In a circle roughly the size of a small classroom, six people are walking along a circular path at a snail’s pace.
Some have their heads lowered and some seem to have their eyes closed as they walk the winding path. Suddenly a bell rings, and a kneeled figure stands up and joins the circle.
These people are walking the labyrinth, an opportunity provided every month by the PSU Spiritual Life Center and the student group Growing Roots. Lydia Child currently serves as the student labyrinth coordinator. Campus Minister Carol Joy Brendlinger said for the past seven years, students, faculty and community members have met at PSU, often in the Smith Memorial Student Union, to engage in the ancient practice of labyrinth walking.
Walking a labyrinth commonly serves as a metaphor for the journey through life. Following the path on the ground is supposed to give participants an opportunity to reflect or meditate. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth has no twists, turns or blind alleys. There is only one path, leading from the entrance to the center. To exit, one follows the same path back out.
The labyrinth can mean many things for different people. For Brendlinger, it’s about “getting into that place of being and not doing.”
Local artist Tahni Holt said she appreciates labyrinths because, “you have to just concentrate on what you’re doing.” She said she especially likes it when many people are walking the labyrinth at the same time, so that each person must negotiate with one another in order to walk fluidly.
Brendlinger said that the labyrinth is accessible to people of all different backgrounds, and not bound to any one belief system. “There’s always new people,” she said.
Student Tom Thorson was one of these newcomers. A little unsure when he walked in, he said he came out calm and relaxed.
“It was nice … very beautiful,” he said. “Sort of just what I needed today.”
The labyrinth is the Spiritual Life Center’s most popular program, attracting an estimated 40 to 50 people each month.
For many years, PSU borrowed a labyrinth to hold the events. Two years ago, students pushed Brendlinger into getting PSU their own. “I had students coming to me saying ‘where’s the labyrinth,'” Brendlinger said.Brendlinger said she is not surprised that the labyrinth has caught on in a college environment.
“It’s a little oasis for people in the midst of chaotic days and studies,” she said.
Summer labyrinth walks:July 111 a.m. to 4 p.m.Smith Memorial Student Union, room 228/229
Aug. 1111 a.m. to 4 p.m.Smith Memorial Student Union, room 228/229
For more information, visit www.campusministry.pdx.edu.