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GIANNANGELO FARMS SOUTHWEST AVANT-GARDENING: CREATIVE ORGANIC GARDENING

LABYRINTHS "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order." John Burroughs

A labyrinth is an archetype (from the Latin: archetyp, meaning an original pattern) with which we can have a direct experience. It is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness, combining the imagery of the circle and the spiral, into a purposeful path.

We walk it. It is a metaphor of life's journey, a pattern that creates a symbolic space. Concentrating on the path is an 'action-meditation' allowing us to focus on the moment. At the center one reaches a place for reflection. It is also a mandala - a schematized representation of the cosmos characterized by a concentric organization of geometric shapes.

 The word labyrinth is from the Latin: labyrinth(us), meaning an arrangement of linear patterns or paths having a complex design.

 Labyrinths can be used to heighten awareness, encourage meditative states, and promote psychological and spiritual growth. To build a labyrinth is to create a meaningful space. To walk a labyrinth is to imbue it with value and meaning.

 The more a labyrinth is used the more helpful it becomes as a tool for personal transformation. Labyrinths can be used as a tool to balance the right and left brain hemispheres - the intuitive and rational. Going in one way activates one side of the brain, and going back out activates the other.

 You enter at the mouth and walk on the paths or circuits. The goal is the middle of the labyrinth, and when you reach it, you have gone half way.

THE TOHONO O'ODHAM LABYRINTH
 The Tohono O'odham 'Man in the Maze' labyrinth is a right-handed classical seven-circuit labyrinth - one of the symbols of a desert people who were, until the 1980s, known as 'Papago', from the Uto-Aztecan Linguistic family, related to the Pima.

The Tohono O'odham Nation consists of four Indian reservations stretching 90 miles across the southern boundary of Arizona into northern Mexico.

 These desert people didn't have a written language until the 1970's, and passed on their stories, traditions, cultural, and spiritual beliefs by the spoken word. There are seven dialects spoken, which are centuries old. About 10,000 members of the nation use it as their first language.

 Historically, the labyrinth symbolizes the female womb. The male figure outside, represents the human seed which can reach the womb, if pure in spirit, fertilize the egg, and produce new life.

 The figure also seeks a deeper meaning of life. The center of the circle stands for that deeper meaning. The journey through life is often puzzling and difficult, and one must work hard to reach the deeper meaning. This symbol is often used on baskets and jewelry made by the Tohono O'odham today.

More information on the "Man in the Maze" Labyrinth

GIANNANGELO FARMS LABYRINTH

"The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside." Dag Hammaskhold

 Our labyrinth was a modified Tohono O'odham 'Man in the Maze' Labyrinth. We will be building another labyrinth like this at our new house site in a future workshop. Our modification was in the upper part of the labyrinth, allowing the path to work its way into the center in a more concentric pattern of seven circles, reflecting fact (physical), idea (mental), and relation (spiritual) - a few of the topics covered in our Labyrinth Workshop.

 The center of the labyrinth was enlarged to contain a sunken kiva-like area. The edges of the kiva provided a place for people to sit and reflect upon their labyrinth journey, or to write in their labyrinth journals, another aspect of our workshop.

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