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TLS Members e-Newsletter
Members eNewsletter
At least four times a year, TLS members are rewarded at their inboxes with a copy of the Labyrinth Society e-newsletter. It serves as a means of direct communication with the membership and provides an historical record of the Society.
2015-2-14 News From the Labyrinth Society: A Labyrinthine Valentine for You
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Calling all labyrinth enthusiasts! Do you have a burning desire to share your work? Need a little encouragement to go public with it? Now is the time to act! The request for presentations for this year’s Gathering will close on March 1, 2015.
Picture it: Leading a workshop, lecture, or experiential exercise based on the creative and astounding things you’ve been doing with labyrinths! Come on, you know you love the spotlight, or at the very least can be encouraged to step into that divine glow. And what could be better than sharing with a wonderful bunch of fellow labyrinth lovers? Not much!
So, submit your proposals for workshops, lectures, posters and mini sessions, and join us at this year’s Annual Gathering, October 16-18, at Waycross Conference Center in Morgantown, Indiana.
The forms and process have been revised with the aim of making the experience of submitting a proposal easier and even more user friendly. You’ll see options to submit workshops, lectures, posters, and a new, shorter presentation category called "Mini Sessions." Each one will be reviewed "blind" by the selection committee, i.e. without the names of the presenters attached to them, which ensures that selections are made based on the quality of the proposal.
Similar to previous years, a short description (or "abstract") of each accepted presentation will also be featured on the TLS members-only website after the event. This provides presenters a way of gaining recognition for their work and offers members an opportunity to review presentations. Leaders of accepted presentations also have the option of submitting a PDF synopsis of PowerPoint slides for publication on the TLS members-only website after the Gathering.
We’re thrilled with the way this new process is evolving, excited to receive your proposals, and eager to see the brilliant innovations TLS members have been pioneering in the field of labyrinth work. So, please submit your presentations for review by the March 1, 2015 deadline.
Hallie Sawyers
TLS Education Outreach Chair, Outreach VP
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Are hardcopy DVDs a thing of the past? Well, let’s just say the digital age is making hard copies of anything a less desirable option. In keeping with this trend, we are delighted to announce that TLS has a new and exciting plan concerning our DVD, Labyrinths For Our Times: We are "going digital" and releasing parts of the DVD free on the internet!
Thanks to our amazing new Web Chair, Lars Howlett, the digital version of the English DVD will be divided into segments and released free of charge on YouTube. Segments will align with the interviews on the DVD: history, hospitals, churches, prisons, schools, universities, public places. YouTube settings will allow for embedding of these video "pieces" into external websites. So members will be able to link to the digital excerpts free of charge and feature them on their own websites! [News Flash: The first segment, Labyrinths In Churches, is done and available! Yay!]
Better yet, our plans for the Spanish translation follow a similar path. Thanks to many generous member donations, we can now add Spanish subtitles to the English DVD! The translated digital version will then be divided according to the interviews and also released free of charge on YouTube.
The full length, downloadable, digital versions of both the English DVD and Spanish translation will also be available for purchase at a price lower than the current hard copy.
And, the cherry on top: In order to provide additional information on labyrinths to the Spanish speaking population, a SPANISH WEB PAGE will be added to the TLS website! It will be advertised at the end of the full length downloadable Spanish version, as well as at the close of each translated YouTube segment.
As we move in this direction, we want to assure you that the hard copy DVD will still be available for purchase, and we have reduced the price to $14.95USD. The full length streaming version of the English DVD will also remain available for member-only access on the TLS website.
In our evolution to meet the changing needs of the growing international labyrinth community, this shift in focus and direction offers a dynamic way to fulfill the vision of becoming a global information hub, weaving together local and worldwide labyrinth communities.
A deep bow of gratitude goes out to the DVD Committee, especially members Ronald Esquivel and José Cuesta for translating the script and contributing countless hours of committee time to hammer out the details of all things "Spanish" for this major change in direction.
And, finally, a big "THANK YOU" to all the generous souls who donated money to help us make this a reality: We could not have done it without you!
Hallie Sawyers
TLS Education Outreach Chair, Outreach VP
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Christiana Brinton (CB): Hello Mark. Thanks for talking with me today. Can you summarize your professional background for our readers?
