Remembrance Cretan labyrinth-walk-in-the-park organized by Interfaith CommUNITY of Gilbert, Arizona

 

On Saturday December 7 2013 we walked our first labyrinth-in-the-park with

Interfaith CommUNITY of Gilbert, Arizona

 

 

 

 

Anne and I had a try out the day before to connect all the colors and to lay out the foundation of the Cretan labyrinth.

 

On Saturday afternoon we started out to collect all the shoes people brought to place them in the labyrinth and to donate them afterwards to the WAMMS (Walk a Mile in My  Shoes) organization

 

Cliff and Sue brought candles and placed them in the labyrinth. The labyrinth gourd that I made for this occasion was placed in the center. Since this was a Remembrance walk the gourd was placed there to hold all the tags with the names of deceased loved ones that people would put in the gourd once entering the center.

 

RevJ welcomed everybody and blessed the event. We started out with a poem by James Dillet Freeman, a Unity pastor. He wrote this poem on the death bed of his wife. I altered the poem to be suitable for this event.

 

The Travelers

by James Dillet Freeman

 

They have put on invisibility

Dear Lord, I cannot see

But this I know, although the roads ascends

And passes from my sight;

That there will be no more night;

That You will take them gently by the hand

And lead them on

Along the road of life that never ends,

And they will find it is not death but dawn.

I do not doubt that You are there as here,

And You will hold them dear.

Our life did not begin with birth,

It is not of the earth;

And this that we call death, it is no more

Than the opening and closing of a door

And in Your house how many rooms must be

Beyond this one where we rest momently.

Dear Lord, I thank you for the faith that frees,

The love that knows it cannot lose its own;

The love that, looking through the shadows sees

That You and they and I are ever one.

 

 

 

Cliff and Eddy provided beautiful music, playing 'Nada te turbe, Nada te espante' while we were walking the labyrinth!

 

Then everyone started whenever feeling ready, entering the labyrinth at their own pace.

 

 

For the closing of the labyrinth walk we all gathered around Cliff and Eddy to sing one of the beautiful songs of the Taize Ecumenical Community in France: 'Nada te turbe, Nada te espante'. This is a singing meditation based on a prayer by Teresa of Avilla, a prominent Spanish mystic (1515-1582).

       

       Nada te turbe.         

Nada te espante.
(Todo se pasa.
Dios no se muda.
La paciencia
Todo lo alcanza).
Quien a Dios tiene
Nada le falta.
Sólo Dios, basta!

May nothing disturb you.
May nothing frighten you.
Everything passes on
but God is always there.
With patience
Everything is attained.
Whoever stays in God
Lacks nothing.
God is our Source!

 

We closed our Remembrance and Healing labyrinth walk by getting the labyrinth gourd out of the

center and holding it in the circle, saying all the names of our deceased loved ones and by voicing

and proclaiming "PRESENT" as a token of the fact that they live on in our hearts, holding dear

their spiritual heritage.

RevJ took the labyrinth gourd with the name tags with her to bring it into the service the next

Sunday morning for a continuing ceremony for everyone who was not able to attend the

Remembrance labyrinth walk.

 

What a Blessed and Special Remembrance and Healing labyrinth-in-the-park we had!!

Thank you all, especially Cliff and Eddy and everyone who brought shoes... 

And so we all went home, remembering the words of 'The Travellers":

"...And this that we call death, it is no more

Than the opening and closing of a door...

and that You and they and I are ever one."

 

 

the Cretan Labyrinth

The Cretan labyrinth and the chakra's.

Labyrinths are found all over the world. They are ancient symbols known to date back at least 3500 years and probably much farther.
They appeared on most inhabited continents in prehistory, with examples known from North and South America, Africa, Asia and across Europe from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. The labyrinth symbol was incorporated into the floors of the great Gothic pilgrimage cathedrals of France in the twelfth century.

