Msg: 1569 *Conference*
02-14-92 12:11:27
From: DREW BLANCHAR
To : RICK LOPES
Subj: REPLY TO MSG #1550 (LABYRINTH)
12 Feb 1992 ........... Tonight, I walked the labyrinth. Actually, I walked three nested layrinths, each in its own arrangement and style. An experiential project within a building of service within a city of variety.... a flat rosette in box cruciform in a harlequin on hills. My idea of a labyrinth was like the dark maze of a carny fun-house, where I can only see my immediate surroundings and get a surprise at every corner. Well the streets of San Francisco on a rainy night are quite close to that concept as the outer path and setting for many other labyrinths. The labyrinth at Grace Cathedral was a (approx) forty-foot copy of a twelth century floor-tile walking path of Chartes Cathedral. Standing at the entrance, the center/destina tion is easily visible, but the disciplined walk gives time for meditation and evaluation. The "rules" say to stay on my own path, shedding the details of my life as I walk "in", stay at the center as long as I please, meditating and receiving, then joining with God's spirit as I walk back to the world. At each turn of the singular route, I can look down at my feet on the 15-inch wide path or to the decorated walls of the cathedral or up to the high-vaulted ceiling or across the area to others walking in, out, turning, or meditating still in the center. At times, I would come up to another person in a lane next to mine, we'd walk to the end, both turn 180 and walk another few minutes, now further apart, and, at the next turn around, go in very different directions though we were both headed "in". When I met a traveler coming in the opposite direction, the choice had to be made which of us would step out of our course for a moment to allow the other space to continue. Walking the labyrinth alone must be very different than when others are in the same process. Looking at the labyrinth from above, the entrance, first and last path-loops, and the center look very like the stem, two leaves and blossom of a giant, simple six-petaled flower. The second and a later loop form two more leaves around the blossom. Thus, near the very start, I come but a self-disciplined step from the center/goal of this symbol of life and growth. The candles, shadows and music dance through the cathedral space, giving, receiving and resonating with the travellers at whatever level and frequency is appropriate. The cathredral room itself is another labyrinth, this time turned inside out so I walked around the open space to find and examine niches and panels. As any good church, here the path to the center is easy to see and reach regardless from which direction or area I came, unlike the descipline labyrinth with only one path. Yes, go walk the Quest Labyrinth Project at Grace Cathedral and think about how it resembles the reality world you walk. - Drew Sun., Feb 23, 1:00--3:15pm Wed., Feb 26, 5:30--8:30pm Grace Cathedral Taylor at Nob Hill, SF