Labyrinth Research Bibliography
Bibliography of Articles and Studies Related to Labyrinth Research 2022 Update (.pdf 412K) - version that will be searchable on the new Labyrinth Society website
Bibliography of Studies Related to Labyrinth Research (.pdf 517K) - version in the searchable categories below
This downloadable Bibliography has all entries sorted by author. The entries in the bibliography have been categorized below by topic and also by type (doctoral dissertation, journal article etc.).
Many voices, one path: Reflections of labyrinth walkers
Abstract: The purpose of this retrospective study was to complete a content analysis on data collected from persons who walked an indoor eleven-circuit, canvas labyrinth which was affiliated with a local faith-based group. The written reflections of participants' experiences were collected by the faith-based group during the monthly community labyrinth walks over a seven-year period of time. These hand-written responses included various experiences which seemed to be ideal to use for this qualitative study. The 465 participant responses were reviewed by the researchers for trends and patterns of experiences, as well as feelings which were reported by those persons after walking an indoor eleven-circuit canvas labyrinth. It was important to determine the experience someone reported while walking the labyrinth to see if participants had similar or dissimilar experiences while interacting with the labyrinth. An emergent design was used, and the responses were separated into six (6) categories: the full written response of the experience, messages, analogies, thoughts, words, and feelings. In addition, text mining was used to compare the results from the qualitative review. Forty percent (40%) of walkers reported receiving a ‘message’ during their walk; sixty-four percent (64%) of walkers reported a ‘feeling’ and the most common feelings expressed as a result of walking the labyrinth were peaceful, including relaxed and calm (44%) and grateful (33%). Other conclusions from this study are that each individual reports unique feelings, thoughts, and emotions after walking a labyrinth; the labyrinth seems to meet a person where he/she is at that moment in time; these writings remained prayerful in content and tone; and minimized stress and anxiety were reported after walking the labyrinth. It is the belief of these researchers that the information obtained from these writings of labyrinth walkers is beneficial as research emerges in the field of health and wellness.