As a floor design, the labyrinth is just a pattern; like dots, checks, stripes or paisley.
In medieval Europe, labyrinths were used as substitutes for the real pilgrimage to the Holy Land and authentic Christian prayers and devotions were part of the imitation “journey to Jerusalem”. Labyrinths are not inherently bad, except for the fact they generally go with new age practices. Then again previous centuries had their own fads, some of which were not the best, so the existence of labyrinths in the past is not a sign they are actually useful to grow in holiness. Certainly no saint comes to mind advocating the labyrinth.
The current "revival" of the labyrinth is a "spiritual device" and NOT grounded in Christian piety at all. Labyrinths for spiritual "exercises" are alien to Catholic teaching and Catholic spirituality. But that is exactly what the good Mercy Sisters advocate at Our Lady of the Pines retreat center. "FIRST: Your journey from the edge of the labyrinth until you reach the center is shedding, a releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. SECOND: Illumination is when you reach the center. Stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive. [What that might be?] THIRD: As you leave, following the same path out of the center you came in upon, you enter the third stage – Union – which is joining God." Oh, is that all it takes? What we have here is yet another feminist-inspired occult ritual.
Dedication of a labyrinthThe building and dedication of labyrinths continue. I feel the beginnings of a tanic possesion, a kind of Pranic dissonance, an imbalance between Yang & Yin. I think I will have to have that spell of Tea Ch’i before I see to some ritual honoring. Then I can emanate some profound philosophical truth, the luminaries are still waiting for the God in me. I must do something about that Feng Shui; quick, I have to hold onto a crystal or something! ;-)
