Z•E•S•T

FOR LIVING
Labyrinth walk seen as time for quiet reflection and spiritual renewal
By gloria stravelli
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY Libby Schoenewolf (l-r), Ann Sherwood, Winter BelViso, Donna Koloski and Joanne Grazide are members of SisterCircle, which is sponsoring a labyrinth walk at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Meeting House in Lincroft.

Modern-day seekers of inner peace and transformation may walk the same sacred, contemplative path as the ancients this week at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (UUC) Meeting House in Lincroft.

The labyrinth walk, a meditative exercise that dates back to prehistoric cave dwellers, took place in the Earth Room at the UUC on West Front Street from 4 p.m. to midnight Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, and is taking place today from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A percentage of the proceeds from the $5 suggested-donation admission fee will be donated to Interfaith Hospitality Network, a homeless advocacy network.

SisterCircle, an adult education group for women based at the UUC, is sponsoring the walk, which is taking place on a small-scale cloth replica of the famous labyrinth from the Cathedral of Chartres near Paris, which dates to the Middle Ages.

The group is bringing the Petite Chartres canvas labyrinth, a popular 11-circuit version, for use at the meeting house to promote "peace and healing in our hearts and in our community," according to SisterCircle member Winter BelViso of Asbury Park.

"The idea is to meditate. Some religions use dance to meditate — it’s movement as meditation. If it’s repetitive and rhythmical, it can put you into that space," added Libby Schoenewolf, Fair Haven.

"For people who find it difficult to sit and meditate, it’s a great tool," observed SisterCircle member Donna Koloski, Freehold.

According to BelViso, the labyrinth walk has a long history in many cultures and religious traditions. Evidence of the use of labyrinths has been found throughout the Mediterranean region, the British Isles, the area surrounding the Baltic Sea as well as South America.

"The earliest ‘meander pattern’ has been found on goddess figures carbon-dated from 18,000 to 15,000 B.C.," BelViso said, adding that the earliest recorded labyrinth belonged to King Nestor of southern Greece and is dated at 1200 B.C.

Unlike a maze, the imagery of the labyrinth encourages intense concentration and meditation in those who choose to follow the coiled pattern of the pathway.

"The labyrinth is not a maze," explained BelViso. "Mazes have twists and turns, blind alleys, and require logic and problem-solving skills, a very left-brain function requiring an active mind. The labyrinth has one path in and one path out, the same path walked in reverse."

The circular patterns of the most commonly used labyrinths is a metaphor for one’s personal life journey, she explained.

The pathways are used as a tool for self-examination, for calming and centering and for emotional, physical and spiritual healing, she said.

"Labyrinths are walked in compassion as a journey through grief, pain and loss, one of the reasons many permanent labyrinths are placed within the grounds of hospitals, nursing homes, hospices and wellness centers," BelViso noted.

Locally, an outdoor labyrinth is located in the garden of a private Wall residence and indoor and outdoor labyrinths are in place, but temporarily unavailable due to construction, at the Medical Center of Ocean County, Brick, where they are designed to help balance the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their family members, according to hospital chaplain the Rev. Mark Farnham.

The dozen members of SisterCircle have all walked labyrinths individually, and collectively walked the labyrinth in Wall this summer.

"It’s wonderful walking with people you know," commented Koloski. "You pass someone and then they’re gone, you walk some more and you meet them again. That’s so powerful. It reminds me of life. People come into your life, you lose touch with them and then you meet again and you’re in a different place and you reconnect."

Aware of the benefits of the labyrinth walk, the group decided to bring a portable labyrinth to the meeting house.

"I had the feeling, and others in the group did too, that with all that has been happening in the world, we need to focus on something positive and give people the opportunity to participate in something that will put positive, peaceful energy into the world," said Ann Sherwood, Colts Neck.

"It’s not like a peace demonstration, but a seeking of peacefulness," added BelViso.

The labyrinth walk also is a way to let others know about SisterCircle, noted Koloski.

"Most of us are congregants here," she said. "This is the place that opened its doors to us and to others who want to explore a spiritual path. We want other people to know we are here, that we do that and we welcome them."

According to labyrinth scholars, the walk has three stages, beginning with entering the labyrinth, when walkers should try to put aside worldly concerns. Reaching the center is a time of illumination when walkers pause to draw on the enlightenment the walk brings to them, and the walk back out is a time to meditate on how to apply the knowledge gained in their lives.

According to the BelViso, there is no right or wrong way of walking the labyrinth. The pace can be quick or slow. While some walk in silence, others chant or even dance.

"You can walk the same labyrinth five times in different ways. You can dance your way through it, sing your way through it, meditate," she said, "and come away with a different experience each time."

"There’s something about moving in a circular pattern, it literally takes your mind away," said BelViso, attempting to explain the walk’s conduciveness to mediation.

"You focus and your steps are rhythmic," added Sherwood. "You put one foot in front of the other and your eyes are looking down at the path."

The cloth labyrinth can accommodate 20 walkers at a time. A monitor at the meeting house ensures a smooth flow of walkers who are encouraged to step off the path and let another pass them if necessary and to step away if they need to pause. Areas for rest and reflection before, during and after the walk are available. Walkers are required to remove their shoes before entering the labyrinth.

Groups can walk together, but the labyrinth remains, essentially, an individual journey since the narrow path dictates a single-file walk.

The center of the labyrinth is referred to as the goal. According to the SisterCircle members, peace — on an individual and world level — is to be found there.

"Most people like to stay in the center for a few minutes. It’s like your life and an analogy of putting away the distractions of the world and being at your own center," Koloski said. "As you walk back out, hopefully you’ve been transformed to some point and are more at peace with yourself."

"When you get to the center, you’ve achieved something," noted Joanne Grazide, Middletown. "Ideas come to me on the way out as to how to use the energy. In this case, it’s how can I bring this peace to the world? It’s a big responsibility, putting peace out into the world. I ask myself, ‘Can I do this?’"

"People who come and spend the half-hour walking the labyrinth, thinking and intending peace, will go out and talk about that experience to one or two other people," explained Schoenewolf. "It’s a wave thing. The labyrinth walk is a hopeful event."