Our Labyrinth

"You go into a maze to lose yourself - you walk a labyrinth to find yourself."

The background to labyrinths

Labyrinths have been found all over the world, dating from the earliest antiquity. Described as 'unicursal (single-path) magical tools for personal, psychological or spiritual change' , labyrinths have been used for millenia by people from many different cultures. Long used as a meditation and prayer tool, a labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness, combining the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path.

In modern imagery, the labyrinth is often confused with the maze, in which one may become lost . Unlike a maze, which is designed to confuse or baffle the walker, a labyrinth represents a journey to our own centre, and back out again into the world. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the centre. When the walker enters the labyrinth, the pathway will lead to the centre, and a more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The only choice to be made is whether to enter the mouth of the labyrinth or not.

Every individual who walks the labyrinth will do so for a different personal reason. Some may just walk for the pleasure of following a convoluted path, others in the hope of seeking self awareness, healing or a connection to their higher self. Walking the pathway of the labyrinth is the process - the purpose is up to you.

Creating our labyrinth

We have had a number of tries creating our labyrinth - we started out laying the path in woodchip, but the rabbits and deer seemed to delight in scattering it in all directions...

Then we tried marking the edges of the pathway with posts and twine, with the grand intention of having honeysuckle grow to create a fragrant, multi sensory walk.... the rabbits and deer had no trouble running through the twine and knocking down the posts, on an almost daily basis.

Undaunted, we then decided to make it animal proof, and enlisted the skills of Mick, from Mick Sticks, who wove low walls for us from traditionally coppiced hazel sourced from nearby woodland - our labyrinth is now a beautiful organic woodland sculpture, with a very special purpose.

Our Labyrinth today