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Veriditas Council


Current Council Members

Barrie Carter Gibby

Barrie Carter Gibby works on that creative edge between the branches of words and movement expression. A long-time educator, community builder, avid traveler and labyrinth facilitator, Barrie entwines her background in design, music, theater production and ritual-making to facilitate workshops and pilgrimages across the nation on a variety of themes. She is especially fascinated by the parallels of Celtic and Native American cultures and their loving embrace of nature centered whole life. Her annual pilgrimage to the 13th c. Chartres Cathedral labyrinth, in Chartres, France, provokes inspired passion for her ongoing labyrinth work. As a Veriditas Advanced Certified Labyrinth facilitator, Barrie finds sacred spaces everywhere.

Leslie Wright

Stratford, Ontario, Canada

In 1999 Leslie Wright walked her first labyrinth in a church basement in her native Toronto and it sparked something in her. She received her Facilitator Certification in 2014 and Advanced training in 2020. She participated in a Chartres Pilgrimage in 2018. Leslie enjoys sharing the labyrinth with her community in a variety of settings including churches, seniors’ homes, Parliament of World Religions in Toronto and on her backyard labyrinth. Leslie has been described as a passionate and welcoming facilitator.

Since 1995 Leslie has been active in various church congregations including leading workshops exploring spirituality. When she isn’t exploring the labyrinth, she loves experiencing the various arts, especially photography and theatre. She looks forward to helping labyrinth facilitators connect to find ways to support each other.

Chuck Hunner

The labyrinth found Chuck on a beach in Florida in 1998. Over the next few months, he developed a line of labyrinth jewelry. He completed facilitator training with Lauren Artress in 2005 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Walks that he hosts focus on moments in Nature such as full and new moons, equinoxes and solstices, and on the transformative power of partnering with Nature. He led many of Robert Ferre's labyrinth construction projects to success and continues to complete new permanent labyrinths each year. His focus is to bring labyrinths to an ever widening audience in order to share the magic and enhancement of labyrinth consciousness.

Athena Dugan

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Athena loves working with the labyrinth as ritual; dedicating the space, calling to the elements, the spoken word, and through song and sound, creating a psychic queue for liminal space. . A certified Mindfulness and Soundbath practitioner, Athena includes these dynamics to her walks to enhance the processes of the labyrinth experience.

Athena Certified in July 2019, in Stony Point NY, and received her Advanced Facilitators Certification online, in February 2022. . Athena’s first experience walking a labyrinth happened in 2009 as she walked an 120ft in diameter illuminated 7-circuit classical labyrinth at a Spiritual Retreat…Enchanted by the vision and walk, she became focused to experience the labyrinth; whenever she travels, she looks to include a labyrinth walk. .

In 2013, Athena began creating temporary labyrinth walks for public and for private events throughout Philadelphia and the NYC area. . She facilitates regular and seasonal labyrinth walks with the local Parks Association, Retreat Centers, Churches, Schools, and Wellness events. When not facilitating, Athena crafts jewelry and creates handheld labyrinths. Walkers of the Labyrinth is her organization that offers weekly meditations, online and in person labyrinth walks, workshops, and retreats. She is also host of a monthly online blog cast named LIVING LABYRINTHS. Athena is enthusiastic about bringing labyrinth experience to the diverse communities in the Philadelphia area. Her involvement with the local community has resulted in building a permanent labyrinth within the community garden; and for creating an after-school Labyrinth program for K2 and K3 grades.

Athena looks forward to sharing her love of the labyrinth working with, and with support to other facilitators while continuing to build community and inclusivity.

Rob Hodges

Rob Hodges is a cellist, singer, and composer who enjoys collaborating with artists of all stripes.  He earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from UC Santa Barbara in 2009 after having spent many years teaching in higher education as well as conducting fieldwork research on funerary ritual and songs of grief in North Sumatra, Indonesia.  Rob’s ongoing musical interests and explorations involve mind – body – spirit connections to music in relation to healing, ritual, and collaborative improvisation.  Rob is a labyrinth designer and builder as well as an Advanced Labyrinth Walk Facilitator, having trained with Lauren Artress through Veriditas in 2017 and in 2022.  He operates a small landscape design and installation business focusing on native and pollinator-friendly plant propagation. It was through one of his early landscape projects that Rob came to know the labyrinth intimately, after having installed one on a client’s property for her daily walking / praying meditation practice.  He takes profound pleasure in connecting with others through musical offerings during labyrinth walks, whether online or in person, and he continues to grow in his understanding of the labyrinth as an organ of healing, processing, and profound spiritual and emotional significance.  In recent years he has joined with a few others to provide soundbath meditations following labyrinth walks on the quarterly solstice and equinox celebrations.  Rob and his wife (and collaborative partner) poet, Catherine Abbey Hodges, live and work at The Croft, their home in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, near Springville, California.

