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CHAPTER 8
Sandra Wasko-Flood
Living Labyrinths for Peace, Inc.
ABSTRACT
What Is a Labyrinth?
Unlike mazes with their false paths and dead ends, labyrinths have a single
path that leads to the center and back (Canty, 2002; Kern, 1982/1995; Lone-
gren, 1996) . Many people find that walking a labyrinth slows the breathing,
144
LABYRINTHS FOR CREATIVITY 145
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focuses the mind, and induces a peaceful state of being (Artress, 1995; Curry,
2000; Geoffrion, 2000, 2003). In use for more than four thousand years and
found in most cultures, labyrinths today are enjoying a renaissance (Lonegren,
1996; Saward, 2002; Westbury, 2001). These walkable designs can be found in
churches and retreat centers, schools (see figure 8.l) and hospitals, museums and
arts centers, prisons, and backyards-even the backyard of the U.S. Capitol in
Washington, D.C., where in 2000, I directed a labyrinth-walking demonstra-
tion for the Labyrinth Society, an international support organization for all who
create, maintain, and enjoy labyrinths.
Labyrinths have physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits (See the
Labyrinth Society website at www.labyrinthsociety.org/). Physically, current
research shows that a labyrinth walk can lower the blood pressure and slow the
breathing. Research is under way on potential advantages for people with such
ailments as dyslexia, Parkinson's disease, and autism. Psychologically, labyrinths
help people process grief, make decisions, and resolve conflicts. In the conflict
resolution labyrinth designed by Connie Fenty (1997), for example, each turn
of the classical seven-circuit labyrinth represents a step of the conflict resolution
model. Spiritually, many people find that walking a labyrinth is a fitting meta-
phor for the inner journey and that it expands their connection to something
greater than themselves. Many have felt strong relationships with nature, with
those who have died or whatever higher power in which they believe. Often,
146 WASKO-FLOOD
on the Arts; the Washington Performing Arts Society, a program of the Kennedy
Center; the Baltimore Office on Promotion in the Arts; and LLP, it has been my
professional joy as a teaching artist (see Teaching Artists[ournalt to collaborate
with teachers, students, parents, and counselors on one-day and four-week art-
ist residency programs at more than fifty schools in the Washington-Baltimore
metropolitan area. Most of these workshops have taken place in the upper el-
ementary grades (grades 3-6) and in middle schools (grades 7-9) with ethnically
diverse populations, primarily African Americans and Hispanics.
The one-day workshops last three hours, while the residencies include three
hours of program time per week. An initial meeting with the classroom teacher
emphasizes our equality in collaboration concerning goals, classroom ethics, and
the compatibility of teaching styles. My style features a loose, relaxed structure
that stimulates creativity-self-discovery of the artist within. Students learn to
work on any "mistake" to resolve it with their mind and heart. Having made a
"mistake" myself in drawing the classic seven-circuit labyrinth (see Fenry, 1997)
on the playground, one sixth-grade girl had the courage (heart) to turn the wavy
line at the center into a heart. Now there exists a new seven-circuit design with
a heart at the center.
Students learn the history and geography of the labyrinth and then create
labyrint h books, where they pattern photocopied labyrinth designs in many
media and write their labyrinth walk intentions and experiences. They enjoy my
"Rainbow Labyrinth of Peace," a painted canvas that I bring to each school, and
make their own guidelines for safe walking. Together, they paint permanent can-
vas or playground labyrinths, which they name and dedicate to their school. By
making peace wishes for themselves, family, friends, community, and the world,
they turn their labyrinth walks into walks for peace (see figure 8.2).
nant intelligence, one is more likely to find peace in activities or jobs that use
this dominant intelligence. The one who discovers the inner peace that can lead
to world peace also comes to know her or his creative self. Labyrinths use the
forms of the circle and spiral, which are found everywhere in the universe, from
our DNA to the galaxies. I believe that the universe evolves through a creative
force that uses these major patterns and that there is a force for peace that strives
for balance and unites such opposites as male and female, love and fear, and
darkness and light.
So how does one stimulate creativity and peace in students? I begin with
the idea that all people, as part of a universe that is evolving toward creativity
and peace, are innately creative and peaceful. Adults and children in all religions,
institutions, and cultures deserve equal rights and equal respect. I believe cre-
ativity and peace require love and freedom to blossom . A guiding love n urt ures
confidence, and freedom is necessary to discover oneself.
As loving guides, teachers can stimulate th eir students to find creativity and
peace in themselves and others by communicating in ways appropriate for the
students' modes oflearning. Because learning is reciprocal (everyone learns from
everyone else) and democratic (everyone has something to teach and something
to learn), teachers need to balance their dominant mode of learning with their
less dominant, while encouraging their students to do the same.
