April, 2022 - Mostly Dance

One morning following my meditation I looked out at the garden and thought, “What this property needs is a labyrinth,” or laberinto in Spanish. Hum…I wondered if there were many in Costa Rica and how I might go about having one here. So of course I Googled “labyrinth, Costa Rica” and yes a lot of links came up. It would be possible. First let me back up a bit and share how my interest in labyrinths began.

While I knew about the difference between a labyrinth and a maze I can’t remember if I had ever walked one before 2012. Just a reminder, a maze, often made with hedges or walls, is a convoluted path that the walker needs to solve, leading to a goal. In contrast, a labyrinth doesn’t have a hedge or wall but rather a defined path on the ground that twists and turns and eventually leads the walker into the center. The following description is from the Labyrinth Society:

A labyrinth is a meandering path, often unicursal, with a singular path leading to a center. Labyrinths are an ancient archetype dating back 4,000 years or more, used symbolically, as a walking meditation, choreographed dance, or site of rituals and ceremony, among other things. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation. (https://labyrinthsociety.org/about-labyrinths)

My real interest in how the labyrinth could be a tool for meditation and growth didn’t happen until I was volunteering in a meditation and movement program with Aine McCarthy in the Santa Fe County Women’s Detention Center beginning in 2012. Aine was in the chaplaincy program at Upaya Zen Center and we had met at a retreat. During a breakfast at the end of the retreat we learned that two dancers had stayed at her house when the Avodah Dance Ensemble had spent a week in residence at York Correctional Institution. (See blog https://wp.me/p9Mj5D-gM) Aine was then a teenager… now over 10 years later here we were sitting across from each other at a breakfast table at Upaya. When Aine shared that she was in the chaplaincy program I asked what she wanted to do as a chaplain, and she said she wanted to work possibly as a chaplain in the correction field and was planning to do a project in the Santa Fe County Jail. She then asked, much to my surprise, if I might be interested in joining her and suggested we could develop a movement and meditation program for the women in the jail. I thought, “Why not!” And so we began working together.

We did the training program to become volunteers in the jail and developed a curriculum for guiding the women in an hour-and-a-half session once a week. Working in a jail is very different than the previous work I had done in a prison. First of all there is a much greater level of anxiety, as the women don’t know how long they will be there. Maybe they will soon be out on bail. When will they get a court date? What kind of sentence will they get? They may also be dealing with coming down from drugs or regular alcohol use. So the tension and stress level is very high.

We designed sessions integrating movement, meditation and writing. Soon we were leading sessions and each one was totally different and unique. Sometimes we just had 2 people and other times a crowded room of 7 or 8. Our space was small and so we began by moving the tables to the side and started with movement activities. Worksheets with quotes related to the session’s themes were shared and a writing or discussion prompt followed. Each session ended with the women meditating and then tracing by pencil a paper labyrinth. Here’s a link to where you can download and print out several to trace with a pencil. https://www.relax4life.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/papersimplechartres-.pdf

The Santa Fe County Detention Center has a yard where the women can spend some time outside each day. Aine and I thought it would be quite wonderful if we could paint a labyrinth on the floor so the women might have an actual experience of walking it. Again there were lots of hoops to jump through but finally we were able to do that. Several women who had been regular participants were able to join us and it was an excellent event with Aine guiding us inmeasuring and then painting the lines.

Aine measuring the distance between lines for the labyrinth.

When Aine and I began working with women in a domestic violence center we again used ideas from the curriculum we had developed for the jail program. And then when I made a film called Through the Door: Movement, Meditation and Healing, we filmed a session of the women from the Esperanza Shelter walking the labyrinth at Upaya Zen Center. Aine had spearheaded the project to get that labyrinth built.

Screen shot from *Through the Door: Movement, Meditation and Healing*

In the next blog I’ll share what I found out when I Googled “labyrinth in Costa Rica.”

