In this blog I will tell you about my first experience with walking spirals or labyrinths in a spiritual sense, which happened when I walked the Aruba Peace Labyrinth behind the Alto Vista Chapel in 2009, on a beautiful spot on the northern part of the island.
Spiral of life
A few days ago, I published an article about walking the ‘spiral path‘, where I explained how life is sort of ‘spiraling’ and not a straight forward line of growth.
We live our lives, often finding ourselves back in similar situations as we’ve already experienced. In the article I talk about how the spiral is used as a metaphor for progress, for personal growth, for going back but experiencing it from a different perspective, with more knowledge and wisdom as before.
And walking the Aruba Peace Labyrinth I firsthand felt that, experienced the serenity, the tranquility, the beauty, the introspection, and the profound after effect it had on me.
Different atmosphere
Of course, I’ve walked labyrinths in gardens and adventure parks several times before. But those were just for the fun of getting lost and trying to find your way back to the exit.
That kind of labyrinths or mazes are usually made of high hedges, so you can’t see where you’re going nor where you came from.
Pretty hilarious when you’re doing it with a group, running into each other, all searching and trying to remember distinct markings of the corners and turns you come across.
(Aruba Peace Labyrinth page)
With my previous maze experiences in mind, I was surprised to see a ground labyrinth with paths divided only by lines of rocks.
This labyrinth had a totally different atmosphere and vibration. And it was definitely calling me.
So I stepped into it, if only to be able to say that I had been in the Aruba Peace Labyrinth 😜.
Experience of walking the Aruba Peace Labyrinth
When I stepped into the Aruba Peace Labyrinth, it felt a bit awkward at first. What was I supposed to do?
I wasn’t really someone that regularly meditates, so I didn’t really know what to do or how a labyrinth like that works.
I figured that I would just have to walk it, so I started walking. At first I took in the surroundings, which are really stunning!
The small Alto Vista Chapel right beside the labyrinth, and on the other side the beautiful view over the Caribbean Sea.
While walking this labyrinth I saw my life, and every rock I stepped over that was in the middle of the path, seemed to symbolize the hurdles and challenges I had in the past.
With every step I felt more calm, relaxed, the chattering in my mind seemed to dim, and I imagined the path being my life. The many twists and turns I’ve had in my life, symbolized in this labyrinth.
Thoughts that gave meaning to the experience
I contemplated the many things that had led up to being there in that moment. The painful experiences as well as the joys, the losses and the gains. They all surfaced while walking this path.
I thought of the people in my life, people I once had known that were no longer a part of it, and the people that had come into my life at a later time and were now contributing to the fun whenever we’re together.
Memories of when I was very young mingled with thoughts of how my life turned out. Thinking of how I lost the love of my life when I was only 16 years old, and how I found him back when I was 34.
The experiences I had of starting over, leaving things, circumstances and people behind… I started to see and feel the power within me.
It was so profound, it felt like I was seeing all these revelations about myself and my life!
And yet, at that time I was still a novice in spirituality and had just dipped my toes a tiny bit into automatic writing and had no idea what my purpose in life was, what the purpose of all my experiences had been.
The only thing I knew was that it had made me the person that I was at that time. And although I had many self-doubts, and didn’t think I was ‘good enough’, right then and there I felt a happiness, a joy, and somehow I felt centered in a way that I hadn’t known before.
More spirals
A year later, I found myself in my witch teacher’s actual ‘witch’s garden’, a place as mystical as it sounds.
Here, I encountered a different kind of spiral, not a labyrinth like the Aruba Peace Labyrinth, but two interlinked spirals representing the past, present, and future.
The journey started at the center, symbolizing the present.
I began by walking the left spiral, delving into the past. Each step brought forth a flood of memories and emotions, allowing me to deeply reflect on my life’s journey.
This spiral led me back to the center, symbolizing a return to the present, a point of transition and reflection.
Then, I started walking into the right spiral, symbolizing the future. With each step, I felt a growing sense of empowerment and anticipation, as if I was actively participating in the creation of my future.
The insights gained on this path stayed with me as I retraced my steps back to the present center.
This experience in the witch’s garden was really special to me. It showed me how every step we take is part of a bigger journey of learning and changing.
Do this at home!
If you want to walk a spiral yourself, you don’t necessarily have to travel to the Aruba Peace Labyrinth or elsewhere. You could even do it in your own living room.
Just close your eyes, and pretend that you’re walking a spiral.
Set an intention what the spiral represents, and start walking, while seeing in your mind’s eye that you’re in a spiral.
It’s such a liberating exercise, and you will see that things come up that you haven’t thought about before!
Walk to your past, or to your future, or both. And just feel and experience.
You will be amazed!
