This blog is a view in to my World as a builder of fine gardens and mosaics, and the beautiful places and things that inspire me as I travel the globe.
October 17: This is the third installment in a series on the making of the Halls Hill Labyrinth. If you haven't read the first two I recommend scrolling down past this one to see those.
I'm getting ready to leave for Bainbridge Island again, and have been studying the amazing Neolithic monument at Newgrange in Ireland that was brought to my attention this morning by my friend Nancy Heckler, who lives in Indianola across the water from the island.
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This Neolithic tomb has the most extraordinary carved stone at its entrance, which was oriented to the rising sun so that it would penetrate the mound's interior on the Winter Solstice. The building of this ceremonial space was a significant undertaking predating the Pyramids in Egypt by 500 years. It is older than the Mycenaean culture Knossos on the island of Crete, which I will be visiting this winter, and the existing form of the more famous monument at Stonehenge. Its worth reading the online encyclopedia story on this monument at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
The restored entrance to the Newgrange Monument in Ireland photo by Michael Weck
The spiraling designs on the stone at the entrance reminds me of a wonderful water channel carved in to a terrace in the ruins at Mandu in Madhya Pradesh in India that I visited many years ago.
Spiral water channel at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh, India
I came home again for a few days to rest (didn't happen) and celebrate my 55th birthday with friends. We traded another incredible massage where I was able to indulge in asking, if they started grinding on a particularly sore spot to do that 20 times. The dull headache I had for 5 days from stiffness in my neck went away.
The morning of my birthday a very dear friend named Lord Huckleberry passed away. He was an icon of hard living and truth and was loved by a great many people. He lived in San Francisco and was the figurehead of the legendary Burning Man Camp Dustfish, which is the family we have been adopted by and camping with for many years now at that festival. He loved to garden and had a beautiful sanctuary in the city. His passing made for a very pensive and bittersweet day washed with copious amounts of tears. I took a bath in the garden and drank champagne, toasted his life, had a couple of extravagant gourmet meals with good friends, and spent hours looking at pictures and reminiscing.
Today I decided to head back to Bainbridge Island via Tahoma, or Mt. Rainier, where there used to be a bridge crossing the Nisqually River as it flows out of the National Park, filled with white granite stones that I will use to make the clouds in the north of the 9th circuit. These will be the clouds of Heaven built with my friend Lord in mind. It was a beautiful day minus the brutal clear cuts on the way up through the logging town of Morton. I passed a terrible auto accident and several speeding paramedic units. Then a bird hit my windshield. I was feeling a kind of menace and uncertainty on this journey, and considered turning back.
I hadn't been to the park in 8 years. The Nisqually River had changed due to a massive flood in 2006, washing away the Sunshine Campground and the bridge downstream where I used to collect rock. This made my search much more laborious as the banks of the river outside the park have been rip rapped with heavy basalt boulders to protect houses. Gathering and carrying the buckets up bouldered slopes after a weekend of partying did not go over well with my body. I filled 8 five gallon buckets of white speckled granite and then drove up to Paradise, which is at timberline on the mountain. It is one of the great drives of the Pacific Northwest, climbing through thick forests to revealed views of the majestic mountain. The jagged Tatoosh Range demonstrates the carving of once massive glaciers, now receded to a mere fragment of what was there even 50 years ago.
The Nisqually River below the rapidly disappearing Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier
When I got to the top there was a good 6 inches of snow on the ground. Lord's hair was as white as snow and it was as if he were the mountain itself, gleaming in the lowering autumn sun. A nearly full moon rose over the ridge. I was so glad I had made the journey.
Mt. Rainier from Paradise
I didn't arrive at Bainbridge Island until almost 10:00 PM. I stopped and unloaded the buckets of stone and walked down to the labyrinth, which was bathed in moonlight and the shadows of trees. I'll have to prepare some kind of simple ceremony for the Duck's Fly Moon, the Mary Lou Moon that I dedicated to my Mother. It is also called the 'Hunter's Moon', and will undergo a prenumbral or partial eclipse tomorrow night, although it will probably not be noticeable from the Western United States. There is a telescope in the house where I am staying so I'll have to take a look as it rises over Seattle across the water.
I dragged myself back to work, setting up the forms for completing the first quarter of the ninth circuit. I moved the granite from Mt. Rainier down the hill and piled them in in the northern part of the labyrinth, and cut and shaped rebar so I could start setting stone.
I then gathered big leaf maple leaves that had fallen on the site and arranged them around the Ducks Fly Moon in honor of tonight's full moon. I also acid washed most of the 10th circuit with a mixture of Muriatic acid and water which I just poured on to remove the mortar film that obscures the colors of the stones.
The Ducks Fly Moon on the day of the full moon
Then I mixed up two batches of mortar and continued where I left off when I left for a break, with Peter's flower in the River Styx. One of my oldest and dearest friends Cheryl arrived at the site on her day off to spend the afternoon visiting while I worked. We studied Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon together. We had deep philosophical discussions about relationships and life's journey while catching up as I worked my way from a watery green mosaic in to the more fiery pinks and reds of the southerly cardinal point.
Cheryl and I studied Landscape Architecture together at the University of Oregon over 3 decades ago
A really nice couple named Jean and Dave came by for a pleasant visit and to watch me work. Jean had a little dog in a shoulder bag, who's name just happened to be 'Little Dog'. I made them a nice, simple flower when they went to ring the prayer wheel.
Jean and Dave and Little Dog
My friend Nancy Heckler from Indianola came with her dear friend Cristie to visit as we were finishing lunch on a granite boulder in the sun filtering through the trees. I gave them a tour and explanation of what was evolving and then we walked to the prayer wheel. It was a wonderful visit on this beautiful day that filled us all with happiness.