In the previous labyrinth walks we used the so called Chartres labyrinth at the Mariposa Memorial Gardens. The Chartres labyrinth is the largest labyrinth or the so called 12 circuits labyrinth. It has beautiful petals inside the labyrinth and some say they are connected to the Lord's Prayer. Kathleen McGowan wrote a wonderful book about this:"The source of Miracles", 7 steps to transforming your life through the Lord's prayer.  

The Cretan labyrinth, one of the oldest and maybe even the oldest labyrinths, is a so called 7 circuit labyrinth and is different in form and size. This labyrinth is as we can see built out of 7 circuits and it is also called the 'Chakra's and Healing labyrinth'.
In the 3rd century BC coins from Knossos are still struck with the labyrinth symbol. The predominant labyrinth form during this period is the simple 7-circuit style known as the classical labyrinth. As a unicursal (one way in, one way out) path, a labyrinth is showing and teaching centeredness. This differentiates a labyrinth from a maze which has many paths & dead-ends leading to confusion. Like life & destiny, a labyrinth may be a long journey but it has a specific beginning and a definite end. Like mandalas, a labyrinth offers a holistic route (meandering radius) from the periphery to the center. A labyrinth imprints a 'royal groove', a ceremonial pathway designed according to principles such as Harmonic Proportion and Alternance of Energy. For instance, the clockwise (sunwise) and counter-clockwise (moonwise) spins of the meanders map out a balance between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.



The seven circuits of the classical Cretan Labyrinth pathway have also associated with the seven primary chakras of the body. Chakra is a Hindu word meaning 'wheels of light.' They are spiraling vortexes of energy that make up the energy field of our bodies. Yoga works with the chakra system as do various complimentary healing modalities. Notice that you don't walk these paths in order from one to eight. The sequence of the paths is 3-2-1-4 and 7-6-5-8. This is a pattern that repeats itself twice: 3-2-1-4 and then 7-6-5-8. Since we are walking on December 7, on Remembrance Day the Cretan labyrinth will comfort us by touching the chakra's while we walk, by giving us the possibility to touch us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritualy. The labyrinth balances our energy when we walk with the intention of balancing your chakra's, or your acupuncture meridians.It really is the Healing Labyrinth path!

Music
We will connect our healing with music! Cliff Cordes will play for and with us on his harmonica and hopefully we will have a flute also. What we will chant is the song 'Nada te turbe' from the Taize Community in France. To get familiar with the music just click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvfTVxgkWpo 

The history of the Cretan labyrinth
Labyrinth is a word of pre-Greek ("Pelasgian") origin absorbed by classical Greek, and is apparently related to labrys, a word for the archaic iconic "double axe", with inthos connoting "place" (as in "Corinth"). The complex palace of Knossos in Crete is usually implicated, though the actual dancing-ground, depicted in frescoed patterns at Knossos, has not been found. Something was being shown to visitors as a labyrinth at Knossos in the 1st century AD. Greek mythology did not recall, however, that in Crete there was a Lady who presided over the Labyrinth. A tablet inscribed in Linear B found at Knossos records a gift "to all the gods honey; to the mistress of the labyrinth honey." All the gods together receive as much honey as the Mistress of the Labyrinth alone. "She must have been a Creational Goddess."
According to Greek mythology, King Minos of Crete had the craftsman Daedalus construct the Labyrinth in order to conceal the Minotaur, the half-bull, half-human offspring of Minos' wife Pasiphae and a bull. For some unknown reason, Daedalus and his son Icarus were confined in the Labyrinth. Constructing wings of feathers and wax, the two were able to escape by flying above the walls of the Labyrinth. Young Icarus, however, impetuously flew too near the sun. His waxy wings melted and he drowned in the Icarian Sea. 7-Fold Cretan Labyrinth
Another couple associated with the Labyrinth was Theseus and Ariadne. Theseus was the son of Aegeus, King of Athens. At the time Athens had to a pay tribute of seven boys and seven girls to Crete - as food for the Minotaur - every nine years. Theseus decided to put a stop to this and joined a tribute group going to Crete. There, Ariadne, one of Minos' daughters, fell in love with him. She gave Theseus a ball of string, which helped him find his way out of the Labyrinth after he had killed the Minotaur.That the Cretan labyrinth had been a dancing-ground and was made for Ariadne rather than for Minos was remembered by Homer in the Iliad where, in the pattern that Hephaestus inscribed on Achilles' shield, one incident pictured was a dancing-ground like the one that Daedalus designed in the spacious town of Knossos for Ariadne of the lovely locks. Even the labyrinth dance was depicted on the shield, where youths and marriageable maidens were dancing on it with their hands on one another's wrists - circling as smoothly on their accomplished feet as the wheel of a potter and there they ran in lines to meet each other. The labyrinth is the referent in the familiar Greek patterns of the endlessly running meander, to give the "Greek Key" its common modern name. In the 3rd century BC coins from Knossos are still struck with the labyrinth symbol. The predominant labyrinth form during this period is the simple 7-circuit style known as the classical labyrinth.

