The Labyrinth has arrived in Darwin! Painted on canvas in Adelaide, the Cathedral has just taken delivery of a 35 foot diameter replica of the Labyrinth that is set in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France.

The Labyrinth is an ancient and powerful tool of personal and communal transformation. It comes to us now as a replica, painted on canvas, of the Labyrinth laid in the floor of the nave of Chartres Cathedral. It was installed in mediaeval times, a time when human consciousness was more familiar with things spiritual, a time when the sharp divides of mind, body and spirit were not felt so acutely.

The Labyrinth involves a process – walking. The physicality of walking grounds the experience in our physical being – what we are. The act of walking also has direction, purpose, reminding us of who we are and where we are in our lives. The company of others as we walk reminds us that all we are is always lived in relationship with God, others and environment.

In Mediaeval times the Labyrinth was used as a place for pilgrimage. Pilgrims were able to emulate the transforming journey to the Holy Land by walking the Labyrinth, following the path into the heart, to the ‘centre of the world’ (Jerusalem) and back again.

For us, our life’s journey seems so often to be drawn by an invisible thread, full of uncertainty and surprising turns but with an ever deepening wisdom and sure sense of being led forward. Christian literature, poetry and the bible itself abounds in the images of path, leading lights, ways, journeys, highways.

The Christ Church Cathedral Labyrinth will be set up in the Cathedral grounds (during the dry season) or inside the Cathedral (during the wet) on the second Saturday of each month between noon and 5.00pm, beginning in Sept.

Watch out for other opportunities to walk the Labyrinth- sunrise and sunset walks -and others.

To ask about hiring the Labyrinth for your own group, please contact the Dean.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 2:10 am and is filed under Church News, General News, Religious News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.