Photo: © Cindy A. Pavlinac, sacred-land-photography.com

eneath blanched sky
Eyes averted from glare
Memory hypnotized in that haze

She holds her hands over her ears
To deaden the crunch of
Soft rock
Cracked and curled leaves
Little fingers of dried
Grey wood splitting
Thinking these sounds
Can control her thoughts

Yet she walks
Never waits
For horizons to brighten or darken
Or the trail she scuffles upon
To settle into a smoothness
No churning soul would care to join
She wants not to feel a perfect sky
Or a path pocked by experience

Her vision shaded from the
Unformed
Untouchable
Impenetrable sky
Her steps become an
Earthen symphony
Of wood rock and water

Now, for no particular reason
She stops, smiles, wraps her arms
Around herself
Closes her eyes
Removes her shoes
And walks on

have entitled my new CD Return Again, Songs from the Women's Dream Quest because it reminds me that what we do in the Dream Quest is to return, again and again, to the land of the soul. For me, the labyrinth journey is always a homecoming to the place in ourselves where we access the soul. Thinking of it spatially the labyrinth is a way to enter the land of the soul. It is a dependable place for practicing that presence.

Return to the Land of Your Soul Photo by Jacob Barnett

The soul is our destination in both the Women's Dream Quest, an over night workshop that Veriditas has been offering for 19 years, and in the School of the Sacred Feminine, a new set of Veriditas programs. We reach soul through the labyrinth walk, through meditations and chanting, through prayer and through sharing from the heart, and I believe that our world is in dire need of ways like these to remember and reconnect with the soul realm.

In the land of the soul the ideas and steadfast beliefs that divide us take second place to the simple experience of our bodies circling through the labyrinth and our eyes taking in the beauty of sacred space. We notice our breath; we sense the presence of others who have chosen to walk in community on a common path. With some level of awareness we join the countless pilgrims who have walked this path of grace throughout the centuries. I believe the soul is attracted to the silence and the circle and the breath-filled movement that the labyrinth journey provides, and so many times in the Dream Quests I have given over the years, I have heard someone say: "This feels like coming home."

So in the words of the song:

Return Again, Return Again
Return Again, Return Again
Return to the Land of your Soul
Return to who you are
Return to what you are
Return to where you are
Born and reborn again

Judith Tripp, MA, MFT is a transpersonal psychologist, musician, Veriditas facilitator and Director of the School of the Sacred Feminine. She leads the Women's Dream Quest at Grace Cathedral, and in other locations around the country. See www.Circleway.com for further details.

• Sole to Soul: Exploring physical and spiritual journeys brought about by the labyrinth experience...main.

• Sole to Soul as Medicine: How can the labyrinth be a part of the medical world? by Kay Sandor...page 2.

• The Art of Pilgrimage: An excerpt from Phil Cousineau's book...page 2.

• Sole to Soul in Jail: What can inmates find in the labyrinth? by Ellen Meuch...page 3.

• Little Miracles on the Path: Walking to the light—of the soul...page 4.

• Sole to Soul: Ceremonies and Rituals Using the labyrinth to heal and connect with Mother Earth...page 4.

• Sole to Soul: a poem by Tom Elder...page 5.

• Return to the Land of the Soul: Dream Questing for your soul, by Judith Tripp...page 5.

Upcoming Events

Quickening the Spirit, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, November 10-11, 2006

Winter Retreat 2007, IONS Retreat Center, Petaluma, January 19-21, 2007

Walking a Sacred Path, Chartres, France, May 2007

Complete Calendar Download

Books

New books by Lauren Artress: Walking A Sacred Path (Revised) and The Sacred Path Companion

Journal Navigation: Main - p. 2 - p. 3 - p. 4 - p. 5