Walking labyrinths in Tallahassee – yes it can be done in this North Florida city so often centered on state government and higher education.
Years ago, when Jillian Volpe White and Erica Wiborg – faculty members at Florida State University – started hosting events with a temporary canvas labyrinth, students and college employees kept asking, “What is a labyrinth?”
Now the word is out. The FSU traveling labyrinth has its own Facebook page. With patience, persistence and perseverance, the pair over time found many partners on campus willing to support the installation of a permanent labyrinth.
The FSU labyrinth opened Nov. 2, 2017. It joins a growing trend of putting permanent labyrinths on college campuses as part of wellness programs for both students and staff.
The FSU labyrinth joins two existing labyrinths built at Tallahassee churches and a small labyrinth at the Laura Jepsen Institute – all places set aside for mindfulness. Put walking labyrinths in Tallahassee on your next visit list! Labyrinths wait for you to come and walk the walk.
Holy Comforter Episcopal Church
Where: 2015 Fleischmann Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308
Type: Outdoors, public, 5-circuit Chartres design
Surface: Crushed granite path outlined in red interlocking bricks
Ease of access: Gravel path is difficult to navigate for those using a walker or wheelchair
Close by: Low benches
Contact: Church office, phone 850-877-2712
Walking the Walk
As you face the church, take the sidewalk just to the right. It leads to an arbor and a gravel path winding its way to the labyrinth. One step up to where the wide labyrinth path begins. The labyrinth is surrounded by trees bearing plaques describing who the tree honors.
While I was walking the circuits, a woman dressed entirely in black came out the side door of the church carrying a small green vase with one bright yellow dandelion flower. She carefully placed it under one of the newly planted trees, straightened up and patted the tree trunk.
Clearly, memories are being planted here in this peaceful place.
Laura Jepsen Institute
Where: 1401 High Road, Tallahassee, FL 32304
Type: Outdoors, public, 6-circuit Chartres Cathedral design
Surface: Dirt, leaf-strewn path outlined in grey interlocking pavers
Ease of access: A bit narrow on the path, but doable
Close by: Bistro table with two chairs, a picnic table not far away
Contact: Use the contact form on the Website: www.lichgateonhighroad.org
Walking the Walk
When Laura Jepsen, a professor in comparative literature at Florida State University from 1946 to 1978, looked for property to build a home, she fell in love with a piece of high ground that was home to an ancient live oak tree. She built a Tutor-style cottage and lived here until her death on Christmas Eve 1995.
This is what Jepsen said about the place she named Lichgate:
“Here was a curiosity out of time and place, a fairy tale creation, come to settle, as if by a spell, in the Florida sunshine.”
On the National Register of Historic Places, this private property owned by the Laura Jepsen Institute is open to the public during daylight hours.
A short walk from the small parking lot quickly reveals the majestic, ancient tree in a large green field. Across the field is the cottage. The labyrinth is behind the cottage.
Heavily shaded by nearby trees, the labyrinth is a quiet, easy walk. In the center is a round mosaic in a rainbow of colors.
I thought it quite lovely that the labyrinth is right next to the house, a detail those who want to build a labyrinth on their own property will appreciate.
Where: 8551 Buck Lake Road, Tallahassee, FL 32317
Type: Outdoors, public, classical circular 7-circuit
Surface: Three to 5-foot-wide dirt and pine needle path
Ease of access: The labyrinth itself is quite easy for all mobility walkers. But getting to the labyrinth involves a walk downhill. It is a bit steep coming back up the hill. The day I was there a tree limb had fallen across the path.
Close by:Benches along the path and in the center
Contact: 850-559-6297. The labyrinth is open to the public the first Sunday afternoon (1-4 p.m.) in February, May, August and November. It is also open for World Labyrinth Day, always the first Saturday in May. If your schedule doesn’t fit these time frames, call and ask permission. They are very gracious.
Walking the Walk
Kudos to Unity Eastside for installing labyrinth signs. They point the way to the labyrinth, which is very rare. This labyrinth sits in a deeply wooded area on the right side of the church. The area is a dry pond, down at the bottom of a hill.
I suggest picking up a stick (there are many on the ground) to carry with you before entering. Hold it in front of you to dislodge spider webs arching across the 5-foot pathway or to push back vines leaning into the path. This is standard hiking practice. It works well here.
The path is outlined in native vegetation, including piled tree cuttings. At times the outline is so tall it almost feels like being in a maze. But fear not, this is a labyrinth with wide curving paths leading to a large grassy center. Sometimes yoga, Tai Chi and Sunday school classes are held in the center. The walk to the center is one-third of a mile.
Their labyrinth brochure (available for free at the office) offers two approaches:
“Unity calls itself practical Christianity and the labyrinth is a tool that its followers can use as a meditative walk to seek inner guidance, gain new insights and reconnect to their inner self. And on a purely physical level, it is a wonderful walk in nature, reducing stress, working muscles and burning calories.”
Where: 1110 W. Call St., Tallahassee, FL 32306
Type: Outdoors, public, 4-circuit round contemporary design
Surface: Concrete path outlined with plants
Ease of access: Accessible to all
Close by: Finger labyrinth, low brick wall ideal for sitting
Contact: 800-644-3342
Walking the Walk
Inclusive. That one word describes every step of FSU’s journey from using a traveling canvas labyrinth to the permanent labyrinth installed last year.
The journey began in 2014, when a group of students, faculty and staff explored the idea of a space dedicated to reflection on campus. Naturally, this being FSU, lots of research took place.
“At first students had no idea what a labyrinth was,” said Wiborg, convener of the Spiritual Life project at FSU. She and White were the first two project enthusiasts.
Initially, a grant funded a 5-circuit traveling labyrinth that was unrolled in classrooms. The labyrinth has its own Facebook page. One entry headline: “Finals studying got you stressed? Come walk the labyrinth.”
Great headline.
Since then, walks on the campus labyrinth have become fodder for research and a tool for learning and reflection. What were you thinking about before walking the labyrinth? And after?
Plans for a permanent labyrinth started with staff’s search for the best place to locate the project. A Labyrinth Working Group began working on the design.
So inclusive was the planning process that practically everyone on campus became a stakeholder in the journey –the grounds and planning departments, Division of Student Affairs, Spiritual Life Project, Center for Leadership and Social Change, Campus Recreation, University Housing, Student Disability Resource Center, Department of Psychology, College of Medicine and the Master Craftsman Studio.
There is a nice symmetry to the labyrinth’s location between the Psychology Department and the College of Medicine. A small parking lot accommodates visitors.
What a delightful labyrinth. With its very wide path with huge circuit turns, I wanted to stop at each turn and dance in the space. But the day we visited was really cold, so I’m saving that for another visit.
Someday, when funds are available, a sculpture will go in the center. Plantings will change with the seasons based on what grows best in the area.
Walking labyrinths in Tallahassee – a great way to find quiet time in Florida’s capitol city.
Note: this is a modified chapter from the book Circle the Center Labyrinths in Florida by Lucy Beebe Tobias ©2018 Sea Aster Press. To order a book visit http://www.lucytobias.com/books/circling-center-labyrinths-florida/