Tales From The Labyrinth

Into the Garden...

Into the garden this earth day...

every day,
every moment sinking into this body
this matter blossoming...

that moves

touches,
ripples in the breeze...

spiraling,

and casting shadows...

Into the garden this earth day...

the heart beats...

and sap runs

and peonies bud...

open,

and dazzle the sun...

I curl up in the warmth
and watch ladybugs...

unrecognizable...

disguised as they shed primal skins...

becoming red wonder of flight
that defies gravity...

and I breathe beauty...

tiny creature that I am...
nestled on this giant ball spinning
endlessly through space...

stopping for just a moment
to sing of life
incredible,
into the garden this earth day...

Photos: Our front yard meadow.

Connecting A Million and more Hearts on Earth Day
April 22, 2008

Joan Champion ~ A Rare Bloom

This past weekend,
we attended the memorial service
for our dear friend Joan Champion who
passed on March 9, 2008.

Joan was a rare bloom...
None could resist her laughter and giggles,
or the light in her eyes
that would inspire you to see through the impossible...
She was an amazing artist,
watercolor being her favorite medium,
but she loved trying any thing that would bring forth
her creativity...
An amazing cook,
we enjoyed many a meal together,
and danced and walked many labyrinths,
as well as building a few!
For Joan was a hub of activity,
with family, friends, art, labyrinths, and was instrumental
in the dowsing community...
At the service, children, grandchildren, and friends
recalled all the ways that she touched people,
near and far,
but it was Alex,
Joan's husband and our friend,
who brought tears to my eyes
with his beautiful words celebrating
the life of his love and best friend companion...

Joan we will miss you greatly,
but will look for you in every bloom of beauty...

Photo: Joan Dempsy Champion, born December 24, 1944, passed March 9, 2008 and a bloom from our meadow...

Santa Rosa Labyrinth ~ Eleven Years Today!

I can hardly believe that the Santa Rosa Labyrinth is eleven years old today... That morning seems like yesterday, and yet so much has happened in the time since those eight concentric circles revealed this beautiful seven~path labyrinth that has now been made all around the world and graces our backyard...

I can not think of a better birth day tribute to the Santa Rosa Labyrinth, than the article in this March issue of the American Psychological Association Journal.

This spring, the APA headquarters in Washington, D.C. is installing a rooftop garden and the Santa Rosa Labyrinth will be the focus of this space and the beginning movement to transform acres of cement rooftops into green environments.

On p. 62, in the section devoted to "Curbing Climate Change," is the following article, written by Sara Martin, Editor of the APA Monitor of the American Psychological Association.

Restoring nature's footprint: APA is installing a rooftop garden that will provide ecological and psychological benefits.

These green rooftops are a collaborative effort to curb and prevent the pollution in local waterways, conserve energy, as well as provide an oasis for visitors and employees.

Sara writes, "For its green roof, APA will use a labyrinth design known as the Santa Rosa Labyrinth, conceived by psychologist Lea Goode-Harris, Ph.D.

Although the origins fo the labyrinth are a mystery- the first is estimated to have been built 3,000 to 5,000 years ago- its social and psychological benefits are clear, says Goode-Harris.

'When you walk in the company of other people from different views, different religions, and different political agendas, you're all on the same path, but you move through seeing different points of views,' she says. 'I can see that as especially important in a city like D.C. where there are so very many factions that can come together.'"

I am so pleased that the heart my doctoral research will be used in this way. It makes me happy beyond belief.

Happy Birth Day Santa Rosa Labyrinth...

You have brought me such joy and have held me oh so well, as I learn each and every day how to step more fully into life, following the path of my heart...

Snow Labyrinths

For the first time ever...
I made a labyrinth in the snow...

My dear brother & sister-in-law's yard in Boston
and Mother Nature,
provided me with the perfect canvas...

and a simple path unfolded beneath my feet...

only to melt the next day...
in a breath of spring...

Phantom snowflakes...
swirling 'round us all the way home...

dusting our own labyrinth
with a flurry of tulip magnolias
and plum blossom snow...

Photos: My brother and sister in-law's yard after a snowstorm, with my footsteps making a simple three-circuit classical labyrinth, and our back yard Santa Rosa Labyrinth dusted in plum blossoms while the tulip magnolia bursts into the sky with song...

The Ice Queen & The Bloglandia Polar Festival

Once...
there was an Ice Queen...

Long, long ago
in the silver of the night moon,
she lost her heart
and a sliver of ice nested into the empty space...

and hardened
and grew...

and became colder and colder,
as all the world
went to sleep
beneath a blanket of snow and ice...

Long was her reign
of loneliness...

No sleep,
no waking,
no laughing nor dreaming,
for she had forgotten
all things green,
soft,
and lovely...

Then,
one day,
not so long ago...
The ice queen noticed
that the sky was a different shade of blue,
no longer just indigo,
but shades of cerulean, azure,
and a deepening periwinkle...

And in that moment...
The Ice Queen heard a sound
that she had long forgotten...
The giggles and laughter of a baby,
And she turned towards
this music and the ice in her heart melted

as did her crown of ice...

as she raised her arms in delight...

of all things radiant...
found only in shadows...

And the heavens reached down to the earth
and clothed her in rich fabrics and furs,
for her skin could finally feel the cold of winter...

and for the first time,
in ever so long,
this woman of oh so many experiences,
stepped back into life...

Leaving footprints of spring flowers
in her every step she took...

Photos: Doll, original, vintage Barbie from my childhood collection~ Clothing, hand-made by my maternal grandmother over forty years ago~ Violets and Narcissus from our garden.

