If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll have noticed a number of posts on labyrinths. A few years back I became more familiar with labyrinths, and attended a labyrinth-building workshop in Denver to learn how to create them both inside and outside. Since then, I’ve put together several luminaria labyrinths and helped my son, Luke, put together a rock-lined labyrinth for his Eagle Scout project last fall.
Two weeks ago, I was visiting family in southern California, and Brett and I took a long walk that took us through the backroads of Rancho Santa Fe. This is a fairly affluent area–lots of acreage, stately homes, orchards, etc. As we were walking by one property, we noticed a labyrinth in the side yard:
I think this is the first time I’ve seen a labyrinth at a private home. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? For those of you who are wondering what all this is about, labyrinths are very distinct from mazes, although the terms are often used interchangeably. Mazes are left-brained puzzles, full of false turns and dead-ends. It’s great fun to try to find your way through a maze if you don’t mind getting lost! Labyrinths, on the other hand, are right-brained experiences–there is only one path to the center, and the same path then leads you out. There are no decisions to make, no false turns or ways to get lost. For this reason, labyrinths have been used for hundreds of years as tools for prayer, meditation and to promote calmness and contemplation.
I was so excited to see this on our walk–not only a beautiful property, but a great example of how a feature like a labyrinth can be incorporated into a landscape. It’s not just for hippy-dippy-trippies or “religious” people. I’m wondering if any of you have seen a labyrinth in a home garden before–or if you have one yourself!
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Hey Jenny – I love the idea of Labyrinths. I saw one in a yoga journal a couple years back and wanted one in my yard. I did my research and found just the pattern and size I wanted here:
http://www.labyrinthcompany.com/view_product.php?product_id=59
but the placement of it was going to be a problem for me. It would be right under a live oak so tree leaves/twigs were something I would have had to maintain and didn’t know what kind of material to use as the base so that I could easily maintain it – without raking up too much crushed granite or mulch. I had the pattern all lined out with a rope – just couldn’t get past the maintenance issue. If you have ideas, I’d really like to still consider it. Nothing in that shady spot except for weeds right now!
The only one I’ve seen at a private home was…yours, the rained-out luminaria labyrinth. I’ve enjoyed the one at the Natural Gardener here in Austin. You’d need a large flat area to install one, so the tony gardens in hilly West Austin are less likely to be able to pull it off.
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