SINCE THE MIDDLE OF LAST YEAR I HAVE BEEN TOYING WITH THE IDEA of building a small labyrinth in an area of my garden that was formerly used as kennels by previous owners. I finally took the plunge and, with the help of a very able- bodied gardener, removed the concrete floor and all the brick housing. I was sure that the energy and mood contained in this area would be infused with traces of doggy scents and old tasty bones, left behind by some four legged friends, so it was with some surprise that I sensed other energies of a feminine, gastronomic nature. The area, at some stage in the past, must have been a kitchen because I became aware of a strong nurturing female energy, like that of a contented and loving mother, whose pleasure in serving up culinary delights to meet her well loved family’s needs, was quite discernable.

I sensed that this piece of ground had quite a history and began to attune myself to its energy and vibrations. During our demolition exercise I decided to leave the wall and gate intact with the intention of creating a meaningful ritual when entering the garden. Walking through the gate and closing it behind would create a feeling of release, a letting go of all the daily activities outside the intimacy of the labyrinth.

Each time I entered the garden I experienced a very delicate flow of energy as if being held in a soft embrace, and the part of me that perceives these energies opened up the way a flower opens up to the light. I looked around and could see no angelic wings supporting me, but the hairs on my arms stood up and I was bathed in the softness of the expanded moment. In the past I have experienced different vibrations and layers of energy, once, when walking through a pool of seawater on the beach, where parts had been warmed by mild autumn sunshine. The subtle but perceivable difference in temperature felt by my legs and feet, created a sort of stretching and opening up of the senses very similar to my garden experience. I just knew that the energetic vibrations of this area of ground, combined with the sacred geometry of the labyrinth, would offer an inter-dimensional experience for those who walked it, and I could barley contain my excitement as I began to plant the herbs that I had selected for the perimeter of the garden.

Fully immersed in my gardening activities it was a while before I sensed yet another energy, a younger male energy who seemed more than a little indignant and confused about all the disturbance created in his sacred space. I have long since learnt to trust my imagination, as I know it is a channel through which the angels speak, and the phrase it’s only your imagination has been replaced in my vocabulary with, thank Godness for my imagination! With this in mind I gently explained to this male energy, whose name was Anton, what I was doing, and invited him to participate, with the assurance that my intention was not to violate his peaceful environment. It soon became apparent to me that in his dimension, like ours, change is an unwelcome disruption, so, treading carefully, I asked his advice on planting in one of the corners of the garden. He chose a flower and we came to an agreement but then promptly forgot all about it.

Occupied with other activities I entered the garden only to water my newly planted herbs. Standing there, inspired by the way the plants had adapted to their new environment, I sensed Anton’s presence and became aware of him crouched in the corner of the garden exactly where I had left him on my previous visits. It occurred to me that, for him, no time had passed, and recognised that our three-dimensional time did not exist in the energy of this particular space and dimension. Each time I entered the garden I would be gently nudged into this sacred space, and the web of light from this dimension, would weave a tapestry where time stands still.

I had no flower for Anton’s corner but each time I prepared to plant something other than a flower I experienced a mild form of inner conflict, as if not honouring my word to this being was a denial that it ever took place. I avoided working in that corner and was sure that, if my family knew that I had made a promise to an entity that no one could see, they would be convinced that I had really lost it.

However, upon entering, I always sensed him crouched down in the same position ready to plant that illusive flower, but never moving beyond this point. Then the penny dropped with a resounding clatter, disturbing the peace of my beautiful garden; nothing could ever be planted because there was no physical body to do the work! With all the might in heaven, without a physical vessel it isn’t possible. Even when the angels reach out into our world and hold us in their embrace, we feel only the hair rising on our arms or a gentle breeze upon our cheeks. It was I, with the physical body, who was to plant the flower. I could use my muscles to work the spade into the ground, and experience the warm moist earth on my fingers as I gently patted down the earth to secure the plant. In addition, using my body in this way would create a flow of energy through the fingertips, and the healing and nurturing powers of Mother Earth would entwine with this, creating the magic of the flower.

This revelation brought such joy and honour to my physical form, especially since, in the past, I had considered being encased in my dense physical body somewhat of a hindrance. Anton had shown me that Heaven could be created on Earth in my physicality, and that, as human angels, we have the ability through our own physical biology, to plant the seeds of peace and joy on this physical plane, creating spaces of pure energetic love that others may interact with.

Needless to say, I planted the flower in Anton’s corner and each time I look at it I am reminded of my glorious physicality, with which I can do so much. I intend to complete the labyrinth before Winter Solstice (June 21st) and, as the patterns of the seasons change and mother earth releases and activates her energy, I hope to honour both the winter solstice and the continuation of life in the physical, by a Sacred Labyrinth Walk. This tribute to the cycle of nature and the continuation of life, will be a joyous celebration in the expanded moment of the now, as we move in to the new energies of higher and lighter dimensions.

© 2003 Helen Schuck

© Image adaptation by Avenescent

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Schuck is a stress management consultant and therapist. Following a walk three years ago, Helen felt compelled to emulate the sacred geometric shape of the Labyrinth and share its healing powers with others. She has since gone on to produce guided visualisations, facilitate workshops, create wooden finger labyrinths and invite people to walk the labyrinth, in a combination of chakra augmentation and self-discoverey. The latest „ "African walking experience," being a newly completed seven-tier labyrinth, at her home in South Africa, which is suitably named "Hamba Endleleni Engcwele," African Xhosa for "walking a sacred path", is a "DIVINE" journey of self-discovery and transformation. The peace, grace and unconditional love of this holy form is offered unconditionally in a celebration of life, as an ultimate expression of the DIVINE connection to All That Is!