Christie and Nancy
I made each of them a wild rose near the turn in the path by the Strong Sun Moon which I finished as the evening faded in to darkness. I cranked this part out but was so happy having accomplished my goal for the day. Tomorrow I can reset the forms and begin the next quarter of the 9th circuit. I used up most of the pink stones that represent this section of the color wheel so I will need to go to the beach and make a determined effort to find enough to move in to the red section of the Ripe Berries Moon.
3 rather funky 5 petaled wild roses hiding amongst a jumble of pink stones
The full moon was rising magnificently over the Sound with Seattle sparkling across the gloss black water. Cheryl and I drove in to Winslow for dinner and then she caught the ferry back to Seattle. Then I drove back to Blakely Harbor where I am staying, stopping at the site to see it in moonlight. It was beautiful seeing the rays of the full moon passing through the silhouetted Madrones. I knelt down by the Ducks Fly Moon and said a prayer for my Mother. The stones were hard and cold against my knees. Just then I heard a flock of Canadian geese flying over the water, right on cue.
The Full Moon over Seattle
October 19: I went to the beach during low tide and collected 9 heaping buckets of stones, focusing on pink ones to finish the southern end of the 9th circuit. Some interesting people came by, a couple from Cape Cod, another from Corpus Christy Texas, and a few people from the island. I moved the forms and made the second bend in the path at the Strong Sun Moon and mosaiced my way in to the red part of the circuit by the Ripe Berries Moon. It will be interesting to see if the beach can continue to churn up these colors as I make my way around and around with each circuit. It was foggy and grey all day. It gets dark at 6:30 now so I get home and eat dinner earlier.
Two turns in the path from the 10th to the 9th circuit
October 20: There is a marvelous shelf fungus growing nearby on a dead tree trunk that is thoroughly pecked full of holes by woodpeckers. The fungus seems to grow more colorful as the weather gets colder and damper. The rings on it remind me of the colored rings of the labyrinth.
A marvelous shelf fungus growing on a woodpecker tree near the labyrinth
I got up earlier this morning and went down to the site to reset the forms for my work later today. A lovely couple named Shannon and Art came by and told me they usually stay in on Sundays and read the newspaper but today they decided they should come to the park and turn the Prayer Wheel, calling the four directions.
Art and Shannon
My hosts Len and Stella had prepared a beautiful brunch for an amazing group of illustrious people so I left the site to join them. The conversations were rich with experience, and I felt like I should be documenting their stories about island history and architecture.
Stella made a labyrinth frittata!
I got to meet the Tom Jay, the bronze artist who created the prayer wheel. There is a 300 pound bell inside the wheel. His description of its fabrication and meaning brought new appreciation for this magnetic work that has been spinning out blessings and intentions for 6 years now. A strong connection between it and the labyrinth is forming as I add more and more flowers to signify the moments of enlightenment and hope sent outwards with the bell that rings when the wheel has been turned 9 times. There are four panels on the Prayer wheel, as the labyrinth is divided in to four parts. Multiply 4 and 9 and you get the diameter of the labyrinth in feet. There are 9 Mala stones between each moon in bordering circuits. Both speak to nature in an intimate and symbolic way.
Discussing the Prayer Wheel and Labyrinth over brunch
Len's flower
After I told the general history of what I am doing everybody walked to the site and I gave them a tour. John Paul Jones, a native architect from the firm Jones and Jones in Seattle and his wife Marjory discussed medicine wheels and architecture. We visited his firm on a field trip when I was in studying at the University of Oregon over 36 years ago. It was a very special gathering and an honor to spend time with and get to know these people.
This project is so rich in meaning and has such good energy that always seems to resonate and touch people in a deep and profound way. I feel some kind of sincere connection to everyone I talk to while I'm working.
My hosts Len and Stella have been so gracious. Thank you for everything you've done.
After Brunch, we visited the site
This couple live on the island in a historic home with a turf roof. I would love to see it sometime.
This is how I hoped the boulders would be used...beautiful
I wanted to make a flower for each of them to commemorate this gathering but I had to go to the beach to collect more red and violet and purple stones to make them with. These are tough colors to find in reliable shapes. So after 3 hours at low tide I had gathered another 7-800 pounds of rock. The higher tides of the full moon washed ashore a dazzling mix of different colors of seaweed. Small flocks of teals have been foraging from the offshore rocks.
A breathtaking array of seaweeds
I was only able to finish 5 flowers before it got dark and have four more to go. I hope to make great progress tomorrow. As I was wheelbarrowing the stones down the hill two women, Jeanine and Jane came by. One of my jobs is to make people want to be a part of this project. They promised to bring stones for the Community circuit that I will build in the Spring of next year. If you come by and I'm there I'll show you what I'm looking for to build it with. If everyone brought me at least one beautiful stone that is the right shape, flat and block like in any size, I would have a nice selection to build the 3rd circuit with.
The 9th circuit from South to West is finished
I went to the beach once again to pick 4 buckets of whatever was handy, focusing on purple flower petal shapes and brown stones for the western direction. I set stone all afternoon, first finishing the 9 flowers for the people who had come to brunch yesterday. It is a nice little garden. 4 are slightly wonky Medicine Wheels.
The Brunch Flowers
From there I mainly just filled in the spaces with a variety of shapes of stones in purple shades. A woman named Susan appeared from the woods as if by magic. When I looked up she was fairly close, having come from the obscure little path through the bushes people sometimes wind up on. It always surprises me when they arrive this way. Susan was dressed in three of the more prominent colors in the labyrinth, blending beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Yet another lovely encounter. I made her a brown flower to go with her outfit, which she asked me to dedicate to her sister Kelly.
Susan
I tried to make something that would look like craggy mountains before the Ducks Fly Moon, and used striped brown stones to insinuate sky, but I don't think it reads at all. Neither did the flames I made in the south. They're there, they just aren't obvious, even to me after making them.
