We are a task-oriented group organized around a specific set of goals:
The Mission of the Veriditas Council is to serve the labyrinth and the facilitator community by strengthening connections and developing resources. Our Purpose is to develop and implement practical ways to support the work of our facilitators. We work in cooperation and collaboration with the Veriditas Board and the larger labyrinth community. Our Vision is for a strong, community-based, global network of labyrinth facilitators, supporting the work of Veriditas.
To learn more about membership and to apply please click here.
Please read the Invitation to Apply before you complete the application.
Questions about the process may be directed to Vicky Furlow at vrfurlow@gmail.com.
Applications for the current open period are to be submitted by September 20, 2024.
Thank you,
The Council Search Committee: Vicky Furlow, Pema Reid, Rob Hodges, Barrie Gibby
Barrie Carter GibbyBarrie Carter Gibby works on that creative edge between the branches of words and movement expression. A long-time educator, community builder, avid traveler and labyrinth facilitator, Barrie entwines her background in design, music, theater production and ritual-making to facilitate workshops and pilgrimages across the nation on a variety of themes. She is especially fascinated by the parallels of Celtic and Native American cultures and their loving embrace of nature centered whole life. Her annual pilgrimage to the 13th c. Chartres Cathedral labyrinth, in Chartres, France, provokes inspired passion for her ongoing labyrinth work. As a Veriditas Advanced Certified Labyrinth facilitator, Barrie finds sacred spaces everywhere. Leslie WrightStratford, Ontario, Canada In 1999 Leslie Wright walked her first labyrinth in a church basement in her native Toronto and it sparked something in her. She received her Facilitator Certification in 2014 and Advanced training in 2020. She participated in a Chartres Pilgrimage in 2018. That same year she was part of a team of people who presented the labyrinth at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto. Leslie enjoys sharing the labyrinth with her community in a variety of settings including churches, seniors’ homes, and on her backyard labyrinth. Leslie has been described as a passionate and welcoming facilitator. Leslie finds it exciting that the labyrinth can be used in so many ways. When she isn’t exploring the labyrinth, she loves experiencing the various arts, especially photography and theatre. She looks forward to helping labyrinth facilitators connect to find ways to support each other. Athena DuganPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Athena Certified in July 2019, in Stony Point NY, and received her Advanced Facilitators Certification online, in February 2022. . Athena’s first experience walking a labyrinth happened in 2009 as she walked an 120ft in diameter illuminated 7-circuit classical labyrinth at a Spiritual Retreat…Enchanted by the vision and walk, she became focused to experience the labyrinth; whenever she travels, she looks to include a labyrinth walk. . In 2013, Athena began creating temporary labyrinth walks for public and for private events throughout Philadelphia and the NYC area. . She facilitates regular and seasonal labyrinth walks with the local Parks Association, Retreat Centers, Churches, Schools, and Wellness events. When not facilitating, Athena crafts jewelry and creates handheld labyrinths. Walkers of the Labyrinth is her organization that offers weekly meditations, online and in person labyrinth walks, workshops, and retreats. She is also host of a monthly online blog cast named LIVING LABYRINTHS. Athena is enthusiastic about bringing labyrinth experience to the diverse communities in the Philadelphia area. Her involvement with the local community has resulted in building a permanent labyrinth within the community garden; and for creating an after-school Labyrinth program for K2 and K3 grades. Athena looks forward to sharing her love of the labyrinth working with, and with support to other facilitators while continuing to build community and inclusivity. Julia Van FleetJulia has walked labyrinths with her mother since she was 12 years old, and has been using the labyrinth throughout her college years as a modality for grounding and centering herself. She graduated in 2020 with Bachelor’s Degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies, and is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Studies through Lesley University. She is expanding her knowledge and expertise in mindfulness, further integrating it with her labyrinth work. She completed her facilitator training in 2022, and is a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator as of 2023. Having interned with Veriditas in 2022, Julia focused on bringing the labyrinth to younger generations. Her efforts included introducing mindfulness techniques and how to apply them to walking the labyrinth to students during virtual facilitator training sessions. Through her role on Council, Julia is actively involved in reaching out to varying demographics, thereby contributing to the expansion of Veriditas’ outreach. | Mary Ann WamhoffCrozet, Virginia After training with Lauren Artress in Chartres, Mary Ann became a Veriditas Advanced Accredited Labyrinth Facilitator. She has walked labyrinths since at least 1995, has never stopped studying (most recently, Creation Spirituality, Deep Time, and mystics), and is a Reiki Master. She regularly facilitated public walks sponsored by the Labyrinth Resource Group of Santa Fe, and spearheaded and helped build a 48-foot Chartres-style labyrinth. She is presently introducing her new Virginian community to the joys of labyrinth walking! As a Veriditas Council member, she supports facilitators in listening for walkers’ deepest yearnings and is excited about being part of the Veriditas Inclusion Initiative. Coming from a tradition that believes in the unseen, she has both felt and seen the labyrinth's amazing power! Mary Ann embraces labyrinth activism and loves to present workshops about the labyrinth! Vicky FurlowGreensboro, North Carolina. Over time Vicky has shared the labyrinth with walkers of all ages. She received training from Lauren Artress in 2000 and soon thereafter began her journey as a Veriditas facilitator. Her personal labyrinth practice has deepened her perception of this heart-opening experience as a medium for fostering peace, personally and in the larger community. As an artist and educator Vicky delights