Labyrinth in the Redwoods
MAY 14, 2019
It was a delight to meet today with my clients who live in the redwoods of Cazadero, California. What a jewel of a home and garden they have nestled in the coastal trees and ferns.
This labyrinth is a part of my favorite way to design, moving with the landscape and the existing trees and fauna. My client did an amazing job of moving stone beds around, creating the perfect pallet to lay out a design that she was attracted to by Andrew Godfrey of the UK. He calls it the “moony” labyrinth design!
Her meandering path winds around the carved out basin of a giant redwood, lost years ago to fire and/or the massive timber clearing that took place in the late 1800s all up and down the redwood belt of California. Around this natural basin is a half ring of redwoods that sprang up from the burned out hollow. The labyrinth winds around this stunning grove…
… there’s a meandering switch-back half-way round the center stand of trees…
… after emerging from these twists and turns, the path leads past the large redwood cauldron, which is the perfect place to pause and give homage to the ancestors and the surrounding beauty before taking the final steps into the labyrinth…
Soon they will be clearing dead wood from the surrounding hillside. The chips will be used to line the path and small river rock will be used to line the paths of the labyrinth. I can’t wait to see this labyrinth continue to emerge!
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Labyrinths provide us with a path to practice change. Some labyrinths have withstood the passage of time for thousands of years. Others are here for just an afternoon, drawn in the sand at the edge of the ocean. Many modern labyrinths were meant to last for years, but because of unforeseen circumstances their time is shorter than intended. And they once again help us to practice letting go and giving thanks for the time they are with us. The Labyrinth of Life at the Sebastopol, California Teen Center reached such place of letting go and is at the end of one chapter and the beginning of another chapter that is yet unknown.

Sometimes... a labyrinth can take years to become a physical reality. In 2018 I met with my friend Deb, to discuss her desire to have a labyrinth on the beautiful land she lives on. Despite our plans and several meetings, listening to the land and finding the right spot, the labyrinth did not come to fruition. Fast-forward five years and in the blink of an eye... it happened!