Image by: Murilo Cardoso via Flickr creative commons

Walking a Labyrinth

From: Destination DIY
Length: 03:52

A labyrinth is a circular path that leads to a center. Walking a labyrinth is an ancient ritual that pre-dates religion. Eunice Schroeder found a new path for her life through this practice. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Walking a Labyrinth
From: Destination DIY

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This piece originally appeared in the DIY Rituals episode of Destination DIY. The full episode is also available on PRX.

The producer is Julie Sabatier (suh-BAH-tee-ay).

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Piece Description

This piece originally appeared in the DIY Rituals episode of Destination DIY. The full episode is also available on PRX.

The producer is Julie Sabatier (suh-BAH-tee-ay).

Broadcast History

This was originally broadcast as part of Destination DIY's "DIY Rituals" episode, which has aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting, KUT Austin and a handful of other stations.

Transcript

Walking a labyrinth is an ancient ritual that invites everyone to interpret it in their own way. Eunice Schroeder teaches religious studies at Marylhurst University in Oregon and she focuses specifically on labyrinths.

Eunice: One of the things that I like to always say first when I use the word labyrinth is it’s not a maze because a lot of people get confused about that, thinking it’s some kind of corn maze or that you could get lost or trapped or have a dead end, but we use the word labyrinth for a complex, meandering single pathway to a center.

I met Eunice at a labyrinth outside a church near her home in Vancouver, Washington. It’s a winding brick path that loops around several times, but it is continuous. As we began walking it, she told me that while many churches have labyrinths this is a ritual that transcends religion.

Eunice: The labyrinth predates Christianity by a long sh...
Read the full transcript