The Labyrinth Intrigues at Love Bath - Now Set To Reach Schools!
Our Lady and St Alphege's Catholic Church's Social Justice Group leader, Shelagh Hetreed rose to the challenge of creating a Labyrinth at Love Bath! by making a smaller version... After crowds of people took the challenge of walking the 'maze' which has props like a bowl of water, a mirror, or pebbles.. and 'stations' with thought-provoking questions, she was inspired to take a smaller labyrinth into Bath's schools.
But have you dared to walk the labyrinth? Either in St Alphege's or at Love Bath? Find out what you can expect if you do, what happened at Love Bath and all about this exciting project's future!
(PICTURES: SHELAGH HETREED, THE LABYRINTH AT LOVE BATH, ST ALPHEGE'S FULL SIZE LABYRINTH, A FOOTPRINT IN SAND, WATER)
"The Labyrinth is a spiritual 'tool' for reflection upon which you are invited to walk 
the 'path' through and pause at each 'station', which contain a written suggested reflection and activities suggested through 'props'. Our usual labyrinth is a 26 foot square cloth. Our smaller Labyrinth at Love Bath had 6 stations, our full sized cloth has 11.
"Props include a container of water and pebbles to hold and drop into the water to get rid of negativity or a bowl of sand to step into to consider the 'impression' you make in life.
"We were delighted to be asked to Love Bath and overcame the difficulties of bringing a 26 foot square cloth to lay on the ground in the Parade Gardens, by making a much smaller version on a plastic taurpaulin, especially made to fit under the cover of the Collonades, where we were." says Shelagh.
But what inspired her labyrinth?
"As a group we were inspired by a chance visit to Liverpool Anglican Cathedral where we walked their Labyrinth and found it a deeply spiritual and moving experience.
"We decided to make our own cloth and have so far had two events at our church where we create a haven of peace and contemplation for a whole day and invite people to come along."
Shelagh says she would like to offer the Labyrinth experience to people of other faiths or no faith at all.
"We would love other faith and non faith groups to borrow our cloth as we have 
experienced the deep experience that those who walk the labyrinth write about as they leave.
Comments from Love Bath include: 'As soon as you step into the Labyrinth, you step into the shielded quietness of God's presence. Absolutely Amazing!'
'A truly amazing spirit-filled and 'music surrounded' experience of the wonders of God!'
'This was an amazing experience of life. It shows you really who you are and where you are coming from and where you should go'.
"We have over 80 similar comments so far." she explains.
She hopes that people of all ages and beliefs will benefit from using the labyrinth.
"We heard of two young boys aged four and eight who still talked about their visit several months ago. We have the elderly and infirm who find it powerful. We have many people who shed more than a tear by the time that they complete the journey. W
e have had a Muslim, an atheist and a non believer telling us that it was a powerful experience for them. We know that everyone can take something of value from walking the Labyrinth."
For the future, Shelagh and the Social Justice Group plan to have dedicated Labyrinth days at St Alpheges and has exciting plans to work with the city's schools.
"We will be offering Labyrinth days again at our church. We hope others will approach us to also offer days. Now that we have the small 'portable' version, we are considering offering it to schools.
"It just takes a bit of imagination to make the Labyrinth reflections follow a theme. Our last one was during Lent and the stations focused on repentance."