Native Teachings at "Walk in Peace"

From  5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Thursday June 18th, the Labyrinth Committee will present "Walk in Peace" at the Community Labyrinth in Carleton Place.

With this early evening event, the Committee hopes to focus attention on the need for peace in the world and within ourselves. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools and have even been used for bringing peace and reconciliation between individuals in conflict.

"If we can learn to find peace within ourselves, we can bring this peaceful energy into our community and the world." says Phyl Drennan, a volunteer for The Labyrinth Committee of Carleton Place.

Special guests have been invited to address the theme:
Francine Desjardins, Sunflower, Watching Woman of the Bear Clan, will share teachings on peace and the medicine wheel.

Chad Clifford, Blueberry Mountain Flutes (maker) and soundscapes recordist will play his native-style flute during the labyrinth walk.

Bring along a picnic supper, a chair or a blanket, and be prepared to enjoy the gardens and find inspiration from our guest speaker. Participate in the making of the peace walk dream catcher and enjoy a labyrinth walk accompanied by native-style flute music.

All are welcome. Refreshments will be provided.

Carleton Place Community Labyrinth is located beside the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum, at 267 Edmund St.

For more information contact Debby 613-257-1014 or
facebook: /carletonplacecommunitylabyrinth

A World-wide Celebration of the Labyrinth

Our World Labyrinth Day walk turned out to be a great success.  Just minutes before one – people started arriving!  And there were 22 people walking as 1 at 1 PM! 

We placed a globe and World Labyrinth Day poster as a focal point on the labyrinth.

We placed a globe and an enlargement of the World Labyrinth Day  poster on the labyrinth too – and we could see people pausing to look at this setup as they were walking.  It was a good thematic focal point to have - and a reminder of that we were walking together with hundreds of other people in celebration of the labyrinth as a symbol and tool for healing and peace.

On a labyrinth walk today. Boy was it fun!

New this year, we had a "reflection table" - where some children (and adults) coloured before the walk – and some labyrinth walkers gathered afterwards to draw or journal while reflecting upon their experience in the labyrinth.

We had a "reflection table" for labyrinth walkers to gather at after their walk.

There was a short talk - at the standing stone - about World Labyrinth Day, the difference between a labyrinth and a maze, the story of the Carleton Place Community Labyrinth and tips about how to walk a labyrinth.

Work of art created after walking the labyrinth.

And then people started by standing quietly on the pausing stone at the labyrinth entrance - and then walking contemplatively. Afterwards – we invited anyone who wanted to be in the group photo to head to the entrance of the labyrinth.

Greetings from the Carleton Place Community Labyrinth!

Walking the labyrinthine way of my life 

No thought, no time, no place, no rhyme or reason for it 

But this step forward 

And this one next 

Feet on ground, heart stone in hand 

Held in the vast emptiness 

Let go, let go

(by Christine Dixon, WLD walk participant)