Monday, September 21, 2009

tracing patterns


I happened upon this rock sculpture in the Tangled Garden in Wolfville. Labyrinths fascinate me. They are a symbolic form of pilgrimage. A journey towards oneself or away from oneself. A lovely form of meditation. I find it interesting that that they developed in different forms and media (petroglyphs, classic, medieval, pavement, turf, and basketry) throughout time in almost every area of the world.

Some hospices and centres for the care of elderly have started to include them in their outdoor spaces. One theory on why they work is that when walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus it quiets the mind. Great way to get a tiny bit of exercise and still your thoughts. One day I would love to have a walking labyrinth in my garden.

Here are people walking the labyrinth in the Cathedral of Chartres .

7 comments:

Amy said...

Wonderful post! I love labyrinths, too...

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Labyrinths are so simple and yet so powerful, aren't they?

Char said...

something that old has to be the right thing. beautiful

Mickey (Michel) Johnson said...

...what a neat stone and an incredible floor...we have a shrub labyrinth that you can walk through at our antique rose emporium. the boys love to go and get lost inside it...xo, mickey

Jeanne said...

Fabulous is all that you post
Love Jeanne♥

Veronica said...

Wouldnt that be lovely to have your own labyrinth. I imagine stepping out the other end of a Labyrinth into another dimension, a secret parallel world or something like that. They definitely do have some kind of powerful energy.

Anonymous said...

ooooh! I like labyrinths too. Not too long ago I had the opportunity to walk a labyrinth formed by lavender plants.