Unity Center
 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Road, Mills River NC  28759
(828) 891-8700, 684-3798
Email: unity(at)unitync.net

Community Labyrinth

The Community Labyrinth is open to anyone in the community and handicap accessible. Dedicated in September 2009, our 7-path Labyrinth is 50' diameter, with a hard pack white gravel surface between rows of bricks, for easy access for people walking or in a wheelchair.  The 7-Path Classic Labyrinth is the oldest labyrinth design known in the world (since about 3,500 BC).

The Purpose of the Labyrinth is to invite and facilitate universal healing and well-being for ALL through loving, light-filled prayer.

One of the things that distinguishes a labyrinth from a maze
is that all paths lead to the center.
You can never be lost in a labyrinth.
All you need to do is keep walking the Path.

 The Labyrinth Team did fundraising for the entire cost of the materials for Labyrinth, and provided the actual construction, from June into September, 2009.

You are invited to purchase an Engraved Brick to be added to the labyrinth path. For a donation of $75, your brick will be engraved with your choice of a memorial or honorary dedication, or any saying that will fit - up to 3 lines of text, up to 18 characters per line. See below to order. 

A labyrinth is an ancient symbol of wholeness that combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. 

Representing a journey to our own center and back out into the world, labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk this metaphor for life's journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to "That Which Is Within."

A labyrinth is a single path that has several 180 degree turns. This path leads the person walking it into the center and then back out again.

• A labyrinth is not a maze with dead ends, tricks or false turns. It is not an intellectual problem to solve.
• Labyrinth patterns have existed for thousands of years in many different ancient cultures. Native Americans in Arizona wove labyrinth images into their baskets. Ancient labyrinth patterns have been found in India, the Ukraine, China, and Italy.
• Greeks living on Crete imprinted the labyrinth on their coins three centuries before the birth of Christ.
• During the medieval period, labyrinths were placed on the floors of many of the great European cathedrals. The most famous medieval labyrinth in existence today is at Chartres Cathedral in France. The pattern of this labyrinth is the inspiration for many modern labyrinths made in a contemporary medieval design.
• Since the mid-1980’s, labyrinths have enjoyed a revival in North America. Parks, churches, hospitals, schools, and private homes have installed labyrinths for people of all different backgrounds and faiths to walk.

Prayer Cards for people to fill out were offered free at labyrinth fundraising events.  These prayer cards were embedded into the labyrinth during construction, so your prayer energy became part of the energy pattern being created.

Unity's Labyrinth Team included  Sam Richardson, Donna Askew, Laura Nelson, Kathy West, Ginny True, Shayna Mali, Fran Breza, Walter Guffey, Pat Newell, Jana Weed, Sheila Tucker, James Miller, Phil Thurman, and Walter Nawrocki.

• Determine the actual size of the paths and the number of paths for the particular labyrinth that is to be built.
• Determine the materials that will be used to construct the labyrinth.
• Dowse for the center site placement of the labyrinth and hammer a metal stake into the ground, then dowse for the orientation of the opening.
• From the center of the labyrinth, use a rope 1/2 the diameter of your labyrinth and place metal flags every three feet to make your outer ring. Connect the flags with ribbon at their base. 
• Continue to do this for all of the paths, all the way to the center ring, outlining the path in ribbon.
• Replace the flags/ribbon with permanent construction materials.
• You now have a labyrinth!

Community Labyrinth Facebook group

Please visit our Labyrinth Facebook group for many more photos of the labyrinth in progress...

June 20, 2009 - Breaking ground & Installing Sign - dedicated volunteers!