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Labyrinths: metaphors for life and peace in a roundabout way



Walking a labyrinth can be a way of finding peace within. The winding paths of a labyrinth, from the outer to the centre, and the time spent in finding your way, can be a metaphor for life. The photograph shows me walking the hedged labyrinth at the Aleksandre Chavchavadze House in Kaveli, Georgia.

 A labyrinth is a patterned design, usually printed on the ground or floor of a building. The difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that a maze is a complex design with a choice of paths and directions, whereas a labyrinth has a single, non-branching path which leads to a centre. Therefore a labyrinth is not designed to be difficult to navigate. In fact, a labyrinth has no dead ends.
Originating in medieval times, there has been a resurgence of interest in them, and many video games depict mazes and labyrinths. Found all over the world, they are often constructed in theme parks and gardens for entertainment and to keep people occupied. Labyrinths are often used in hospices, prisons, schools, religious institutions, and psychological therapy organizations to help calm the mind. They are designed for private meditation – to meander while contemplating life. For the first time this year, the St George Anglican Church in the suburb of Pearce in Canberra constructed a temporary one indoors, based on the labyrinth in Chartres, France, and opened it for the public during Easter. All religious traditions find meaning in labyrinths, however, for many they are not religious or spiritual in their sense; they are contemplative or just mere fun. “Intentionality is crucial; different people will choose different names to describe the experience. Don’t let that distract you. Names are not as important as the experience itself.” (www.aluuc.org/Labyrinth.html).

Even though there is only one way to go, from within the path the pattern that leads to the center is in no way apparent. Some designs alternate the way clockwise and counterclockwise, four of one, three the other, for seven circuits in total. At times the center is almost within reach, but then the path takes a turn back out and away from center. Psychologists, spiritualists, and labyrinthologists maintain that with the rational or left brain engaged in following what it experiences as a progressive and systematic course, the rhythmic and recursive movement frees the right brain to move into a state of openness and receptivity. In the movement from periphery to center, it represents the symbolism of life: convoluted and ambiguous. Through the ritual of walking in concentration, or letting the mind wander, the experience is said to quiet the mind and bring about a feeling of peace and harmony. Some say that there is a “pleasurable state of timelessness” which people find relaxing and refreshing.




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