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FAITH
PHOTOS BY JOE EARLE
At left, pavers outline the outdoor labyrinth’s walkways at the Cathedral of St.
Philip in Buckhead. Right, The Rev. Alison Schultz proudly shows off the grass-and-
brick labyrinth outside Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church in Sandy Springs.
ly good for centering people.”
The Rev. Alison Schultz, associate rector at Holy In
nocents’ Episcopal Church in Sandy Springs, agrees a
labyrinth serves as a tool for meditation. Her church
recently installed a grass-and-brick labyrinth in a me
morial garden outside the main church building. “If we
can relax, we might all feel better,” she said.
Whatever the reason people find for using laby
rinths, the winding paths are catching on. The inter
national Labyrinth Society’s webpage [labyrinthsociety.
org] counts 75 in Georgia, including eight in Atlan
ta, and 25 others in metro communities scattered from
Chamblee to Morrow. The website lists Georgia laby
rinths at Episcopal, Lutheran and Presbyterian church
es.
St. Philip’s Cathedral actually has two labyrinths.
One, painted on canvas, can be spread
out inside a church hall. The other, made
with stone pavers, was installed this year
in a garden just across a parking lot from
the main building on Peachtree Road. The
outdoor setting allows the stone labyrinth
to be used at any time of day.
Knowlton said some walk the cathe
dral’s labyrinths regularly. “It becomes an
important part of some people’s spiritual
experience,” she said.
She regularly walks the labyrinth her
self. “I feel less distracted after I do it,”
Knowlton said. “It makes me slow down.”
Schultz says something about walking
a labyrinth, something in the repetition
of the walkway and in the walking itself,
calms a user. She thinks that’s why laby
rinths have cropped up in various cultures
over thousands of years. “Something about
our participation in that does something
with the neurons in our brains,” she said.
“I don’t know the physiology of it, but I
know the impact of it.”
Schultz said she’s seen people react in
various ways while walking labyrinths.
Some match their breathing to their steps.
Some walk slowly, others more quickly.
Some repeat psalms or prayers.
“I do it with no intentions, to see what
feelings come,” she said. “You’ll find a lot of people cry
ing about halfway through. You can feel very vulnera
ble, because you’ve made yourself open to it.”
Yielding control of her walk to the labyrinth can al
low her to focus her thoughts. “I can’t get lost in a laby
rinth,” she said. “I don’t have to think about where I’m
going. I can just be there.”
www.ReporterNewspapers.netl NOV. 15—NOV. 28, 2013 | 23