148 WASKO-FLOOD
• Verbal-linguistic
• Logical-mathematical
• Spatial
• Bodily-kinesthetic
• Musical
• Naturalist
• Intrapersonal
• Interpersonal
the intrapersonal mode. In painting the labyrinth as a group, walking the laby-
rinth with others, and making peace wishes for family, friends, community, and
the world, the interpersonal mode comes to the forefront.
To address the naturalist mode, a labyrinth walk can be considered a three-
stage journey of life, death or transformation, and rebirth or reintegration,
similar to the cycle followed by nature. In the first stage, one walks the path of
life with an intention or goal in mind. In the second stage, one releases or "dies"
to the old self and experiences transformation or change in the center of the
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labyrinth as one opens heart and mind to the potential realization of that goal.
Finally, the transformed self returns to the world, following the same path, but
in the opposite direction.
For each of the eight intelligences , the sections below relate them to the cor-
responding subject disciplines and highlight selected labyrinth-related activities .
VERBAL-LINGUISTIC
Oral Activities
• Hold up a classical seven-circuit finger labyrinth and say, "Thumbs up for
those who think this is a labyrinth, and thumbs down for those who think it
is a maze."
• Display posters of labyrinth designs from around the world with dates and
ask, "H ow many of you think labyrinths are older than your parents? Raise
your hands. Older than one hundred years? five hundred years? one thousand
years? four thousand years?"
• After giving basic instruction on how to walk to the center of the labyrinth
and back, have students walk in groups of about five people. Afterward, ask
them to formulate their own "Guidelines for Peaceful Walking" that express
positive qualities (e.g., "walk slowly" instead of "don't run").
• After the first labyrinth walk, ask, "Why have people allover the world
walked labyrinths for more than four thousand years? Let me give you a clue.
It is to celebrate important things in our lives-things that people celebrate
everywhere. What kinds of celebrations can you think of?" Answers will likely
include birthdays, weddings, funerals, the New Year, and so forth.
• After presenting a basic diagram of the labyrinth, point to the chart and have
students say the corresponding vocabulary word, for example, entrance, path,
goal, and circuits.
• Have students name the labyrinth they made for the school by soliciting sug-
gestions and then taking a vote. Names have included "Circle of Life" (grade
150 WASKO-FLOOD
Written Activities
• Have students write their own intentions for walking the labyrinth-to ex-
press a feeling, make a decision, resolve a conflict, or make a wish for peace
for themselves, family, friends, community, and the world.
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• After walking the labyrinth, have students write about their experience.
LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL
SPATIAL
• Students pattern photocopied labyrinth designs from many eras and cultures,
ancient and contemporary, to include in their labyrinth books.
• Invite students to design their own labyrinths, using any form and colors they
want.
• Have students construct labyrinths with beads, yarn, and found objects (see
figure 8.3).
• Mark a labyrinth path on a canvas labyrinth using students' hand- or foot-
prints or symbols that are special to a particular culture. For example, in a
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Figure 8.3. Labyrinths constructed with beads, yarn, and found objects
152 WASKO-FLOOD
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Figure 8.4.
BODILY-KINESTHETIC
MUSICAL
Subject: Music
• Students walk the labyrinth to the sound of a drum beating like a heartbeat.
Some students may join in and discover that they are excellent drummers. At
LABYRINTHS FOR CREATIVITY 153
NATURALIST
• Give students experience in categorizing labyrinth designs into the three major
types-classical, concentric, and Chartres Cathedral.
• When constructing a permanent outdoor labyrinths, help students select ma-
terials that enhance the environment, mixing such materials as earth, mulch,
rocks, and bricks with plants suitable to the seasons.
INTRAPERSONAL
• In their art work and writing, students express themselves, the feelings, and
the ideas within.
• After blowing a whistle to signal time for a quiet prompt, the teacher says,
"With your index finger, spiral in, and point to yourself. Listen to yourself
first. What are you thinking about now? Your lunch? Friend? Bring yourself
to the present time and task. Then spiral outwards and point to me. Listen to
your teacher."
• Students' peace wishes (see Verbal-Linguistic above) may include desires
related to classroom value, for example, "I wish to know myself better" (self-
knowledge); "I wish to have more self-control" (self-control); and "I wish I
were not afraid" (courage) .
• Students walk the labyrinth to express a feeling: happiness, sadness, fear, or
anger.
• Students experience the threefold path in walking: After making an inten-
tion, they follow the inward path while meditating on this life concern. At
the center of the labyrinth, they listen with heart and mind to a new way
of being. Upon walking out, they reintegrate their experience back into the
world.