Kelly's flower
I must say again that for me what makes this mosaic work marvelous is the stones themselves, not so much the way I am putting them together. If I had a table saw I could be trimming the stones and making them fit better, but that would require a generator on the site, making a big noisy mess. There is a quiet peace that comes with working here with the local beach rock. It has some lumpiness and contour, but the array of minerals is stunning
Big leaf Maple leaves on a pile of collected stones
I went back to the beach as it got dark and collected a couple of buckets of stones to use tomorrow. The sea was sort of surreal disappearing in to the horizon. Most of my rock is coming from this stretch of Rockaway beach.
Rockaway Beach
October 22: Today I did the usual morning rituals to get my body warmed up for another day of hard labor. I didn't go to the beach, as I felt I had enough stones to set the areas I am working in to. I was able to make 18 feet of linear mosaic today, working from brown to orange and in to black.
In the west, the color for that direction is brown, and I was trying to depict the element of Earth. For some reason I kept thinking of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile with its magnificent spires of rock, reminding me of the way I was composing the stones in the mosaic. I hiked there several years ago on a long trip through Patagonia.
Torres del Paine
Otherwise it just looks like a bunch of stones set together in an abstract mosaic. I made my way in to the orange area of the Freeze Up Moon. Global warming may eventually force a name change for this moon. The weather has been very dry and mild this fall. Its foggy though and I am missing out on an epic Indian Summer down in Portland where they are having warm sunny days...big sigh.
Spires representing the element Earth
From the orange realm, which feels like Halloween, I made my way in to the darkness of black stones. I was pushing hard to make my way over to the north part of the circuit where the stones are white, and I will be making puffy clouds tomorrow.
Orange stones blending in to black
John and his Mother Julie came by late in the afternoon. I have been gathering stones from the beach below their houses at the far end of Rockaway Beach. We had a sweet visit and I explained what it is I am creating, and asked them to bring me some rocks to use in the community circuit.
John and his Mother Julie
I had a beautiful flat black stone speckled with yellow dots that I found near their place that I was about to set. I made John and his partner and Julie three black flowers after they left to turn the Prayer Wheel.
A pair of Pileated Woodpeckers came while we were visiting and one of them landed on the Woodpecker Tree near the labyrinth and hammered away at the rotting trunk. They are so beautiful. I also saw a Bald Eagle today that landed on a tall tree near the Prayer Wheel today.
Pileated Woodpecker on the Woodpecker Tree
October 23: This is the day I'm making pillowy clouds in honor of my friend Lord Huckleberry, who passed away on my birthday last week. His cremation is happening the day after. The clouds represent the air element, using the white speckled granite stones I gathered from the Nisqually River up by Mt. Rainier.
Lord's stones
I removed yesterday's forms and reset them so that I could work my way around the north end of the labyrinth. It was a cool foggy mysterious day. Sometimes fog drifted through the site in a ghostly way while I worked.
Jane, who had visited recently with a friend came back with her grand daughter Pearl. Pearl found me two stones when they went to turn the Prayer Wheel, one of which was the right shape to use in the Community circuit that I will build next year.
I made her a flower with black and white striped stones as I transitioned my way from black to the white area in the north using stones with veins of both colors.
Pearl's Flower
Jorunn, the Norwegian woman who does maintenance in the park on Wednesdays was there and we visited for a while. I told her that I was making clouds for my friend Lord who had passed away and she told me about her friend Ketil who had also recently died from a heart attack. When she was finished working pruning around the trails near the labyrinth she went to turn the Prayer Wheel for both Lord and Ketil. It was a very pensive moment. I dedicated the clouds to both of them, and to all departed spirits, and made a flower for each of them, and to all of the people who loved them.
Lord and Ketil's flowers amongst the clouds
It was a moody day appropriate to working in the winter reaches of the 9th circuit, although sometimes the sun would try to break through and for a while there were Angel ladders streaming in past the trees.
Divine light
A Marble Angel walking on Clouds in a church in Rome
I went down to the Prayer Wheel twice today. Working on a circuit dedicated to the Underworld, and making heavenly clouds commemorating loved ones departed is a very heavy task. The element I am representing with clouds is Air. I am an Air Sign, and have I think 3 other planets in Libra, so I could be considered a very airy person.
Adding to the heaviness, I have been reading articles and watching videos related to the World's oceans that have been heartbreaking. The 8th circuit will be ruled by the planet Neptune, and will be dedicated to the sea, in which the stones I'm using in the mosaics are tumbled. I am very sensitive to the health of the environment. We have destroyed so much of the natural world in my lifetime that I sometimes have to transcend shock to carry on. I'm grateful that the water here is clear, although there is a superfund site at the point in this picture where they used to creosote wood for railroad ties and telephone poles. I've seen a lot of filthy water in my travels and consider it a treasure when it is clean. Life depends on it.
Houses built right on the beach
I try hard to locate myself in places where I have contact with nurturing surroundings. Librans need their beauty. The site where I am working is one of those. My brain is capable of creating an endless string of preoccupying thoughts not related to the moment I am in, so finding sanctuary helps keep me sane.
The prayer wheel in October
I have a very busy brain, and often don't sleep well because of it. Thats why I hardly ever get to work before 10:00 or 11:00 But then I usually work until dark. I suppose you could call it Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but I manage to be productive enough to to keep it from being a disorder. Mosaic is a popular art form for people with an unstoppable desire to be create fantasy environments that could probably be linked to certain hormones and chemicals in the brain. Whatever it is, I have it.
Tom Jay's pickup (the man who created the Prayer Wheel) Photo by Len
I find myself staring at the labyrinth and not being able to pull myself away. Every day it grows, like an organism, according to an entropic plan. I feel that the World needs healing, and I feel it is my duty to bring about consciousness in regards to our environment. We must become more harmonious with nature immediately or we will soon be living in one of those depressing post apocolyptic Worlds most commonly depicted in films about the future. We must change the way we live so that we enhance rather than destroy natural systems. Turn off the lights in empty rooms, reuse bags and containers, walk and ride your bike, nurture wildlife in your gardens. Don't buy toxic substances. It all helps.
