August 21, 2005

Comments from C. McKeen

Welcome to the Global Harmony Labyrinth! In Taoist writing there is a statement that I have found pleasing since I first read it long ago: "The purpose of life is not the destination...it is the course which we take to get there."

Standing near the entrance to a labyrinth, this idea seems particularly apt. The design for this labyrinth was drawn nearly ten years ago. The idea of a meditation labyrinth, a walking prayer for peace, is even more timely today than it was then. Many people have come together through these years to create this site; it is certain that all of us would not be in complete agreement on every life issue and yet, we managed to work side by side to reach this common goal. In a country (and world) so divided we must hold fast to the concept of cooperation. The process of finding consensus is basic to Japanese culture. Belief in the common good is one of America's founding principles. We are more alike than we are different.

Ten years ago the metaphors that emerged as I worked on the labyrinth design had almost entirely to do with pilgrimage in a general sense, a path to spirit, to peace, to health, to growth. John and I had then just returned from several years in Japan and my mind was on the similarity between walking labyrinths and climbing sacred mountains. As I drew, I was climbing Yamadera.

This past year the metaphor has become very specific for me personally. As we moved from paper to concrete and encountered one obstacle after another, literally at every turn, I found the labyrinthine process was mirroring my walk with my mother through a long process of aging and illness. Our journey toward peace and acceptance is ending as the last touches to the project have been finished. I share this as an example of the individual meaningfulness we can find in this journey. I hope each of you will find your own metaphors as you walk here and that the path offers you peace, comfort, insight, or - on a lighter note - just some pleasure.

With this dedication I offer my particular thank you to Akira and Nobue Matsumoto and their friends, who shared their Nagasaki so generously with John and me. We will think of you every time we come to this place.

Take your time.

"Traveller, why do you hurry? What is it you are so impatient to see?"

• Seiroku Noma

• Jim Scheibel, past mayor of St. Paul; Tomoko Maekawa, translator; Jim Kunzman, SPNSCC

• J. Scheibel; T. Maekawa; Malcolm McDonald, Grotto Foundation; J. Kunzman

• J. Scheibel; T. Maekawa; J. Kunzman; Ann O'Neill CSJ

• Cathy Victorsen

In earliest histories, labyrinths are described as mythic prototypes of cities. This is a labyrinth to link two cities a world apart.

The Global Harmony design attempts to to be inclusive of all viewpoints. To describe its elements separately: The sphere represents the earth. The line expressing yin/yang represents the relationship of opposite elements, mutually essential to the wholeness of both. The hands represent human effort to maintain balance. For general graphic use, the logo or labyrinth sits at a tilt, on an axis like the world itself, to reflect equality between hemispheres. In this way one can envision the world turning so that no one hand is ever always in a “top” position. There is no conscious effort to create numerical meanings as are found in many labyrinths. The messages here concern global friendship and peace.

The labyrinth has come down through time as a metaphor for the journey. SPNSCC has been engaged in a very special journey since it was created in 1955. Those who laid the groundwork for this relationship were inspired and brave. In a postwar world left with terrible wounds on all sides, the forging of this first friendship of its kind was a big step toward healing. With the creation of the peace charter in 1989 came the commitment to “work for the realization of global harmony”, another step along the path. Many steps were taken in the years between.

Step by step, friendships between citizens across the world from each other have proven to be strong and true. As visitors travel back and forth, building on friendships and finding common ground, many hours are spent sharing each other's families, friends, customs and cities. Visiting special sites marking our friendship is a significant part of this process and can be a valuable means of communication when language is a barrier. The people of Nagasaki have offered hospitality of the highest order to many of us through the years. Some of us have experienced in common the remarkable feeling of hope upon leaving the peace museum there to walk on a street named after St. Paul. The street is only one site in Nagasaki honoring our relationship but it is an important one. The naming of streets is highly symbolic, a public acknowledgment of a city's commitment to an idea.

