Last week I drove down to Calgary to check out a labyrinth that is new to me. It's located in the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens, a city green space comprised of more than a dozen themed gardens linked by paths and walkways. The area also seems to be a popular off-leash dog walking spot.
Here is the entrance to the labyrinth, a portal through which to transition from the everyday world to a space of meditation and grace.
With a word to the wise halfway though the archways --
The entrance opens out to a magnificent full-size, 11-circuit Chartres labyrinth. The paths are made of countersunk interlocked paving stones.
Low-growing thyme foliage forms the walls between the labyrinth's paths. I'm sure there's food for thought in the choice of "thyme" as a central structural component for a labyrinth which itself symbolizes life and the spiritual journey.
Unfortunately, I was a couple of weeks too late to see the thyme in bloom and covered with small purplish flowers.
The centre of a Chartres labyrinth is always a floral-shaped "rose," the symbol of the Virgin Mary to whom all Christian labyrinths are dedicated. Here walkers may rest in prayer or contemplation before resuming their walk back out of the labyrinth.
When I first arrived, there were half a dozen women volunteers down on their hands and knees painstakingly weeding the thyme to keep the labyrinth in its manicured condition. Apparently they do this every single week!
In fact, the entire Botanical Gardens is created and maintained by volunteer gardeners -- truly a work of great civic-minded dedication and generosity to the community at large!
Thank you to blog reader and commenter Medi Cal, who let me know of this labyrinth's existence! I loved seeing it and walking it. If it weren't for the six-hour round trip from Edmonton, I would walk it several times a year! But I can see this labyrinth becoming an annual day trip for me every summer!
[Photographs © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]
43 comments:
wow, so cool. can you imagine the spiritual points you earn each time you weed her!
Pretty place, I miss one of the gardens in Orlando, one of the few things I miss about Florida.
It's been awhile since you featured a labyrinth! And this one's a beauty. I can only imagine how pretty that looks with the purple thyme flowers in bloom.
An incredible place I would love. And wonderful volunteers.
Argh. That was me, Mitchell.
"Know Thyself"? In Comic Sans?
Thyme is excellent ground cover. I wish people planted it instead of Kentucky bluegrass.
I give the volunteers a lot of credit. I volunteered for a while at the ABQ Botanical Garden and, well, after raking the Japanese Garden one day and pulling weeds in the cactus garden another day and shoveling and hauling wheelbarrows full of mulch another day, I just found the manual labor was too much for this old body!
I imagine it was gorgeous with the thyme blooming.
Lovely. I had no idea there was one so close.
I just looked it up on a map and it's not far from where I lived many years ago in Calgary. Cool.
That is beautiful. And such dedication from the gardeners.
Love!!!
Botanical Gardens are one of my favorite places EVER! And I've done labyrinths like this one before. They are fantastic to get you centered. Highly recommend.
Also, weeding out the thyme (or any garden) is much better than Valium.
XOXO
Hello Debra, I am impressed with the dedication of many to keep this remarkable labyrinth in top condition. My back storeroom (once a bedroom) is becoming more and more labyrinthine. Maybe I could fly in those women every so often to keep it in trim shape. It would require their skill.
--Jim
That is so cool. Beautiful.
That reminds me it's so long since I walked a labyrinth. We have a local one I'm familiar with, and one I've yet to visit. The first is a different design, another early medieval one, the other the Chartres design.
Lovely post and thank you for the reminder.
A beautiful labyrinth! I'm sure the entire garden is lovely. Thank you for including a picture of the volunteers doing their important work.
What a beautiful place to visit and soak in nature. Love that it's full of dedicated volunteers.
I do wonder what an Off Leash park looks like...I would imagine chaos, but maybe that's because I have wild-child puppies.
I agree ... It is a beautiful place!
Beautiful Gardens..The upkeep has to be a huge job..Hard to believe that dogs are allowed there off leash..Thanks for sharing..
I love labyrinths. I have one that I love to walk next to a church. You walk through a beautiful flower garden. In the spring the wildflowers bloom. The Indian paintbrush and bluebonnets mixed with pansies, iris, tulips, and daffodils. The rest of the warm weather months are delphiniums, daisies, chrysanthemums, and bells. I love it.
Worth the trip. Next year: the thyme in flower.
How long does it take to walk a labyrinth of that size? What do you do when you reach the centre, just sit on the paving stones to rest?
@ Tundra Bunny -- Walking at a moderate pace, it would take about half an hour to walk a full-size Chartres labyrinth, assuming you didn't spend more than a couple of minutes at the centre. People do all kinds of things in the centre of labyrinths -- some sit, some pray, some rest in quiet contemplation, etc. I don't usually spend more than 5 minutes at the centre myself. Its purpose is to ground yourself before undertaking the return journey out of the labyrinth.
This is a gorgeous garden with interesting stone pavement
berry berry cool!!!!
A beautiful labyrinth. It would truly look spectacular with all the blooms.
Thank you for sharing
Wowzers. What a beautiful place. And I can only imagine how much more so when it is in bloom. Thank you for sharing, Debra.
It i beautiful and with thyme in bloom, spectacular!
In terms of meditative calm I am sure that a walk in your local forest would do as well, without the long drive to Calgary and the distraction of other people.
WOW!!! What a really cool garden. Would love to see it, but am surprised they allow dogs off leash. Would think they would want to keep them out of the gardens and keep them from damaging the gardens.
How gorgeous! What an amazing way to spend the day.
I hope the labyrinth provided peace and tranquility. You probably needed that after a 3 hour drive.
Yay! I'm so glad you went! I'm sorry you missed the purple blooms but that will be your goal for next year. How did you like the other gardens? (I'm assuming you walked through the whole place?) I thought you may have liked the Shakespeare Gardens.
If I may make another suggestion ... next year make it a weekend trip. Drive west to Jasper, then take Highway 93 southbound down to Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore before heading east to Calgary. Have you done that yet? They say it's the "most scenic drive in the world".
That is nice. I love these places. Because I am an old weirdo, I would probably be wandering around thinking about that Nabokov guy and his lifelong interest in Lepidoptera. So yes, that is a nice labyrinth. I love when people do this.
@ Medi Cal -- Alas, I have mobility issues which limit how much walking I can do at any one time. So I put all my energy into finding and walking the labyrinth. Although I couldn't walk the full length of the rest of the Botanical Gardens, I drove in my car up and down the back alley beside them and saw how beautiful they looked!
Oh yes, shortly after I moved to Alberta 25 years ago, I drove the Icefields Parkway route and visited all those iconic national park resorts -- a wonderful experience indeed! You can't beat the Canadian Rockies for scenic views. Judging from what I see on TV news these days, the park resort towns are a LOT more crowded now in the summer than they were when I went!
Know thyself. Good advice but following it can be labyrinthine, especially when society thinks it knows you better than you do.
I couldn't do a labyrinth in my yard. A certain amount of your property in our city has to be grass. I should do this just to stir up some shit.
I am not able to comment about labyrinths. I do not have the knowledge. I am not a specially spiritual person. I recognize them.
Hopefully, that will be good enough.
The only thing about that kind of labyrinth is I'm going to cheat
so am I the only one that think those roses look like a penis and balls?
Well yes, ydg,it did cross my mind,but we are doing a heatwave and fighting off a hostile republican takeover, so I decided to not say anything.
I would love to visit this!
how nice your blogger friend mentioned this beautiful labyrinth to you and amazing that despite it is from you could visit it sometimes a year :)
volunteer gardener sounds a touching word ,how lovely these ladies devoted themselves to keep the beauty clean :)
indeed life is a labyrinth and wisdom is needed to find a way out :)
Post a Comment