In 2002, I began to collect rocks and read about labyrinth designs, filling a cookie sheet with a layer of sand and black beans in a variety of concentric circle patterns. It sat on a counter in our kitchen for months, those images working their way deep into my psyche, touching a remote place in my soul. We kept adding rocks, and over the years, the pile grew. By May 2009, as ongoing projects were completed and upcoming schedules were finalized, the impulse to materialize this ancient spiritual form shifted from the background of possibility to the foreground of manifestation.

Inner promptings led the way, taught the process, and chose the tools as if the labyrinth itself was mentoring us. We began the painstaking process of finding the center, laying out the directions, and co-creating sacred space. Dimensions were adjusted and rocks began to offer themselves; many more than we had collected thus far would be needed to build the design at a diameter of forty-three feet. Days before we were to begin actively searching our land, my husband, Cliff, found a buried rock wall just over the hill from the barn. He brought load after load, sorting them by size--laying out rivers of stone--having seemingly slumbered for a hundred years, waiting for this moment. Watching in disbelief, we were stunned speechless when all the horses joined us and went to work spontaneously licking these rocks.

Like each of us, the labyrinth is a work in progress, one of a kind, with no two stones the same. In fact, when my son, Michael, talked about his labyrinth journey, it opened up a whole new symbolic dimension for me. He discussed the powerful crystalline structures of the stones themselves, how they were metamorphic rock, high on the hardness scale having stood the test of time and transformation--how, just by looking at them, you can feel their texture with your eyes. He continued to share that the green Olivine is formed in the depths and the Garnet crystals are only found in this part of the world. The Adirondacks are the oldest mountains with some of the oldest rocks on the planet.

Labyrinth walks are often incorporated into our workshops and group retreats. When they are not, you may elect to journey this sacred path during a lunch break. This powerful practice is also available to you for self-exploration and guidance as part of individual sessions or private retreats, with or without the horses. So, while you are here, the horses, Cliff, and I invite you to enjoy the Two-Tree Natural Stone Eleven-Circuit Chartres-Type Labyrinth.