Praying the Labyrinth: A Journal for Spiritual Exploration - Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion

...expression in the actions at praying the labyrinth.

Return, O my soul, to your rest
for God has dealt bountifully with you.
- Psalm 116:7

This is a very interesting format for a book, one that opens the reader to a unique spiritual event. Even to the end of the experience, the heading of each page reads Opening -- there is no conclusion, no finality, even at the centre of the circle path.

...leads one to creativity, leads one to pilgrimage -- all leading one back to oneself and to God. It all leads one to an openness to being part of the world, part of the community, and being in touch with one's own spirit.

Various churches around the world have labyrinths - one need not make a pilgrimage to Chartres. Indeed, as Geoffrion states, while the labyrinth is designed to be a means by which one incorporates prayer bodily in ... more

Most people tend to think of a labyrinth as being a maze, particularly a maze that is difficult to get through, with many twists and turns that lead to blind alleys and blocks.
So it is with the prayerlife of some people. They fall into paths that are not productive. They have to backtrack, and often they give up altogether.

A labyrinth, strictly speaking, is not a maze. There should be no real trick to working through a labyrinth -- no blind alleys or closed paths. It is not a tricky path intending to make one lose the way.

The test of a labyrinth is one of commitment and endurance, more than anything else. Do you have what it takes to stay the course? Labyrinths have been used in many spiritual disciplines in history, and achieved a standard Christian form in medieval times. Perhaps the best example of this is the labyrinth in the cathedral of Chartes. Jill Geoffrion made a pilgrimage to Chartres, and this book is the result of her journey.

`What is a labyrinth? It is a path of prayer, a walking meditation that can become a mirror of the soul. The labyrinth at Chartres is a forty-two-foot circle cut into the stone floor. It has one single path that meanders in a circuitous way form the entry to the center and back out again. It was placed in Chartes Cathedral sometime between 1194, after the Great Fire, and 1220...'

Geoffrion admits near the beginning that there is no right or wrong way to pray the labyrinth. One must be guided by intuition and feeling, the spirit, if you will. Every prayer will be unique, even if it follows a set pattern. Those who use common liturgies such as the Book of Common Prayer recognise the difference in each church service despite the framework of familiar words and actions. The same holds true for the labyrinth.

`All guides cite the cathedral at Chartres as a model of aesthetic achievement. But the master-craftsman was seeking something quite other than this. He was not creating Art but a cathedral. He was trying (and succeeding) to construct an instrument of religious action, direct action, having in itself power over people; a power to transform and transmute.'

Geoffrion details her preparations, the things (spiritual and physical) she carries with her in the journey, her motivations and intentions, and finally, her actions, thoughts, and prayers in the labyrinth. At each point the reader can tap into the journey through Geoffrion's questions -- what are we here for? what do we notice? what do we block? what do we want? Universal questions find concrete expression in the actions at praying the labyrinth.

Return, O my soul, to your rest
for God has dealt bountifully with you.
- Psalm 116:7

This is a very interesting format for a book, one that opens the reader to a unique spiritual event. Even to the end of the experience, the heading of each page reads Opening -- there is no conclusion, no finality, even at the centre of the circle path.

This is a book that leads one to prayer, leads one to creativity, leads one to pilgrimage -- all leading one back to oneself and to God. It all leads one to an openness to being part of the world, part of the community, and being in touch with one's own spirit.

Various churches around the world have labyrinths - one need not make a pilgrimage to Chartres. Indeed, as Geoffrion states, while the labyrinth is designed to be a means by which one incorporates prayer bodily in action as well as words, one need not actually 'walk' the labyrinth physically.

'Even though the labyrinth is designed to be experienced bodily, I felt no need or inclination to walk a labyrinth; being with it visually was enough. However, it was important to me to have copies of the labyrinth design around - above my desk, in the kitchen by the phone, on earrings that I wore.'

One can use these designs wherever one is; similarly, some churches now have portable labyrinths - great carpets or mats with a labyrinth design are becoming more common and popular among churches for special event days.

This is a remarkable book, and well worth extended meditation. Follow the labyrinth of your own mind by following Geoffrion's spiritual exploration.

 

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