stumps on the site and a bunch of roots close to the surface.  And so this week I have been bringing in wheel barrow loads of sand from another part of our property to fill in the holes and level the site as much as possible.  I have been doing four wheel barrow loads a day and then raking it all out.

This weekend - weather permitting (!) - David is coming to design the labyrinth.  A group of 6-7 friends who all expressed an interest to me in being part of the project will be on hand to do the stonework and fill in the pathways with mulch.  When we finish this weekend - or don't quite finish as the case may be - we will have a blessing of the labyrinth.  After all, the journey is what is important.  I am so grateful to everyone who has helped out in so many ways so far!

Overtime, I will be landscaping around the labyrinth. I hope to have a small stone bench at the center and a Celtic cross at the entrance.