MASTER TEACHERS & FACULTY

Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress

Reverend Dr. Kay Mutert,

Master Teacher

The Reverend Dr. Kay Mutert is a Master Teacher with the Veriditas Worldwide Labyrinth Organization, offering labyrinth workshops in awakening new creative energy, community building, and spiritual formation. Her Master Teacher responsibilities include training new facilitators and renewal training for those trained in past years.

She works with organizations to establish labyrinth communities, to hear the hopes of a setting and translate that into an ongoing vision. In her workshops and training she holds the space for participants to discover and develop their own gifts and skills, and to build community. Kay has been a member of the Veriditas Council, Southeastern USA regional representative, and event musician.

When she left her local church ministry Kay created "DaySpring - a source of creative expression and renewal of spirit", as a conduit to work with an increasingly larger circle of community. Through her labyrinth work, she uses her experience as musician, minister, teacher and spiritual accompanist with groups and individuals from diverse arenas of life, inviting them to discover the possibilities of the labyrinth to experience a reconnection with the sacredness of life, to find language for their setting. Kay's work helps others find ways for renewal of mind, body, spirit and creative energy, through retreats, workshops and sacred events. She looks for ways to encourage others to trust and value their own voice and vision of the journey.

As a pastor, Kay served congregations in the United Methodist Church and the British Methodist Church, a local ecumenical partnership in England, and an interim ministry with the Presbyterian Church USA. Before that she worked as a music educator/church musician in Florida and Alabama. She is a conductor, composer and pianist, incorporating her music into her events. Her work has included compositions and concerts for those affected by cancer and AIDS, connected with her own journey.

She is a guest presenter and retreat leader on the Celtic saints and story, has led pilgrimages to Iona and other sites, and offers workshops and worship experiences utilizing the resources of Iona, Taize and global music.

Kay believes the ancient archetype of the labyrinth serves as a strong source of presence for today's world, in meditation, reconciliation, peace-making, for young and old, for cross-cultures, creativity and healing, for community and personal use.

Through her experience in a variety of settings, she honors the non-verbal expression of meaning as felt in the labyrinth, through sound and silence, movement and stillness.

Kay holds a BS from Mississippi State University, MA from University of South Florida, EdD from University of Alabama and Mdiv from Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Her published works include a set of her musical compositions - Songs for the Journey, with texts by Rev. Joe Elmore and artwork by Dan Rountree; a piano CD, The Joy of Two, with pianist Karen Krekelberg; along with other miscellaneous creations. Her book Seasons of Change is a memoir of her Jubilee (50^th) year's transition into pastoral ministry while living in the Midlands of England. She is a contributor of a labyrinth chapter to the recently published book Sacred Habits: the Rise of the Creative Clergy, Chad R. Abbott, Editor.

Click here for Kay Mutert's Speaker's Packet

Betty (Elizabeth) Lopez Towey
Faculty

bettylopez2e@gmail.com

It was at Silver Bay on Lake George that Betty was first introduced to the labyrinth, an ancient walking meditation tool found in cultures around the world. This profound experience led to a deepening interest which soon became a passion. She was trained as a labyrinth facilitator by Lauren Artress in 2001 and has helped to build the outdoor labyrinth at Silver Bay Conference Center on Lake George, has painted canvas labyrinths with various communities and has carried her own painted canvas labyrinth into New York City Schools, Colleges, Medical Schools, Churches and Synagogues. She has continued her study of the labyrinth with Lauren Artress at Chartres Cathedral, the site of the original eleven circuit labyrinth and is now an Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator and member of the Veriditas Faculty.

Betty got started in education through an interest in finding the best school for her children in New York City. After her active engagement in their school, the then founder/director and Mac Arther Award winner Debra Meier asked Betty to join the staff. Betty's passion for supporting children and their families and working with staff led to her becoming a teacher, winning the 1995 Bank Street College, "Teacher of the Year Award". After 20 years of teaching and out of the classroom support roles, Betty was inspired to pursue an administrative position through her own experience on the labyrinth, which led to her starting a New York City Public School.

As the principal and founder, an important part of building this new progressive public school was to support adults and children in mind, body and spirit by incorporating the labyrinth in its development. Educators, Administrators and School Support Teams who attended these labyrinth walks came to know how valuable and effective the labyrinth is for our own personal and spiritual growth and as an effective ongoing practice within schools. Frequent Labyrinth walks can assist our schools in creating wonderfully deep and solid learning communities, that assist us in all of the many ways of supporting and working with children, parents and staff. It is an exciting time to consider how to inspire, support and grow schools that work in the important area of spiritual growth, as part of teaching and nourishing the whole child. Betty looks forward to offering Qualifying Workshops as she leads educators and members of varied communities into a deeper experience of being with one another through the use of the labyrinth.