We had a street named for Nagasaki for some years but it is no longer. With its loss, the committee began to search for an idea and a location that would come together to create an experience of spirit of place for our guests from Nagasaki. Simultaneously the renewed interest in labyrinths came to the fore and the committee decided to pursue a labyrinth project. That piece of the journey has been labyrinthine itself. One of the first to present the idea of a labyrinth as a healing site was Karen Kunzman. While traveling, she and her husband Jim had experienced walking a labyrinth and she was enthusiastic about the experience and the project. Somewhat later, as president of SPNSCC, Jim worked tirelessly to make the site a reality. Ann O’Neill, CSJ, a SPNSCC board member, early on, took a special interest as well, contributing ideas, references and support. From the beginning of SPNSCC's efforts to create a site commemorating our sister cities relationship, the intent was to do it in a way that emphasized the Peace Charter. The term “global harmony” is taken from that document. I was honored to be asked to design a Global Harmony symbol for our anniversary observance in 1995. The directive to me as an artist, was to design something that spoke to the uniqueness of the bond between two such different cultures, a symbol of peace. A second request soon followed to create a labyrinth based on that symbol. Global Harmony is a good theme for a labyrinth which itself can be a device to bring inner peace.

An original design was requested because the spirit of the project involved healing the pain from the bombing of Nagasaki. The creation of the new labyrinth was thought to be important as a mark of our reaching out to another culture with differing history, religious traditions and life outlooks, a fresh gesture of abiding friendship, a blend of East - West sensibilities.

Through the years a number of sites and sizes have been considered and even thought to be resolved! We now have a site. It is located along the path from the conservatory to the lake pavilion in Como Park. There is a lovely view from the site looking over a much loved fountain to the lake. It is a peaceful spot but close enough to human activity to make it feel safe for individual use. One of our past board members, Bill Pesek, came up with several choices but this spot was enthusiastically agreed upon.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Karen Kunzman. A fine musician, she traveled to Nagasaki several times to perform. A Japanese friend said of her, “She has a Japanese heart”.

A plaque at the labyrinth's center reads “Global Harmony Labyrinth, Dedicated August 21st in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Saint Paul / Nagasaki Sister City relationship, in memory of Karen S. Kunzman. She had a Japanese Heart”. In memory of Karen’s life, gifts from her family and friends, here and in Nagasaki, were instrumental in the building of the labyrinth. The accomplishment of this site is the perfect expression of the genuine friendships that are at the heart of our special bond with our sister city.

Cynthia McKeen

With Grateful Appreciation to

• The Grotto Foundation

• Louis Fors Hill, on behalf of the Hill Family, in honor of Louis W.

• Hill, founder of the Grotto Foundation and the Saint Paul Nagasaki

• Sister City Committee

• The Hubbard Broadcasting Foundation

• Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Department

• All the volunteers who have given so generously of their time and energy

The growth of interest in classical labyrinths in the 1990's has produced a great deal of writing about the history of labyrinths and mazes in world culture. For anyone deeply interested in the subject, there can be found fascinating material from many sources but be warned that the research process can be, well, a-maz-ing. What a lot of interpretations to consider.

Most sources describe a separation in the definition of the two in medieval times, with mazes emerging as puzzles, games, tests of confusion for entertainment. They are multicursal, having many choices of path, dead ends, alleys intending to frustrate and bewilder. They evolve from the concept of a labyrinth as a trap for or protection from dragons, dangers, monsters or the darkside, either caught at the center or to be confronted at the center. Hedge mazes became extraordinarily popular in the nineteenth century and the trickery grew more and more ingenious. Examples of threat or protection abound in myths and legends worldwide. Tokyo's center was long ago designed on a related principle; the Emperor's palace is in the center with clusters of confusing winding streets designed in “petal“ shapes around it so enemies could not easily find their way in. Feudal Japanese castle floorplans closely resemble drawings of mazes and when built, the castles themselves became three dimensional mazes to confound the enemy.

A labyrinth is described as unicursal, a single winding path leading to the center and then back out again. Walking a labyrinth frees one of fear or decision making and enables the walker to approach his own center or spirit. The journey to the center may be long, convoluted and troublesome, but the intent is that it be profoundly rewarding. During the crusades, people remaining at home in Great Britain would walk labyrinths to emulate the experiences of the knights traveling to other lands. Climbing a mountain to its peak is a cherished way of pilgrimage in Japan. Climbing a sacred mountain offers a profound experience of inner peace to the seeker. Long and winding mountain path or long and winding labyrinth path, these are quests, for adventure, for spirit or both. In plan, a spiral greatly resembles some labyrinth drawings; the spiral also represents the path to the spirit, from trails around mountains to the great spiral coils of incense in Asian temples.

The elements of circuitousness, safe disorientation and planned chaos seem to continue to intrigue us. Whichever form one enjoys most, both forms share many elements. Most have existed first as “drawings” used for teaching or storytelling. Some were and still are a tool for those who are physically unable to undertake a walking pilgrimage. Danger at the center or peace at the center can both be found on paper!