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Knowing I wanted a labyrinth in my garden, I Googled “Costa Rica Labyrinths” to see if I might get some help in creating one at my home in Atenas, Costa Rica. I was surprised when the search generated a lot of information. The very first link was totally fascinating. “Costa Rica is home to the World’s Largest Labyrinth.” It’s called La Senda and it is located about a four- to five-hour drive from where I live. There is a website all about it and several articles online about how it was created. (https://lasendacostarica.com/en/). If you are interested in knowing more about it, please check out the website, and do a Google search for additional articles. Among the names associated with this labyrinth is Ronald Esquivel, who was contacted to design the labyrinth related to two energy vortexes. Ronald is a Costa Rican architect who specializes in sacred geometry and labyrinth design.

So, of course, my next Google search was “Ronald Esquivel” and again I was rewarded with lots of information both about him and about the different labyrinths that he has designed. Instead of the usual circular ones that I was familiar with, his designs were totally different, and each one unique. He has built labyrinths for public parks, universities, a prison, a children’s hospital, a yoga center and private homes. There was also a lot of information on YouTube where his channel has over 69 videos, many of them examples of the different labyrinths he has created. I was totally fascinated. He was a keynote speaker at the 2009 Labyrinth Society Gathering in Portland, Oregon as well as a speaker for the Society again in 2020 when he was interviewed in a program called “Creating Balance in Unbalanced Times.” I listened to the interview and read his kindle book Labyrinth Design and The Energy of its Geometry. When I found an email address for him online, I decided to send him an email and see if he helped private homeowners like myself create labyrinths for their gardens.

I was delighted when I got a response the next day, and a few emails followed. We set up a time for him to come and visit the garden and to make some suggestions. After reading his book, and in particular an article that he and Jan Hurwitch wrote in 2013, I knew that he creates different designs unique to the environment he is working in. For example, at the time of this article he had created 14 labyrinths including a Wisdom Labyrinth, a Growth Labyrinth, and a 4 Element Series. For more information I suggest reading the article. http://gaiacr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Labyrinths-of-Costa-Rica.pdf

In my mind I was beginning to think about a labyrinth here as part of the Artist Retreats I was thinking of offering on my property in Costa Rica! When Ronald arrived, I felt an immediate connection to him as we walked the garden. He asked questions and I shared how I envisioned using the labyrinth for both myself and for guests at the Artist Retreats. Soon we were talking about the creative process and how the labyrinth might represent different stages of the creative journey. I also talked about how important the diagonal line was to me as a choreographer and in my paintings! Over the next few weeks, we continued emailing and discussing the different stages of creating something, whether it is a dance, a painting or a musical composition.

Another visit followed, during which Ronald took careful measurements of the garden, and I finalized my decision that he would design the labyrinth and we would use his team to chalk it and create it! We also determined that the borders of the path would be red brick, and when the work would begin.

The next step involved Ronald submitting the design for my approval and asking if I wanted any changes. I loved it and we had fun following the design and envisioning how it would be on the property.

Design of the Labyrinth: “Camino del Artista” by Ronald Esquivel

Ronald also showed me where each of the physical places of the creative journey we had agreed on would be located.

The stages we had determined were:

First you must show up!! – that’s the beginning point, from which the two diagonal lines go out, and where you walk to enter the labyrinth.
Then one tends to go inward to see what it is one wants to create. That’s a place in a corner which is very private and somewhat hidden.
Next step is gathering all the tools and research one needs to make the vision happen. That is represented by the curves and twists in the labyrinth as one moves from one side of the garden to the other.
There is a point where one looks outward… and begins to share, and this is represented by a corner where one can view the mountains in the distance.
And of course, there is the center which the path reaches. I view that as the first draft!
The return journey is all the editing that one does to complete a project.

Ronald’s friend and co-author of the 2013 article, Jan Hurwitch, joined him as we reviewed the draft and she brought with her 5 crystals that would be buried on the path, representing different relevant emotions. They are:

A black Onyx to repel negativity
Aquamarine for courage
An Orange Agate to reduce stress
Crystal Quartz for healing and spirituality
Rose Quartz for love and compassion, particularly starting with oneself.

The crystals will be buried once the labyrinth is completed, at the inaugural ceremony.

Coming next will be Part 3 – Building the Labyrinth!!

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Month: April 2022

Casa Uno – Labyrinth Number 26 – Camino del Artista (Part 1)

Casa Uno – Labyrinth Number 26 – Camino del Artista (Part 2)