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Labyrinth at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. It is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life's journey. It's a symbol that creates a sacred space and place.

If you are already on your journey, the labyrinth can give you further insight. If you are a beginner, it can bring you all kinds of unexpected gifts and revelations.

A Brief History of the Labyrinth

Our labyrinth is the Cretan labyrinth, named after the island of Crete. It is the oldest and most universal form of the labyrinth, dating back at least 3,500 years.

Petroglyphs and drawings of labyrinths from the second millennium B.C.E. have been found in India, Greece, Syria and Italy. Roman labyrinths, nearly sixty of them, have been uncovered throughout the Roman Empire, from Britain to Spain to Yugoslavia to North Africa.

Many labyrinths appeared in the thousand years from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1500. Great stone labyrinths were built along the Scandinavian coastline from Iceland to Russia. Labyrinths were drawn and carved into cliffs, dwellings and mesas in the American Southwest. Turf labyrinths were cut into the earth in Germany, Poland and England. Stone and tile labyrinths were set into church floors in North Africa, Italy and France.

Labyrinths are found around the globe from China to Arizona, from Peru to Sweden. Here are a few examples: The O'odham People of Southern Arizona made this Man In The Maze pattern. If you look at it upside down, it is a right-handed classical seven-circuit labyrinth - it just adds a turn towards the center at each turn.

There is a Gothic Cathedral at Chartres in France that has a rather complicated labyrinth laid in the floor of the nave. You can see that it divides up into four quadrants. Each has seven sharp turns. It is analogous to four classical seven-circuits woven together.

11-Circuit

The labyrinth seems to be a universal tool used by humans needing to journey to the center to find answers, to comfort, to learn lessons and to identify whatever our personal needs might be.

We at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami have worked hard to create this spiral journey to share with you. We ask that you respect our sacred space. Enjoy your walk!

We walk the labyrinth every Sunday morning at 9:15 AM. Our Spiritual Reality Group meets after the labyrinth walk at 9:30 AM. We invite you to come walk our labyrinth and share your experience with us.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami
7701 SW 76 Avenue
Miami, Florida 33143
(305) 677-3697
uumia.org

Last Updated: 22-Apr-2009

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