Product Description

The author explores the history and significance of the image of the labyrinth and explains how readers can use the ancient imprint in the art of meditation, leading them to new sources of wisdom, change, and renewal. Reprint.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136845 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

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

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

Customer Reviews

A must for anyone interested in the labyrinth.
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.

Excellent ideas..well written..resources available.
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.

Read this book!
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.