Back to work I transitioned in to the color silver, around the Rest and Cleansing Moon where I reached the end of the forms I had set up. Tomorrow I will finish the 9th circuit. People are bringing friends and relatives by to see the project now. Its a captivating project, filled with great potential that seems to touch people's hearts.
October 24: Another foggy morning. There was a doe and fawn in the garden outside my door when I left for work. I will always think of the Corn Planting Moon, for which deer are the totem animal whenever I see deer from now on.
A fawn in the garden
A flock of Robins was in the Madrone trees when I arrived, eating the small red fruits that have been festooning the ground around the site. I reset the forms to reach the end of the 9th circuit where it loops to connect to the 10th circuit.
Lucy walks the Labyrinth with her nose
I was setting blue green stones when I heard a squawk and noticed a Great Blue Heron had landed in a Douglas Fir nearby. It was timely to arrive as I was working in its color range. I could hear the heavy equipment nearby again, with that boop hoop boop when a large construction vehicle is backing up. I had asked Gregory what they were doing and he said, "clearing out the grass, wild plants, nature, and ducks that had colonized a drainage swale. Our tax dollars at work removing biodiversity so that the land will hold more runoff from impermeable pavement without offering any benefit to clean water or life. Somebody was using a chain saw down the hill. Men at work. Maybe its all hopeless and the Labyrinth is just a pretty distraction from the demise of our World. I hope otherwise. I decided to put on my Ipod to drown it out. Music does help motivate me to keep working, everything from Strauss waltzes to David Bowie. Back to the search for beauty in the World.
I made a flower for my Mother in blue green stones, her favorite color. Its like making a giant circular puzzle finding and putting all these stones together, trying to find good fits, making pleasing compositions, and keeping it all flat while honoring everything around me.
A flower for Mom
I looked up and my friend and neighbor from Portland, Vanessa Renwick was standing there with her beautiful white dog. She had been watching for a while without me noticing. This is only the second time I have opted for music as I like to hear what is happening in the forest, the sound of birds, the chirp of squirrels, and even the bark of sea lions. Of course it is good to hear the prayer wheel ring as well. We went and turned the Prayer Wheel and sat on the swinging bench taking in the beautiful view.
Vanessa Renwick and Fox, her Mountain Goat Dog
A couple from the island, Susan and Thomas came to see what was going on as I was getting back to work. Thomas was wearing a hoody with a silk screen of the Chartes Cathedral Labyrinth on the back. I had to get a picture, so I had them stand by the central altar and pretend they were dancing. It was so sweet.
Susan and Thomas
I was back in the area of the water element and made some flowing lines of different shades of green, transitioning in to yellow by the entrance in the East. I added the 107th stone to the Mala circuit, the last of those when I did the loop from the 9th to the 10th circuit. I made a simple yellow flower for my friend Suzinn who's Mother who passed away today. It is meant to look sort of like one of her favorite Dahlias.
Suzinn's Flower
In the morning I will make the loop from the 9th to the 8th circuit, entering the realm of Neptune and the Realm of Pluto and the Four Elements will be complete.
This is the second essay about the Halls Hill Labyrinth Project. If you haven't read the first, scroll down past this one and you will find the first one. Thanks, Jeffrey
"If we really wished, if we actually dared to devise a style of architecture which corresponded to the state of our souls, a labyrinth would be the building we should erect. But we are too cowardly to construct anything which would be such a complete revelation of our hearts." Nietzsche
I guess I'm taking the dare.
A gardening friend of mine, Diana Goings sent me a picture of the beautiful labyrinth at the Shrine of Saint Therese outside of Juneau, Alaska. The paths are lined with stones gathered from the beach, encircled by a lush border of sheltering shrubs.
The Labyrinth at the Shrine of St. Therese in Juneau, Alaska Photo by Diana Goings
While looking at the website for the Shrine I came across this video called Labyrinths through the ages:
It gives a visual history of labyrinths from many parts of the world created over a span of thousands of years. I've been fantasizing about having some of the petroglyphs shown in this video carved in to the granite boulders that mark the cardinal points.
I went home for 4 days to rest my body, a 4 1/2 hour drive. I traded massage with two friends an hour after I arrived home. Its something I have been doing for 28 years with my dear friend Evelyn and a number of third persons, who at present is a recent devotee named Holcombe. 2 on 1 massage is the best massage ever. We pull and twist and roll your body in to a variety of positions to expose muscles and lengthen the spine and limbs. I got another one two days later from my friend Mikey who has recently completed his certification as a massage therapist. Both massages were brutal and deep and reparative. I love the waves of endorphins that kick in after a painful grinding with an elbow under my scapulas. Massage basically heals you proactively and immediately. Most people rarely or never get them. This baffles me because it is always the highlight of my week. Because we trade it is free, and we have developed a pantheon of wonderful techniques derived directly from experience. All three of us get a great massage. Mikey said he put his foot on the wall for leverage as he ground in to my back. If I could get one of these every day I would. If I didn't do it weekly I doubt I would be able to continue to be a stone mason.
I lead what many believe to be a very good life, in large part because I make a point of traveling every winter. With miles I earned buying materials I've gotten round trips to Rome, Istanbul, and Barcelona for a couple hundred dollars each. This fall I got one to Athens, stopping in Paris again for a week. Yippee!
Graffiti in Paris
My plan is to visit Chartes Cathedral near Paris to see the labyrinth that I am basing the one I'm building on. I have read that it is usually covered with pews so it is only walkable in the summer. Oh well, I am going anyway. A week later I will fly to Athens and spend the winter exploring islands. I hope to rent a small place on Santorini and explore Rhodes. I also want to spend time in Crete and visit Knossos, where the Labyrinth that once held the Minotaur captive was said to have been built. Who knows what will actually happen but I have 3 months to explore. Then I will return and finish this project, hopefully in conjunction with the Spring Equinox.