As a life long seeker, Betty is also an active member of the diverse and inclusive Spiritual Life Team at Silver Bay Conference Center on Lake George in New York. She is a trained Spiritual Advisor and Reiki Master and is responsible for the Labyrinth programs, which are offered to conferences and retreats, including large and small groups of ministers, educators, business organizations and those seeking respite here at Silver Bay.

As a Veriditas Faculty member, Betty also designs and offers Qualifying Workshops and Labyrinth Facilitator Training.

www.wisdomjourney.net
Elizabeth@wisdomjourney.net
LLC Wisdom Journey

Nathan Wiles, Faculty
Canvas Labyrinth Workshops

Innatecreations@outlook.com

Nathan Wiles is the founder of Innate Creations, an educating labyrinth building and design company. Nathan utilizes skill and experience from his former career as an Interior Designer and Project Manager to help create his labyrinth builds and workshops.

Along with his 30 years of building and designing experience, he was trained by an established Feng Shui consultant and has practiced various meditation techniques. Now, with close to ten years of experience in both labyrinth designing and building, Nathan is able to join the collective consciousness of the individual or group to help develop their thought onto “canvas.” His passion is to bring a secular understanding to the mystery surrounding us in such a diverse world, while increasing the Labyrinth community through the education and collaboration with public schools, corporations and wellness facilities.

Maggie Perrone, Faculty

maggie@genuinejourneys.com

Maggie Perrone, executive director of GenuineJourneys, has over 30 years experience teaching and healing those in difficult emotional, spiritual and physical situations. Along with being a mother of three and an emergency room nurse for most of the last twenty years in a university trauma center, a community hospital in Southern California, and experience practicing in a research oncology clinic as a chemotherapy infusion nurse, she has walked with people in some of life’s most critical moments.

She is director of a theology program and head of the labyrinth ministry at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church. She has taught theology and led many contemplative prayer retreats. She has presented on a variety of topics to health care providers, people in ministry, support groups, women’s, and church and youth groups of all faith traditions. In these workshops, Maggie has shared her unique ability to aid those present in a journey to hearing their own inner voice by teaching and using many differing spiritual tools including the labyrinth.

She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Ministry from St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. Her concentration during her time of study included theology, philosophy and inner spirituality.

Barrie Carter Gibby

Barrie 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.

Jo Ann Mast,
Master Teacher

(currently on leave)

joann@veriditas.org

Jo Ann Mast is a business woman, spiritual mentor, teacher, lecturer, mother, grandmother. She lives her passion for the labyrinth, which brings a quality and depth to her life where chaos emerges as creative energy. Jo Ann facilitates sacred labyrinth walks, talks, ceremonies, rituals, and labyrinth dedications.

Click here for Jo Ann Mast's Speaker's Packet

Dr. Kayleen Asbo,

Faculty

kayleen@veriditas.org

Kayleen Asbo is a cultural historian, musician, writer and teacher who weaves together myth, history, and the arts with experiential learning. Kayleen has been on the faculty of Sonoma State University (where she teaches Introduction to Art Therapy in the Psychology department), Dominican University (where she lectures on Cultural History for the Osher Life Long Learning Institute) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (where she has taught courses on music and developmental psychology for 13 years). Kayleen holds master's degrees in both music and psychology, and has a doctoral degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Kayleen has been a guest presenter and lecturer on the intersection of spirituality, psychology and the arts at the Oxford Round Table, Chartres Cathedral, Grace Cathedral, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, the Numina Center and churches and colleges throughout the Bay Area. Kayleen's classes and workshops have repeatedly been lauded by students as "life changing", "transformational", "passionate" "inspiring", "fascinating" and "the best I have ever taken"

Click here for Kayleen Asbo's Speaker's Packet
www.kayleenasbo.com

Lars Howlett, Faculty
Labyrinth Design & Making

findlars@gmail.com

Lars Howlett is a leading expert in the design and creation of sacred space for walking meditation, centering prayer, personal healing, conflict resolution and community building. Lars is a practitioner of mindfulness and student of sacred geometry since 2003, experimenting with a wide variety of designs, materials, intentions and settings in his personal and professional projects. Universities, churches, health centers, retirement communities, mental health centers, retreats, and individuals find Lars for inspiration and insight in creating exact replicas of historical patterns or one-of-a-kind artistic installations.