in guiding participants to discover their inherent creativity. She has facilitated walks, workshops and retreats in diverse settings: hospitals, youth camps, parks, churches and retreat centers. She loves to combine the labyrinth walk with visual art and written reflection, as this meditative walk encourages the creative process. Labyrinth meditations are also woven into her SoulCollage® classes. Vicky was trained as an Advanced Facilitator in 2020. Her pilgrimages to Chartres Cathedral with Veriditas continue to inspire and inform her labyrinth work, which currently includes workshops for local nonprofits and leading the Labyrinth Keepers guild at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greensboro. She is grateful to work within the Council circle to advance the joyful mission of supporting and growing the Veriditas world community. Pamella "Pema" ReidPamella "Pema" Reid, Executive Director and Founder of Dreamcatchers for the Soul Foundation, Inc., is a dedicated advocate for the holistic enrichment and education of children in at-risk communities. Through a grant, she acquired a labyrinth that she now brings to various settings, including summer camps, schools, restorative justice conferences, hospitals, and corporations. She received her labyrinth training from Veriditas. Pema passionately believes in providing children aged 5-18 with healthy coping tools. She is academically accomplished, a licensed minister, a seasoned group facilitator. She is trained in mindfulness, and has been inducted into the Broward Hall of Fame, a proclamation from Dade County. Pema has also received two Black Achievers award nominations, and a Broward Trail Blazer award. Pema aspires to extend the presence of labyrinths to underserved youth and teens, while also introducing mobile labyrinths to restorative justice circles and juvenile facilities. Rob HodgesRob Hodges is a cellist, singer, and composer who enjoys collaborating with artists of all stripes. He earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UC Santa Barbara in 2009 after having spent many years teaching in higher education as well as conducting fieldwork research on funerary ritual and songs of grief in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Rob’s ongoing musical interests and explorations involve mind – body – spirit connections to music in relation to healing, ritual, and collaborative improvisation. Rob is a labyrinth designer and builder as well as an Advanced Labyrinth Walk Facilitator, having trained with Lauren Artress through Veriditas in 2017 and in 2022. He operates a small landscape design and installation business focusing on native and pollinator-friendly plant propagation. It was through one of his early landscape projects that Rob came to know the labyrinth intimately, after having installed one on a client’s property for her daily walking / praying meditation practice. He takes profound pleasure in connecting with others through musical offerings during labyrinth walks, whether online or in person, and he continues to grow in his understanding of the labyrinth as an organ of healing, processing, and profound spiritual and emotional significance. In recent years he has joined with a few others to provide soundbath meditations following labyrinth walks on the quarterly solstice and equinox celebrations. Rob and his wife (and collaborative partner) poet, Catherine Abbey Hodges, live and work at The Croft, their home in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, near Springville, California. |
Council Alumni |
Chris Farrow Noble Michel Gribble-Dates | Marge McCarthy | Lisa Gidlow Moriarty Karen Kelley | Melissa Postnikoffmember in perpetuity |
Download a timeline of the Veriditas Council Here.
The focus of the Council’s work is to support the Facilitator community. We are committed to developing ways for facilitators to more easily connect with each other. Since COVID-19 Council has hosted annual “Virtual Facilitator Renewal Days”, periodic on-line “Meetups!” where facilitators discuss topics of interest, and monthly virtual “Friday Finger Labyrinth Walks.” New facilitators receive a welcome letter and invitation to be more engaged with Veriditas activities. Another initiative is restoring Lonely Labyrinths to full beauty and use. Council is involved with inclusion initiatives to help broaden the reach and relevance of labyrinth programs.
In the past, members of the Council have developed new programs within Veriditas, such as The School of the Sacred Feminine and the Global Healing Response Network. We work to build connections with other labyrinth groups around the country, and take the labyrinth into places it hasn’t been such as with Legacy Labyrinths. We have established the Melissa Postnikoff Memorial Scholarship Fund, named for a beloved founding member, which could help bring greater financial access to programs. We continually ask, "What does the labyrinth want of us now?"
Called together by Lauren, we formed in the spring of 2004 with the purpose of helping to vision the birthing of the second generation of Veriditas as it moved toward a focus centered on the transformative experience of the labyrinth. It was also a time when Lauren was beginning to think about shifting the tenor of her role as Mother of Veriditas to that of Grandmother. We took inspiration from the image of the spider plant, where the mother plant is continually bringing forth baby plants, each having the potential to thrive and grow. It continues to be a beautiful metaphor for the expanding and deepening of our work.
From the beginning, we have seen ourselves as a spiritual task force. As we come together, we create a sacred space from which to work. We are inspired and guided by Christina Baldwin’s circle model, found in her book Calling the Circle. Our meetings are structured to give time to meditation, labyrinth walking and sharing of personal process, interwoven with the business of the meetings. We honor the wisdom of each member’s voice; deeply listening to each other.
The Council meets by conference calls and works by committee between meetings. Our membership is fluid and organic, with a limit of 15 people. Interest in working in a spiritual circle and sharing a commitment to our mission are essential, as are attending meetings and willingness to take on tasks.
Council periodically accepts applications for new members.
Council may approve visitors to our meetings. If you want to attend, please email somasphere@outlook.com. Visitors will be welcomed according to our policies.