Mary Ann Wamhoff

Crozet, Virginia

After training with Lauren Artress in Chartres, Mary Ann became a Veriditas Advanced Accredited Labyrinth Facilitator. She has walked labyrinths since at least 1995, has never stopped studying (most recently, Creation Spirituality, Deep Time, and mystics), and is a Reiki Master. She regularly facilitated public walks sponsored by the Labyrinth Resource Group of Santa Fe, and spearheaded and helped build a 48-foot Chartres-style labyrinth. She is presently introducing her new Virginian community to the joys of labyrinth walking! As a Veriditas Council member, she supports facilitators in listening for walkers’ deepest yearnings and is excited about being part of the Veriditas Inclusion Initiative. Coming from a tradition that believes in the unseen, she has both felt and seen the labyrinth's amazing power! Mary Ann embraces labyrinth activism and loves to present workshops about the labyrinth!

Peter Valles

The Woodlands, Texas

Peter completed his advanced facilitator training with Veriditas in 2017.  As a geologist and naturalist, in conjunction with his deep connection with nature, Peter discovered sacred spaces in unlikely places. In January of 2018, he and several volunteers constructed a 7-circuit Classical labyrinth deep in the forest near his home. The labyrinth is constructed from all-natural materials. It has been a source of healing, renewal and joy to the many sojourners who have chosen to walk it. From these small beginnings Peter has cultivated a following of interested and curious labyrinth walkers in his community. In 2018 Peter founded the Center for Full Permission. All things labyrinth and leadership coaching are brought together there. Peter is a trained executive leadership coach with over 15 years of experience in the corporate world. The He uses the labyrinth in many coaching sessions, thus providing the spaciousness many need to process their life challenges. Through his work in building a community of practice with the labyrinth as the centerpiece, Peter has been able to reach a richly diverse segment of the population in his area. He has a strong conviction that those who walk the labyrinth are able to access a part of themselves that lurk in the shadow of the psyche and discover what lay beyond the veil of what is known.

Vicki Longhofer

Greensboro, North Carolina.

When Vicki walked a labyrinth for the first time in Grace Cathedral, she knew this form of meditation would become consequential for her. Since 2001 she has shared this special path with walkers of all ages. Vicki received facilitator training from Lauren Artress in 2000 and joined a Veriditas Pilgrimage to Chartres in 2002. From personal practice she sees the heart-opening experience of the labyrinth walk as a means to foster peace, individually and communally.

An artist and educator, Vicki finds delight in helping participants to connect with their inherent creativity as the labyrinth nurtures the creative process. She has facilitated walks, workshops and retreats in diverse settings: hospitals, parks, youth camps, retreat centers and other community-based venues. Labyrinth meditations are also woven into her SoulCollage® groups. In 2020 Vicki became a Veriditas Advanced Certified facilitator. She is grateful to share with fellow Council members in the joyful mission of growing and supporting the Veriditas world community.

Pamella "Pema" Reid

Pamella "Pema" Reid, Executive Director and Founder of Dreamcatchers for the Soul Foundation, Inc., is a dedicated advocate for the holistic enrichment and education of children in at-risk communities. Through a grant, she acquired a labyrinth that she now brings to various settings, including summer camps, schools, restorative justice conferences, hospitals, and corporations. She received her labyrinth training from Veriditas.

Pema passionately believes in providing children aged 5-18 with healthy coping tools. She is academically accomplished, a licensed minister, a seasoned group facilitator. She is trained in mindfulness, and has been inducted into the Broward Hall of Fame, a proclamation from Dade County. Pema has also received two Black Achievers award nominations, and a Broward Trail Blazer award.

Pema aspires to extend the presence of labyrinths to underserved youth and teens, while also introducing mobile labyrinths to restorative justice circles and juvenile facilities.

Julia Van Fleet

Julia has walked labyrinths with her mother since she was 12 years old, and has been using the labyrinth throughout her college years as a modality for grounding and centering herself. She graduated in 2020 with Bachelor’s Degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies, and is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Studies through Lesley University. She is expanding her knowledge and expertise in mindfulness, further integrating it with her labyrinth work. She completed her facilitator training in 2022, and is a Certified Labyrinth Facilitator as of 2023.

Having interned with Veriditas in 2022, Julia focused on bringing the labyrinth to younger generations. Her efforts included introducing mindfulness techniques and how to apply them to walking the labyrinth to students during virtual facilitator training sessions.