Visting the Acropolis in Athens 4 years ago
It poured rain but occasionally the sun found its way through the clouds on my way back to the island. My spirit is greatly boosted by those sun breaks. It was raining hard when I pulled off to the beach at Purdy north of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, but there was a patch of blue sky positioned to pass over soon so I stopped and gathered four buckets of stones from this beach that I have picked from for years. The tide was in so I put on my 'Brit Middies' (they are really called that) made by Muck Boots, my favorite garden work footwear. This enabled me to step in to the water, but had to dodge little waves or get a shoe full. I had 2 buckets of rock by the time the next squall hit and I drove to Bainbridge. The sun was out again there and everything was washed down and vibrant. They had had 5 inches of rain over the weekend while I was home.
Seattle across the water, with a Monet sky
I drove to the site and unloaded my rock, washed them, and sorted the colors I will need for the upcoming week, silver and blue green and yellow. I will then have nearly completed the outside ring. That should happen in the next couple of days. There is a full pallet of mortar and 200 feet of steel rebar waiting for me. I put up my shade structure frame to be prepared for rain. I also brought better rain gear and glove liners this time. I was thrown a little when I found that all the saw cut stones I had found on the beach were gone from the center altar, along with some metal pieces and shells. It seems like a strange place to pilfer things, but I am sure I will find more and passed it off as another sign of duality in the universe.
When I got up in the morning it was pouring rain, monsoon style. I wanted to go back to bed, but by the time I was finished with breakfast the rain had stopped and I was blessed with a dry day. Whenever the sun broke through the clouds the temperature went up a little and my mood elevated. The skies have been so beautiful.
A break in the weather
I started by gathering four buckets of rock from Rockaway Beach as the tide was out. Then I went to the site and spent the entire afternoon setting the Rest and Cleansing Moon (Jan. 20 to Feb. 18), which is flanked by silver stones. I used artistic license on this one. The mix of stones gives the appearance to me to me of shades of silver. The totem mineral for this moon is silver as well. The animal here is the otter, both fresh water and sea otters, which I've heard visit the shores of Bainbridge Island. Sea otters were driven to near extinction by fur trappers at the beginning of the 20th Century. The plant for this moon is Quaking Aspen, which have silvery bark. This would be the Aquarian Moon.
The Rest and Cleansing Moon
From there silver transitions in to blue green stones for the Big Winds Moon. I was able to find enough in this color range to make it read as such. Turquoise is the mineral here. The cougar is the animal, and plantain is the totem plant. This would be the Pisces Moon. From here I am beginning to transition in to the color yellow. I've been collecting yellowish stones, iron stained granite, quartzite, and sandstone that I will mix together at the entrance to the labyrinth.
The Big Winds Moon
I started just past the boulder in the middle today...good progress
The 11th Circuit is nearly complete
I had an hour of light left so I ran over to Rockaway Beach and filled four buckets of stones. I am starting to look for larger oval stones to make a 108 stone mandala in the 10th ring. That is 27 stones in each quarter, nine stones for each moon. The paths will make their first turns to link to the 10th circuit.
Sunset on Rockaway Beach
In the morning I returned to the Rockaway Beach, to a boat ramp at a house I was given permission to use. This makes it a shorter schlep for carrying buckets of rock from the middle of the beach. I focused on larger sizes of stones for framing the paths, and looked for large ovals to use as Mala stones. This can be exhausting work and my arms ache after 4 hours of picking.
I later worked until dark setting the eastern 'Budding Trees Moon', where the outer ring path turns towards the center. The color for this moon is yellow, which took a lot of searching to come up with enough stones in this color range to do the work. The mineral for this moon is the Fire Opal, the animal is the Red-tailed Hawk, and the plant, the dandelion. This is the Aries Moon of the Spring Equinox.
My project manager Gregory came by for a visit, and afterwards he went to use the prayer wheel to send a much needed intention out in to the world. I made a big yellow flower for him in the turn in the path, the first of the 108 large stones that will be set in the 10th circuit.
Gregory's flower, the first or last Mala stone
The next day he took me to a house down the beach where the owners have graciously offered to let me collect rock where they have access to the shore line. There are larger stones in this section and I was able to gather over 1,000 pounds before the tide came in. Sorry body, I push you so hard.
I unloaded and washed and sorted the rock to the various color piles. The site is getting a little messy as I bring in more and more rock, but I need to spread them out to see what I have. I finished setting up the forms for the entry and a 180 degree turn in the outer ring.
The Budding Trees Moon at a turn in the path
My friend Jan Hilmer, an artist who lives and works in L.A. and New York, and Bali in the winter came to visit on his way to do some creative wood carving with a friend up on Orcas Island. He is an inspired and talented man in many mediums. It was fun to share this project with him. The park had been pretty quiet since my return but the sun came out and a steady stream of people passed through while we visited making it seem a busy place.
A friend comes to visit
I slept in the next morning and did a lot of stretching and self massage to get the body rolling for another day. There was a blanket of fog obscuring the view of Seattle, but the most romantic dream like image of a schooner with white sails was just visible like a ghost in the mists offshore.
The morning view
I went to the site and started working on the entry to the labyrinth as the fog burned off. The entry is in the east and adjacent to the Budding Trees Moon so I used more yellow stones. A really nice guy named Chip came to check out the work and stayed for some time talking about the project. I told him about my habit of making flowers when people turn the prayer wheel and he told me he would do it for his cousin, who had just been diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer. So I made her a flower at the very beginning of where you enter the labyrinth, a healing flower filled with compassion and positive but pensive energy. Good health is a treasure that should not be taken for granted. But then mortality can be the greatest teacher, and the labyrinth is in many ways a path of life and its dual opposite, death and transformation. At a lecture I attended years ago by the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, India (the place where the Buddha attained enlightenment), he made the impressionable statement that Death is the most important thing you can prepare for in life as it will be the most important transition we will make. I use this ideal to motivate me as I navigate the path of life. Make the most of each day.
