This post is a follow-on post to an earlier one that discussed the sense of the sacred.
I’ve finally figured out in my mind how to lay out a 7 cicruit Cretan labryrinth in my back yard with temporary materials that won’t kill grass as I try it out. These Christian meditational labyrinths are not a maze; once you enter, you will inevitably find your way to the center, though it may not be obvious, and you will seem to be going the wrong way sometimes.

This is not a complicated project, except that labyrinths get long and wide in a hurry. For a 20 inch wide path, the total length of the path to the center is about 430 ft., and the diameter is about 27 ft. So, the problem has been finding some easy way to mark the paths on the yard with that is inexpensive and easily changed while I make up my mind about something more permanent. There are all sorts of marking possibilities - ropes, chains, molded concrete stones, etc. I needed something highly visible, fairly weatherproof, stable for several weeks, and amenable to assembly and disassembly by one person in a reasonable time. I even thought about using birdseed until I realized it would lure birds to the ground for our cat to chase, that it would attract mice, that squirrels would eat it up, and that the rest of it would probably turn into fertilized weeds. I finally have an idea that I’ll try as soon as the rain quits.

It’s been interesting to watch an engineer do this. I wanted a really “square” seed pattern to start with - none of this artist’s eyeballing for me. I wanted stakes that were really robust, and I’m sure I’ll overmeasure the various radii as I lay it out. Not that any of this is critically important. My mind just gets stuck sometimes in its insistence on constructing things accurately rather than just trusting my vision or using approximations.

While this is a fun project, it involves a bit more than that. In the sincerest form of imitating its Christian roots, I plan to use it as a private meditative space for walking meditation. (The back yard is reasonably private and the neighbors aren’t nosy.)

The whole project is nonlogical and unnecessary. I could do walking meditation elsewhere, and my mind asks, “What’s the silliness of thinking that walking the labyrinth is anything but walking in circles?” Like I don’t already spend enough of my life going in circles. But that’s precisely the point of it in a way. It is not logical. It is entirely symbolic. It is deliberately using form as a means of expressing and pointing to something more profound than things I can explain. It is a deliberate connection to a long tradition of using this geometry to create contemplative space. It is trusting that following the path will lead to the center without always being sure of how I’m getting there. The form may only have the power I assign to it, but I’m not trying to reach my logical mind with it anyhow. When one is open, symbols can sometimes touch a deeper place in consciousness than the conceptual mind. I will make deliberate effort to hold my conceptual mind at bay to let the wholeness of what I’m doing permeate my meditation. At least that’s my goal. The idea is to create sacred space, that while not explainable, can reach places where thought cannot.

I’ll take some pictures when I’ve made a start of it. And if there’s interest, I’ll post details on how I laid it out, and where to find information.