Labyrinth Returns from Winter Slumber
Generally my intention is to keep the Forest Labyrinth open through winter. I march out the pattern after each substantial snowfall so that it doesn’t get lost as the snow piles up… such as it does here in northern Grey County… and I offer up snowshoes for visitors in the winter months. It’s about as Canadian a labyrinth experience as it gets!
But this year, owing to some surprise and ongoing chronic health issues, plus a few high volume snowfalls in quick succession, I had to step back from that intention and closed the labyrinth to visitors in mid-January.
When the last of the snow had melted earlier this month (yes, April, it takes a while to disappear in a shaded conifer forest!), I saw a labyrinth covered with thousands and thousands of twigs, sticks and branches which had fallen due to the heavy snows and winds. At first I began picking them up individually, placing them into a plastic garbage bin I carried. But it didn’t take long to realize the folly to this and that I needed a more efficient method, which turned out to be raking.
Even then, it was a load of work but with some persistence (read:stubbornness) the job got completed and on April 19 the labyrinth reopened after its extended winter slumber. Come walk it sooner than later, before mosquitoes emerge in June!
The Hugging Tree
When you’re next walking the Forest Labyrinth, be sure to stop at the hugging tree. Many people have had the experience of hugging a large tree (there’s even one here on the property, Spirit Tree, a grand old maple so large that 3 people must join hands to encircle it) but along the labyrinth path you will find a very special Trembling Aspen that is the perfect girth and position to hug.
It can’t really be described in words but it just feels, and fits, so right to hug this tree! The trunk is similar size to a human torso, and something about the angle–how it orients forward slightly to meet you–invites a hug. Try it and you’ll see!
You will find the hugging tree thanks to its sign, soon before you get to (or depart from) Centre.
Highlights from Last Year
Happenings that stick in my mind and my soul from last year include a visit by a group from Community Living Owen Sound. It was such a deep pleasure to see people experience the labyrinth so joyfully and authentically. And almost everyone hugged the hugging tree 🙂 I am muchly looking forward to welcoming them back again in May.
A group who refer to themselves as the Golden Girls Gang booked a Day Retreat through SoulTrail last summer and chose a guided labyrinth walk as the experience included in the retreat. What an awesome, vibrant and consciously aware group of six humans; sure do hope to see them return sometime.
In addition to facilitating their labyrinth experiences, it was such a privilege join both of these groups on their labyrinth walks. And an honour to have their energies added to the labyrinth as a result of their presence and engagement.
Over $2000 to Local Charity
In 2025 visitors donated a total of $441 in gratitude for the Forest Labyrinth. As is the tradition, at end of year the entirety of labyrinth donations is split between local charities, in this case $170 each to Chapman House Hospice and M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre, plus $101 to Southeast Grey Community Health Centre.
Since the labyrinth opened in 2019, a total of $2,011 received has been donated to local charities thanks to the kind grace of Forest Labyrinth Visitors.
World Labyrinth Day Sat. May 2nd
Folks, the first Saturday of May is World Labyrinth Day (WLD), now in its 18th year (!). There are special events going on at community labyrinths (check out the WLD events map) all over the globe. But the core notion is to “walk as one” at 1PM local time on Saturday, creating a rolling wave of labyrinth walking around the world… it doesn’t need an organized event, just get out to your local labyrinth and walk.
That includes the Forest Labyrinth—c’mon out! Though I won’t be here; I’ll be at another wonderful local labyrinth down the road near Neustadt. To find a labyrinth near you, use the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.
Events in Coming Months
Speaking of events, I have intentions to do a drum circle followed by labyrinth walk sometime this summer. It’s been at least a couple years since the last one, which was on a summer Solstice, and I am feeling called to make another happen. This one won’t be on Solstice, though I’m not yet sure when it will be, perhaps more toward late summer. Also in mind are meditation circles in the yurt followed by a labyrinth walk. To get notice of these events, be sure to subscribe using the box on this page.
The Forest Labyrinth 