"At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of who you are." --Caroline Adams
The Story of Our Labyrinth
On April 15th, 2000, Marty Cain and about a dozen women came to lay the labyrinth. People from Ohio to Ireland gathered. Some stayed for the weekend and some just for a few hours. We started on Friday night with a slide show by Marty, seeing pictures of sacred sites and labyrinths throughout the world. On Saturday we learned how to dowse - using a divining rod. After we asked our ancestors, the land and Spirits of the land, we dowsed and laid the labyrinth. On Sunday, we continued dowsing as we searched for rocks and began to put them in place. We noticed as we were working and talking that weekend that we felt the presence of our ancestors and their support.
An approach to walking the labyrinth:
1. Stand at the entrance and affirm some intention for your walk. A generic intention may be "to walk in gratitude for all the blessings in my life". Some people ask for clarity on a question they have or special blessings for someone.
2. Remove the stick that is in the entrance. This stick is a reminder that we ask for protection for this sacred path and all who enter.
3. Walk the path and rememember that you are going in -to yourself, to your inner knowing, to any resources that available to you. Let go of thought and control.
4. At the Center pause. You may choose to say some prayers. You may sit for awhile. Give yourself time to take in the walk to center and to prepare for the transition out.
5. Follow the path and walk out of the labyrinth. Remind yourself that you are taking whatever you received from your center out into the world. You are walking out to action. You are integrating as you walk out of the labyrinth.
6. When you've completed the walk, turn toward the center and give thanks.
7. Put the snake stick back in place.
When walking the labyrinth with a group, you may want each person to enter after the person in front of them is about 20 feet or so in. The last person out can put the stick back in place.
There is not just one way to be with the labyrinth. There is no "right" or "wrong" way. You can make up your own way. You can talk and sing and dance your way around alone, in small groups or all together. You can go right to center or skip paths. I ask that whatever you do, you honor the land and the labyrinth.
Thank you, Suzanne
More about Marty Cain
Marty Cain is an artist who builds labyrinths and sacred sites, dowses for water and geopathis stress in homes and businesses. She fully believes that the Earth and every thing on it is alive, conscious, intelligent, and ready to play with those who bring respect and their own playfulness to the opportunity.
Marty's first awareness of the spirit in nature was with her Lithuanian grandfather who took her, as a child, into the woods to ask the wildflowers if they wanted to be transplanted into his garden. She does not remember hearing the plants answer her grandfather, but she was sure they must have, as she and her grandfather always respected the wishes of those plants who did not want to be moved. Grandpa Witkus never came right out and said that plants, like animals, have wills of their own and the ability to hear and understand what people say. He just always treated them as though they did. By the time Marty was six, Grandfather had taught her how to transplant wild flowers, how to dowse for water, and to respect the wishes of all living creatures.
Dowsing, a direct opening to the spirit, is closely related to Marty's experience of being an artist. It is but a simple step from learning to listen to the Earth to listening to that part of the Self which generates creative ideas. Her labyrinth and dowsing workshops are healing and invigorating experiences of opening to joy; her critique of artwork an experience of grounding in the wisdom of the creative spirit.
To Marty, labyrinths are not merely art forms, decorative patterns or community events. They are transformative vehicles that integrate the energies of the Earth and the Cosmic Realm. Owning a Labyrinth is a commitment to Mother Earth, a sharing of love energy. Marty is convinced: In order to remain transformative, a labyrinth must be walked. In order for human beings to remain whole, we must learn to integrate our own growth path with the vital Life Force within Nature.