In 2008, I was sitting at an airport in some long forgotten country and decided that I really needed a book. It had to be something frivolous. I read constantly, mainly books on Kabbalah, Sacred Geometry, Astral Travel… basically anything that touches even the fringes of my spiritual world. I love learning, and with each book or article I get the chance to integrate another area of study. But sometimes, it is just too much. My brain needs downtime. And since I don’t watch TV, in those moments I look for a silly novel to occupy my mind while my spirit integrates what was recently ingested.
I walked into the airport bookstore looking for fantasy fiction, or even better, chick lit. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a book with roses, simple red letters and a labyrinth on the cover. Hmmm…. what is this? The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie. It read:
From bestselling British author Titania Hardie comes a mystical fiction debut that takes readers on a romantic journey from Elizabethan England to modern-day London where a centuries-old secret awaits.
This could be interesting. It fit all the requirements: novel, romance and intrigue, but it also touched on my favorite subjects: labyrinths and magick. SOLD!
The Rose Labyrinth is a decadent, romantic novel with a historical twist. It features a wonderful mix of literary references from Shakespeare to the Romantic poets to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It also has the folklore and history of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Paganism mixed with astrology and numerology.
As is to be expected, I devoured the book in record time, captivated by its riddles and imagery. For anyone that studies the occult, much of what Hardie writes resonates. Of course, it is a fictional story line, but that does not negate the truth of the details. For someone like me, it was a wonderful read.
Fast forward 2 1/2 years, and again I found myself looking for some light reading. I pulled out The Rose Labyrinth and effortlessly became involved in the lives of Will, Lucy and Alex. This time, my personal setting was different, making my experience much more visceral. I was immediately hooked into the process of walking a Labyrinth, since this has been a recurring theme for the last few months.
During my acting days, I was cast in a play called, “Searching for Julie Wisch.” My character was a modern day Ariadne, based on the legend from Greek Mythology. At that time, I was slowly awakening to my spirituality and instantly felt a deep connection to Ariadne, her husband Dionysus and her half-brother the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Since then, these have become integral parts of my spiritual development. I have played the part of a crazed Bacchante, studied in depth the Greek legends associated with Ariadne, worshiped Dionysus and even designed a circus performance piece based on the entire tale. You could say, I feel deeply connected to Ariadne and all she embodies.
At the center lies a labyrinth – that continuous path that leads you through a maze that disorients the senses and carries the soul. After reading The Rose Labyrinth for a second time, I knew I had to walk one, but how?
I almost missed my first opportunity, since it was not what I expected. I was on a teaching trip and was colouring mandalas to work through my emotions. I choose one randomly and started to draw, thinking I would create a kaleidoscope of color. But the lines never ended, they wound around and around in one continuous stream. I stopped mid-way through and realized I had chosen the Chartres labyrinth, which takes you from the outer edge to the center in one continuous path. It was exactly what I was going through emotionally, and combined with the color chosen provided great insight.
While coloring is fun, it is not as satisfying as physically walking a labyrinth. The urge to close my eyes and walk a path was burning inside of me, but I had no idea how I would satisfy it. Should I go to Chartres in France? Are there other labyrinths open to the public? How does one go about walking a labyrinth, and what will I get out of it?
Two weeks after reading the book, I was called to the magickal world of Damanhur. Damanhur is a thriving eco-society of nearly 1,000 people, located in the foothills of the Italian Alps (not far from Torino and Milano). Damanhur is 65% self sufficient, has its own currency system, exemplifies application of the Earth Charter, and has been named by the United Nations as a model for a sustainable future. Over the past 30 years, Damanhurians hand built, in secret, a magnificent underground Temple, a tribute to all known divinities of humankind. Once revealed, The Temples of Humankind, became recognized as the Eighth Wonder of the World (http://www.thetemples.org/en). Damanhur is also a magnet for the world’s cutting edge thinkers and activists, including Julia Butterfly Hill, Ervin Laszlo, Prof. Paul Ray, Dr. Patch Adams, Dr. Masaru Emoto, Sting, Alex Grey, and other spiritual leaders.
The mythology of this reality rivals any science fiction world you might know, and is represented in the art of the community, numerous books, two graphic novels, volumes of research and a very complex and rich alternate physical reality. In addition to being called “a model for a sustainable future” by the United Nations, Damanhur is an Esoteric Community on a mission (think “Hogwarts for adults”).
As we were guided through the territory, we came upon various labyrinths. As it turns out, Damanhurians regularly use labyrinths in their meditative practice. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, I stepped into my first labyrinth and began to walk. I didn’t know what to expect, I just knew that this was what I had to do. As I held in my hand the medallion that activated my particular path, I focused on my feet and let everything else fade away. Its geometry followed an unknown course since each intersection lead to multiple avenues. My first turn took me down an unexplored path, my friends each choosing a different direction. I disappeared from site behind a structure and was able to walk with only nature and the unseen world with me. With each step, it became more clear that everything I needed in life was within me; I am a fully contained machine connected to anything and everything I would ever need in order to create my ideal world. And as I rounded the last corner and stepped out of the labyrinth, the first thing I saw was a spectacular view of the Italian countryside which screamed:
“AND YOU MUST MANIFEST IT OUT THERE!”
It was a loud and clear message that resonated for hours. Not only do I have everything I need, I am not supposed to keep these gifts inside of me or isolate them to a small group of people, I need to share them with the world. Message received. As I hugged the totem tree on the property to give thanks to the elementals that guided my walk, I felt my heart and mind lock into a new synch. Something was different about me, change was in the air.
The following day we returned to the main grounds to explore and commune with the nature spirits. A large, spiral labyrinth called to me, and after meditating in the square of the Open Air temple, I walked over and began my preparations. This is what I had been guided to since I first bought The Rose Labyrinth; this was going to answer questions I didn’t even know I had…
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