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]