Through her role on Council, Julia is actively involved in reaching out to varying demographics, thereby contributing to the expansion of Veriditas’ outreach.

Council Alumni

Chris Farrow Noble
Kay Mutert
Ellen Bintz Meuch
Gracie Amirault
Judith Tripp
Linda Mikel
Laura Esculcas
Caylen Raine

Michel Gribble-Dates
Kathryn McLean
Jo Ann Mast
Catlyn Fendler

Marge McCarthy
Tina Margason
Cindy Cleary
Tracy Friedl
Jane Wirth
Craig Wirth
John Ridder
Dhyana Raynor
Warren Lynn
Bonnie Odiorne
Margaret Saison

Duncan Newcomer

Lisa Gidlow Moriarty

Karen Kelley
Paul Campbell
Twylla Alexander
Christine Favreau
Nathan Wiles
Tina Christensen
Betty Lopez-Towey
Karen Knight
Marion Patterson

Melissa Postnikoff

member in perpetuity

Veriditas Council Vision Statement


An ever-expanding network of Labyrinth Facilitators, actively supporting the Mission* of Veriditas. 

Veriditas Council Mission Statement

The Council works to develop and implement practical initiatives to support the Labyrinth Facilitator community, in collaboration with the Veriditas Board. 

*(Mission of Veriditas - Veriditas is dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience. We accomplish our mission by training and supporting labyrinth facilitators around the world, and offering meaningful events that promote further understanding of the labyrinth as a tool for personal and community transformation.)

Veriditas Council Guiding Principles

The Veriditas Council is a Circle, peer-led and spirit-centered. It is grounded in the principles of cooperation, rotating leadership, shared responsibility and honoring sacred guidance, as a balanced way forward for birthing new ideas and vision.

The Veriditas Council... a brief history


Download a timeline of the Veriditas Council Here.

The focus of the Council’s work is to support the Facilitator community. We are committed to developing ways for facilitators to more easily connect with each other. Since COVID-19 Council has hosted annual “Virtual Facilitator Renewal Days”, periodic on-line “Meetups!” where facilitators discuss topics of interest, and monthly virtual “Friday Finger Labyrinth Walks.” New facilitators receive a welcome letter and invitation to be more engaged with Veriditas activities. Another initiative is restoring Lonely Labyrinths to full beauty and use. Council is involved with inclusion initiatives to help broaden the reach and relevance of labyrinth programs.

In the past, members of the Council have developed new programs within Veriditas, such as The School of the Sacred Feminine and the Global Healing Response Network. We work to build connections with other labyrinth groups around the country, and take the labyrinth into places it hasn’t been such as with Legacy Labyrinths. We have established the Melissa Postnikoff Memorial Scholarship Fund, named for a beloved founding member, which could help bring greater financial access to programs. We continually ask, "What does the labyrinth want of us now?"

Called together by Lauren, we formed in the spring of 2004 with the purpose of helping to vision the birthing of the second generation of Veriditas as it moved toward a focus centered on the transformative experience of the labyrinth. It was also a time when Lauren was beginning to think about shifting the tenor of her role as Mother of Veriditas to that of Grandmother. We took inspiration from the image of the spider plant, where the mother plant is continually bringing forth baby plants, each having the potential to thrive and grow. It continues to be a beautiful metaphor for the expanding and deepening of our work.

From the beginning, we have seen ourselves as a spiritual task force. As we come together, we create a sacred space from which to work. We are inspired and guided by Christina Baldwin’s circle model, found in her book Calling the Circle. Our meetings are structured to give time to meditation, labyrinth walking and sharing of personal process, interwoven with the business of the meetings. We honor the wisdom of each member’s voice; deeply listening to each other.

The Council meets by conference calls and works by committee between meetings. Our membership is fluid and organic, with a limit of 15 people. Interest in working in a spiritual circle and sharing a commitment to our mission are essential, as are attending meetings and willingness to take on tasks. 

Council periodically accepts applications for new members.  

Council may approve visitors to our meetings.  If you want to attend, please email somasphere@outlook.com.  Visitors will be welcomed according to our policies.



101 H Street, Suite D, Petaluma, CA 94952   |   Phone 707-283-0373    |    contact@veriditas.org

Veriditas is dedicated to inspiring personal and planetary change and renewal through the labyrinth experience.

We accomplish our mission by training and supporting labyrinth facilitators around the world, and offering meaningful events that promote further understanding of the labyrinth as a tool for personal and community transformation. Our Vision is that the labyrinth experience guides us in developing the higher level of human awareness we need to thrive in the 21st century.

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