Holy Innocents Episcopal Church Labyrinth

Holy Innocents Episcopal Church is located at the south end of Front Street in Lahaina Town, Maui. It has now been destroyed, along with the rest of Lahaina, in the recent wildfire disaster. The church was founded in 1862 by British missionaries. At that time, Hawaii was still independently ruled by its traditional royal family, although the islands were under an informal protectorate relationship with Britain. The church moved to its present location in 1927, by which time Hawaii was a United States territory.

As is common in older Hawaiian buildings, the church is open to the elements to take advantage of any available cooling breeze. The church was open to the public, but no clergy or parishioners seemed to be around on the weekday we visited. However, we probably just didn't see them.

On the south side of the church, there is a little devotional grotto/garden --

And then --

A lovely little Cretan labyrinth is painted on a driveway/parking area. Privacy is provided by fencing. Colourful prayer flags are strung between the trees.

I'm glad we visited 5 years ago when we did. I would have hated to miss this little gem of a labyrinth.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2018]

Silver Springs Botanical Gardens Labyrinth

Last week I drove down to Calgary to check out a labyrinth that is new to me. It's located in the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, a city green space comprised of more than a dozen themed gardens linked by paths and walkways. The area also seems to be a popular off-leash dog walking spot.

Here is the entrance to the labyrinth, a portal through which to transition from the everyday world to a space of meditation and grace.

With a word to the wise halfway though the archways --

The entrance opens out to a magnificent full-size, 11-circuit Chartres labyrinth. The paths are made of countersunk interlocked paving stones.

Low-growing thyme foliage forms the walls between the labyrinth's paths. I'm sure there's food for thought in the choice of "thyme" as a central structural component for a labyrinth which itself symbolizes life and the spiritual journey. 

Unfortunately, I was a couple of weeks too late to see the thyme in bloom and covered with small purplish flowers.

The centre of a Chartres labyrinth is always a floral-shaped "rose," the symbol of the Virgin Mary to whom all Christian labyrinths are dedicated. Here walkers may rest in prayer or contemplation before resuming their walk back out of the labyrinth.

When I first arrived, there were half a dozen women volunteers down on their hands and knees painstakingly weeding the thyme to keep the labyrinth in its manicured condition. Apparently they do this every single week!

In fact, the entire Botanical Gardens is created and maintained by volunteer gardeners -- truly a work of great civic-minded dedication and generosity to the community at large!

Thank you to blog reader and commenter Medi Cal, who let me know of this labyrinth's existence! I loved seeing it and walking it. If it weren't for the six-hour round trip from Edmonton, I would walk it several times a year! But I can see this labyrinth becoming an annual day trip for me every summer!

[Photographs © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

May Full Moon Altar: Ancient Crete

This month's full moon altar honours the Minoan civilization which flourished about 4,000 years ago in Ancient Crete. It appears to have been a peaceful and prosperous Goddess-centred culture. Unfortunately, it was ultimately conquered and destroyed by its more warlike patriarchal neighbours.

The Minoan Snake Goddess is at the top of the altar, holding her snakes symbolizing wisdom, power and healing. A larger snake wriggles in front of the Minoan Labyrinth, another powerful spiritual symbol originating in Ancient Crete. An accompanying goddess (or perhaps a priestess) holds a Labrys in each hand, the double-headed axe which also honours the Divine Feminine.

I bought my Minoan Snake Goddess statue in Toronto many years ago. It is modelled on the statues excavated at the beginning of the 20th century from the ruins of the Palace of Knossos in Crete. Her dress emphasizes the sacred vulva which creates all life and her breasts are exposed, not to be sexually enticing to men which would be our culture's interpretation, but to attest that the Goddess sustains and nourishes all life as a mother does with her breastmilk.

The accompanying Labrys-wielding figurine is a modern statue obtained many years ago from Sacred Source. The Labrys is an immensely old fertility symbol designed to represent the vulva's butterfly-like double labia. It occupied a prominent place in Minoan religious rituals. Today the Labrys remains a powerful symbol of the Divine Feminine, as well as being a modern feminist and lesbian symbol.

I bought the Labyrinth art in Winnipeg about 30 years ago. A local artisan had laser-carved it onto a scrap piece of polished granite. This style of labyrinth which developed in Ancient Crete was (and remains) sacred to the Great Goddess, as evidenced by its circular shape (a central symbol of the Divine Feminine). The four rounded turns within the labyrinth are still known as "the breasts of the Goddess." May 1st is World Labyrinth Day so that's why I chose the Minoan/Cretan theme for this month's full moon altar.

An Edmonton friend who was a gifted painter, poet and writer devoted to the Divine Feminine gave me the stone snake about 20 years ago. Pagans considered snakes to be magical creatures evoking positive creative life-force energy, very similar to Asian characterization of dragons. It was Judeo-Christianity which demonized snakes as deceitful forces of evil in order to counter and denigrate pagan devotion to them.

