My daughter Julie clued me into a fascinating blog called "The Tangled Labyrinth". Obviously from the title of my own blog, you know that I am interested in labyrinths. AND in tangles. So is my daughter. And when we find a kindred soul we get pretty fascinated.
Sadelle Wiltshire lives in Vermont where she teaches workshops and leads retreats on both these subjects...sometimes together. When you poke around her beautiful blog you will find examples of walking labyrinths and also "finger" labyrinths. My attempt to try one of those on my own is above. It is pretty labor intensive...even a 8.5 x 11" one!
Labyrinths, as you may know, are a meditative "journey" into mindfulness and insight. In their book Labyrinths From the Outside In: Walking to Spiritual Insight: A Beginner's Guide, Donna Schaper and Carole Ann Camp tell about the history of labyrinths and the reasons why this meditative practice has become so popular of late. They have been discovered as long ago as 500 BCE in southwestern Peru.
Without going further I will simply add that like Zentangle® the practice of walking or drawing leads to a spiritual and calming experience. For those of us who have no labyrinth at hand to walk, a finger labyrinth can be a small substitute. In other words, it is designed to enter in, proceed slowly to the center and then return the same route. I often say...a long journey in a small space, using your fingers on the path.
My idea is that once I finish tangling it, I will coat it with a clear polymer and when dry I plan to add some texture around the edges of the path with texture paint to give the path edges. It can slip into a folder and be available at a moment's notice.
I want to thank Sadelle for this lovely idea. I'll post this again when it's all finished. Incidentally I have seen beautiful finger labyrinths routed out of wood. You can google this to find out more.
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