Bloglandia Polar Festival Hosted by our beloved Elizabeth Bunsen/eb ~ Be~Dream~Play. Please visit her site for more links to other Snow Queens, Party Animals, Polar Parade and blogs of wonder!!!

Pine Crest Elementrary's Labyrinth

Over the holidays, I was contacted by a wonderful teacher who I've had the pleasure to work with almost ten years ago when she asked me to help her lay out a labyrinth at the Elementary school where she then worked. Outside her first grade classroom, we painted a seven-circuit classical labyrinth. I had the honor of watching the kids discover the winding path on their return from Easter break.

Teacher J is now at another Elementary School in Sebastopol, CA...

and needed another labyrinth!

So with my rope labyrinth in tow... I met up with J and began laying out the labyrinth in the chosen spot...

This labyrinth is a part of an overall playground design, transforming the blacktop into a "peaceful playground" (headed by a very dedicated mom) where children can interact and play and teach each other about sharing space and play...

Most of my classical labyrinths are very organic in design and I use my rope to make sure that we utilize the space in the best way possible...

Once the rope is in place...

we chalked the lines and removed the rope to paint...

This 40 foot labyrinth...

took almost a gallon of white paint,
using three inch rollers...

and was completed from start to finish in two and a half hours...

Teacher J and Pine Crest School now has a lovely seven-circuit classical labyrinth... that may still be colored in a rainbow of colors!

To find a labyrinth near you, where ever you live, click HERE for the World Wide Labyrinth Locator! You might be surprised to discover that there is one just around the corner from you!

Added Note!

My labyrinth colleague, Erwin Reißmann in Germany, sent the following link... The labyrinths look identical but were made independent of each other! The pictures of the children in this labyrinth are incredible. Enjoy! Thanks Erwin!

German School Yard Labyrinth

Two New Santa Rosa Labyrinths~ Australia ~South Africa

I am very pleased to share these two very diverse labyrinths, made from my Santa Rosa Labyrinth design...

Today I heard from Lorraine Rodda (The Labyrinth Society Regional Rep in Australia). She sent these amazing pictures of the Santa Rosa Labyrinth they created at the edge of the sea out of rock and seaweed. Lorraine said, that "they had an exciting talk with an indigenous Australian about the way they use the bora grounds and how they are created. Tonight at the Santa Rosa Seaside Mediation Labyrinth, they will focus on nature and healing from an indigenous perspective. A labyrinth walk will follow to the vibrational healing sounds of the didjeridoo.

The heart space,
approached from all four directions...

and smiles from the center...

Over the holidays, I heard from Dawn Myburgh of Somerset West, South Africa. Dawn lives on an organic vegetable farm just outside of Cape Town. She has created a beautiful Santa Rosa Labyrinth there of stones and grass...

Dawn is a Reiki Master and therapist (combining Reiki and Reflexology. Her therapy room opens out onto the labyrinth. This allows her to offer a labyrinth walk as part of the therapy session and to her yoga students. This labyrinth was opened on the full moon of November 24th, and they continue to hold walks every full moon.

Dawn says that the upright stone at the heart space, just behind her, was "obtained from a neighboring farm - sometimes it has a face on the front and then at night the image changes to a woman holding a child. People have found several other images on the stone."

I continue to be in such awe of the beauty that people bring to their labyrinth making. Thank you Lorraine and Dawn for sharing this beauty with me and the people that walk and contemplate this meandering path that you share continents away...

Third Holy Night 2007 ~ Movement & Stillness

I step…
into the labyrinth

and as I begin to move…
Stillness drapes my shoulders,
quiets my mind,
and all the world is a holy place…

With each twist and turn,
with each curve that my body takes

this stillness moves down
into the souls of my feet,

kissing the path beneath…

Earth below me,

sky above me,

are all the sounds I need…

This place of movement and stillness
I now find where ever I go…

wherever life takes me
into the labyrinth of life…

Third Holy Night of Inner Christmas
with Lynn Jericho

Lynn's Blog on the Twelve Holy Nights of Inner Christmas

Photos: Our Santa Rosa Labyrinth with 12 Holy Nights of Inner Christmas candles in the heart space, pond and sundial at Real Goods in Hopland, California.

First Holy Night 2007 ~ Solitude & Intimacy

In my solitude
I drink deeply of soul,
I go to the source and I am filled...

My aloneness
is where I find the earth beneath my feet,
and the beat of my heart
to carry me through the twists and turns
of life...

In knowing myself
every changing,
I can dance with others
letting their love
and laughter,
tears and visions of the world
move with me,
coloring the beauty found
in everyday living...

This feast of friendship,
this intimacy of self and other
becoming trees in the forest,
dappled in shade and light,
where life flourishes
and grows
in all ways precious...

Photo: Solitude candle in the heart space of the labyrinth.

First Holy Night of Inner Christmas
with Lynn Jericho

Lynn's Blog on the Twelve Holy Nights of Inner Christmas

Winter Solstice Planting

What seeds
are you planting
this shortest day
of the year?

When all life
sleeps deep
beneath the
Winter night blanket
of dark velvet,
where a tiny spark,
like stars in the vast sky,
ignites,
cradled tight
within the earth
and dreams of reaching
the light of day,
finding
the path back
into world...
Singing the joys
of Spring, Summer,
Fall, and of the blessings of Winter...

Photos: The Buddha watching over light seeds that will only thrive and grow in fertile darkness, Winter Solstice labyrinth walk in our Santa Rosa Labyrinth, and Christmas Caroling with friends and neighbors, organized by Ulla and husband.

To view the Winter Solstice at Newgrange Ireland, click the link below and download the archive. It is long, but well worth being included in this five-thousand-two-hundred-year-old event.

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/Solstice2007