Happy Halloween! Samhain Blessings!

Welcome, my pretties, to our haunted mansion! Bwahahaha!

While this fabulously decorated house is (unfortunately) just a photo from teh interwebz and not our real home, I can assure you that the following pumpkins were actually carved by my Rare One and me last Halloween to decorate our front steps.

I chose to carve a bubbling cauldron of witchy goodness . . .

. . . while my Rare One went for a celestial look featuring a lovely translucent Crone Moon with completely cut out stars!

Here's a shot of our pumpkins together. Alas, it's too dark to see our black rubber rats (Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Fang) but I assure you they're there too.

Don't be scared by any rustling or yowling you may hear as you walk up our sidewalk . . .

. . . because our cat, Her Royal Highness, will protect you. Either that, or kill you and eat your eyeballs with her ghoulish friends. We'll see how it goes.

Duty Calls!

So I'm off to a work-related conference next week. With nose to grindstone in a foreign city, there'll be no blogging until I return, alas.

But I'll be back for Halloween/Samhain so see you then, my pretties! *cackle!*

World-Wide Labyrinth Locator

Want to find a labyrinth near you? Simply click here and type your city, state/province and country into the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator. If you're in the U.S.A., you can also search within a selected radius of your city. The Locator lists many labyrinths around the globe.

But don't stop just at the Locator! Some labyrinths aren't listed there because, for whatever reason, their owner/operators have not registered their information with the Locator. For example, when I search my city of Edmonton, the Locator lists 8 labyrinths but I know for a fact there are several more.

So it's also worthwhile to do a google search of your city's name plus the word "labyrinth." As well, take a look at advertisements in local alternative or New Age magazines and monitor bulletin boards found in spiritual bookstores or shops in your area (both New Age and Christian). They're all a good source of info!

Who knows what wonders you will find?

[First image by Tony Demille. Second image by unknown source.]

Thought for the Day

HRH Behind the Wheel

Her Royal Highness, my beloved cat, insists on driving the car whenever we go out to buy gushy food and kibble. She swears that she has a valid driver's licence but personally I've never seen it. However, I am sure she wouldn't lie to me about something like that.

Unfortunately, HRH is . . . hmmm, how can I put this? . . . a very aggressive driver. She tailgates, weaves in and out of traffic, leans on the horn constantly and keeps up a running barrage of abuse directed at other drivers.

When I implore her to calm down and take it easy, all I get from her is Major Attitude (or should I say Major Cattitude?) Sometimes I wonder if she's not high on catnip when she's behind the wheel . . . no, no, not even HRH would be that foolish.

And when I finally insist on taking over the driving and make her sit in the back seat, she keeps up her obnoxiousness unabated. If anything, it's worse because she tries to get me to do likewise!

I'm just dreading the day when we get pulled over by the police. HRH will undoubtedly try to claw her way out of the situation. Then we'll both end up in the hoosegow cooling our heels/paws (as the case may be).

Note to self -- remind my Rare One to keep bail money on hand at all times, just in case.

Prairie View Labyrinth

Another terrific Saskatchewan labyrinth is found on the grounds of the Prairie View Chapel and Crematorium about 30 kilometres south of Saskatoon. There's a lovely memorial garden and tree-lined walkway that leads to the labyrinth in a nearby clearing. The labyrinth is a Chartres model laid out in white rocks on a crushed red gravel base.

The Chapel, its accompanying grounds and labyrinth are located right beside one of Saskatchewan's busiest highways which connects that province's two main cities, Saskatoon and Regina. Consequently, there is an almost unceasing roar of traffic noise. At first, I found this to be extremely distracting and annoying, even to the point of ruining my labyrinth walk. But after a while, I developed a new perspective . . . .

The noise and speed of the nearby highway represents the frantically busy world in which we must live and operate every day, while the inherent peacefulness of walking a labyrinth represents how we should slow down and seek serenity even in the midst of our fast-paced existence. The juxtaposition of these two ways of being provided much thought for meditation as I walked Prairie View's unicursal path.

By the time I was done walking, I didn't mind the traffic noise at all.

St. Michael's Labyrinth

In 2001, I visited a very simple but lovely rock labyrinth at St. Michael's Retreat Centre in Lumsden, Saskatchewan, a small prairie town about 30 kilometres north of Regina. At one time, St. Michael's was a Franciscan monastery but today it operates as an ecumenical retreat centre.

St. Michael's Cretan-style labyrinth is located in a nearby field and looks somewhat wild and free with all the prairie grasses growing up around the rocks. On the day I was there taking these photos, it was a hot and perfect summer day. I had the labyrinth all to myself and basked in the sunshine as I slowly and meditatively walked its path.

The labyrinth has a large granite boulder sitting in its centre. Sort of like a mini-megalith . . . hmmm, perhaps this is the Stonehenge of Saskatchewan!

Sometimes labyrinth walkers leave small gifts or tokens of appreciation in the centre to mark their passage through the sacred circuits. Small pebbles, tea light candles and scattered coins were piled on this centre rock. Also a black cassette tape, significance unknown. I noticed a couple of scraps of paper tucked in among the offerings which probably contained written prayers or requests.

I haven't been back to St. Michael's since then but I hope the labyrinth is still there in that quiet, peaceful field, offering its contemplative path to all seekers, pilgrims and wanderers.