Lars was a three year apprentice to Robert Ferré, inheriting the tools, techniques, and teaching curriculum of a master builder. Lars is a Veriditas Faculty Member and Certified Advanced Labyrinth Facilitator trained by the Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress at Grace and Chartres Cathedrals. He was the Chairperson of World Labyrinth Day from 2013-18.

Lars is an inspiring teacher and passionate speaker on the history, spirituality, and practice of walking labyrinths, leading workshops to cultivate inner wisdom for personal transformation with slideshows of personal projects and visits to sacred sites on four continents. www.DiscoverLabyrinths.com

Lars is available for Labyrinth Construction consultations. To book a time to discuss your labyrinth construction project with Lars, please complete this form.

Judith Tripp, Faculty & Woman's Dream Quest Coordinator

judith@veriditas.org

Judith Tripp, MA, MFT has created a body of work, which she calls Circleway which encompasses her passions for individual healing work through psychotherapy and spiritual counseling, the Women’s Dream Quest, Pilgrimages to Avalon, retreats and workshops all over the world as well as flute and vocal recordings. Her book, Circleway, The Story of the Women’s Dream Quest, chronicles 25 years of her work with the Dream Quest. Trained in Transpersonal Psychology, Judith is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She began her work with the Women’s Dream Quest in 1987 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Today she leads Dream Quests all over the world. She has been involved with Veriditas since its inception and trained as a labyrinth facilitator in 1996. She began her work at Chartres and her Avalon pilgrimages in 2000. Judith's produced musical offerings Homage, Return Again, and To Bless the Walk. Integrating a healthy psychology with a robust spiritual practice is a mainstay of Judith’s life and work. Well versed and practiced in diverse spiritual traditions, Judith is equally at home in a Cathedral, a Yoga Ashram, a Buddhist Meditation retreat, and the temple of Nature. She loves to chant and dance, meditate and pray.

Click here for Judith's Speaker's Packet
http://www.circleway.com/

Catherine Anderson
Faculty

cathy@catherineandersonstudio.com

The labyrinth Catherine constructed in her backyard in 2007 has been an important element in her mindfulness and creativity practices and Catherine loves showing others how the labyrinth can support us in quietening our mind and uncovering our creativity. She is the author of Journaling the Labyrinth Path, a book of finger labyrinths, quotes and journal prompts inspiring you to find your unique work in the world, Meeting Your Soul on the Labyrinth: SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth as Pathways for Transformation, and Tracing the Labyrinth Path, a book of finger labyrinths to use as a daily practice.

Catherine uses the labyrinth, SoulCollage®, expressive arts, poetry and mindfulness as pathways for self-discovery and as ways of uncovering meaning and purpose in life. Her personal journey of self-discovery has taken her from a career as an attorney to photography franchise owner, to creativity workshop facilitator.

Photography as contemplative practice is another creative passion for Catherine and her book The Creative Photographer won a Silver Nautilus Award in the Creative Process Category in 2012. Her book Contemplative Photography Retreat: Deepen Your Connection to the Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water is a self-guided retreat in nature with your camera.

As a SoulCollage® Facilitator Trainer, Catherine loves teaching others how to facilitate workshops using the SoulCollage® process which uses images as a form of “soul language” to access our inner wisdom.

As a life-long learner, Catherine has been fortunate to train with Jean Houston, Seena Frost, Lauren Artress, Jan Phillips and many other wise teachers. In addition to her work in the US, Catherine leads creative pilgrimages to South Africa, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Scotland.

www.CreativePilgrimage.com

Kathe Rhinesmith, Faculty

katherhinesmith@gmail.com

Kathe is a former association executive, teacher, trainer and conference presenter. Her interest in the labyrinth was inspired by a visit to Grace Cathedral in 2006. In 2011 she took the Facilitator Training in Chartres with Lauren Artress, and became a Veriditas Certified Advanced Facilitator and Trainer.

She chairs the Labyrinth Ministry Committee at Naples United Church of Christ in Naples, Florida where she is also a church Trustee. In addition to facilitating workshops and walks on the labyrinth, Kathe’s joy has been in facilitating the building of three Chartres style labyrinths, in Chatham, MA, Naples, FL, and on the campus of her alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University. This labyrinth, dedicated in 2015, is the third Veriditas Legacy Labyrinth, built in collaboration with labyrinth designer Robert Ferre and master builder Marty Kermeen.

Kathe currently serves as Chair of the Veriditas Board of Directors.

