Thursday, December 20, 2012

Labyrinth walks at Marble Collegiate Church

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life's journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to "That Which Is Within." link




 

  

 


Labyrinth walks at Marble Collegiate Church are open to all:
    • First Sunday of each month - 1:00-3:00pm
    • Wednesdays - 5:00-6:00pm and 7:30-8:30pm

Our Labyrinth Facilitators will be available to help guide you and answer any questions you may have, while allowing you the space to walk in your own way, at your own pace.

Please scroll down to read more about our Labyrinth.

Enter at 1 West 29th Street.
For more information contact Judy Tulin (212) 686-2770 ext. 709.

At Marble Collegiate Church we have one of the only indoor, permanent, walkable labyrinths in New York City available to the public on a regular basis. Ours is based on the design of the labyrinth inlaid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France dating from the thirteenth century. It is the first such labyrinth to be built in the city in over 80 years, and the first built in the 21st century.
  

 




  • There is no “right” way to walk a labyrinth. You only have to enter and follow the path.
  • Clear your mind and become aware of your breath.
  • Simply be present in the moment.
  • Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to go.
  • As you walk you may pass people or you may let others step around you.
  • The path flows in a circuitous route in and out. Those going in will meet those going out along the same path.
  • As you pass another person, you may choose to greet each other or just continue on your way silently. Do what feels natural.
  • As you walk, repeat a word, mantra, phrase or an affirmation over and over. For example: Be Still and Know.
  • Focus on a passage of Scripture that has particular  meaning for you.
  • Meditate on a question that you have been asking yourself.
  • Have a conversation with God.
  

 

Releasing: Each step taken along the pathway into the center represents a releasing, a letting go of the busy day-to-day details in your life, shedding thoughts and emotions, quieting and emptying the mind.

Receiving: When you reach the center, stay as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Be open to receive what is there for you to receive.

Returning: Leaving the center, follow the same path out, taking back with you into your daily life whatever you have learned on your walk.

Solvitur ambulando - It is solved by walking. – St. Augustine




  

 

A Labyrinth is a personal walking meditation, a body prayer traversed on a single path for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. The winding path becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives; it touches our sorrows, releases our joys, and guides us into the experience of the presence of God.

Labyrinths have been used as a spiritual tool in cultures around the world for thousands of years. They began to appear on church walls and floors around 1000 C.E., an archetype of a divine imprint. There are even examples from churches in the Roman Empire and are found in various forms in many religions and cultural traditions around the world.

A labyrinth is not a maze, as a maze has many paths and dead ends; in a labyrinth there is only one path leading to a central point. One follows the same path in as you do on the way out. In a maze you lose yourself; in a labyrinth you find yourself.

This is what the Lord says, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Jeremiah 6:16