Mark Milligan (MM): Hi Christiana, sure. From 1996-2011, I was Pastor of the Zion UCC in Florissant, MO, and then moved to Vermont where I became the Pastor of the South Congregational Church (UCC) in St. Johnsbury until March of last year. Currently I am Pastor of St. Peter’s UCC, Frankfort, IL. My wife, Mary and I are very happy to be back in the Midwest where we’re both from originally.
CB: Zion UCC has a beautiful,medieval Chartres style paver labyrinth in a garden on church property that you helped birth. Can you tell us what this process was like?
MM: There are often misconceptions about church labyrinths; those who aren’t religiously inclined hesitate to walk labyrinths in churches or on church grounds for fear they will be forced to adhere to strict guidelines or dogmatic regulations, while more conservative churchgoers still view labyrinths as new-agey, pagan, and cultish. This is the attitude I understood I was dealing with at the outset, but UCC is a fairly progressive church organization. So I simply contacted our conference office, wrote an article about labyrinths for our own national eNews, and then started creating events using temporary labyrinths.
CB: Were these events open to the public?
MM: Our temporary labyrinths were mostly painted on the parking lot or cut into the grass, and were always open to the public. Once enough of our congregation saw the value of this contemplative form, and experienced the difference it made in their own lives, they took the ball and ran with it. An outdoor site was approved, donors came forward, Robert Ferré was hired to design the permanent labyrinth, and Marty Kermeen to build it. We now have a waterfall feature within the garden area too, so walkers have the soothing sound of water to walk with, as well. And it’s open 24/7 for anyone to walk, anytime.
CB: So once it was dedicated in 2005, how did you encourage further participation?
MM: I started a statewide labyrinth network to provide opportunities for clergy of other congregations to come and experience the labyrinth as a useful addition to a parish’s outreach, community building, and pastoral care services. This network allowed other community organizations access to our labyrinth as well. We hosted senior citizen and day care center groups, students from the psychology departments of local colleges and universities, and groups of student nurses from the local teaching hospitals who came to learn about spirituality in healthcare settings.
CB: So it helps to have a pastor or minister who is enthusiastic, committed, and has experienced the value of labyrinths in his or her own life!
MM: Yes of course, it is helpful, but it is vital that the community become involved as well. By the time I left Missouri, 15 churches were a part of our labyrinth network, and Zion UCC voted to add a labyrinth ministry to its by-laws, which really helps keep a labyrinth program and events continuing into the future.
CB: So then what happened in Vermont?
MM: I created a statewide labyrinth network there too, and we had five one-day labyrinth retreats for ministers and pastors of diverse denominations across the state. Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist, and other UCC parishes participated. We didn’t manage to get a permanent labyrinth installed while I was there, but the St. Johnsbury community is still working on it. My wife, Mary, made a canvas labyrinth which we used for public walks during the Christian liturgical seasons, and these were always well attended.
CB: So would you say that having a labyrinth program at these parishes increased church attendance?
MM: If you mean paying church members, I don’t know if it really increased church attendance, but, in both locations, it certainly created a greater labyrinth community of regular walkers who deeply appreciate the scheduled walks and access to this contemplative form.CB: And now, Mark? Will you create another labyrinth network in Illinois?
MM: I am working on it. It’s not something I can ignore—the value is too obvious to me. Once you see the difference labyrinths make, there’s no going back.
CB: Thank you, Mark. It was a pleasure talking to you today! I think our readers will be very interested in your observations and experience.
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In this segment of video from TLS's Labyrinth DVD, Mark Milligan, a United Church of Christ Pastor, describes his experience with labyrinths as contemplative tools for outreach, community gathering, and pastoral care.
Today more than 1700 churches around the world, representing many denominations, offer labyrinths to their congregations, and use it as a means of connecting with local community members looking for new pathways to a personal spiritual practice.
Along with being a symbolic path of pilgrimage, the labyrinth is often used to celebrate the different liturgical seasons, weddings, christenings, and Celebrations-of-Life ceremonies.
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The Labyrinth Society Facebook Group is a lively place, a bubbling stream of shared images and conversations. We recently asked about people's experiences with labyrinths in churches. With the World Wide Labyrinth Locator now listing church labyrinths in the thousands, these stories represent but a sliver of the thousands of individuals served through labyrinth ministry. For every church labyrinth, there's a labyrinth keeper. We've collected your stories here, and included one longer piece in honor of all those souls who mop the floor and get all the tealights lit.
