St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

St George's Cathedral's Labyrinth

The Cathedral's newest spiritual offering to the city is a labyrinth, which was opened with all the pomp and ceremony of the Anglican Church on Sunday, 2 May 2004. After Dean Rowan Smith and members of the clergy and congregation had sprinkled the labyrinth with buchu herb water, Dr Wallace Mgoqi, Cape Town City Manager, cut the ribbon and took the first steps.

               

Walking the Labyrinth

The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres Labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.

The labyrinth has only one path so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives; it touches our sorrows and releases our joys. So walk it with an open mind and an open heart.

There are three stages of the walk:

Purgation - On the inward spiral you may experience a sense of release, a letting go of the details of your life. This is an act of shedding thoughts and emotions. It quiets and empties the mind.

Illumination - When you reach the centre, stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive.

Union - As you return to the world, you may be conscious of joining God, your Higher Power or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for.

Guidelines for the walk: Clear your mind and become aware of your breath. Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to go. You may “pass” people or let others step around you, whichever is easiest, at turns. The path goes two ways. Those going in will meet those coming out. Do what feels natural.

(Acknowledgment: Veriditas - Dr Lauren Artress, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco)

Newsletter
If you would like to subscribe to a newsletter about the labyrinth which is e-mailed to subscribers from time to time, please send an e-mail to labyrinth.richard@narich.co.za with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject heading. If you are receiving the newsletter and wish to unsubscribe, please send an e-mail to the same address with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject heading.

What is a labyrinth?

Sacred Geometry

Thoughts on the labyrinth

Siyahamba Labyrinth Ministry

Back to Home Page