Laura Esculcas, Faculty

http://www.mysticalportugal.com

With passion for myth and metaphor, Laura curates wisdom journeys and immersion experiences in Portugal’s mystical landscape. Laura is co-founder of EarthShamans, a SoulCollage® facilitator, and teaches Energetics of Art with Ubiquity University Wisdom School. She is trained in Sacred Landscapes, Intuitive Feng Shui, and the Personessence™ System of Understanding People. Laura holds both an M.A. in Wisdom Studies and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering.

Originally from the US and having worked in Silicon Valley for over ten years in high tech operations and management, Laura moved to Portugal to pursue her dream of an integrated life lived as a sacred journey shared with others. Now informed by more than ten years of immersion in the Portugal ecofield, Laura uniquely blends depth of experience, keen curiosity, and genuine open-heartedness as she facilitates wisdom journeys and pilgrimage experiences into Portugal's place-based myths.

Laura first met the labyrinth in 2001, on an Advent Quiet Day in Santa Cruz, California. Since that day, Laura has been a Labyrinth Enthusiast. She has served with Veriditas as a small group facilitator in Chartres, and teaches qualifying workshops and Labyrinth Facilitator Training in Europe.

Laura speaks English and Portuguese and lives near Lisbon with her husband and son, and their two dogs.

Rev. Anne Bonney, Faculty

annegbonney@gmail.com

Rev. Anne Bonney is one of the Co-Founders of Pilgrim’s Landing Interspiritual Life Center, Chatham, Cape cod MA, and serves on the Board of Trustees.

She is an Ordained Minister and Certified Spiritual Director. Anne holds a Masters of Divinity Degree and a Masters of Theology in Interfaith Spirituality from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, with further studies at the Tamilnadu Seminary in Madurai, India.

Anne first discovered the labyrinth when she was on a Sabbatical and visited the Chartres Cathedral in France and later became involved with Veriditas and the world-wide labyrinth movement initiated by the Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress. She became a Certified Advanced Facilitator and is currently serving on the Faculty of Veriditas offering workshops and trainings.

Anne was Co-Director of the Chatham Labyrinth Project which built the beautiful Chatham Labyrinth and created the Peace Garden in Chase Park. She and a team of labyrinth volunteers run an active labyrinth program throughout the year, presenting workshops, Solstice and other Celebrations, weekly guided labyrinth walks during the summer months and other events.

“I am so grateful for being a friend of the the Labyrinth. It has brought so many paths of my life’s journey together and is my “go-to” place for quieting my mind and opening my heart”, says, Anne.

AUSTRALIAN FACULTY

Christina Rowntree

chris.rowntree@optusnet.com.au

I live, work, and walk on Wurundjeri Country, inner city Naarm (Melbourne), appreciating the land and waters of the Merri Merri creek.

I first walked a labyrinth in 2003 at St Andrew’s Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. I remember the profound sense the walk reflected my whole life. Since then I reflect on all the turns I’ve taken on so many labyrinths across these lands now called Australia. The beautiful paved labyrinths in Dunkeld, Centennial Park, and the Jessie Vasey labyrinth in Heidelberg, are firm underfoot. Softer is the desert red sand labyrinth at Campfire in the Heart in Alice Springs. I’ve marked up many temporary labyrinths, from stones, or tape, or coloured fabric. A highlight has been the Spring labyrinth made for the Festival of Hildegard in 2012 where hundreds of flowering pots formed a garden labyrinth. In the past decade I’ve returned to Queenscliff to mark out the Ocean Labyrinth from old fishing ropes, shells and nets, for Sacrededge Festival usually on World Labyrinth Day. Now with the beautiful canvas Peace Labyrinth made at the 2nd National Australian Labyrinth Gathering in Pymble, many more indoor labyrinth walks have been conducted.

Sharing these labyrinth experiences with others, facilitating walks for people of diverse ages, experiences and abilities, is now my vocation and joy. With passion and warmth, I create artful, invitational experiences with music, poetry, story and natural materials. As a trainer, I am keen to share my years of experience and knowledge with others on the path, engaging people with warmth, respect and humour in offering Veriditas Facilitator Training.

I participate in planning ALN gatherings, offering workshops and newsreel items to support our growing labyrinth community in Australia. My current placement as Ministry Coordinator is at Sophia’s Spring – an eco-feminist faith community of the Uniting Church in Australia that meets at CERES environment park.

Sue Thomas

sue@suethomas.net.au

I live on the land of the Yugambeh language people, the traditional custodians of the Gold Coast region in South-East Queensland.

My long association with using the labyrinth as a tool for contemplative, meditative and spiritual practices began many years ago when the labyrinth ‘found’ me in Year 11 at high school through an “Art and Architecture in History” subject. Many decades later, I now enjoy sharing my love of the labyrinth with teaching staff in schools, children and their parents preparing to celebrate faith rituals, my parish and local communities, and all those I journey with as Spiritual Director, Retreat Facilitator, and mentor and supervisor. A great delight has been introducing the labyrinth to a new generation, as I share the joy of the labyrinth with my grandchildren as they walk and play on my garden labyrinth, and with their own hand labyrinths.

Using the labyrinth as a tool for contemplation and reflection in my work and my personal spiritual practices has been grounded and enriched by connecting with Veriditas in 2017, when I did my initial Labyrinth Facilitator Training and received certification. I became a VIA member, and in 2021 progressed to Advanced Facilitator and Trainer. “The labyrinth belongs to no one and everyone” has been a grounding mantra in my work, as I draw labyrinths on beaches, work with peers in creating large portable calico labyrinths, and use the hand labyrinth for journaling and reflection in many facets of my life and life’s work.

Tina Christensen

tinachristensen@me.com

Tina is a writer and poet who has spent the last 3 years cultivating a poetic life in Tasmania’s magnificent Huon Valley. She lives in sync with nature’s cycles and is endlessly fascinated by sacred geometry.

Her love of labyrinths began in San Francisco in the Spring of 2010. It was a sliding door moment in her personal meditative practise and in her work with clients as an art therapist. Although she didn’t know it, another apprenticeship was about to begin. She came home to Melbourne and built a sanctuary in the city, centred around a full size walking labyrinth, to cultivate conversations of stillness, creativity and nature.

Tina became the founding Chair of the Australian Labyrinth Network 2016-2018. She went on to sit on the international Veriditas Council 2018-present. The Council seeks to support labyrinth facilitators in their work.

At her sanctuary labyrinthlane.com, over seven years Tina introduced the labyrinth conversation to thousands of people. Currently she is visioning in a labyrinth pilgrimage experience in Tasmania at Pippin Hill with her partner and labyrinth designer, Mark Healy. A first of its kind worldwide, it’ll be home to her labyrinth teaching.

As a guide for others exploring their relationship with the labyrinth, Tina offers the deep listening of a therapist, the spontaneity of a SoulCollage®facilitator and a poetic lightness with the labyrinth work. Always there is a place at her table for Nature and stillness to arrive and now a place for you too.

Heather Middleton

heather.middleton26@gmail.com

While studying a Meditation Facilitators’ course, Heather Middleton had a taste of the labyrinth, and after that was compelled to keep exploring. She joined in the first Veriditas Summer School in Petaluma and became part of the Centennial Park labyrinth in Sydney just as it was dedicated in 2014. She has an ongoing passion for exploring the relationship between the labyrinth and its temporal dimensions, as well as the labyrinth’s many dimensions for personal and social transformation.

After working as a university teacher in social research and social theory, Heather developed an area of expertise in experiential learning. Away from the teaching front line, she has worked in a Centre which trained academics in how to teach, and most recently had a specialist role evaluating learning and teaching interventions at the University of Sydney. She has researched in both learning and teaching and health-related areas. Her PhD sought to shed light on recovered memories and the relationship between memory and time.

Since her teens, Heather has sought to pursue a spiritual path both within formal institutions and outside of them, and developed an interest in the Jungian approach and psychotherapy. This led her to study a Diploma of Energetic Healing and the Meditation Facilitation Course which led her to the labyrinth.

Heather was Foundation member of Australian Labyrinth Network Council in 2017 and as of 2022 is current Chair. When not involved in labyrinth work she is a presenter on 2MBS Fine Music Sydney, and is building a home and some sacred space in an Eco Village on the Central Coast of NSW.

Heather’s perspective on teaching has allowed her to reflect, “Qualifying Workshops are a taste of the transformative power of the labyrinth, and the Facilitator Training provides the scaffolding to help to contain the experience.”

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Master Teachers & Faculty

101 H Street, Suite D, Petaluma, CA 94952 | Phone 707-283-0373 | contact@veriditas.org

Veriditas is dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.

We accomplish our mission by training and supporting labyrinth facilitators around the world, and offering meaningful events that promote further understanding of the labyrinth as a tool for personal and community transformation. Our Vision is that the labyrinth experience guides us in developing the higher level of human awareness we need to thrive in the 21st century.

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