Rev. Shane Parker, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa.
photo: V Compton
Carol Maurer: "Walking Together"
The line at the labyrinth entrance was long but the two tables holding finger labyrinths were open. I decided to sit and walk the finger labyrinth instead of standing in line.
Sitting, focusing and breathing deeply, I prepared my body, breath and mind for my finger walk. Pointer finger poised at the entrance I looked up and saw Diane Terry-Kehner poised to enter the canvas labyrinth. I decide to walk with her. To pace myself on the finger labyrinth in accordance to her walk on the canvas labyrinth. We walked together, we paused together, we sat in the center together but Diane had no cognitive awareness of this. I held her in my thoughts, my breath and in my heart.
When Diane stepped off the labyrinth I approached her to envelope her in a huge hug. Later I shared my experience with her. It was a powerful experience of unconditional love, letting go of my own pace and inward thoughts and walking in unison with someone on the path.
Tom Vetter responded:
Wonderful story, beautifully told. Your experience reminds me so much of a practice I learned from a book years ago. The book is Kything--The Art of Spiritual Presence. I hadn't made the connection between the book and labyrinths until now. Thank-you!
A link then appeared:
Kything: The Art of Spiritual Presence by Louis M Savary, Patricia H Berne. Introduces and explains the communion skill of kything, a spirit-to-spirit loving presence which can bring about a deep sense of peace and communication. [before you click over to check out the book on Amazon, see this quick and easy way to help TLS at the same time!]
Christiana Brinton has watched a ministry grow and thrive:
When I moved to Vancouver, WA, I became a member of the Trinity Labyrinth Guild at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR. I spent many happy years facilitating with the other dedicated guild members, watching as numerous members of the greater Portland community attended our monthly facilitated walks on the beautiful inlaid labyrinth in Kempton Hall. Not sure if the church community saw an increase in attendance, but the larger community responded to these and other special events such as our Icon Walk and New Years Eve Walk. This year 92 walkers, many of them new, walked to close out 2014 and bring in 2015 at midnight and before. Its presence makes a difference and it's open to all. How great is that?!
Anne Keevan Fox on her daughter's birthday:
The first time I walked a labyrinth was at Wisdom House, in Litchfield Connecticut. I went there with my daughter to celebrate her 26th birthday. We were given an introductory overview of the labyrinth and then we were invited to go outside to embark on their beautiful seven circuit Cretan labyrinth. With our intentions in mind Rachel and I entered the labyrinth. It was a lovely autumn afternoon and I became thoroughly immersed in the experience when all of a sudden I found myself slightly disoriented. I looked up and right next to me, in her own circuit was my daughter. "I'm lost, Rae" I said...she looked over at me...smiled and said, "You're not lost, Mom...just follow your path." A daughter provides guidance...we have shared labyrinth journeys ever since.
Anne Gordon describes a turning point:
When I first walked a labyrinth at a Body and Soul conference in Seattle in 1997, I was astounded at the breadth and depth of the experience. I wondered what on earth is this, where did it come from, and why have I not known about it before?
At this conference I listened to the stories and wise counsel of some of the finest hearts and minds in the spirituality and consciousness movement. Luminaries such as Jean Houston, Rachel Remen, John Kabat-Zinn, and Marianne Williamson told fascinating and inspiring stories. But the one image, the most compelling experience, the most insistent voice that continued to resonate days and years after this conference was the one at which not a word was spoken aloud—at the labyrinth walk.
Each evening a ballroom was transformed into sacred space. Lights were dimmed, candles were lit, and a harpist played beside a large canvas labyrinth. I entered the labyrinth, gliding in liminal space. I remain there to this day.
[Another account of this remarkable gathering. The Second Annual Body & Soul Conference was co-sponsored by New Age Journal and Hollyhock Centre]
Vanessa Compton shared this: "Coal @ Christmas: Notes of a Church Labyrinth Keeper"
It was a cold December night, the eve of the solstice, not long until Christmas. Fifteen people had shown up for the regular third Thursday guided labyrinth walk, including one woman who’d called earlier in the week to say she was coming down by bus from Toronto and planned to stay over at a bed & breakfast and make a real pilgrimage of it. Knowing this dignified the feeling of enthusiasm and anticipation, and helped bring together the little clusters of friends arriving from all over. None were from the parish except Paddy the minister and myself: the less traditional services and events tend to draw people in who otherwise would be unlikely to come to church. If we were keepers of a pilgrimage site for these seekers, then all the more significance lay in our usual scrambling to get ready.
