LABYRINTHS have made something of a comeback in the past decade. A labyrinth is not a maze: there is one path to follow, not a choice of turns. Labyrinths have been in the Christian tradition for many centuries.
The most famous labyrinths are found in cathedrals in northern France. The one at Chartres is stunning in design and setting, and is now a place of pilgrimage from all round the world; but for many years it lay forgotten under chairs, like a buried treasure. It took someone with imagination to uncover it and to enliven the tradition of labyrinth-walking again.
Walking a labyrinth can be done in many ways, but it is essentially a prayer meditation. There are three stages to the journey: in towards the centre, which is often a time for stilling and shedding; being at the centre — a space to be with God; and the journey out, taking the encounter with God back into the world.
In a busy life, walking a labyrinth really forces you to slow down and pray.
A number of alternative-worship communities have reinvented the labyrinth for post-modern spiritual seekers and tourists. This was done by adding a series of stations to the journey. The walker listens to a set of meditations on headphones at each stopping-point, sometimes having interactive rituals to perform. A labyrinth was installed at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2000, and at Greenbelt later the same year.
The response was overwhelming. It has now been set up and walked in thousands of churches round the world, and published in several countries and languages. There is even a digital version online, which is good fun.
There are several things about laby-rinths that catch the moment: the resurgence of interest in contemplative spirituality; the idea of faith as a journey; the notion of creating a navigable space where worshippers and God meet, rather than performing at the front of a congregation; the rediscovery of an ancient treasure and reframing it in the Christian tradition; linking imaginatively with contemporary culture; and the popularity in using art installations for worship.
Grace, an alternative-worship community, is mowing two labyrinths in grass this month — one to celebrate Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit, in Ealing, and one for A Rocha at the Minet Park festival in Southhall, to introduce labyrinths to spiritual seekers there. The inspiration for these has come from the mown grass labyrinth at Greenbelt last year, and the one at Burford Priory.
Greenbelt has had various takes on the labyrinth in the past decade. This year there will be a labyrinth based on the Chartres pattern, run by a group from Scotland. For newcomers to the idea, it’s a good place to take the first step.