source: http://www.crystalinks.com/labyrinths.html

Walking in Remembrance: a healing labyrinth on Dec. 7,2013

Walking in Remembrance

 

Interfaith CommUNITY

480-593-8798

Welcomes you at

The Countryside Park in Mesa Ramada #6 at the corner of Los Alamos and Southern/32th Street

For a

 Healing-labyrinth walk at 5pm

On Saturday, December 7, 2013

*

We will sing, walk and pray together and remember and honor

our loved ones.

*

Please bring your gently worn or new shoes as we will use them to form the labyrinth and then donate them to WAMMS (Walk a Mile in My Shoes) organization.

*

Dress warm, bring some cookies to share and bring your children/friends/neighbors too!

Peace One Day Celebration,Saturday, September 21 2013

Dear All,

this is to let you know that the world wide celebration of PeaceOneDay is near! This coming Saturday, September 21 all over the world events, celebrations and marches are organized to inspire people to recognize our own responsibility to be at Peace, to live in Peace and to share and celebrate Peace.

 

"Peace is not only about stopping wars. It is about recognizing the conflict in our own lives and committing to take te first action towards peaceful dialogue and reconciliation..."

 

Interfaith CommUNITY of Mesa AZ is organizing a celebration week end starting with Friday evening, September 20:
a Peace concert by Celia a singer/songwriter/comedian at CCNT (Community Church of New Thought) at 5013 E. Broadway Rd., Mesa AZ,

Saturday September 21 at 5:00 pm
a Peace One Day presentation and Service,
followed by an illuminated Labyrinth walk at 6:30 pm with refreshments and a Labyrinth sharing at 7:30 pm at the Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park, 6747 E. Broadway Rd, Mesa AZ

Sunday September 22 at 10:00 am
will host a continental breakfast prior to the Celebration of Peace Service & Gong Meditation at Interfaith CommUNITY, 1275 E. Baseline, # 108, Gilbert AZ

You are heartily invited to join and participate all the above! And for those who walked a labyrinth with me before: this time we will have an illuminated Peace Labyrinth Walk right after the Peace Service, followed by refreshments and a Labyrinth sharing and closing which I will be honored to facilitate.

It will be such a wonderful and uplifting experience for all of us to be part of this world wide PeaceOneDay event. The time is NOW!

For more information see : www.interfaith-community.org or phone Rev. Julianne Lewis at 480-593-8798 or you can call me at  480 319 2390.
 

 

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JLgr8mA9OkY?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLgr8mA9OkY

 

 

Reflections on the first World Labyrinth Walk 2013 in Mesa, AZ

"Peace is not the absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice..."

Baruch Spinoza

On Saturday May 4 2013 we had our first World Labyrinth Walk for Healing and Peace in Mesa, Arizona organized by Interfaith CommUNITY of Mesa! We all concluded that 1pm local time for the walk is not the most ideal time  for us Arizonans :-)
But there were plenty of water bottles available and people were well prepared wearing sunhats and sun shades.

