Exploring the Labyrinth_ A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth - Melissa Gayle West [36]
CENTER ALTAR
An altar at the center of the labyrinth honors the symbolic meaning and power of “the center,” reminding us of that still point deep within our souls where we can know the truth.
Sometimes we may need emptiness in the center of the labyrinth, a pregnant void. At other times a simple altar is called for on which we can place icons or statues of the Sacred, a ceramic egg to symbolize new life, a photograph of someone we walk and pray for, blank paper or unshaped clay representing a new creative project.
I love candles in the center altar; for me their flames evoke the light and love of the Sacred. You can light a center candle in one of two ways. You may perform what Gretchen Schodde, director of Harmony Hill, calls “the Short Walk”: Before beginning the walk proper, go directly to the center and light the candle as a prelude to the walk; then go back to the entrance and walk the labyrinth, thus walking metaphorically toward the Light. Or you may light the candle when you reach the center in the course of your walk, in recognition of that Light.
A rooftop view of Prairie Labyrinth after the routine yearly prairie burn.
If you choose, say a brief prayer when you light the candle. Depending on the purpose of the walk, the prayer can ask for the light of healing for yourself or someone else; for the light of understanding in a difficult situation; in gratitude for a birth literal or symbolic; to be a bearer of the light for others; to recognize that same light in all you meet. Lighting a candle is a rich symbolic action, one that can be adapted to almost any sort of intention you might carry into a labyrinth walk.
The central altar is a wonderful place to highlight seasonal symbols. These symbols not only connect us more deeply with the earth and its cycle of seasons, but they also serve to remind us of the inevitability of change, the necessity to embrace the great cycles of life, death, and rebirth, not just in the earth around us but in our own souls and lives.
I put wooden eggs in the center of my labyrinth in spring as a symbol of new beginnings and new life. For Summer Solstice as I wrote this book, I gathered St.-John’s-wort, a flowering herb traditionally connected to the solstice. I made a wreath of the sunny yellow blossoms, a circle of light and sunshine, and we carried it into the center of the labyrinth as part of a community Summer Solstice walk.
In the fall I place symbols of whatever I am harvesting in my life to remind me to be grateful; in winter (as Northwest weather permits!) I light as many candles as possible to remind me of the rebirth of the Light. The possibilities for seasonal altars are circumscribed only by your imagination.
If you share your labyrinth with others, wonderful possibilities exist for creating communal altars that reflect the richness and diversity of community. The redwood growing in the center of the labyrinth at Harmony Hill is an important part of that labyrinth’s central altar. Candles are lit and flowers placed at its base; over time people have brought small offerings, such as stones, shells, sequin suns, and angels. Walkers over the years have decorated the shaggy crevices of the redwood’s bark with small stone hearts, coins, flowers, a pair of silver Celtic knot earrings, a prayer necklace.
Experiment with placing favorite rocks, shells, statues, and icons on the center altar. Give yourself permission to play with different objects and their placement. This need not be deadly serious business; one time when I really needed to lighten up and take myself less seriously I put a pair of Groucho Marx glasses at the base of the redwood in Harmony Hill’s labyrinth.
Give yourself permission to experiment with your labyrinth altars. We can get far too serious, losing any flexibility or creativity and