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The two primary challenges of a permanent labyrinth are the amount of space required (a 25-foot-square minimum for comfortable walking) and the upkeep. Labyrinth maintenance is a soothing meditative practice in itself, but it does require a certain investment of time depending on the materials used, from labor-intensive garden labyrinths to painted concrete labyrinths that just require broom sweeping.

A Chartres labyrinth made from stone and mulch in St. Louis, Missouri.

While stones are most commonly used to mark outdoor pathways, other outdoor options to mark the walls of the circuits include:

Rope, plants, shells, bricks, or pavers

Mown grass as the path, unmown grass for the walls

Mown grass as the path, with slim walls dug out and filled to grass level with bricks or sand

Turf labyrinths: a dug-out path below ground level that is filled with sand or bark chips (if you decide to use bark chips or mulch, look for the sliver-free kind that is used in playgrounds); walls of circuits can be reinforced with brick or stone and tops of walls planted with flowers or low shrubbery

Mound labyrinths: similar to turf labyrinths, except that instead of the paths being dug out to below ground level, the walls are berms, raised mounds of earth. Again, the tops of the walls may be planted

Paint on a concrete driveway or patio

Paint, stain, tiles, or even inlaid wood for indoor permanent labyrinths

TEMPORARY LABYRINTHS

There are two types of temporary labyrinths: constructed ones that can be dismantled easily and portable ones painted on a variety of fabrics, which can be laid down for walking and stored until the next use.

Temporarily constructed labyrinths can be made indoors or out: in your yard, in parks, at the beach, or on any kind of floor, if the dimensions of the room are at least 25 feet square. They require no maintenance, since they are dismantled after use. They can’t, however, be used spontaneously, since even the simplest temporary labyrinth requires at least an hour of setup time. Walking a temporary labyrinth at a beach or park can open one’s eyes in new ways to the beauty of place.

Outdoor temporary labyrinths can be made from:

Rope or ribbon staked to the ground or stapled to sticks

Lime

Cornmeal

Feathers (Marty Cain, a professional labyrinth builder in Vermont, once created a temporary labyrinth entirely from thousands of white turkey feathers!)

Football turf paint

Snow or sand

Indoor temporary labyrinths can be made from:

Masking or electrical tape

Rope, yarn, or ribbon taped to the floor at intervals

Cornmeal

Portable labyrinths are “temporary” only in the sense that they are laid down for specific occasions, then taken up and stored until the next use. They can be painted on canvas, sheets, or ripstop nylon, or laminated vinyl-on-vinyl. They are more or less conveniently portable, depending on the weight of material used. They are also more or less durable, ranging from the high durability of canvas to the fragility of sheets. Several suppliers sell portable labyrinths in different stages of completion for different prices; please see the appendix for information. You also can, if you are enterprising and patient, draw and paint your own portable fabric labyrinth.

SITING YOUR LABYRINTH

If you’re building an outside labyrinth, go sit in the area you’ve chosen. Get quiet and ask for guidance for where the labyrinth should be, including the placement of the entrance. If the labyrinth needs to be in a particular place due to space limitations or garden layout, ask permission for it to be there. “Asking permission is a form of politeness in the metaphysical realm,” says Alex Champion, former biophysicist and professional labyrinth and maze maker. “Contact the local spirits and ask permission for building the labyrinth. Ask for help to determine the orientation of the labyrinth and the best place for its entrance. If you haven’t done this sort of thing before, just use your intuition.