Green Labyrinth by Sarri at Deviantart.com
Interestingly, Ella set Labyrinth as the topic at the Thursday Think Tank today. Only yesterday, up at the hospital in our town, a labyrinth was opened to the public. Today I went back and walked it alone, and simply WAS, with the path, the sky, the birdsong and the breeze. The ancient symbol of the labyrinth goes back a good 3500 years. Walking the path in a meditative state is said to promote calm, insight, connection, healing, hope, peace, personal growth and transformation. Today, I was too exhausted to gain much beyond simple appreciation for the fact of its existence in my town. That was enough for today.
I enter the labyrinth from the East,
and circle it towards the West.
I set myself in harmony
with the ancestors,
invoking help
from all the Four Directions,
aligning myself with
the earth, the sky, the sea, the air,
and with all its inhabitants,
each one with its sacred right
to be here.
I circle, the way my thoughts
can sometimes circle.
As in life, I end up where I started out.
Sometimes I get confused
and retrace part of the path,
and that's okay.
It is all
Traveling.
May every footfall
on this path
bring peace.
One step, I breathe peace in.
Another step, I breathe peace out,
sending compassion
to all the struggling beings
of the world.
May each footfall
plant me more firmly
on the path of peace.
In my mind
the pipes of Peace
are playing.
May their melodies
be carried
on the breeze,
to each of the Four Directions,
to every son and daughter's heart
that longs for peace,
till the planet is encircled,
blanketed,
enveloped,
encompassed,
sustained
by only Love.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteI could sense the goodness you gained from your time spent walking in the labyrinth, featured in your poem. Sometimes we do need time away from all distractions, in order to focus the mind and see things more clearly....
Best wishes,
Eileen
Thank you for your visit to my Blog Sherry. The photo on my Blog banner was taken by me during my visit to California. The famous Lonely Cypress tree, near Monteray, along the Seventeen Mile drive and the Pacific coast :)
Ahhh... so wonderful to know you spent a while doing something that enriches your spirit so much. It really does tend to revive our flagging tiredness, doesn't it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely prayer, mantra for others healing too.
Hi Sherry, I am glad you had a chance to walk the labyrinth today. May the experience stay with you and enrich your spirit tonight and beyond..
ReplyDeleteWe will be walking and meditating in a labyrinth next Sunday..You could lead the group with this poem..lovely..will be thinking of this when I go..thanks for sharing..
ReplyDeleteI like your last lines
ReplyDeletesustained
by only love
and truly, love, in all its forms, is essential to get one through the maze
I am in awe that this aligned for you! And thrilled... ;D
ReplyDeleteI struggled doing the prompt...my brain was fried. I had it all ready to go and gone...?! I had to start over, in the eye of the storm I finished, lol.
I love what you wrote and I am thrilled you actually took the journey! How wonderful...
Your words make me feel, the steps forward! It does feel like a prayer!
Like a meditation mantra instilled with the music of peace! Beautiful!
ReplyDelete"Amazing"
ReplyDeletethis is as if all one needs is written down in the perfect words...
ReplyDeletebeautiful!
thank you.
How wonderful that you experienced what your wrote. I love this poem.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the angle in this...a labyrinth being positive, not torturous...
ReplyDeleteOh, Sherry!! Such a blessing! I'm so glad you have access to a labyrinth! Such a wonderful peaceful practice.
ReplyDeleteLove this:
"May each footfall
plant me more firmly
on the path of peace."
So prayerful.
I'm not sure if this is where you were going, but I found myself making parallels between the Native American circle tradition to the labyrinth. The East and West, bowing, reverencing... I love where you took me.
ReplyDeletehow wonderful to have a labyrinth close by... given how in touch with the Earth and her spirits you are, i can only imagine you will get something from every visit.
ReplyDeletepeace is not something i've had much of in my life... some of the times i think it's my fault. {smile}
i love your writing so much, Sherry!
♥