Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice [Paperback]

Lauren Artress (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 7, 2006

'Walking the Labyrinth' has reemerged today as a metaphor for the spiritual journey and a powerful tool for transformation. This walking meditation is an archetype, a mystical ritual found in all religious traditions. It quiets the mind and opens the soul. Walking a Sacred Path explores the historical origins of this divine imprint and shares the discoveries of modern day seekers. It shows us the potential of the Labyrinth to inspire change and renewal, and serves as a guide to help us develop the higher level of human awareness we need to survive in the twenty-first century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Psychotherapist and priest Dr. Lauren Artress says, "To walk a sacred path is to discover our inner sacred space: that core of feeling that is waiting to have life breathed back into it through symbols, archetypal forms like the labyrinth, rituals, stories, and myths." In her eloquent treatise, she champions the use of the labyrinth as a way of rediscovering one's spiritual center. In Walking a Sacred Path, written in 1995, Artress tells the story of her own spiritual seeking and how a labyrinth came to be built at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Sharing the vision of sacred geometry through the ages, she poetically recounts its wonderful effects. The author is deeply concerned about the environmental and spiritual crisis near the end of the millennium and offers illumination on the path to greater self-understanding, healing, and true spirituality. "Religion," she says, quoting an unknown source, "is for those scared to death of hell. Spirituality is for those who've been there." --P. Randall Cohan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This is a meditational account of the rediscovery of an ancient meditational technique, the labyrinth, a "spiritual tool" that predates Christianity and was widely used in Christian spirituality until the sixteenth century. Artress, canon of Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco, combines an interesting historical account of the labyrinth and its inclusion in medieval cathedrals--particularly the one at Chartres--with a devotional account of its re-creation and use at Grace Cathedral and elsewhere. The book--which is full of suggestive possibilities, from the transformation of tourists into pilgrims to the reclamation and celebration of sacred space--is an intriguing mixture of New Age spirituality and traditional Christian mysticism that will appeal to a broad range of spiritual seekers, mystics, and students of mysticism. Steve Schroeder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; Revised edition (March 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594481814
• ISBN-13: 978-1594481819
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone interested in the labyrinth. June 14, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Lauren Artress has presented a very comprehensive treatment of the subject of labyrinths. Many people have absolutely no knowledge of labyrinths and feel it must be a New Age device. Artress gives a great deal of historical background and puts the use of the labyrinth in a modern perspective,as well. She also deals with the metaphors and symbolism inherent in the labyrinth.

In this broken and aching world,the labyrinth offers us all a chance to explore the path to healing and wholeness. Artress is an Episcopal priest and a Jungian Psychologist. She offers many reasons for walking the labyrinth, as well as possible approaches to the walk. She happens to work in a church but this meditational tool can be used by people of all cultures abd religions. It is a way to go on a personal pilgrimage to become better acquainted with oneself.

Lauren Artress is very involved with the technique of the labyrinth and she inspires others to experience it for themselves.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent ideas..well written..resources available. July 29, 1998

By Emily B Wallace

Format:Paperback

Just returned from walking the Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral. A graced space. A healing pace. A slowing down. A looking inward. A looking outward. An appropriate fit between ancient symbol and present reality. This book provides historical information as well as possible creation of a local labyrinth.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book! January 27, 2000

By kalawrence

Format:Paperback

This book has great depth and profound meaning for anyone on their own sacred path. It has helped me to begin to understand the mystery that is the labyrinth. If you've never walked a labyrinth, this book can introduce this ancient practice to you. If you have walked a labyrinth, consider yourself fortunate to have such wisdom and insight from the Rev. Artress. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to have a deeper connection to God.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Walk on the Wild Side February 26, 2005

By MythDoctor

Format:Paperback

And by 'wild' I mean natural, authentic. This book is wonderful. It explains labyrinths, explores their purpose and delves into the ancient meaning of sacred geometry, something I'd never heard of until I read this book. Dr. Artress started me on my labyrinth walks...and I've walked the labyrinth many times, for many years - usually 5 or 6 times in a year - at the original labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, and in a meadow and a farm in Ireland and one very ancient labyrinth attributed to the Vikings on the coastline in Northern Sweden. There are several really beautiful labyrinths in Los Angeles that I walk in sunlight and moonlight, in rain and wind. Walking the labyrinth is transformational for me - it brings me peace and serenity and stokes my creativity into a rush of ideas. The labyrinth is unique every time; its message is alway relevent to my circumstance or dilemna. The turns, and reverses, my steps, others on the path - it all speaks to me in metaphor and poetry and reveals secrets I might never have uncovered without the walk. It's a truly mysterious, mystical and mighty pathway to the personal sacred. Elaine Maginn Sonne, Ph.D., Author of Legends of the Stones

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Walk first, then read April 23, 2004

By Gary Sprandel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I feel fortunate that we have a Labyrinth locally and I can attest to the meditative properties of this tool. Every walk is different. As our labyrinth is outside, it offers such experiences as walking the labyrinth with an ant or being scolded by a wren. The pattern may seem chaotic sometimes, but "You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star"(Nietzsche).

Dr. Artress is both a psychotherapist and a pastor at Grace Cathedral, and offers many personal stories from participants. Some of these seem fanciful and she leans toward Jung's psychology (and dismissed Freud in a single sentence "The scientific myth, helped along by Freud, has taught us to trust the outer world"). Her perspectives on the labyrinth as archetype are important. She also offers exposure to some mystics such as Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila and Hildegard of Bingen. Perhaps the discussion on the "Feminine" becomes decisive when she talks about Christ as part of the patriarchy.

The chapter on basic approaches to walking the labyrinth provides useful methods and will broaden my experience. Reading the book is fine, but what is most important is the walking (check out the Grace Cathedral's labyrinth locator web site if you don't know where one is). For those who like a metaphoric view of Labyrinths, Jorge Borges's book Labyrinth offers some fascinating stories. Dr Artress should be thanks for initiating the Labyrinth Movement.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A very narrow approach January 22, 2013

By mike gurski

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

While a very spiritual and personal account of using the Gothic, Roman Catholic Labyrinths with a focus on Chartres, I was surprised at the narrowness of focus. No reference or exploration of the origins of the labyrinth going back to Crete, nor is the book informed by classic works such as, The Thread of Ariadne: The Labyrinth of the Calendar of Minos, by Charles F. Herberger. So do not expect any historical scholarship here, but a book of personal faith and the experience of the author and anecdotes of others' experiences with replicas of the Chartre Cathedra labyrinthl. Even the fact that the Chartres Labyrinth had a bronze casting of the Minotaur in its centre is not mentioned. That alone would open up an interesting discussion. My other disappointment is the repetitiveness of the book. As Dorothy Parker once famously said in one of her book reviews, if only the author had said, stop me if you heard this before, we would have been saved a good 100 pages.