154 WASKO-FLOOD
INTERPERSONAL
• Have students develop their own "Guidelines for Peaceful Walking" after
walking the labyrinth in a small group. Examples include "When you meet
someone else on the path, step aside to let them pass. Walk silently. Keep your
hands to yourself."
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• When creating a canvas labyrinth, students work in small groups. Tell them
that only through community cooperation will the labyrinth exist. For ex-
ample, if they are not careful, spilling paint over the labyrinth will ruin it, and
the school will not have one .
• To pattern the designs in their labyrinth books, have students work in four
media groups: one each for watercolors, colored pencils, magic markers, and
oil pastels. Within each group, they should share the materials and offer ap-
preciation for the work of their fellow students.
• After students make their peace wishes (see Verbal-Linguistic above), they
may want to announce their wishes from the center of the labyrinth, especially
those that involve friends, family, community, or the world.
FOR MYSELF
center, it feels like you are going to tip over. I went into the labyrinth so I
could find out what I will make for my mom's anniversary. I wish to walk the
labyrinth every day.
• When I walked the labyrinth, I felt free and confident. I felt like the world is
waiting for me. But when I walked out, I felt like I was ready for the world.
To walk a labyrinth, you have to concentrate and focus. When I walked it, I
just was daydreaming, and it felt like everybody in the room had disappeared.
Like it was only me and the labyrinth.
FOR FAMILY
• My wish was that my uncle and aunt come safe and sound from El Salvador.
Now I feel that I do not worry anymore. I feel calm. I really hope my wish
comes true.
• My peace wish is for my parents to stop fighting.
• What I wish for my family is that they would be out of danger so no one
would have to be killed because they were in some kind of gang.
• Let mommy be happy. Let mommy be happy. Let mommy be happy.
• I wish my father were out of jail.
FOR FRIENDS
FOR COMMUNITY
• I wish that there would be no more earthquakes or floods. I wish that there
would be nothing like Katrina again.
• I wish people would be more careful about how they make other people feel.
I wish that everyone is careful about how other people would react to when
hurt.
• I wish the poor children in the world get a home and anything they wished.
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THANK-YOU RESPONSES
• Thank you, Ms. Sandra, for helping us make the labyrinth. If we did not have
a labyrinth in our school, we would not have peace. Now we have one and
our school is peaceful.
• I want to thank you for coming to Garrison. I really enjoyed you. You let me
know what art is really like. It is not just colors to be coloring. It is abour lov-
ing and feeling art. I had fun learning with you .
During the workshop period when students are asked to design their own
labyrinths, I encourage creative confidence by telling them,
1 believe that you are all artists. Just as we all can write or do math,
we can draw. Artists generally don't follow a lot of rules that other
people give. They draw what's inside of them, what they want to
express. Every one of you is different and has something unique to
express. The only rules 1 can giveyou are:
The results have been marvelously creative. Many times those who do not excel
in academic subjects produce great images. Recently, at a school for emotion-
ally disturbed students, one such shy student made a complicated design with
unusual metallic colors. Another with Asperger's syndrome divided her labyrinth
into four quadrants representing the four elements-electricity (modern-day
fire!), air, water , and earth. Other designs have included labyrinths made into
animals, landscapes, paths with number sequences , and every kind of mark and
color combination imaginable.
LABYRINTHS FOR CREATIVITY 157
to create "interactive labyrinths using art, science, technology, and narure for
learning programs that lead the way from inner peace to world peace." The Living
Labyrinths for Peace center in Washington, D.C., also offers a unique opportu-
nity to experience the "Dance of the Labyrinth," an interactive exhibit where
visitors step on computer-programmed light boxes that lighten and darken with
each pace. In a very personal experience, the visitor begins in the moonlight phase
with glowing phosphorescent paint and black lights. Marking out paths of earth,
air, fire, and water, the light boxes display images of mummies, icons , people, and
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animals that show the way to the central mirror, where one confronts one's true
self. After returning along the path, back into the world, many have described this
as a transformative experience embodying peace, power, and mystery.
At a speech I delivered at the U.S. House of Representatives' Rayburn
Building during the Labyrinths for Peace event in 2000 (see figure 8.5), I said,
"The labyrinth is an apt symbol for peace at the rum of the millennium. The
labyrinth relates to many states, because it is found in most countries of the
world. And it relates to many states of being, because it can bring inner peace."
I have followed my bliss, as the mythologist Joseph Campbell (1988) would say,
and in rerum have received peace and love many times over from all those with
whom I've worked, especially the children. I have seen firsthand that the integra-
tion of creativity and peace within the individual human being leads to a union
among human beings-their families, friends, communities, and the world. Let
us live labyrinths for peace!
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