2010 Labyrinth Gatherings - Engaging the Elements

Sponsored by the Otto Labyrinth Park and the Foundation for Well Being

This year we invite you to the Otto Labyrinth Park for a series of Gatherings with rituals for your personal growth and development. New Moon Gatherings will teach you rituals for new beginnings, creation, and manifestation in your life. Full Moon Gatherings will help you to realize and release blocks to achieving your highest good now. Along with ceremonies for the change of seasons, we will be working with the 5 Elements – Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Akasha (Source) - during the year.

All Gatherings will be held on Saturday and start at the Welcome Center where we will spend some time preparing for the actual ritual. Then we will proceed to the Labyrinth for the ceremony and Group Labyrinth Walk. A Hao La Healing Circle will follow back in the Welcome Center for those who want an extra boost of energy to manifest their desires.

New Moon Gatherings will be from 3 to 5 pm

Full Moon Gatherings will be from 6 to 8 pm

The spring equinox is one of the four great solar festivals of the year. Day and night are equal, poised and balanced, but about to tip over on the side of light. The spring equinox is sacred to dawn, youth, the morning star and the east. The Saxon goddess, Eostre (from whose name we get the direction East and the holiday Easter) is a dawn goddess, like Aurora and Eos. Just as the dawn is the time of new light, so the vernal equinox is the time of new life. We use the time to learn about balance in our lives and reinforce our new found balance with a blessing of the balancing stones provided to each participant.

The Earth element is associated with fertility, nurturing, stabilizing, and grounding. During the new moon ceremony we will be doing the ritual of Planting. Each person is invited to bring a small outdoor plant (flower or herb) to plant at the Labyrinth Park. This  plant represents your intent to plant seeds of goodness in your life and the lives of others. We explore how we can use the Earth Element in our lives, then plant our intentions for the year.

We complete the Earth cycle with a discussion of how the Earth Element affects our lives, then proceed with a “Rite for the Earth” ceremony using the sacred stones provided.

  Air is the power of movement, of freshening and of intelligence. It is also known as the power of the mind and the force of intellect. Sound is a manifestation of this element. To awaken air energy, we will discuss and experience the power of sound with a Tibetan singing bowl concert.

We complete the Air cycle with a discussion of how to harness more Air in our lives, then proceed with  “To Go on a Journey” ceremony using materials provided.

Join us with our version of a Midsummer’s Night Dream. We will commune with the Faerie Folk deep in the forest, followed by a gentle walk in the Labyrinth.
 

Fire is the transformer, transforming objects into new forms. The Fire element is associated with purifying, cleansing, and energetic transformation. To awaken Fire energy, we learn the technique of Scrying into candle flames.

To complete the cycle of Fire, we identify what we wish to be rid of in our lives, that which is no longer necessary for our good, and complete the “Rite of Banishment”

The basic nature of Water is flowing, healing, soothing, and loving. To awaken the Water element, After learning how the Water Element affects our lives, we will use gemstones to make our own healing waters and gemstone elixers.
 

To complete the cycle of Water we explore the nature of water in discussion and perform the “Rite of the Three Leaves”.

The Autumnal Equinox carries the energy of appreciation, harvest, and thanksgiving. We offer a group pot luck supper – bring your favorite dish - followed by a group labyrinth walk and the “Rite of Appreciation”.

Akasha is the immutable, changeless Source of all Energy. It is the realm of potentiality – of promise, of paths not yet taken. It is both the Source of, and the combination of, all other Elements. To access this energy, we learn how to meditate – anytime and anywhere.

To complete the cycle of Akasha and the cycle of this year, we integrate all elements within ourselves and experience our true oneness with nature performing the “Rite of Nature”.