Chip blessing the flower made for his cousin
As I place the 108 stones in the 10th circuit I've been explaining to people some of the meanings behind this number. There are 108 Mala beads in a Hindu or Buddhist prayer bracelet used for counting while chanting or reciting a mantra. This could make for a very slow circumambulation of the 10th circuit if you are to express something on each of the stones as you walk the path. There is potential for great focus, transformation, and healing if a person were to fully actualize this practice with a conscious intention in mind.
The diameter of this labyrinth is 36 feet, which when multiplied by 3 is 108. There are 9 Mala stones between each of the 12 moons and 27 in each quarter of the circuit. The individual digits of 108 represent 1, an individual thing or self, 0, nothing, and 8, the symbol for infinity. 54 stones will be set on each side of the axis to the right of the entrance. This for me represents the force of duality in constant flux to maintain the balance that regulates the cosmos.
In Hindu mythology, the creation of the cosmos is sometimes described as a story called the Churning of the Sea of Milk. This is a cosmic tug of war between the two opposites of all things pushing and pulling on each other to create motion. Devas (demi Gods) and Asuras (Demons) pull back and forth on Vasuki, a seven headed Naga Cobra and the king of serpents. Vasuki is wrapped around the holy Mount Meru, which is used to churn the Sea or Ocean of Milk to create Amrit, the elixir of immortality that had been lost to the Gods. The God Vishnu directs the proceedings in two incarnations, one as a turtle, Kurma, who supports the mountain to prevent it from sinking. In the other he sits on top of the mountain and inspires the churning. In the duality of the process, a powerful poison is produced, perhaps to balance the Amrita. Lord Shiva is said to have drank the poison in order to save the universe, turning his neck blue. One of the gifts produced in the churning was the Moon.
Angkor Wat in the 1990's
At Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the entire temple complex is a giant model of this concept. The vast surrounding moat is the Sea of Milk. The railings surrounding all of the terraces are the Vasuki like Naga serpents. The central tower of the temple is Mt. Meru, the churn. I have visited Angkor twice, spending nearly a month all together exploring the ruins. This is by far the most profound architectural complex I have ever visited. Everything has a reason and is inextricably connected to the greater universe in time and space. The stories are laid out in vast exquisite bas reliefs, the greatest being 'The Churning of the Sea of Milk'.
Bas relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk at Angkor Wat
I am borrowing some of these ideas and alluding to sacred stories to incorporate in to the labyrinth, that it might attract divine energy.
My first attempt at a turn in the path from the 11th to the 10th circuit
Krishna, the Blue God and eighth incarnation of Vishnu in the Hindu religion has 108 Gopis or devoted milk maids who danced a circular dance called the 'Rasa Lila'. This dance is considered to be transcendent of time. To walk the labyrinth as a dance, contemplating the 108 stones in the 10th circuit, the lunar cycles in the 11th, the orbit of the 8 known planets around the sun in the inner 8 circuits, and the seasonal changes that occur as the Earth circumambulates the sun in all of the circuits has the potential to connect the labyrinth walker to the greater universe, and the divine consciousness represented by the spirit of Krishna.
An embroidered depiction of the Rasa Lila
Finding the right stones for this purpose has required a lot of searching for larger oval stones with a wide flat surface in the right colors. It seems to be another kind of penance. It is a great endeavor to seek out all the stone I need to continue building the paths. At this point I've gathered well over 4 tons.
Larger stones create a Mala bead bracelet of 108 stones in the 10th circuit of the labyrinth
The weather has become lovely again and I am pushing to make as much progress as possible while it is pleasant out. I dread the cold rainy days that probably lie ahead. The sunshine and the weekend brought out a lot of visitors to the park, and I've had some very engaging conversations. Making the flowers has made the labyrinth personal for a number of people who seem to be truly enchanted by the space that is taking shape. A lovely couple named Brian and Shelley came by in the afternoon on Saturday.
Brian and Shelly
I made them a beautiful flower when they rang the prayer wheel, between the 21 and 22nd Mala stones so they could find it later. By counting the stones they can become a kind of address.
Bryan and Shelly's flower
As we were talking the Douglas Squirrel that lives in the surrounding trees came out and ran around on the path, not far from where we were standing. They are adorable little brown chattering characters, who live primarily on the seeds in the cones of conifers. I told Brian and Shelley about seeing a Bald Eagle, and finding the feather, and the deer that came the day I made the Corn Planting Moon, and the frogs that croak in the direction of the Frogs Return Moon. I explained that the labyrinth is permeable, so that and water can soak in to the Earth and life can blend in to the gaps between the paths.
In perspective the half farther away looks so much smaller than the closer half
Sunday was warm and sunny, and couples, some with young children came by to check out the progress. Everybody wants to know when it will be finished. Sometime next Spring. I want to incorporate the Spring Equinox in to the paths and perhaps manifest a Summer Solstice walk. I've been working in the Summer moons part of the 10th circuit from the south to the west today, using up much of the red and purple I've gathered. Its harder to make nice flowers because the space between the Mala stones is restricted.
Today, October 6th was my Mother's 80th birthday, and she had asked me if I would make a flower for her. I want it to be very special, and so I decided I would make the last moon in the 11th circuit, the Ducks Fly Moon that lies in the gap between the turns on the western side of the labyrinth, the point of the autumnal equinox, in her honor. We were both born under this Libra Moon. I had to return to the beach to collect more purple stones and find more Mala stones. There are 9 between each moon passing through the range of colors in the Medicine Wheel. Large oval purple stones are hard to find. I also need brown, orange, black, white, silver, blue green, and yellow Mala stones to finish this circuit. I have about 60 more to set before the paths turn to the 9th circuit. I worked until dark and wasn't able to make a suitable flower for my Mother, or reach the point where I could create the moon, which was frustrating. When I called her that night I promised that I would do the work soon. Her favorite color is turquoise blue, so I would like to make her a splendid flower when I get to the blue green part of the color wheel around the big winds moon. But I will make a sprinkling of flowers thinking of her throughout the entire project.
