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Conversations With The Soul…
The Living Labyrinth

By Sandra Nelson

Since appearing at least 4000 years ago, versions of the now classical, seven-circuit labyrinth have been found in remote sites around the globe. Examples can be found in India, Peru, Southwestern United States, Greece, Spain, and North Africa, to name but a few. Laid out in fields, atop mountains, and embedded within church floors, the labyrinth has been a sort of compass, guiding humanity back to our spiritual center. Labyrinths and the simple spiral designs on which they are based, have been replicated on coins, pottery, and cave walls as far back as the megalithic societies of the British Isles over 5000 years ago. Although many theories exist, the true purpose of the labyrinth, and when and where it originated remains a mystery.

Today, labyrinths can even be found on playgrounds, near hospitals and in prisons. Organizations, such as the Labyrinth Project in San Francisco, California, and the international Labyrinth Society, are dedicated to educating people about labyrinths, weaving together many, often disparate, spiritual disciplines and traditions.

It didn’t take long to learn why I was given such a wonderful gift at this time in my life. As I read how the labyrinth helps one “seek self-knowledge, relieves burdens from the past, and heal relationships,” I became hopeful. After my divorce in 1990 the search for a new life began. Moving forward while often looking back only works when the path is smooth, but the path is rarely smooth. I know it’s best to forgive as I move forward, yet I hold on to some of the memories that still hurt. 

“Healing on the labyrinth comes in the form of renewed strength and perspective that is needed when illness has made us vulnerable,” she wrote. Holding onto parts of the past has slowed my emotional healing and the physical as well. I live with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and periods of depression. A few years ago it was suggested that my depression was in fact, grief. I have been told to cry…let it out. Still, I have not cried. Again, Artress touched my heart with her words, “Crying for yourself can heal deep wounds.” And she shared a Sufi verse, “When the heart weeps for what its lost, the soul rejoices for what its found.”

Through books, workshops, writing and talking with my teachers, (both physical and non-physical) I have been learning; filling a tool kit, (so-to-speak). My studies have included Ascended Masters, Native American Shamanism, Egyptian, Angels, Nature Spirits, trees, stones, past life and more. For years I have asked what my spiritual work will be. Where is my place in the world? How will I know? Then I read, “They come for insight into how their unique skills can serve the world.” I realized that I have been given another tool for my kit. Walking the labyrinth will help me find my way.

In preparation for class I voiced my gratitude for the gift and asked why I received it at this time in my life. I was told it was to release my feelings of unworthiness to receive. With that, I remembered calling the college to register, and asking the registrar if the voucher was real. Obviously I felt unworthy to receive this wonderful, unexpected gift. With personal experience proving otherwise, I still didn’t trust my connection to Spirit.