Exploring the Labyrinth_ A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth - Melissa Gayle West [42]
There are many ways to prepare the labyrinth for a solo or group walk: preparing the lighting, setting the stage with sound or music, and preparing the altar.
LIGHTING
The other day, feeling discouraged about a writing project, I went outside to walk the labyrinth. Just before I began I realized I needed something more than just the walk itself; I needed to remember the Light at the center, both of the labyrinth and of my own creative abilities. I returned to my studio and found a small votive candle in a sturdy glass holder. Taking it outside, I stood at the labyrinth’s entrance, said a brief prayer for help in remembering my own creative light, and lit the candle. I went straight to the center and placed the votive in the central altar, then walked out directly.
Now I could walk; lighting the candle both slowed me down and centered me for the walk, and gave me a beacon to walk toward. As I circled around the light and finally entered its space, I could reopen to the light within me. I turned to extinguish the candle when I left the center but decided instead to let it burn. I walked out knowing the light was still going and bowed to it briefly before leaving.
For the next hour or so, I glanced up from my studio, where I was writing, to see the small flame giving light to the center of the labyrinth. That flame eased me back into my writing, reminding me to relax and trust the process, knowing that the light was always there within me. Later that afternoon I walked back out to the labyrinth, said a prayer of gratitude at the entrance, and walked directly in. I took the still-burning candle back with me to my desk, leaving a rose in the center of the labyrinth in thanks to Spirit.
There are many creative ways to work with lighting the labyrinth. You may have a single candle at the center, as I did on that walk. You can also light a candle or candles at the entrance and at the four quarters of the labyrinth.
You may use either tapers for candles or votives set in glass containers. I prefer votives; they tend to stay lit longer because their containers keep the wind out. You also can set larger candles in Mason jars to keep them from the wind.
Another option is to set out luminarias, candles set in sand at the bottom of small paper bags, which give off a lovely glow. Take a paper lunch bag and turn down the top edge a half inch, then turn it down a half inch more. This creates stiffness in the bag. Fill the bottom of the bag with about an inch and a half of sand. (You can buy sand at hardware stores in ten-pound bags.) Set the luminarias out in the labyrinth wherever you would like them to be: entrance, center, four quarters. When you are ready for the walk, place small candles securely in the sand and light them.
Luminarias create a beautiful suffused glow for walking. I love using them for night walks and especially for walks around Winter Solstice, when light in the Northwest is so painfully lacking, to remind me and others of the Light we all carry within ourselves even during outer darkness and of the imminent return of the outer light as well.
SOUND
Sound, in any of its forms—music, drumming, chanting, bells—may be used both to prepare for the walk and during the walk. Taped music, particularly for indoor labyrinths, can set the mood and tone for a walk. If you are walking outside, you can experiment with using a small cassette or CD player and headphones rather than a larger music system. Reflective, slow music, such as the Pachelbel Canon or a Gregorian chant, can set the stage for a deeply contemplative walk. Musica Divina, an eclectic chamber ensemble that plays music live for labyrinth walks at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, has recorded music specifically for the purpose. More