My Mother feeding a peacock at Peterson's Rock Garden in the early 50's
The following morning I was fortunate to have dry weather again and was able to finish the first half of the 10th circuit, connecting a turn from the outer ring on the western side of the labyrinth. My body is feeling run down and exhausted, and I haven't been sleeping well as I think about the project all the time. I had planned to take the afternoon off but ended up at the beach collecting another 500 pounds of rock so that I can continue my way around through the Autumn months with the colors of brown, orange, black, and white. I have found most of the Mala stones for these colors but would like to find some with transitional blends of colors. I've only found a few silver and blue green stones that will work for those areas so I will need to do an intensive search for those once I make my way around the circuit.
After I rolled the buckets of stone down the hill in my wheel barrow, and washed and sorted them to the areas they will be set, I sat and did a series of chants to clear my mind and ground myself. I feel like a mosaic machine when I am working in full mode and need to reclaim the joy of the work. I love seeing the progress but the exhaustion dampens my mood. So I went down the to Prayer Wheel, which I haven't done since I started and sent out three different intentions, including the wish that I survive the process of manifesting this project. The circuits get considerably smaller as I move inward. The first two are a substantial percentage of the entire project (I'm saying that to comfort myself).
It was getting dark, but I sat on the swinging bench for a while and stared at the bay. This is such a beautiful place.
The view from the swing
October 8: It poured rain this morning and there were flashes of lightning and thunder, so I procrastinated getting myself to the site until the rain let up. I removed yesterday's forms and set up the next area. I only had a bag and a half of mortar left so I mixed those and made the second turn at the western cardinal point. I was fantasizing taking a break from the project when the new pallet of 80 pound bags of mortar arrived. So I pushed onward. After mixing two bags and spreading them in the form it started to pour rain. I grabbed a tarp and crawled under it using my head as a tent pole. I have a structure set up to attach the tarp to but it is on the other side of the labyrinth and is hard to move by myself. Halfway through setting the stones the rain let up and I was able to emerge from under cover. It was sort of funny and sort of not. For some reason whenever I am wet and I set the hose down the spray nozzle goes off and soaks me. This has been happening for years. A jet of water shot up my pant leg, and profanities rang out. I'm glad nobody was around.
Laying out orange Mani Stones in the 10th circuit
Now there was blue sky so I continued to work. A gardener who does maintenance down the hill came by to visit. He does stone masonry himself, and we talked for a long time about the local beach rock and various projects. I love using stone collected from these beaches. The colors are so varied and rich, and many of the pieces I'm using are absolutely gorgeous. I worked my way through the brown and orange sections of the Medicine Wheel and transitioned in to black, mixing in stones that have orange and black veins or spots.
Luke stopping by for a visit
I ran down to the beach at dusk as I need more black and white stones to carry on tomorrow. The tide was in so I had to dodge waves. In the end I took off my pants and waded out in to the water in my undershorts to access the pieces that were calling to me in the rising tide. I cant imagine how many stones this project will take. The sunset over Seattle from the water was grandiose with thunderheads heading for the Cascade Range.
A gorgeous late afternoon sky
October 10: This morning when I started work I made two small white flowers, dedicated to two people, Jadin and Joe Bell, using mortar mixed with a copious amount of tears. I had read a news story before leaving for work that Joe Bell, a man who was walking cross country as a way to deal with his grief after his son had committed suicide from incessant bullying in high school, had been struck and killed by a semi truck. They were from La Grande, Oregon a small town in the eastern part of the state. Joe Bell's journey was one inspired by the desire to speak in the towns he passed through about the need to end the bullying that is all too common in our public schools, especially directed at young people who might be different. His walk was a kind of penance strong enough to address his tragic loss. Here is a link to a story in the Denver Post, and a beautifully written article by Pauls Toutonghi published in September for Salon.com a month before Joe's death.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24282181/man-walking-memorialize-his-son-is-fatally-hit
http://www.salon.com/2013/09/08/“they_ripped_him_apart”_searching_for_answers_in_the_suicide_of_bullied_teen_jadin_bell/
Two white flowers dedicated to Jadin and Joe Bell, on either side of the 79th Mala Stones
The flowers are white and in the northerly direction on either side of the 79th Mala Stone, near the Earth Renewal or Capricorn Moon. It is my hope that these two small flowers will emit a feeling of acceptance, understanding, loving compassion and strength to all who pass over them while walking the labyrinth. They are for me a pledge to be a kinder person.
The sign was delivered today that describes the project so that people who visit will have a better understanding of what it is that I am building here. Gregory will mount it on posts to the side of the entrance to the labyrinth.
A sign describing the Halls Hill Labyrinth Project
I had a great meeting with people involved in the project who suggested the idea of making a 'Community Circuit' using stones given to me by people who would like to contribute something to the project. So I will make a sign to post describing what I am looking for in terms of shape, size, and color and provide a place for people to drop them off if I am not there. For a description of the kinds of stones I use; they should be somewhat like blocks, squarish in profile, with a flat top and ideally 90 degree sides so that they fit tightly together and are comfortable to walk on.
When selecting stones it is good to look at them from the side, turning them to find the plane that would be the top, ones that don't have bumps on the sides that would make them difficult to fit tightly together with other stones.
An ideally shaped stone, with a nice flat top and square sides
A good way to test them is to put two possibilities together to see how they look. They can be small or large but should be at least 2 inches thick in the direction that will be imbedded in to the mortar so they wont pop out later. Thin pancake like stones have the tendency to become dislodged over time, which I really don't want to have happen. I'll use the stones you bring me in the mosaic if they pass those requirements. These will probably go in to the 3rd circuit from the center, which will represent the planet Earth orbiting the Sun. I will be building this circuit next Spring. If you do bring stones to the site and I am not there you can leave them next to the sign.