We gathered at the beautiful Chartres Labyrinth at the Mariposa Memorial Gardens Park over at Broadway and Power. The Dignity Company had offered to host us again. They provided a beautiful cool room and light refreshments afterwards, which we are very grateful for!
We had a lovely group of 17 people, including Chaplain Lori Elward of the Interfaith CommUNITY of Mesa, who did the opening prayer. We then sung the canon 'Dona nobis pacem' together as a prelude to our walk.
Rev. DonnaChristine Park joined us with her WAMMS organization, which stands for Walk A Mile In My Shoes. She was our Angel of the day, welcoming everybody with 'a hug that's just your size!...'

Everybody entered the labyrinth at their own pace and rythm. Rev. DonnaChristine and I were garding the participants in and blessing them on their individual ways.



In the center of the labyrinth I had placed two jars with quotes on Peace and Healing and everyone could take one out and reflect on it or take it home with them.
You could tell that everyone was very focussed and concentrated and that this was indeed a Blessed Time... The heat didn't bother us and also the traffic noise did'nt bother anyone...

After the walk we all gathered at the Memorial Building to share and reflect, to cool down and to enjoy the refreshments.

It turned out we were quite an international group ourselves, with people from Croatia, Argentina, Costo Rica, France, East coast, West coast and the Netherlands...

We shared our backgrounds and our feeling of connectedness with Arizona's spirituality.



Some people were quite clear about the feelings and insights during the labyrinth walk, others had to reflect on it some more. All loved the quotes and to some they were very in synchronisity with their current lives.

We closed the labyrinth walk with a poem I just came upon some days before our first global walk (thank you Deanna Stulgaitis!), reminding me of a quote I love and live by: "Life is a journey of remembering...'. The poem is reminding us that 'We (already) are...'
I posted it already on my previous blog, you can read it there.

And so we all parted and went our different ways, back into the world. The labyrinth had refreshed us, inspired us, comforted us, empowered us and blessed us so we ourselves could be a blessing for others.

That is my wish... NAMASTE! 



We are...

In preparing for the World Labyrinth Walk of tomorrow, Saturday May 4 I came upon a beautiful poem by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and American poet. It goes very well with the quote I like so much and am using in every possible way: 'Life is a journey of remembering !'...
Walking the labyrinth is a spiritual and physical experience, some call it a 'pelgrimage'. Sometimes we are looking for comfort, for re-assurance, for meditation, for worshipping, for celebrating and also for grief. Sometimes we want a better understanding of who we are and what we are doing here. This poem is about remembering who we are and what we are capable of...

ƸӜƷ …We do not become healers…
We came as healers…We are…
Some of us are still catching up to what we are…

We do not become storytellers…
We came as carriers of the stories…
We and our ancestors actually lived… We are…
Some of us are still catching up to what we are…

We do not become artists…We came as artists…We are…
Some of us are still catching up to what we are…

We do not become writers..dancers..musicians… helpers.. peacemakers…

We came as such…We are…
Some of us are still catching up to what we are…

We do not learn to love in this sense…
We came as Love…We are Love…
Some of us are still catching up to who we truly are…

 

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes… ƸӜƷ

I hope you like it!

World labyrinth day 2013 flyer

A global celebration of the labyrinth

Organized by 'Interfaith commUNITY' of Mesa

Facilitated by Rev. Helga van Muijen

The first Saturday in may

May 4, 2013

“walk as one at 1”

Be part of a rolling wave of peaceful energy

as the earth turns at 1pm local time.

Where: at the (Chartres) Labyrinth at the Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park, 6747 E. Broadway Road, Mesa, 85206

Light refreshment will be provided by our host.

Rev. DonnaChristine Park will join us with her WAMMS (walk a mile in my shoes) organization. Please bring your old and gently worn shoes to donate!

World labyrinth day, a project of the labyrinth society, is a day designated to

bring people from all over the planet together in celebration of the labyrinth as a Symbol and a Tool for healing and peace.

For more information please visit: thelabyrinthway.blogspot.com

RSVP : 480 319 2390