Question: In
our statewide [denominational] newspaper, there is a short article on a prayer labyrinth
that was set up down South somewhere. Haven't I heard you say that those are pagan in
origin? Have you written about labyrinths?
Answer: I
have mentioned it in several older articles as well as in a Twist of Faith. I will post
an excerpt from my book with some helpful information this next week. At the bottom of
this page you can read statements from two articles posted on massive columns inside San
Francisco's cavernous Episcopal Grace Cathedral.
But the most useful answer may come from a
well-known conservative columnist, Arianna Huffington, who promotes it in her book, The
Fourth Instinct (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994). Notice her pantheistic
worldview and her vision of a New Age spiritual evolution. These provides a revealing
context for her view of the labyrinth:
"In the Gods
of Greece I revisited the myths of my childhood and found in the gods and
goddesses guides to forgotten dimensions of ourselves. Personifying the contending
forces in us as gods and goddesses acknowledges their emotional power over us and the
need to give them conscious recognition -- because if we do not, they will rise up and
take their revenge." (page 18)
“Everything is connected to
everything else; every thing, every
molecule, every rock, every living form, is infused by the same source. To say this is
to put the lie to a million false dualities, to all the forced separations between
spirit and mind, soul and body, 'God and man. "God is the sky and God is in the
trees! God is in you and God is in me!'
“To speak about this
universal force that will lead us beyond the last horizon of our known self toward a
wiser, more loving, more luminous state of being, we do not need to invent a new
language. But we do need to learn to listen to the old, the ancient one.... “ (page
20)
“There is, however, a
fundamental difference between today and other historic times of spiritual renewal.
Ours does not revolve around any one concept of God or require that we believe in any
one set of dogmas... any one recipe for redemption.” (21)
"The Fourth Instinct as the
force within us that urges us on beyond faith to understanding, knowledge and the
actual experience of its power to transform ourselves and our world when it is
translated into values, priorities and behavior." (21)
"Even those who are not
looking for 'a new heaven and anew earth,' a new messiah . . .
recognize that what the millennium requires from us above all else is a
psychological shift, a spiritual breakthrough, a new readiness to rediscover what it
is to be human ...." (27-28)
"Like all turning
points, this is a time of great tensions. Conventional answers no longer satisfy
ancient questions now being asked with new urgency. There is grave danger in our
discontent, but also great opportunity . . . If we see these tensions in an
evolutionary framework, as the natural pain of leaving what we know to venture into he
less familiar, we will uncover guidelines for our choices and we will not be left to
face today's /growing problems armed only with the bankrupt solutions of yesterday.
Instead of avoiding the changes by clinging to the old, we will embrace them with
anticipation.” (28-29)
“In our seeking -- from India's
shrines to the Vatican, from the mountains of Peru to the deserts of Arizona -- we
prove the universality of the human drive to find meaning a purpose in our lives, to
find God. It is the drive of the Fourth Instinct." (39)
“When Christ proclaimed that
these things that I do, you too shall do and even greater, he was giving voice to a
very important law of our evolution...." (45)
“The Fourth Instinct is
both the bridge to this next stage in man's evolution and the voice calling us to
cross over -- from competition to cooperation and community... It is an evolutionary
spiral based on a different set of imperatives -- for now the survival of the fittest
will be the survival of the wisest." (47)
"The Fourth Instinct
impels us on a journey to become who we really are." (75)
“The Greek myth of the Labyrinth
and the Minotaur was my favorite story when I was growing up – not only because I
was named after its heroine, Ariadne. In the myth, Theseus, son of the King of Athens,
is sent to Crete as part of the Athenian tribute of seven men and seven women who have
to be sacrificed every nine yeas to placate the Minotaur. The terrible monster, half
bull and half man, lived in the center of an impenetrable labyrinth. Theseus could
only be saved and be free to return to Athens if he entered the labyrinth and slew the
Minotaur. All who had gone before him had perished. But Ariadne, daughter of the king
of Crete, fell in love with Theseus. Guided by the thread Ariadne gave him, Theseus
was able to enter the labyrinth, slay the Minotaur and find his way back out, alive
and victorious." (90-91)
"Greeks were not alone in
seeing the labyrinth as a powerful metaphor for the path we must take to find the
center of our lives and ourselves. Since before Christ, the labyrinth has represented
the human journey as, at once, a road, a search and a conundrum. With evocative images
of twisting passageways demanding that its traveler make life-and-death decisions, the
labyrinth and its companion symbol, the spiral, appear in myths and ceremonies
throughout the world. ...Ariadne’s thread... finds a parallel in the “silver
cord” that in the Hindu tradition leads to the divine. And in Polynesia, dancers
wind their way through spiral gyrations clinging to a rope, while the labyrinth itself
is seen as the vaginal entryway to Mother Earth."