I also finished the 12th moon in the outer circuit, the 'Ducks Fly Moon' which is the moon for the sign of Libra which my Mother and I were born under. It lies in the western direction between the two turns in the outer ring. I dedicated this moon to my Mother and I call it the Mary Lou Moon.
The Ducks Fly Moon, dedicated to my Mother Mary Louise in honor of her 80th birthday
As usual I needed more stones to continue the Mala circuit. So I went to the house at the far end of Rockaway Beach where I was given permission to collect rock because there are larger sizes of stones there and I hadn't been to that section of the beach for a while. I think I found what I needed and worked until dark continuing along my way setting stones in mortar.
I didn't sleep well again, probably because I my body is so sore and my mind if full of rocks, but I had a very productive day. As the project progresses and I meet more people, the Labyrinth seems to become more meaningful and profound with each passing day. There is a strong sense of gratitude from the people who visit this park as it is a place of beauty, solace and peace. When I describe the meaning of various parts of the design and how the labyrinth could be used it resonates with the richness of possibility and generates a lot of excitement for visitors.
Gregory was at the site when I arrived today, installing the sign for the project. It is perfectly placed. I love how conscious every element of this project is. It is a pleasure to work on such a level.
Gregory installs the sign
My friends Terry Moyemont and Terri Stanley came to visit today and shoot some video in the afternoon. They live up in Kingston and specialize in Mediterranean plants. It was great to see and spend time with them again. We talked about travel, and Greece, where I will be spending the winter. They have a long history and connection to that ancient country. They are truly kindred spirits, bringing to my attention a number of people and works of literature that I would like to know in regards to this project and life in general. Terry recently had his second hip surgery and is regaining his mobility. I made them each a flower as I entered the blue green realm of the Strong Winds Moon. The colors of these stones are so pretty. Some of the individual stones are works of art on their own.
Nancy and Dave came along just as the Terryi's were leaving. Dan is blind and Nancy brought him over to feel some of the stones I am working with, and the texture of the mosaics. I made them each a flower on either side of a gorgeous piece that looks like a blue heart, with dark blue veins.
Nancy and Dan's flowers and the 'Blue Heart' Mala stone
Nancy's radiant smile and the sweetness of their visit will stay with me for some time, and may those who pass over this spot when walking the labyrinth feel some of the joy inspired during our visit.
Dave and Nancy visiting the site
Another couple from the island came by after that and again were very excited about what is manifesting here. Its gratifying to be working on something that can mean so much to people. For years I have built beautiful gardens and works in stone but they have mostly been private.
Happy Visitors
I worked until dark and brought the 10th circuit to where it will bend and parallel the entry path. This part of the path is centered on the East West axis along with the one leading in to the circle in the center, which will be the sun, with a moon in its center. This 13th Moon in the center will represent the Blue Moon, and solar and lunar eclipses. The eight circuits leading out from the sun will be the paths of the known planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto will be interspersed in to the 9th circuit between the four elements, in reference to the Greek God of the Underworld. There is an excellent explanation of who Pluto represents at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_(mythology) Pluto in the 9th ring represents the riches and fertility of the Earth that lies beneath its surface. Pluto, a God of the Underworld was a benevolent form and caretaker in the afterlife. Wedded with Persephone, who reemerges in the Spring from beneath the soil, when the Earth is awakens from the darkness of winter. Pluto and Persephone symbolize the guardians who care for those who have passed and gone back in to the fold.
The Planets in our Solar System
I finished the 10th circuit just as it got dark, except for the turns in the path that I will connect when I build the 9th circuit. I'll add the 108th Mala stone when I construct the turn at the end of this circuit. I've been working on each ring in a Sun wise direction. I will begin the 9th circuit on the other side of the entry path next.
Reaching the turn at the end of the 10th circuit
In the morning I removed the steel forms from yesterday's work. I do this very carefully so as not to loosen any of the stones along the edge. But today one came out. So I used my screw driver that I go over the work with shaping the mortar to chisel with a hammer a layer of mortar so I could put in a new stone. Then I put the forms together for the 9th circuit from the east to the south. The distances are getting shorter between the axis. I bent two rods of rebar, which run through the entire labyrinth, and placed them inside the form.
Forms for the 9th circuit
Then I mixed two bags of mortar and spread those in the form and then set the stone. The element in this direction for me is the East, Springtime, lots of rain. So I went to Point White Pier and picked four buckets of smaller sized stones I could use to make flowing lines with.
Rocks on the beach at Point White Pier
It took 2 1/2 hours to collect these stones
The water element mosaic is made of various shades of green stones flowing between the ones that line the edges of the path. This is meant to have the feeling of a small stream, the river of life, or the waters of Puget Sound lapping on the shores where I am gathering the rocks.
The Element of Water
Beginning the 9th circuit
In the south will be Fire, in the west Earth, and in the north Air. I want to make some white clouds in the north so that you may walk on them and feel what its like to walk on clouds. When traveling the 11th circuit I recommend stepping over the moons rather than on them to have that experience as well. If you like you could jump over the moon. 'Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon.' That and walking on clouds could add a certain amount of fairytale enchantment to the journey. The Labyrinth is a garden of flowers, a lush green forest, a stroll in the sun, and a path through the snow. The natural colors of the stones speak to the cycles of the seasons, imbued with meaning linked in time and space. If you pay attention to the path itself, the beauty of the stones, their great age, and the details in how they fit together knowing that everything means something, then walking this labyrinth will be a rich adventure with many discoveries.
Two lovely visitors
Just as I was finishing my work two women came along to see what I was doing. The woman on the left had a labyrinth like medallion around her neck. I made and dedicated a flower to her son Peter who is had passed away. It floats in the stream I am making to represent the element of Water, which when combined with the elements of Pluto, could be called the River Styx.
A flower dedicated to Peter
I then cleaned up the site and prepared to leave.
The stopping point until the next installment
I'm taking a much needed break and going home to celebrate my birthday. I'm turning 55 on the 15th, so I'll be eligible for senior discounts. Joy of joys!
