Describing the first time she walked the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral, Lauren Artress wrote:

"I feel we had touched the Holy Spirit. Each of us had ventured to the center of our beings in the Chartres labyrinth that day. I received the embrace of Mary. I had, unknown to me at that time, ventured into her glorious web."

Lauren Artress, Walking a Sacred Path 

Friends, soul writers, and lovers of prayer,

This has been a most unusual week. It seemed every day brought another call to create something new. And not a bit of it was small.

In the last seven days, I’ve been called to create a:

• radical new kind of anointing intensive opening your eyes to see the goddess looking back at you in your mirror
• tele-seminar with writing coach Dawn Montefusco on the healing power of words when you let the words do the work
• special event with Patrick Garlinger on mothering a suffering child (something I unfortunately know a lot about)
• whole new kind of yoga called Mother Yoga (which is really comical because I’m not a yogini by any stretch)

Oh, and I felt called to:

• add a sacred gathering to our supposedly finished Ho’oponopono intensive to honor our ancestral mothers and their babies who didn’t live.
• record the next episode on Praying at the Speed of Love with Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah on her beautiful book, Partnering on a Prayer which teaches parenting through the lens of the Jewish prayer book
• I received a non-negotiable command to do the July 3 Prayer Vigil by myself, reading a prayer I received two years ago and have been afraid to read in public, “I Am—A Lament for America”

It’s been a rich week, a beautiful week, but, it’s also been exhausting.

After putting all of this in motion, I found on Friday, I couldn’t do another thing. I just sat in my soul writing chair staring off in space.

So ten guesses what didn’t get done—this newsletter.

Well, now it’s Saturday and I can’t put it off any longer. So I turned to my “Beloved Vibration of Sophia!” on the page for help. I asked why I’m so exhausted and what in the world I am to say about the Labyrinth intensive that is finally open for registration.

I found myself making a list of everything that asked to come to life through me this week. And as the list got longer and longer, I suddenly couldn’t miss the connection. But if I hadn’t put it in writing, I think I would have never noticed.

Glance at this list and see if you see the thread:

• podcast about parenting by modeling how God parents us
• Mothering a Suffering Child special event
• sacred gathering to honor our ancestral mothers and their unborn babies
• “Lament for America,” a litany of our sins against one another, that concludes with the sacred truth: we share one Mother
• Mother Yoga—a feminine divine yoga that opens us to notice our Mother mothering us
• The Labyrinth—the womb of the Mother birthing us into our true self

Yes, every one of these is about deepening our relationship with the Feminine Divine, our Mother, one One Mother.

But there’s something else. Something that feels even bigger that the awareness of the living presence of the Holy Mother.

And that is the mystical truth carried in the mysterious passive voice.

Remember all those English teachers who told you not to use the passive voice? Ignore them. Effective immediately.

Because the passive voice is a mystical teacher speaking to you from deep within your brilliant creative artistic right brain.

When I received the prayer, “Do You Feel That Breeze” two years ago, I knew it was a big deal. I knew it came through me and to me.

It was clear from the moment it arrived, that I did not write it. How could I, when I didn’t understand it. At all.

The big chorus is so magical that the musicians in Sofia took one look at this prayer and turned that chorus into a song that is now the theme song for my podcast.

The chorus is:

You are not moving
you are being moved

You are not singing
you are being sung

You are not praying
you are being prayed—

Prayed at the speed of love

I have repeated these words at the beginning of every episode for 30 episodes. And each time, I get teary.

I know these words are working some kind of magic on me, even though I can’t intellectually grasp their meaning. My all-too-well-trained logical linear mind is so flabbergasted by the hidden meaning in this love song, that it just stops functioning.

What do you mean, I am not praying, I am being prayed. How can anyone “be prayed?”

• The beauty is in the passive voice.
• The truth is in the loving embrace of the Mother.
• And the labyrinth is the ultimate archetypal feminine image to carry us into that truth.

The reality is your logical linear mind can’t make an ounce of sense out of the labyrinth. As you move through it, twisting this way and that, in no discernible order, the mind tries to plan ahead. It tries to “know” what’s happening. It tries to direct your feet or your hands, but it can’t. And finally, it gives up and goes quiet, no longer able to run the show.

And that’s when the magic can come through.

That’s when the warm embrace of the Mother takes over and simply holds you in love as you move through Her womb, feeling your way in the dark with your feet or your fingers. Like a little kid, your hand is in Her Hand and you trust those hands to carry you safely home.

The mystical truth is:

You are not walking the labyrinth.
The labyrinth is walking you

You are not solving a problem
You are being solved

You are not seeking God
You are being mothered by God the Mother 

You are not finding your way
You are being found

Do you feel the difference?

This is the sacred difference in all real prayer, all Original Prayer—prayers that are forever ancient and forever new.

The labyrinth is thousands and thousands of years old—and yet, in the moment you place your foot or finger on a labyrinth, it is brand new.

You are held not by an ancient idea of a god you must seek or obey. You are held by the living vibrant loving presence of a living vibrant loving Mother.

A Mother who carries you safely home.

So somehow my wild wonderful week of being Mothered has carried me to this beautiful moment when I am delighted to open the gate to my very first prayer intensive on the Labyrinth with the beautiful Catherine Anderson, a goddess in her own rite.

The gate is open and Catherine is our perfect guide.

• She is a Veriditas Labyrinth facilitator and faculty member
• She has led multiple Labyrinth pilgrimages to Chartres Cathedral and other sacred labyrinths around the world with Lauren Artress, the woman who brought the labyrinth back to the western world.
• Catherine is also a SoulCollage® facilitator trainer
• She is a brilliant contemplative photographer
• And, one more thing: she is the author of award-winning books on creativity
• Oh, and this: she is a total delight to be with!

Catherine and I wrote the description of the intensive and made a fun video in which you can see multiple types of labyrinths. And the landing page has a few of Catherine's photos of labyrinths.

You do not have to purchase a finger labyrinth.

Catherine is providing us with lots of printable materials. But you might fall in love with the labyrinth, as I have, and want a wood or clay one of your own. To help you find what you’re looking for, Catherine will provide us with links to online finger labyrinths that she loves.

We open Tuesday, July 21 and meet for 3 consecutive Tuesdays July 21, 28, and August 4 from 7-9:15 pm Eastern.

We will explore the 3, 7, and 11 circuit labyrinth forms. Plus, we’ll get a taste of collage as well.

We’ll end with a delightful closing ceremony “walking” labyrinths together on Sunday, August 9th at 2pm Eastern so our friends in Europe and Africa can join us live.

And don't worry if you can't be with us live, everything is recorded.

Come and play in the Embrace of The Mother!

Follow the link below the image to register.

Labyrinth: Your Embodied Pathway to Rebirth prayer intensive

May you ever feel yourself held in Her loving embrace. 

Janet

PS: Prayer Vigils 

All the vigils are now stored on a special page on my website including "I Am--A Lament for America." A new one comes out each Friday at 2pm eastern, but you can watch any time.

Prayer Vigil to make love visible