For the second year in a row, Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden will host an outdoor community labyrinth walk on Saturday, May 3, at 1 p.m. The walk is co-sponsored by the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild, which will oversee the free public event.
The 2025 walk is one of hundreds that will take place at 1 pm local time across the globe on May 3, thus creating “a rolling wave of energies for peace.” As last year, primary children from Earthsong Montessori will work with the Guild to set up the labyrinth path using gathered natural materials. Afterwards, volunteers will redisperse the materials back into the natural world.
According to organizers, “a labyrinth is an ancient archetypal symbol, a metaphor for our journey through life.” Present throughout history across many cultures, the labyrinth symbol over time transformed into a pattern laid out on the ground or a floor, to be used for walking meditation and prayer. As the labyrinth does not belong to any one culture, religion, or region, it has become an inclusive symbol for the international Walk for Peace, explained Heidi Schweizer, of the Rockbridge Labyrinth Guild.
In its traditional form, a labyrinth is laid out as a single path that leads from the perimeter to a center. People of all ages follow the meandering path that takes right and left turns toward a center and then follow it back out again. Rather than disorienting the mind, organizers report it quiets the mind and opens the heart. In fact, in support of health and wellness, labyrinths can be found in hospitals, schools, religious and spiritual centers, prisons & mental health facilities.
On the day prior to the May 3 event, students from the EarthSong Montessori elementary program will assist adult volunteers in building a temporary labyrinth using cuttings from the spring pruning at Boxerwood.
Location of the labyrinth, as last year, will be the Boxerwood meadow, with access and parking from Munger Lane off Ross Road. The event, which starts promptly at 1 pm, will be held rain or shine and will last about an hour. Chairs will be available for those whose physical capabilities are such that a seated meditative experience is preferred. All members of the Rockbridge area invited to participate. There is no charge.
