We all have a profound need to remember that we are spiritual beings. So much of our pain is caused by our lack of awareness of the divine presence within us and within one another. The labyrinth is an ancient mystical tool that can help us to grow spiritually, and explore our inner selves psychologically, connecting us with the depths of our souls and psyches so we can remember who we are and grow in understanding of our life's purpose or direction.
The celebrated psychotherapist C. G. Jung spent many years developing and studying the use of "archetypes" to aid patients in understanding their hidden desires, fears, personality traits, and prejudices — which he collectively called our "shadow." Our "shadow selves" are not necessarily bad parts of us; rather, they're the parts that we have suppressed either because we find them undesirable or because society has given us reason to believe they are unacceptable or unwelcome. Archetypes are symbols that help us (subconsciously) to categorize the world around us and help us to notice patterns of thought, behavior, and response.
The labyrinth is full of symbolism, and collectively represent an archetype of unity and wholeness. It is a sacred space, a wide and gracious path, that helps us to rediscover the depths of our souls, and connect our souls to one another and to the Divine.
Life's big, existential questions — Why am I here? What is my life's purpose? Why is this happening to me? — are spiritual questions. Science tells us what, and how, but it cannot tell us why. To seek an answer is to seek a spiritual path. That's precisely what the labyrinth is intended to represent: a sacred path.
Along that path, there are many twists and turns. Sometimes you will feel like you are very close to the answer, to your deepest self, to the Divine — any one of which may be represented by the center of the labyrinth —and other times farther away. Sometimes you move toward it, only for the path to swing in another direction. Any or all of those turns in the path (may) represent a turning point in our journeys. If we remain faithful to walking — to diligently continuing the journey, even when a twist in the path frustrates our search — we will be rewarded with reaching our destination. If we give up, we remain stuck in place on our path, unable (or unwilling) to make further progress.
Once you reach the center — whatever that symbolizes for you, be it the Divine presence, the answer to your quandary, or even the deepest point of your own psyche — you can remain there for a time but, of course, you can't stay there forever! When the seeker climbing a mountain to encounter the wisdom of a great guru reaches the summit, she can't reside with the guru forever. At some point, she must descend from the mountain in order to apply to her life the wisdom she has received. (Look! Another archetypical representation of the search for spiritual wisdom that the labyrinth represents!) And just as is the case when ascending the mountain for wisdom, the descent turns out to be the same path. In other words, we walk back out of the labyrinth the same way we walked in, following the same path in reverse until we return to the entrance (now the exit).
To summarize one potential experience with the labyrinth, imagine it this way. You have been feeling very anxious lately, and have realized that your behavior has become self-defeating. Why am I feeling and acting this way? you wonder. And so you enter the labyrinth with this question, seeking its answer. Along the path, your mind quieted by the experience of slowly being led by the path beneath your feet, it occurs to you that your anxiety has been a subconscious response to a trauma from your past — a bad relationship, or a loss, or a failure — that is being reactivated by your present circumstances. You begin to reflect on that previous trauma: what will it take to overcome this trauma? What needs to heal? Who needs to be forgiven (and is it you)? Upon reaching the center, perhaps you come to realize that you need to "let go" of something, some burden or some guilt or some anger. Whatever it is, you resolve to leave it in the center of the labyrinth. As you begin your return (your exodus, your descent), you feel lighter. You walk with purpose, with intention. You begin to reflect on how life can be different now, because you no longer carry your burden and your wound is healing. Upon exiting the labyrinth, you are now able to re-enter the world with renewed hope and live in it differently.