This month's altar cloth is a hand towel which I cross-stitched in a floral motif about 30 years ago.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, May 2022]

St. Albert United Church Labyrinth

As I said in my last post about labyrinths, I'm trying to find a suitable outdoor labyrinth in or near Edmonton to serve as my new spot for walking meditation. Last week, I checked out this one in St. Albert, which is a small city just outside Edmonton.

Nice to see from the little Pride flag on its church sign that this is an "affirming" United Church which welcomes the LGBTQ+ community.

Other helpful signage enabled me to find the labyrinth at the back of the rather large church.

The labyrinth entrance is marked by two "peace poles" and flower boxes full of pansies and johnny-jump-ups. The labyrinth is in a quiet spot surrounded by huge trees providing some welcome partial shade on a hot, sunny day.

The peace poles were once painted in bright, colourful images by the kids of the Sunday School, but their current faded state tells me this labyrinth was constructed quite a while ago.

The labyrinth is a classic 11-circuit Chartres model. The circuit walls are composed of counter-sunk bricks for ease of mowing.

I found the labyrinth difficult to use for two reasons: (1) the circuit paths are quite narrow and (2) the earthen-coloured bricks are hard to see against the dry, scrubby grass. The complex twists and turns of the circuit walls would be much clearer if the bricks were painted white, but that requires a lot of upkeep.

The centre of the labyrinth is marked by a large granite rock, which is very common in prairie labyrinths. I had a little sit-down here when I finally reached the centre. An 11-circuit labyrinth involves a lot of walking!

It's a nice enough labyrinth and I'm glad I checked it out, but this won't become my "go to" spot because of the difficulties in its use mentioned above.

So the search continues!

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, July 2021]

It's World Labyrinth Day!

I miss regularly walking a labyrinth. The Riverdale Labyrinth, my favourite local one, ceased operations a couple of years ago and I haven't adopted a new one yet. Now that nice weather is here again, I should drive around Edmonton and see if any of the outdoor labyrinths are still maintained and available for walking.

I've been walking both Pagan and Christian labyrinths since 1997. This spiritual practice of "walking meditation" appeals to me. Over the years, I've walked many labyrinths in western Canada, England and Maui. I hope to walk many more!

To celebrate World Labyrinth Day, here's some photos courtesy of the internet --

Creating a labyrinth by light projection -- how clever!

This next one is my favourite -- how gorgeous! I hope it's not just photoshopped.

If you're interested in learning more about labyrinths or seeing my labyrinth travels, click here for my archived posts -- happy scrolling!

Masters of the Maze

Do you like finding the one correct path through a maze? Some can be quite difficult . . .

. . . while others are, admittedly, much easier.

And some just require a bit of creative thinking . . . .

Jesus and the Love Labyrinth

The second labyrinth at the Sacred Garden of Maui is located inside the plant nursery building and is constructed in the traditionally pagan Cretan/Minoan style. The labyrinth consists of white lava stones laid out on a bed of crushed grey gravel.

A labyrinth is a tool used for "walking meditation" because, unlike a maze, there is only a single (unicursal) path to follow. You can never get lost in a labyrinth -- you simply spiral in to its heart-centre and then spiral out again. It is a metaphor for the spiritual journey, as well as for the journey of Life itself.

The inner-focused, contemplative nature of this labyrinth is reinforced by a large, central art print of Jesus portrayed in meditation by Bruce Harman, a visionary artist from California.

To further reinforce this labyrinth's connection to the Prince of Peace, there is found at the centre of this labyrinth six special, naturally-formed lava rocks which spell out:

♡-L-O-V-E-♡

Here's a better view in close-up:

Friday's post will explore the Divine Feminine's presence at the Sacred Garden.

[All photos © Debra She Who Seeks, November 2016]

The Sacred Garden of Maui

I haven't done any posts on labyrinths for a long time! So this month I'm going to tell you about a couple more labyrinths which we walked last November when we were in Maui.

Near the town of Makawao in "upcountry Maui," there is a not-for-profit retreat centre, spiritual shop and plant nursery called the Sacred Garden. Located down a winding rural road, it is notable for having not one, but two, labyrinths on its premises!

The Sacred Garden is jam-packed with beautiful plants and imagery dedicated to love, peace, the Buddha, Jesus and many manifestations of the Divine Feminine, especially Kwan Yin. My posts on Wednesday and Friday will show some of this art.

Outside the plant nursery building in the very lush, tropical side yard is a traditional full-size Chartres Christian labyrinth, made of narrow bricks countersunk into a crushed gravel base. Cement rondels on which to stand are located in the rose heart-centre of the labyrinth. It makes for a very peaceful and meditative labyrinth walking experience.

In Wednesday's post, I'll focus on the Sacred Garden's second labyrinth, which is a pagan Cretan/Minoan one located inside the plant nursery building.

[All photos © Debra She Who Seeks, November 2016]