Construction is underway for a permanent outdoor Labryinth located on campus beside Holt Chapel, South Campus. We anticipate celebrating the dedication sometime in November, 2008
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The labyrinth is an archetypal form found all over the world. The Truitt Center has hosted a canvas labryinth annually which is patterned after one found in Chartres Cathedral in France. This pattern should be walked, but unlike a maze, has no dead ends. The path leads to the center of the labyrinth, perhaps representative of our own center.
Why this walk at Elon? In a time and culture that is poor in rituals that touch us deeply -- a culture that is overwhelmed with noise and busy day to day activities -- th
e labyrinth addresses a person's thirst for a spirituality that enhances the joy and wonder of life. In "Walking a Sacred Path," Dr. Lauren Artress says this experience offers "a tool to guide healing, deepen self-knowledge, and empower creativity. Walking the labyrinth clears the mind and gives insight into the spiritual journey. It gives us time and space to see our life in the context of a path, a pilgrimage."
The labyrinth is, in short, a meditative exercise, but one that is extremely personal. There is no prescribed learning or outcome. There is only the silence and the walk in which we may visit the deep need for largeness in our lives.
Please plan to take advantage of this inward journey, to come and experience this silent, calming and ancient way of deepening the life experience. In the busy days of a college student, what greater gift to claim than this?