The labyrinth is a universal symbol of wholeness representing the path of a symbolic journey in the form of a walking meditation. Walking the labyrinth path is a healing experience that is intended to provide insight, courage and understanding in facing life's challenges. There are three stages to the labyrinth walk.

• Releasing - Quieting the mind and letting go of the details of daily life as you walk.

• Illumination - Opening to insight and new awareness as you reach the center.

• Integration - Moving outward from the center, taking silence, peace and insight out with you into your day.

How to walk the labyrinth:

• Clear your mind and become aware of your breathing.

• Allow yourself to find your own pace.

• Unlike a maze, the labyrinth has only one path which leads to the center and out again.

• Depending on your pace you may wish to pass or be passed by others.

• Those going in will meet those coming out. Do whatever feels natural.

The labyrinth is one of humankind's oldest visual metaphors. When most of us think of labyrinths and mazes, we visualize a pattern or a garden, but they are first ideas, a way of thinking. There are labyrinthine traditions in literary form, musical composition, metaphysical thought and, perhaps the ultimate example, quantum physics. For readers of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, the idea of a building designed to hide a library of ideas might come to mind. Because they began as ideas, labyrinths and mazes lend themselves to the reverse process of seeing ideas, metaphors, in them. Because the two forms have evolved differently, the metaphors are somewhat different.

The obvious metaphor is the journey. It may be representative of one's life or a part of one's life.

A labyrinth may be a metaphor for a special problem in one's life, for a personal quest, search, or adventure. Walking the path to inspire a creative endeavor mimics the real process of bringing a concept to life. Native peoples of the American southwest see their labyrinth as a symbol of the process of birth. Some walk a labyrinth as a quest for healing, meditating in support of a course of treatment or to find answers to lifestyle changes that may promote healing. When one walks a labyrinth for deeper reasons than interest or amusement, one brings one's own meaningfulness, curative focus, spirit to the labyrinth.

The labyrinth has also long been a metaphor for the city. It can be a mountain to be scaled, a depth to be plumbed, a trip to another country or to other worlds. It can be a journey into the past, present or future or just a metaphor for the long and winding road of life. It is a tool of the imagination and of the spirit. That a wide range of labyrinth designs exists is a testimony to the uniqueness of each human journey.

When asked to design a labyrinth to honor the sister city relationship between Saint Paul and Nagasaki, I was charged with representing a relationship between two cultures, literally and metaphorically a world apart. Finding parallels was clearly the first step. Nagasaki is a city built on mountains by the sea. Saint Paul is built on seven high hills along a great river. Citizens of both cities spend time walking up and down their beautiful slopes. Both have convoluted street systems that accommodate the topography and confound newcomers who mutter about all the twists and turns. Mankind’s inadvertent labyrinths.

As I worked on the design for the Global Harmony Labyrinth, the metaphors that emerged were about pilgrimage, a universal theme; walking a path to peace, to spirit, to health, to growth, to joy, no matter how arduous the journey. My husband and I had just returned from living in Japan and my mind was already on the remarkable similarity between climbing a sacred mountain to its peak and back, and walking a labyrinth to its center and back. The mountain path, with its twists and turns, would look, in plan, very much like a drawing of a labyrinth path. As one climbs the mountain, the peak appears, disappears, reappears. As one walks a labyrinth, the path comes close to the center, turns away from it, comes back again. In either model, there are many parallels. One’s view at the journey’s beginning changes as one moves forward. The view from the peak or center offers insights. The journey down the mountain and back into the world of daily patterns can have the same effect as the walk back through the labyrinth to one’s familiar routine.

Yamadera is one of a group of sacred mountains in the Yamagata Prefecture in northern Japan. There are a number of sacred mountains in Japan; some see every mountain as sacred but a few mountains have evolved as especially significant for a variety of reasons. Yamadera is the mountain that I experienced with the most depth of feeling and joy. It is forested, rich in history, frequently steep. These photos show the range of paths along the way to its summit. Because the experience of it is in my memory bank, I suppose I should not have been surprised to see giant cryptomeria trees along the path when I first walked the labyrinth in Como Park. Each person brings one’s own sensibilities with them, to a mountain or to a labyrinth. Different days may bring different images and insights. May this labyrinth bring you images, insights, peace.