Earlier I’d swept up the Sunday school crumbs and mopped the surface of the labyrinth in the waning light of late afternoon. I love doing this. The elegance of the pattern glows through the trodden-in bits of plasticine, “Good work!” stickers, spilt juice, scraps of wool and chalk and discarded song sheets, the detritus of a busy parish life. Like a mother, like the Earth, the labyrinth underlays all this activity and embraces it. I feel honoured to be washing Her beautiful face, and through these mundane tasks, preparing for the stunning transformation of sacred space later in the evening when Paddy gathered us in prayer to begin the service. I set out the flowers: a sparkly red poinsettia by the entrance on the hospitality table, draped with a brightly embroidered fringed black silk shawl; a sprawling arrangement of red carnations and pine branches at the center of the labyrinth; a bowl of prickly, glossy deep green holly and scarlet berries, at the far side of the labyrinth; each with clusters of votive candles around them like little altars.
When people arrived, we invited them to help set out dozens more candles in the lunations round the outer edge of the labyrinth, in the window ledges, in the doorways. One woman sensibly suggested a tray, and we said, “What a good idea! But this way, it’s a group activity!” Paddy expanded on this theme in the introduction, how we have learned over the years of keeping the labyrinth that this is public sacred art in which all may participate and engage, contribute and receive. To walk it is, he said, to practice body prayer within ancient Anglican tradition, a meditation that embodies the intention of shedding, journeying, turning as repentance. Everyone listened attentively. They took off their shoes and sat quietly as Paddy chanted in plainsong the Deo gratia.
I turned down the hall lights and turned up the recording of harp and chant fusion music that we use as accompaniment. The light through the stained glass windows of the church across the courtyard glowed into the hall. The candles flickered in the dusk, outlining the huge circle of the labyrinth. I moved to the labyrinth entrance and opened my hands in invitation. Each one stepped resolutely forward. As they moved deeper into the circuits, stiff posture and gait resisted and then relaxed, hunched shoulders dropped, shallow breathing changed to sighs. When everyone had entered, I walked slowly around the perimeter to “wind up” the energy they were building within, and then settled down on the far axis by the holly altar to a sitting meditation, where I watched over the people moving along the path, and prayed for their wellbeing. On the far side, Paddy was doing the same. Participants have told us that our doing this helps them feel safe. I attended to each one, observing the way their burdens and dilemmas, sorrows and joys were expressed in their walking.
I was glad to see Mary, a regular participant at the labyrinth events. A heavy woman with a corona of silver hair and a big open face with intense eyes, she is graceful on her feet and her smile lights up a room. But she is not always smiling: often her expression is determined, and sometimes she marches into the labyrinth as if to battle. Mary says that she does “lots of work” on these walks, and when she shows up, I put out a second box of tissues at the far side of the labyrinth where it is easily reached. She finds the mudras I sometimes demonstrate— gestures of prayer and meditation from all over the world— helpful for this work, particularly those of “shedding” and purgation: one for self-hugging that becomes a brushing off of old skin or moulting feathers, and a Balinese hand and wrist extension that models an extreme “letting go” where you keep nothing back in your cupped hand.
That night Mary had much to attend to—she was the first one up. She looked festive in colourful flowing clothes and lots of big shiny necklaces, and her toenails were painted sparkly pink. Her eyes were bright as she greeted me at the entrance, then leaned over, grabbed a wad of tissues, and launched herself onto the path like a swan into a river. Throughout the evening she was mercurial, a storyline seeming to unfold in her moods as she first embraced herself, then brushed away something that looked as if it might be sticky and awful. Then, breathing deeply and shuddering, she shook a burden from her shoulders before making her way to the center, where she sat quietly for a very long time staring into the carnations and candlelight, crying softly to herself and wiping her eyes. Finally she got to her feet, turned to look back at the center, and started back out along the path. This time, she danced round the turns, occasionally beaming her big smile, and when she reached the holly altar, serenely knelt down beside it and tenderly stroked its shining leaves. As I sat on the other side of the bowl in deep meditation, even with my eyes closed I could feel the waves of energy coming from her. I looked up and met her glance. She looked beatific.