"In the twentieth century the
image of the labyrinth has intrigued the great students of man’s subconscious.
Joseph Henderson, author of Thresholds of Initiation, concluded that in all
cultures the labyrinth has a unique place in man’s spiritual search, and 'can be
traversed only by those who are ready for a special initiation into the mysterious
world of the collective unconscious.' Edward
Whitmont, the Jungian analyst who pioneered studies into the meaning of dream symbols,
saw the labyrinth as 'the way to the unknown center, the mystery of death and
rebirth....' Joseph Campbell found in the labyrinth a reassuring metaphor for
the spiritual adventure: ' for the heroes of all time have gone before us; the
labyrinth is thoroughly known; we have only to follow the thread of the hero-path. And
where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god....'" (91)
“The labyrinth, like life itself,
is about choices. Nations that… eradicate choice on the grounds of eradicating
error, inevitably lose their strength in a hopeless battle against man’s spirit. …
We must choose to undertake that journey for ourselves."
(93)
The
Labyrinth Project at Grace Cathedral:
“The
Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, that served as the central symbol for
pilgrimage throughout the middle Ages. … Christians made a commitment to travel to
the Holy land once during their lifetimes. When the Crusade swept across Europe and
travel became expensive and dangerous, several pilgrimage cathedrals were designated
to be the pilgrim's destination. Chartres Cathedral was a central place of pilgrimage
and housed one of the largest and most magnificent labyrinths in the Christian world.
“For
the pilgrim, walking the labyrinth was a ritual enactment of life's journey and served
as an entryway into the spiritual life. The goal of pilgrimage was single: to reach
the New Jerusalem, the place of clarity and union at the center of the labyrinth,
where the inward path re-directs itself outward into the world.
“When
we walk the labyrinth, the mysterious winding path becomes a metaphor for our
spiritual journey. It becomes a mirror reflecting the place where we stand in our
lives. We invite you to walk it with an open mind, and an open heart. By walking the
labyrinth, you are rediscovering a long-forgotten Christian mystical tradition.
“The
labyrinth is a mandala that
meets our longing for a change of heart, for a change of ways in how we live together
on this fragile island home, and for the energy, the vision, and the courage to meet
the challenges of the 21st century.
“The
goal of the labyrinth project is to recover the act of Pilgrimage
You are invited to join workshops focused on Co-Creation work and Self-Knowledge.
[Emphasis added]
From:
Natalie
Angelier, "A Twisting Walk to Inner Peace on a Painted Purple Canvas," New
York Times, August 29, 1992.
“Stretched
across the nave floor [of Grace Cathedral] like
a tarpaulin hauled in from a football field, the 35-foot-wide labyrinth is nothing
more than a bright purple pattern painted on an expanse of bleached canvas, a replica
of a labyrinth built into the stone floor of the Chartres.
“It’s
‘a ceremony that is at once ancient and New Age mysticism called ‘walking the
Labyrinth,’ explained Rev. Lauren Artress.
“At
Grace, Rev. Lauren Artress, canon pastor of the Episcopal Cathedral, is trying to
revive the ancient tradition as a tool for encouraging introspection and spiritual
transformation, whatever one's religion....
[emphasis added]
“The
Labyrinth, says Ms Artress, is a profound archetype seen in most cultures throughout
history. The ancient Greeks had the
labyrinth at Minos, whose serpentine corridors on the island of Crete led to the
Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull, the body of a man, and a bottomless
appetite for sacrificial young men and maidens.
“Hindus
and Buddhist have the Mandala, a circular design symbolizing the universe and
totality. For medieval Christians, the Labyrinth became a manageable substitute for a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
“Going
into the center, a walk is supposed to shed the solipsistic obsession of everyday
life. At the center of the labyrinth, a
six-petal design [lotus?], the pilgrim looks for illumination. "I call it
clarity," Ms Artress says, "You get insight into yourself."
“On
the way out from the center, the walker should feel a sense of communion with the
cosmos, God, or some sort of higher, healing power. [One woman called her experience,
"a dance I do with my soul."]
“A
permanent stone labyrinth will be built into the cathedral garden…. ‘You have to
get the mystical figure in the center right,’ says[Rev. Artress]. ‘Underneath the
center is a 13-pointed star. When you lay
that star right, then all the paths are perfectly balanced.’"
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