Labyrinth 2003

Labyrinth Updates, 2003

December 2003

Hello Fellow Labyrinth Enthusiasts,

Below are the dates pertinent to the Live Oak Labyrinth planning and construction. Please attend what you can and feel free to contribute via email if unable to attend.

January 11th Labyrinth Committee Meeting 12:30 (room to be announced) Live Oak UU Church. This is an important meeting!! We will be finalizing the plans for the labyrinth work days. Please attend if you can or let us know in what capacity you can help. Lunch will be ordered ahead of time to be delivered at 12:30 so RSVP if you plan to put in your order for pizza (contributions will be collected to pay for it)

January 18th Labyrinth Service at LOUUC 10:30AM. Organized by the Labyrinth Service sub-committee of Joyce Phelps, Susan Steffes and Linda Webster. Come hear about the history, walking experience and sacred geometry of the labyrinth (and help us get the rest of Live Oak congregation and community at large excited about this wonderful project). The 9 circuit labyrinth pattern will be spray painted on the grass at the sight of the permanent labyrinth for everyone to walk after the service. This is a soup Sunday so enjoy some hot soup and then come walk the space…grab a friend or two and introduce them to the power of the labyrinth

February 27th Land clearing and rock delivery for the permanent labyrinth. Volunteers needed to help with guiding the driver of the bobcat and leveling of the space

February 28th 10AM until finished Pattern and border stones to be placed at labyrinth site…come lend a wheel barrow and some muscle to help with this great task…youth welcome but little ones best not to attend. Come for the day or for an hour, we will take whatever you can give

March 6th 10AM until finished Labyrinth paths to be filled with crushed stone…children and adults of all ages welcome…if you can fill a bucket and dump it, spread rock out with a rake or roll a wheel barrow your assistance is needed! LOTS of help needed for this so grab your partner, children and friends and let’s have fun

March 13th Rain date for Labyrinth rock work and day of beautification…planting flowers, adding personal touches, etc

March 21st 1:00PM Labyrinth Dedication following Soup Sunday! After enjoying some hot soup come out for the Labyrinth dedication and group walk! This will be a ritual for all to participate in and open to the community at large. Invite your friends and neighbors to take part in this consecration of an ancient tool. This is also the Spring Equinox and a perfect time to dedicate a labyrinth

We would really like to have the Jr. High and High School aged members involved in this so please talk to your kids and get them excited about getting involved! We encourage the RE leaders for these groups to encourage or even organize their groups to be involved. How about organizing a ‘Pancake Breakfast’ or ‘Soup Lunch’ held on the work days to raise money??? Then they could lend their strength with rock placement and gravel spreading

Please feel free to email any questions, concerns or input to ssteffes@austin.rr.com

Walk in Peace,

Susan Steffes
Live Oak Labyrinth Committee Chair

November 3, 2003

What follows is a little excerpt from a message committee head Susan Steffes sent to the Labyrinth Committee--the photos here are from our November 2 meeting, where we mowed a circle the size and location of the future labyrinth!

Yesterday’s meeting was a success! We identified the exact placement of the labyrinth and the lawn was mown (ride em John). Check it out next time you’re at the church! The path closest to the trees on the West side will be the path (eventually done in the same crushed stone and limestone border) to the labyrinth and will come off of the rear parking lot. The circumference of the labyrinth is spray painted on the grass, the center is marked with stones and a stake, and the four directions are marked with spray paint as well. (yes, pictures were taken, but they’re not digital)

Thanks to all who were able to make it: Sue Ann Kendall (center finder and circumference walker), Maryann Todd-Thompson (who suffered multiple fire ant bites and measured out our guide string), Glen Macintosh (who sprayed the outline when the spray machine wouldn’t work and worked with us to figure out the best place for a memorial garden), John (our mowing man and GPS direction finder) and Joyce Phelps (rain dancer, center finder, circumference walker and director), Anne Eagle Walker (supplier of materials, maker of the new pattern, and wonderful contributor in so many ways), and the Steffes clan (keepers of the directions and center stake hammerers).

Anne presented us with a beautiful hand drawn 9-circuit modified Cretan design (different than the one emailed previously, and more true to the Cretan design) to use as our guide when we get ready to lay the actual pattern out on our weed block…after the land is cleared. We are looking at planning for workdays in February, but I need to consult the church calendar as to what will work best, and then find someone capable and willing to get a bobcat to clear the space.

There is interest in having a Labyrinth sermon to generate passion for this project from the larger church community…I will be talking with the worship committee about this.