F.A.Q.

– What is an Intentional Labyrinth?

Simply put, an Intentional Labyrinth is a labyrinth that the designer has stated the intention of or why the labyrinth was made, and this intention is readily available for the user. Also see What is an Intentional Labyrinth.

– Why finger labyrinths rather than outdoor labyrinths?

1. Finger labyrinths are more available and accessible than outdoor labyrinths. We have three outdoor labyrinths at HeartStone Labyrinths (See Outdoor Labyrinths at HeartStone.). Since I live with them, I can walk them at any time I choose without much effort. However, most individuals do not have the room or the money or, perhaps, the desire to build a labyrinth at their home. This means that an outdoor labyrinth really isn’t available to most people.

I can walk my labyrinths at any time whether it is hot or cold, raining or snowing. But going outdoors in inclement weather is frequently unacceptable or unappealing to many. In this sense, walking a labyrinth is like going out for a run or walk and using the weather as an excuse not to do it – too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. And, a labyrinth can be covered in snow or ice for weeks at a time.

Labyrinths are tools. One quality of a tool is that it is readily available. For the reasons above, the outdoor labyrinth is not readily available for most who are interested in labyrinths. However, a finger labyrinth is always available. A canvas finger labyrinth can be folded or rolled, taken with you, and unfolded or unrolled when you get to your destination.

2. A second major reason is the greater number of design possibilities that are available with finger labyrinths. Many of my labyrinths (The Centered Within Our Integrity We Present Our Vision to the World or The In Safety, We Intuit and Know The World Labyrinth/We Are Anchored In The Earth Labyrinth) if made to be walking labyrinths would become as large as a football field or several football fields. Who has that kind of room? Since most people do not, the physical dimensions of the potential labyrinth plot limits what can be done with the design.

3. The labyrinths that I create are energetic translations of an intention. An intention may be simple, with a few turns and shifts, while others are very complex with many components. Other intentions become two or three interconnected labyrinths or perhaps the design requires open space, that is, areas within the design are not “walked upon.” All these elements take space. A finger labyrinth requires a path that is 3/8″ or 1/4″ in width. A walking labyrinth’s path is minimally 18″ and can be up to three feet in width. With paths this wide and the land limitations that most clients have, to make the design that the client’s intention requires makes a finger labyrinth a more appropriate choice.

– Why so many designs when there are only three classical designs and a few traditional designs?
First, I enjoy making new designs.
Secondly, different labyrinths have different energies. Individuals have different energies, and an individual’s energy is uniquely her or his own. As individuals move through my studio, or at a health fair turning from one labyrinth to another or moving one to reveal another, some will suddenly almost light up or sigh deeply and say, “This is the one.” When this occurs, I believe the individual’s energy and the labyrinth’s energies have connected or resonated. More labyrinth designs means that I create more possibilities for this connection between labyrinth and client to occur.

Thirdly, many of the labyrinths grow from either my investigation of complex processes or issues, like abundance, change, safety, or creativity that have multiple aspects and, therefore, energies. These complex processes and energies frequently yield several labyrinths in order to capture the complete process. Or, I have had repeated requests to make labyrinths whose intentions overlap or are similar but whose specific intention yields a new labyrinth.

– Why get one designed for you?

For some clients, this option is a no brainer. The possibility exists, and so the individual asks.

For many clients, I suggest that they peruse the catalogue or visit my studio first to see if an already existing labyrinth speaks to them. Many while doing this find a labyrinth that speaks and they’re done.

Others, once I’ve explained the process, are intrigued by the process in general and in particular by the discussion to clarify their intention to another. In this discussion, the client discovers that the real intention is something other than what she or he initially said. I recall one client who had a brain tumor and lung cancer. He called to have a labyrinth made. As we talked, he realized that what he needed wasn’t something for the cancer but rather something that would help him to receive the love and support that his family and friends were offering and that the client found so difficult to accept. This is what I mean by clarifying and by the intention actually being something other than what began the conversation.

– Where do the designs come from? Are they from god/goddess/ all-that-is? From your guides?

This question is asked in many ways. Regardless of the wording, I usually say two things. I explain that I am a translator of intentions as explained in What is an intentional labyrinth? Secondly, I say the designs are all mine. I am their creator and fabricator. I offer them as tools and hope that people will find them helpful in a variety of ways.

– What do you mean by the word tool?”

A tool is something with a known intention and is readily available. A tool is a simple device that is created to assist the user in accomplishing some task.

A tool is a human artifact or primarily so. There are other species (New Caledonian crows, sea otters, chimpanzees, and others) that create and use tools. However, humans far surpass all other species in this activity.

The quality of ready availability is one of the reasons that I feel that walking labyrinths are limited tools because there are so few available for someone to use at any time she or he chooses. Secondly, outdoor labyrinths are affected by weather conditions of rain, snow, wind, and sun, and indoor walking labyrinths are limited by the hours that they are open to the public.

(Also see {What is an intentional labyrinth?)

– Would the intention of a labyrinth limit how we use it?

No. Intention is either in the forefront or in the backdrop when we use a labyrinth. For example, if we are working on abundance and using an abundance labyrinth, the labyrinth’s intention clearly reinforces our intention as we work. If we decide to work on clarifying what is our life’s path, the labyrinth’s energy and its pattern will still reinforce our intention to clarify our path. This occurs because every intention is an energetic pattern, and this pattern is what we are trying to bring into or reinforce in our lives. The labyrinth is an energetic pattern that captures the labyrinth’s intention. When we work with a labyrinth, we are using the power of patterns and overlapping one pattern onto the other – our intention for a life’s path and the labyrinth’s intention. Our intention is new, and the pattern may be weak because we have not worked with it enough to make it strong. The labyrinth’s pattern is strong, and by using its strength, we are able to infuse our pattern, our intention, with greater energy than we can by working on our intention without the labyrinth.

– If I order an existing labyrinth, what is the process and how long will it take?

First, I make all the labyrinths by hand. I measure and cut the canvas, draw the pattern, paint, hem, and add the hanger. Before I re-print the handbook, I re-read it, and in some cases, I revise the handbook because my own understanding of that labyrinth and/or of labyrinths in general has deepened, and I want to include these new insights in the handbook. When all is complete, I pack the labyrinth and send it Priority Mail.

How long is a bit harder. I build the labyrinth’s intention into each step of the creative process. I can’t force this, and I have learned that if I try to do so, I lose focus and make mistakes. So, I work as quickly as I can. Secondly, the actual time to make the labyrinth varies from labyrinth to labyrinth. Some designs are easier to draw and paint than others, and so the duplication of the labyrinth goes more quickly than others. Thirdly, I may have a waiting list. I let clients know if this is the case and how long I think the wait will be before I begin on their labyrinth. When you place your order, I’ll give you an approximate date when I’ll be done. Once, I begin and as I work, I will send periodic emails on the progress of completely your labyrinth.

– Are the colors that you use in your labyrinths based upon the chakra colors or other traditional color systems?

No. When I first started, I tried to use traditional colors. However, I quickly realized that this didn’t work for me. Rather, I select colors based upon the energy of the intention and the energy of that particular part of the pattern. I open my paint box, place the color tubes before me, and feel the intention and the pattern and move the tubes around until I find the color or colors that feel right. I do this process when I first create the labyrinth when I am fully within the intention of the labyrinth I am creating. As I select the colors, I annotate my pencil drawing with the color names and use these annotations when I replicate the labyrinth.