The labyrinth is a tool for meditation, in that it helps to still and focus the mind. Walking to the centre and out again can symbolise the spiritual journal, the path of the Soul through Life. Some convents and monasteries have labyrinths.

Labyrinths are ancient: the ealiest known is about 3000 years old. They are found carved into rocks, etched on ceramics and stone tablets, drawn on manuscripts, formed by turf or hedges, tessellated into pavements. They were a feature of many medieval cathedrals, such as Chartres. On holy days the bishop would lead his priests through the pattern, and pilgrims might trace it on their knees as a penance, or to symbolise the journey to Jerusalem they couldn't otherwise make.

The word "labyrinth" comes perhaps from "labrys", the Cretan double-headed axe, a religious symbol. But the Cretal riddle that Theseus had to solve to get to the Minotaur, and then back again, was more properly a maze. Once mazes and labyrinths were the same, but now a maze has come to mean a puzzle, a path with dead ends and cross-roads, where the explorer must choose the correct way to get to the centre. In a labyrinth, there is only one way in and the same way out.

Waking a modern labyrinth as a spiritual tool has three parts: the inward journey, the centre and the outward journey. During the inward journey, strive to empty the mind, let go of hindrances that might get in the way of Oneness with God. The centre is a time for meditative prayer, although you can stop for this at any time you feel called to do so. On the outward journey, feel your relationship to God, yourself, others, the earth.

Finger Labyrinth

Use your finger to slowly trace the path into the centre and then out to the entrance. The spiralling path of the labyrinth teaches us to slow down and refocus so we become more centred and balanced.