Afterwards Mary wanted to talk.
“I left a load of coal in that fourth petal tonight,” she announced cheerfully.
“Oh really? What was going on?” I asked.
Her eyes flashing, she said, “My mother died this year. We didn’t get along at all. I’ve had a lot to work through. I told my sister, ‘You know, this will be the first Christmas dinner in our whole lives that we can put the potatoes on the left side of the plate, and not get told off for being so wrong’.”
Easter vigil, Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa. photo: B Brown
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Members of the Labyrinth Society are encouraged to facilitate group walks at public labyrinths to engage the community and amplify our collective energy. World Labyrinth Day is also a great opportunity to introduce others to the path by organizing lectures, workshops, tours, book readings, art exhibitions, or building temporary or permanent labyrinths. Our 7th annual event is less than three months away! Visit our World Labyrinth Day page for more info!
Do you live in a city? Are you aware of Jane's Walk, an international movement that honors visionary urban renewal activist Jane Jacobs by helping communities organise walking tours of their neighborhoods? This annual event takes place the same weekend as WLD. It's an excellent opportunity for community partnering. Contact your local chapter now!
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Beth Langley, turf and paving stone
We “labyrinth people” are young at heart, so I’m inviting you to bring out your crayons and join me in an art project! We are going to be making Heart-Labyrinth Valentine’s Day Cards from the “seed-patterns” I have provided or from your own designs, as you choose. Please give yourself permission to join in, as this activity will renew you and light up your heart and the hearts of those around you! If you need more rationale or encouragement to engage in play, please read the following paragraph. As you will discover, this is not just play, this is play of a high order—Sacred Play! The instructions begin in paragraph three!
RC Adams & J Stailey, seeded turf. Houston.
photo RC AdamsIn the realm of labyrinths, from ancient to modern times, we have been blessed with the fruit of so many labyrinth artists, providing us with fresh and ever-expanding opportunities to connect with the Center within each and all of us. It does not surprise me that so many of us who design and walk labyrinths are attracted to labyrinths based on or incorporating the symbol of the Heart. In all of the spiritual traditions I have studied, the Heart is the truest symbolic expression of who we are--the Home or Sanctuary of our Center, our Source, our Essence (however we choose to name it).
Mario Höhn, decoration for a crib.
I believe the resonance of the Heart with the Labyrinth is clear and undeniable, and it is no wonder that the Heart as a symbol has been transformed into a myriad of walkable labyrinths. Any list of Heart-Labyrinth creators I could name would only be partial, but Mary Elizabeth Langley, Jerry Etzkorn, Lisa Moriarty, Marty Kermeen, Jeff Saward, Lars Howlett, Reginald Charles Adams, and Jeff Stailey come to mind. This is also a special interest of mine. I welcome you to join us!
Kermeen & Saward, Oklahoma. photo K Crowder
The instructions are simple. To begin with, relax and connect with your breath. We are aiming for simple self-expression, not perfection. Above all, have fun! Here are three simple steps:
- Follow the link to the seed patterns and choose one which resonates with you. (Note that the bold lines and dots represent the actual seed pattern; the dashed lines show you how the elements (lines and dots) are connected to create the Heart labyrinth. Examples #1 and #2 are simple three-circuit designs. Examples #3 and #4 are five-circuit designs from my recently-developed “Diamond-Heart” series.
- Using a piece of paper of your choice and a pencil, draw the seed pattern lightly and connect the elements as per the diagram. When you have drawn the Heart Labyrinth the way you want it, erase any unwanted lines and proceed to darken the lines and color the Heart Labyrinth any way you choose. Address the card and sign your name, and write a message if you choose. Here is a sample message: "In the Labyrinth of Love, Our Hearts are One!"
- That was fun! Why stop with one? And have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tom Vetter is our Valentine!
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As always, we at TLS Communications welcome your suggestions and comments. We want to know, "What works, and what needs work?" Are there themes in the labyrinth world that you'd like to see explored in more depth here in eNews? Let us know! Email the Communications Team!