Labyrinths from the Outside In: Walking to Spiritual Insightâ A Beginner's Guide

The user-friendly, interfaith guide to making and using labyrinths―for meditation, prayer and celebration. "People often confuse labyrinths with mazes. In some ways, labyrinths are like mazes; but a labyrinth has become more than a maze, because in a labyrinth you are never lost, you are always on the path leading into or back out of the center. You find the center if you walk the path. A labyrinth is like a maze with a certain answer. It is maze-plus―once you know the labyrinth, you know there is a way into the center. Mazes remain puzzles: they can perplex permanently. Labyrinths are designed with the eventual solution fully on display. If we but walk the path, we get home." ―from the Introduction A labyrinth is a circuitous path that people have used as a form of prayer and meditation for thousands of years―a path that is being rediscovered as a spiritual tool in our own day. There are now more than five hundred labyrinths in North America, made of stone, cement, sunflowers, grass, or canvas; indoors and outdoors; in Christian, Pagan, and even non-religious settings; and adaptable for use by people of all spiritual backgrounds. This guide explains how the labyrinth is a symbol that transcends traditions, and how walking its path brings us together. Here is your entry to the fascinating history and philosophy of the labyrinth walk, with directions for making a labyrinth of your own, or finding one in your area, and guidance on ways to use labyrinths creatively for: Prayer • Stress reduction • Faith rituals • Commemorating personal or family milestones • Meditation • Celebrations of all kinds Labyrinths is a twenty-first century method of approaching the sacred―are a spiritual practice more ancient than Stonehenge or the ruins of Troy. This practical and inspiring guide will help you to explore them.