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5. The next open spot on the left is the lower leg of angle B; make an arc from it to the right arm of the central cross.

6. Continue arcing lines from the next available element (arm, leg, or dot) on the left-hand side to the next available element on the right-hand side (which, remember, will always be a different element).

7. The final arc will connect the lower leg of angle A to the bottom arm of the central cross. When you have connected these, you also have created the entrance to the labyrinth.

Congratulations! You’ve created what is called a left-handed labyrinth (so named because the first turn in walking this model is to the left). For simplicity’s sake, we’ll be working with this type of labyrinth. If you wish to create a right-handed labyrinth, simply reverse all of the preceding instructions, arcing from right to left. Mirror the entire illustration. By so doing you will create a labyrinth whose first turn is to the right.

Wooden finger labyrinths by Neal Harris.

Draw this left-handed labyrinth at least ten times, as Lonegren suggests, but not at one sitting! This will allow you to construct any labyrinth, small or large, from a place of deeper confidence and understanding.

FINGER LABYRINTHS

Finger labyrinths are small labyrinths meant to be “walked” with a finger tracing the circuits, preferably a finger from your nondominant hand. “Walking” a finger labyrinth produces the same physiological, emotional, and spiritual effects as a larger labyrinth. You can stop at the entrance to a finger labyrinth and pray or close your eyes and meditate at the center, just as you can with a larger labyrinth. You also can use the finger labyrinth for healing work, goal setting, fostering creativity, or any of the other uses for the labyrinth you will learn about later in this book. You may use a finger labyrinth just as easily as a larger walking one for any exercise.

Finger labyrinths, which can be made or purchased in a variety of materials, are eminently portable. You can even keep a laminated paper labyrinth in your desk at work, ready to be unobtrusively “walked” after a stressful meeting or phone call, or to help get your creative juices flowing for a project. I keep a beautiful purple heartwood labyrinth on a table altar by the entrance to my therapy studio. Clients sometimes walk it while waiting for a session. I like to use my finger labyrinth when I don’t have the time for a “regular” walk. In fact, spending even a couple of minutes with my finger labyrinth allows me to become centered.

Unlike outdoor labyrinths, you can use a finger labyrinth any time of the day or night or in any weather. I have “walked” my wooden labyrinth many times in the stillness of the predawn darkness. When I am too caught up in a problem or too engrossed in a creative project to sleep, I take my finger labyrinth and a candle to the sofa. After lighting the candle and asking for guidance, I “walk” the finger labyrinth just as I’d walk the larger outside one. After I finish the walk, I meditate or journal on what I learned. Having a finger labyrinth in your home also allows for “walking” when it is snowing, sweltering, or pelting freezing rain outside.

I find that keeping my finger labyrinth visible and “walkable” in my home changes the tenor of my day, even if I don’t use it for several weeks. I walk by my finger labyrinth whenever I make the transition from “householder” in my house to writer or therapist in my studio connected to the kitchen. The labyrinth reminds me that all the aspects of my life—mother, partner, teacher, therapist, writer—are sacred journeys, if I can remember to honor their varied paths. When I find myself caught up in worrying or trying too hard, simply tracing a circuit or two, or touching center, brings me back to my own center.

Beautiful wooden finger labyrinths, both seven and eleven circuit, can be purchased. You can make photocopies of labyrinth drawings or order paper labyrinths