The Path of the Holy Fool What the Labyrinth Teaches about the Imagination. A WALKING A SACRED PATH PILGRIMAGE IN CHARTRES, Cycle 2: with the Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress

Our imagination is alive with every breath we take, whether waking or sleeping. Our human imagination is wedded to the Divine and walking the labyrinth can open our heart, mind and spirit to astounding experiences. It is the Holy Fool who sees this and nurtures this connection for guidance and wisdom.

Collected from earlier myths around the same time labyrinths were put into the great Cathedrals of Europe, The Grail Legend will serve as the reflective mirror for our experience.  The journey of Parsifal, that pure-hearted fool who ventures from a naïve and unconscious state into being conscious has much to teach us about seeking and creating a purposeful life.

What better place to nurture wisdom than the sacred space of Chartres Cathedral. We begin with a reception to meet each other followed by an opening ritual and  orientation to the program. Then each day, there is a morning seminar, a small processing group, and an experience of what Chartres has to offer. Tuesday evening holds a unique Pilgrim's Walk through the Crypt of Chartres Cathedral, on Wednesday, an orientation to the labyrinth and a once in a life-time candlelit labyrinth walk with medieval music on the Chartres Labyrinth, on Thursday a tour of the Cathedral itself, and a closing celebratory dinner on Friday.

Suggested Reading List:

A World Lit Only by Fire, by William Manchester.
Chartres, by Malcolm Miller Or Chartres by Emile Male.
The Art of Pilgrimage by Phil Cousineau
    Or
Pilgrim’s Heart: The Inner Journey Home by Sarah York.

Recommended for airplane reading to get in the spirit of pilgrimage:
Traveling with Pomegranates, Sue Monk Kidd

Lauren Artress is author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, The Sand Labyrinth Kit and The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform (Putnam/Riverhead Books, New York). She serves as a Canon at Grace Cathedral and is Founder of Veriditas a non-profit dedicated to introduce people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth. She travels worldwide offering workshops and lectures on the labyrinth including creating a twice a year program in Chartres, France.

In addition to being an Episcopal priest, she is a spiritual director and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of California. Artress is on the Editorial Board of Presence Magazine. For more about Lauren and her work visit: www.laurenartress.com