The Pipes of Peace

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.

Walking the Labyrinth

Kids, I was given a gift yesterday. This week has been rather hectic, as I trundled dogs back and forth to the vet and the groomers, as well as going back and forth to the hospital to visit my friend, Faiza, whose heart is feeling the stress of  two years of caregiving her husband, and his recent loss. Yesterday, when I arrived to see her, the hospital lobby was in the middle of a celebration. The Vancouver Island Health Authority and the First Nations community, the Tseshaht, came together to raise awareness of First Nations culture, to share community, and to celebrate Solstice and the opening of a labyrinth on the hospital grounds.

Wow. I was really impressed - this is pretty advanced for this little mill town. I was stoked.

Below a Tseshaht singer sings a welcome song.

Chief Cliff Atleo spoke,  then sang a celebration song.

First Nations women, dancing in support of the men's singing.

The labyrinth, whose mere existence makes me so happy.

Walking the labyrinth, singing an African Song of Peace.

Tseshaht dancers, led by an enchanting tiny dancer.

I could not take my eyes off her - so lovely to see 

a young one

following the traditions of her people.

With great confidence and composure,

she led the women through the dance.

Beautiful tiny dancer!

A soft, warm west wind began to blow.

So lovely. 

This tree blooms outside the hospital's doors.

This is the view the patients see from the front entrance - our town lies in a valley

ringed by these blue hills. That's why our skies are gray so much of the time. We capture

the condensation that forms a cloud cover. This year it is taking an unusually long time to lift.

This is the view from the parking lot. Often, deer tiptoe through, as they travel from forests on either side of the building. Altogether, it was a heartwarming day, though I am worried about Faiza. I have so missed the First Nations community, whom I lived and worked among for so many years in Tofino.

The treatment center I worked at has moved to Port. I have decided I will begin to attend their Bluebead ceremony at the end of each session. Only one of the people I worked with remains at the center. But I need to listen to the singing and the drums, the speeches from the honest hearts of these beautiful people, and hear their ready laughter once again.

I am pretty happy to know there are people of vision after all, in this little mill town, who made this day of coming together, respect, celebration - and the labyrinth itself - possible.

I will return to walk it when there are no people there. It will be wondrous to walk a labyrinth once more. It has been too long.

Life as Labyrinth

[image from healinglandscapes.org]

When there are

so many worries,

and so many

possible pathways,

that my mind starts

to circle

like an over-large dog

trying to fit himself

into a too-small bed,

I remember

walking the labyrinth,

how one thinks only

of one step

that follows another,

when the many turnings

flow easily,

one to the next,

as we follow,

when the breath slows,

and the mind calms

to only this moment

in time.

Walking the labyrinth,

I will walk through

this day,

then the next,

then another.

The turns

will come

slowly

and all by

themselves,

and

a pathway

will open

before me

to show me

the way.