Planning Meeting
Sunday, October 26, 2003

This meeting was the first organizational meeting of the labyrinth committee. It was chaired by Susan S, the Live Oak Labyrinth Chair. Besides just getting organized, this meeting posed some of the larger questions about the project.

• The location of the labyrinth on the property.
• The direction the labyrinth should face.
• The size and design of the labyrinth.
• Whether the labyrinth should be a temporary one, built to last few years to a lifetime, or a permanent one, a built to last several lifetimes.
• The temporary vs permanent decision would then drive the choice of materials.
• The make up of the Sacred Space in the center.
• The budget of the project.
• The use of consultants on the project.

The biggest decision was the design of the labyrinth. The group discussed the two major designs that were available: The Chartres and the Cretan designs.

The Chartres design is based on the labyrinth in the Chartres Cathedral in France. Just west of Paris, this labyrinth was build in the Middle Ages from 272 tiles set directly into the floor. Based on the complexity of the design, this was certainly the front-runner in everyone’s mind for the labyrinth that we wanted to build.

However, also up for consideration was the classic Cretan labyrinth. This design is very common around Europe and dates back to perhaps 2000 BCE.

Helping us in our decision was Anne, who has direct experience building many labyrinths. As we discussed the issue, we began to list the other labyrinths in the area. It became clear that most of them were Chartres designs, especially the ones at churches. In order to provide an alternative for labyrinth walkers, we decided that we would construct a labyrinth based on the Cretan design. Anne volunteered to create a design for us.

We also decided that we wanted a permanent labyrinth with low maintenance, so we agreed to stick with the original proposal and use limestone to mark the circuits and crushed granite for the paths.

Below is Susan’s initial agenda, followed by her summary of the meeting.

Agenda

Finger Labyrinth Meditation

Walk each with the middle finger of your non-dominant hand. Write down any thoughts you had.

Process

Consecration of land, preparation of land, lay out, construction, dedication.

Location of Labyrinth

Open grassy area behind ‘stage’. Note, it will fit an 11-circuit Chartres wheelchair accessible 42″ wide path labyrinth (~ 26 ft across).

Direction

What direction should the entrance face? East, so as you enter at sunrise you view it, and as you exit you face west towards the setting sun if evening?? Whatever is straight on from the parking lot to make it inviting?

Accessibility

Wheel chair accessible with adequate turning radius. Path to labyrinth from parking lot.

Size

Path width (42″), overall (307.7″ circumference/25.6′). Does this include thickness of stone borders?

Permanence

Temporary (a few years to a lifetime) or permanent (a lifetime to many)

Materials

Borders: stone (chopped, sawn, natural), brick, wood, or earth.

Path: crushed stone, pea gravel, mulch, sand, grass.

Maintenance

Level with grass or built up? Weed control touch up, mowing, top off path?

Sacred Space

Entrance altar, stone, or posted suggestions to guide your walk? Center altar or unobstructed space?

Landscaping

As funds permit.

Budget

Estimated cost of 11-circuit Chartres with 42″ width path made of sawn limestone with gravel fill. $5K, already donated. Possibility of getting materials and/or labor donated.

Consultants

Anne, Patricia, Nancy could be approached. Fee???

Minutes from Susan

The 9-circuit modified Cretan design was chosen after discussion about wheel chair accessibility, appeal to community and child friendliness. It will be 84′ in diameter. The center was expanded to allow for ritual, group gathering, or weddings. There is talk of having some type of altar or center point within the center of the labyrinth (a tree, a birdbath, a large rock, a chalice). The entrance will be on the west side so that you will be facing summer solstice sunrise direction upon entering and sunset upon exiting. The four corners of the mown 90′ area (or larger) will have memorial gardens. We discussed a path from the parking lot to the labyrinth, but this has not been figured into the cost at this point.

The materials were kept from the original planning meeting as they seem to be the most appropriate and cost effective. Sawn limestone borders with crushed granite fill. The paths will be 42″ wide to accommodate a wheelchair. The diameter of the center will be 21′.

Some of the reasons we changed from the Chartres to the Cretan are: feeling the Cretan design was more earth centered and fits our community well, not as intimidating as a Chartres for first time walkers or those with a limited amount of time to walk, less work for those in wheelchairs, seems more kid friendly, womb-like, takes less space leaving ample room for gardens, it offers the community a new design to walk since there are 4 others on the 620 Corridor only one of which is a Cretan design (at Lakeway).

We are planning to get together again this Sunday, November 2, at 12:30 to mark out the Labyrinth, providing it is mown by then. Please come for this if you can, it will be very exciting! Anne, what do we need to bring for this???

I would like to set up committees for:

Materials: getting them donated or purchased and arranging for delivery.

Design implementation: Getting the Labyrinth lain out on the weed block for construction.

Labor coordination: Overseeing the mass of people who will be volunteering their time and energy to build this wonderful gift.

Gardens: Getting flowering plants for the memorial gardens that will be in the corners of the exterior of the cleared area. I have an idea for this — having the colors of the plants for each individual corner correspond to colors that represent the four directions (east-yellow, south-red, west-blue, north-green; depending on your radiation). Budget for plants will be determined after construction costs of the labyrinth and path leading to it, but we are hoping for donations and contributions beyond the $5K already in place, in the way of materials and plants.

Please let me know your area of interest.

Things to discuss this Sunday:

We need to discuss a realistic completion date and schedule work days and the dedication in the church calendar.

Assuming that we will have the path of limestone and gravel as well, we need to add this into our calculations and budget.

The next item on the project schedule was to cut the grass in the area where the labyrinth was to go and draw the outer boundary. This would allow us to locate its center and make sure that it would fit in the space.