Labyrinth Travels 2023

Each January I post labyrinth walks of the year.  Below are labyrinth travels 2023.

Wide Travels

Branching out from the Heartland, we explored different regions of North America and took in labyrinths along the way. Some labyrinth travels 2023 were deliberately to walk certain labyrinths. On other labyrinth travels 2023 we encountered serendipities of labyrinths and medicine wheels.  Along the way, we met new friends and reconnected with long-time friends and colleagues.

Spanning the years

Spanning fall 2022 into winter 2023, the Nassif Community Cancer Center hosted a time for home goods walks.  Staff and cancer clients walked the dual entry (processional) labyrinth leaving canned food goods, hygiene items, warm clothing, and backpacks.  Matt Schmitz, the coordinator, routinely picked up and organized items that he distributed in mid-January. Two friends, Tom Hess and Lynda Black Smith yet again helped design the labyrinth. Tom an engineer and Lynda an artist.  A team. What great friends to have who get down on hands and knees, chalk out the design, re-adjust and tape…and re-adjust again to make all this work well. Thank you!

Wanderers and Worshipers

Usually around the New Year friends stop by to walk and bless the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth. It’s odd to see it without snow as winter begins in earnest. Throughout the year, both friends and pilgrims from afar surprise us to walk.  Always a welcome treat.

Each Friday since the Pandemic began, Veriditas has held Friday Finger walks that attract participants worldwide. Think about that!  For close to four years, Veriditas has supported people through difficult times. The following is loyal, new people join, the programs are engaging, and we have fun!  Four that I guided in 2023 with staff support were: First Walks, sharing about our first, or memorable, encounters with labyrinths; Drop Preceeds Flight, how we pick ourselves up after difficult times; Fair Things, how we can use HeartMath to counter the negative impact of events that seem to overwhelm us; and Walk In Beauty and Balance during this high season of holidays and Holy Days. What a wonder-full way to support labyrinth travelers 2023 worldwide.

The Minnesota Labyrinth group, organized by Lisa Gidlow Moriarty holds a winter walk each January.  Some years labyrinth walks are outside, other years inside. Fortunately, the 2023 walk was inside a lovely setting overlooking one of the myriad metro lakes. Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion welcomed us into her home and we met again at Kanuga Retreat Center in North Carolina in the autumn. This link shares the many labyrinths she has known across the world.

Westerly

The Black Hills are always a treat to visit even in late winter.  Meeting with the Ohlens in town and at Terry Peak and visiting with the minister at Emannuel Episcopal Church where the lovely labyrinth wants attention.  The minister is working to make the labyrinth accessible. Rapid area has many labyrinths to explore and some Native American symbols and structures, too.  An impending storm chased us home early. Yet, memories linger of the sacredness of The Hills.

Another intriguing structure of the West is a modern-day Medicine Wheel in Valley City, ND! In pouring rain we exited the Interstate and reveled in the care and intricacy of the wheel and the proportional alignment of planets represented by various stones reaching far out from the wheel. This is worth a stop and walk and reflection.

Closer to Home

 

Closer to home, Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, in Hiawatha sponsored four cross-quarter dates. Director, Leslie Wright skillfully guided novice and experienced walkers contemplating the changes of the year. She used each walk as part of the requirements to become a Veriditas Trained and Certified Facilitator. Always a joy to attend and participants shared tender perspectives. April found high school friends and me walking the Cangleska Wakan labyrinth in Solon, Iowa. And, then enjoying Dan and Debblie’s ice cream in Ely. Naturally, Bottleworks Labyrinth downtown draws walkers for a quiet stroll in an urban setting.

Easterly and South-Easterly

Tucked into the North end of Cedar Lake in Denville, NJ, is a charming labyrinth nestled among trees and stumps – remnants of Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Irene. On our walks or paddles around the Lake, we usually stop, walk, and appreciate the care of the owner for the charming structures. A gentle pause.

Autumn found me winging my way to North Carolina’s mountains.  So much to take in with walking a labyrinth with a Veriditas colleague in Greensboro, NC, touring with a sibling in the Bedford, VA area, catching up with an OWAA colleague in Johnson City, and presenting with a Canadian Council colleague at The Labyrinth Society’s TLS Gathering.  “Channeling Mr. Rogers: How the Ancient Path of the Labyrinth Can Guide Us as Modern-Day Helpers.”

In Greensboro, Vicki introduced me to a lovely courtyard labyrinth wanting some attention.  What a challenge to renovate this to its glory.  The dual entry labyrinth at Kanuaga Retreat in Hendersonville, NC, fulfilled its duties as close to 100 walkers gathered, sang, laughed, learned, and walked. Leslie W, from Ontario, and I walked quietly sharing thoughts on our presentation. In the main assembly hall, participants walked the large labyrinth in the presentation, “Labyrinth Activism: A Powerful Practice for Peaceful Change.” One particularly meaningful program was the pre-dawn “Forest Bathing” walk on the large outdoor labyrinth.  The waxing gibbous moon and brilliant stars twinkling through crisp mountain air completed a sense of connection.

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Into Canada

Summer Solstice found us camping in Montana, then lodging in the hamlet of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, Canada, attending a Legacy Labyrinth and Activism workshop at The Crossing, and exploring The Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan, Canada. The skies are amazing, the weather incredibly mild and inviting like the sirens’ songs. Madonna regaled us with stories of pioneer days centered on the importance of aprons in women’s work.  We are working to have her come and present in our area with stories, songs, and dance.

In July a friend drove us to Stratford, Ontario, Canada, where a Council colleague and I firmed up collaboration on our Kanuaga talk, ate at local eateries, took in the town, and, of course, walked their splendid backyard labyrinth.

South

September is a fine month to travel in, even going South into heat.  And, how hot the weather was!  While we initially plotted several labyrinths along the way, we found ourselves taking different paths. One potential labyrinth in Gulf Shores, AL, proved out of reach. Ah, well.  But, unexpectedly on the way home a stop in Carbondale, IL, near Southern Illinois University we found a charming labyrinth next to a funky coffee shop/breakfast eatery.

 

Home

Naturally, the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth gets a nod – spring, summer, fall, winter, wind, rain, snow, heat, cold. People walk, turkeys trot, deer browse, vultures swoop over, kids romp, adults help burn, and plants grow.  And, that wraps Labyrinth Travels 2023.