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Holy Week Labyrinth Walk The First United Methodist Church of Ashland, 175 North Main, invites everyone to a Holy Week Labyrinth Walk, April 12, 13, and 14. The opening ceremony will be at 7 p.m., April 12 in Wesley Hall. The Labyrinth will be open until 11 p.m. that night. The public may meditate by walking the Labyrinth from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Good Friday, April 13, and Holy Saturday, April 14. Wesley Hall will be transformed to a quiet and sacred space featuring a 37 ft. canvas replica of the eleven-circuit labyrinth built into the floor of the Chartres Cathedral around 1220. In those days the labyrinth was used by the faithful as a substitute for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The Labyrinth Walk is walked without shoes. The host will provide cloth boots for those who do not want to remove footwear. The singular path of the classic labyrinth lies in eleven concentric circles with the twelfth being the center of the labyrinth. As celebrants walk, they make thirty-four turns to experience the three stages of the walk. Purifation is a releasing of the details of life. The shedding thoughts and emotions quiet the mind. Illumination occurs in the twelfth circle, the center, a place of meditation and prayer. Union is joining God-your Higher Power. The Labyrinth Walk has empowered many to find and do their Soul Work as they retrace the circles to carry a renewed spirit into the world. Surrounding the labyrinth will be stations (tables) featuring sacred texts, communion elements, finger labyrinths, space for journaling, and baptismal water. According to event organizer Bev Smith, the theme will include rocks which symbolize our cares and woes. People will be encouraged to carry these rocks into the center of the labyrinth where they will leave them in exchange for slips of paper with hopeful words written on them. Co-sponsors of the event with the First United Methodist Church include: the United Congregational United Church of Christ, Trinity Episcopal Church, First Presbyterain Church, and Our Lady of the Mountain Catholic Church, all of Ashland. Labyrinth facilitator Elizabeth Austin noted that over 2,000 people walked the labyrinth when it was at the Unitarian Fellowship. "Labyrinths are such magnificent spiritual tools," Austin said. "They are cross-cultural and ecumenical. It is essential to these times to have that connection with the spiritual." For more information, call Bev Smith at 482-4602. Visit our back issue library Visit our other Western Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Corvallis Gazette-Times | Lebanon Express | Mid-Valley Sunday | | Newport News-Times | Ashland Daily Tidings | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Springfield News | Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Managing editor Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing