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November 2013 


Our annual year end fund drive is underway!

Our goal is to raise $60,000 by the end of the year. Help us to continue to inspire personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.
 

Facilitator Spotlight 

By Chris Farrow-Noble, Council Member

For the first Facilitator Spotlight column, I interviewed Jane Westbrook, whom I met while building the St. Yves labyrinth. In 2011 Jane completed her facilitator training in Chartres and now coordinates an active community labyrinth program in Albuquerque, using the large indoor labyrinth she helped create. We reconnected at the regional Facilitator Luncheon offered by the Veriditas Council in Santa Fe, New Mexico.     
How did you find the labyrinth, or did the labyrinth find you?

The labyrinth first found me. My spiritual community, the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living, had rented a canvas labyrinth for a weekend program called “Walking the Path of Peace,” ending a month-long season of Peace and Non-Violence. We had many ceremonies, including the dedication of 10,000 origami peace cranes. While setting up , we turned the labyrinth 45 degrees, shifting the entrance. We felt an affirming “Yes.” A labyrinth was just what we needed to complete and revitalize the annex building. I said, aloud, “I’m going to get trained as a facilitator, come back and put in the labyrinth, and that will be my ministry.” Sixty days later I was in Chartres France, helping to build the St. Yves labyrinth and completing the Veriditas facilitator training.

How did the two weeks in Chartres affect your connection to the labyrinth?

Once I realized I was going to Chartres, everything fell into place. My first passport arrived in two weeks; funding appeared. Building the St. Yves Labyrinth in the neglected garden was incredibly powerful, and the people who showed up could not have been more perfect. It’s impossible to logically understand how we, 18 people, could do what we had to do in one week. It reminded me “Nothing is impossible.” I believe the labyrinth amplifies our connection with the inner knowing.

What was the most challenging part of building the Albuquerque Center’s labyrinth?


We immediately began preparing the 3200 square-foot decimated concrete floor for the labyrinth. It had been a gymnasium floor for 50 years. We had to grind down the concrete and remove all paint and patina in order to stain the floor. My experience as a contractor for residential remodeling gave me the skills and confidence for this task. “Give me a project, and I’m happy!” Another incredible group of 

 

volunteers showed up to grind, clean, calculate and pencil in the design, seal the borders/walls, and stain the entire 3200 feet of floor, clean it, then clean again and seal the surface. (For additional information, contact Jane at Jane@abqcsl.org)       



         
What is the primary way you use the Center’s labyrinth?
There is no primary way; opportunities just continue to appear. I have to slow down to listen so I can embrace them and go with them. I am blessed to have this indoor labyrinth and community. This month we’re offering Kirtan chanting, dancing and singing, based on Hindu practice. Every Friday a group from the Center holds a drumming circle. I offer solstice and equinox ceremonies, open walks, and special seasonal events, such as May Day. I teach labyrinth classes, including “Quantum Change and Miracles.” in 2014. The Center uses the large room for functions, and the labyrinth “holds the space with its own energy.”

Do you recall a particularly memorable experience on the labyrinth?
I offered a class on visioning, using the labyrinth as a tool. The question I had asked before starting the walk was about how to use the labyrinth in other ways. I had a clear image of the inside of a watch with moving, integrated wheels. I understood that it was all labyrinths, all fitting together, all connected as inner workings. Several months later, a young fifteen-year-old boy shared his vision after walking the labyrinth. He described the same image.
I am constantly stunned by the transformative mystery and magic of the labyrinth. I truly see each labyrinth experience as a conversation with God.



The labyrinth community is calling . . . 

Please join us in a soul-nourishing circle of like-minded and like-hearted folk.

The Veriditas Community Gathering is moving forward, and we really hope you will join us February 7-9 at IONS!

We’re planning a weekend that includes ritual, socializing, soul-nourishing activities, writing, and walking together. Here are a few of the highlights on the agenda:

  • Keynote speech by Lauren "Becoming Conscious of Our Unfolding Story - The Labyrinth As Organizing Principle";
  • A viewing of our new Chartres Pilgrimage video;
  • Writing exercises, including how walking the labyrinth has changed you;
  • Group discussions of the Body of Knowledge born of the labyrinth experience;
  • An afternoon of soul collage;
  • Socializing time with labyrinth folks;
  • Walks on the Deer Heart labyrinth together;
  • And, really amazing food!
We'd love to have you there. The $349 registration price includes lodging and food as well as the event itself. 
We're trying to establish a head count by December 6, so if you are interested, you can see more details and register here:



We’d like to know our head count for IONS by December 6, so please register now. 
You can pay in January if that works better for you.



Donor Spotlight

by Rita Canning, Development Coordinator

This month I had the pleasure of interviewing Diane Jones, a longtime supporter and donor to Veriditas who has been going to Chartres for years.

Rita: When did you first encounter the labyrinth?

Diane:
In 1999 some spiritual women at my church knew about the labyrinth and wanted to build one at the church. I went out with them onto the grounds to look for a location to put a labyrinth. I didn’t know very much about it but together a place was decided upon. We had someone, an engineer, design it and then a temporary labyrinth was made by spray-painting it white. I had just found out that my mother had cancer and I didn’t know what to do. So I walked the labyrinth and didn’t know what to expect. I’d read “Walking a Sacred Path” and I expected something but I didn’t know what. When I finished the walk I knew that I could handle the situation with my mom. It was such a good feeling. I knew I had the strength to handle it. 

Rita: How did you get involved with Veriditas?

Diane:
As I said, I had read “Walking a Sacred Path” and knew about Lauren. I heard about the trip to Chartres somehow and realized that I really wanted to go. My daughter was in school in Paris so I flew to France and we went to the labyrinth event with Lauren. The event in Chartres was wonderful. The people were wonderful, coming from all over the world including Africa and New Zealand. Lauren was there and was so wonderful
to meet. I loved working in the small groups. I met one gentleman there who worked at Chartres and he told me that the top of the Cathedral has a hole and at the equinox the sun shines down through the hole onto the center of the labyrinth. It is all very magical.

Rita: Tell me more about how the labyrinth has inspired you.

Diane:
One time when I was walking the labyrinth in Chartres there was a blind girl that seemed to dance along the labyrinth path. I don’t know how she could do that. It was like a miracle. I was having trouble with my balance at the time so I just followed her around and started kind of dancing too. Lauren’s work has inspired me. She has done so much to make sure that the labyrinth is still accessible in Chartres. She has shown the Chartres Bishops the respect that Veriditas has for the sacredness of the labyrinth by always making sure it is left in pristine condition after a Veriditas event. This keeps the Bishops wanting us to come back.

Rita: Why do you donate to Veriditas?

Diane:
I donate because I think I really need the labyrinth and I want to make sure that it is there for everyone. I don’t know what I’d do without it. The labyrinth has kind of saved me and makes me feel so strong.



Council News


Fall Council Meeting in Santa Fe, NM

The Council met on the weekend of October 25 – 27 for our semi-annual meeting. Items discussed included: Council role in the February Veriditas Gathering, fundraising for Scholarship Fund, welcome cards for new Facilitators, process for new Council members, revision of mission and vision statement, and our relationship with Veriditas Board. On Saturday, six Facilitators from Santa Fe and Albuquerque joined us for lunch, discussion about our labyrinth activities, and a shared labyrinth walk.


Global Healing Response


The Global Healing Response, founded in 2005 by Council member Ellen Bintz Meuch, offers an annual theme and quarterly ideas and information to enrich labyrinth walks. The GHR theme for 2013 is Truth and the focus for this quarter is Beauty. The quote is by John Keats: “‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ – that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” If each of us could host or personally take the time for a GHR labyrinth walk, think of the unified healing energy we could create! The fourth quarter is posted on the website, www.globalhealingresponse.com. We encourage you to visit the site soon and often.
 

Little Miracles on the Path


Each month, Linda Mikell, secretary to the Veriditas Council and New England Regional Representative, emails a Little Miracles on the Path story to 439 facilitators who have signed up for them. Facilitators from all over the world send her stories about interesting, touching events that happen at their labyrinth walks. If you would like to receive these stories, please contact Linda (edlinmik@optonline.net). Please don’t forget to send your story when you have one. Little Miracles are archived on the Facilitators Portal of the Veriditas Website.




Product Highlight from our Product Partner, iSpiritual


  Chartres Labyrinth Scarves

Beautiful Batik labyrinth scarves with the Chartres Labyrinth image on them. Quality Rayon material Chartres image stamped on them in a contrasting color 10 1/2" wide by 63" long (Includes fringe)

Available in dark navy, green or purple.
To order, click here.




Veriditas Participating in IONS Holiday Open House

December 15th, 2 - 5 pm


For those who will be in the San Francisco Bay Area:

Please be our guest on Sunday, December 15, 2013 from 2:00–5:00 p.m. for seasonal festivities at the IONS EarthRise Retreat and Education Center.


We will be serving wine & cheese, hors d'oeuvres, hot apple cider, and desserts. Celebrate the season with music, enjoy shopping in our gift store, garden walks, campus tours, walk the canvas labyrinth (in the West Room), door prizes, and connecting with community in the "Aqus Café Annex"!


Mingle in the holiday spirit with friends and learn about our exciting programs. We hope to see you there!
Convenient shuttle service from lower parking lot.


RSVP to Rose Welch, 707-779-8214 or rose@noetic.org.



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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