Plant/Tree of the Month
February 2006

Wooster's Chartres Labyrinth

The College of Wooster is fortunate to have on campus a 45 foot diameter circular outdoor replica of the Labyrinth that was laid into the floor of the Chartres Cathedral near Paris France when it was built around the years 1215-1225 A.D. It is located East of Ebert Art and Southwest of the tennis courts in a shady grove of mature Oak trees It is constructed of two colors of pavers laid on a concrete base and the entrance/exit points directly to the setting sun on the summer solstice (June 21st).

The funding for the labyrinth was provided by The Howland Memorial Fund of Akron Ohio.

Labyrinths come in many shapes and sizes from the very basic and simply curved to the relatively complex eleven-circuit design divided into four quadrants while maintaining an overall circular shape, like the one that graces Wooster’s campus.

Labyrinth and Maze are two words commonly thought to be synonymous. Nothing could be further from the truth. They both reside on the ground, but that is about where the similarity ends. A maze is a puzzle to be solved, an intellectual challenge. To reach the end quickly is the goal. There are many WRONG turns which lead to dead ends and frustration. It becomes a LEFT brain task and requires logical, sequential, analytical thinking and accurate memorization of events in time. To solve a maze many decisions must be made with an active and intent brain to overcome the difficulties and reach the Goal and receive the reward (which in most instances is a food pellet or piece of cheese if you are a lab rat).

A labyrinth on the other hand is a RIGHT brain task. It is passive, creative, full of faith and ripe with the possibility of clearing your head of trivial pursuits and providing your unconscious mind with a little room to exercise. A labyrinth does not demand many complex decisions. The only decision is, to enter and follow the path or not. The labyrinth has only one path. The path in is also the path out. There are no blind alleys, no wrong turns and your faith in the circuitous route the path takes will lead you to the center and with patience, back out again.

Following the path occupies your body and the simple functions of your brain and permits your spirituality to express itself. The act of quietly following the path has an interesting effect on most people and surprises many.

The Howland Labyrinth is available 365 days a year and we encourage you to take advantage of it. Give your Left brain a break today.

If you would like to take a virtual walk on a labyrinth identical in shape to the one here at The College of Wooster then click on the link below and where it says to, on the resulting page:

» http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/interactions/

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