Last year marked the first time the “Gathering” of The Labyrinth Society (TLS) was held in Canada. TLS is an international organization whose mission is to support all those who create, maintain and use labyrinths, and to serve the global community by providing education, networking and opportunities to experience transformation. A huge success, the event was attended by labyrinth practitioners and enthusiasts from around the world. With workshops held at Parksville’s Tigh-Na-Mara Resort and pilgrimages taking participants to the many labyrinths from Victoria to Campbell River and across to Port Alberni, this conference also featured, for the first time, a display of some of the most striking of the many and various wooden labyrinths created by Canada’s Bill Godden.
“What a wonderful, unique contribution Bill is making to the worldwide labyrinth community,” observed TLS President Dr. John Rhodes. “Each of his labyrinths is individually and lovingly crafted, and then generously donated. This is so reflective of the generous, giving spirit one generally finds within the broader labyrinth community.”
Holly Carnegie Letcher, an Occupational Therapist who uses the labyrinth when offering health and wellness workshops, was the Coordinator of the 2013 Labyrinth Gathering and is a great admirer of Bill’s work.
“The display he created for the conference was like a labyrinth museum,” she says, “with replicas of labyrinth designs from churches and cathedrals all over the world.”
Bill and his wife, Anne, first encountered labyrinths during an ElderCollege course about pilgrimages. One of the sessions took them to the Vancouver School of Theology where they walked the beautiful labyrinth located in the garden behind the Iona building. Trained as a navigator during World War II, Bill was immediately fascinated with the design of the labyrinth.
“I think I could make one of those,” he announced to Anne. That was in 2003. Ten years on, Bill has created over 2,000 finger labyrinths in a variety of sizes and patterns.
Labyrinths are found in many cultures around the world, and the practice of walking labyrinths is one that people of many different faiths have used for meditation and contemplation or as a means of prayer. With early European labyrinths dating back 4,000 years, there has been a continuing interest in these installations. Over the past 20 years, enthusiasm for the creation of new labyrinths has escalated and there are now well over 100 labyrinths in British Columbia.
The revival of interest in labyrinths means that Bill Godden’s work attracts a great deal of attention and admiration. His labyrinths have been distributed to hospitals, hospices, retreat centres and schools in many countries, including Peru, Chile, Mexico, Britain, Holland, the United States and Canada. Bill has received dozens of thank you letters from people in these various locations, and there is no doubt his generosity is appreciated.
“Bill has an enormous generosity of spirit,” says Holly, “and he is making a great contribution to the world by peppering the planet with finger labyrinths.”
Many people ask if they can purchase one of Bill’s labyrinths, which he finds “gratifying” but, although he allowed them to be sold at the TLS conference for a fundraiser, he will not accept money for his labyrinths and prefers to distribute them to schools, hospitals and to labyrinth facilitators who can use them in their work.
Friends have pointed out to Bill that in many places hand-made finger labyrinths sell for over $100, and that if he’d sold his for as little as five or 10 dollars, it would have funded some nice holidays for the Goddens.
“I’ve thought of that,” says Bill, “but I just don’t think it would feel right to charge for them.” For him, creating labyrinths is a labour of love, and he doesn’t like the idea of commercializing them.
Anne, a former nurse, shares her husband’s passion for labyrinths. The couple frequently give presentations, and Anne enjoys introducing the labyrinth to others, especially those working with palliative care patients who find walking the finger labyrinth a comfortable and relaxing meditation.
“I’m grateful that Bill, who is an active person by nature, has found an activity that gives him so much satisfaction.”
Visiting and creating labyrinths has become a way of life. The Goddens have visited 34 labyrinths in different parts of the world, including ones all over British Columbia, San Francisco, Oregon, France, Italy, Alaska, Aruba and the UK. Visiting the labyrinth at the Chartres Cathedral was, Bill says, “a humbling experience” and the design of that labyrinth is the one he finds most interesting.
Of course, life is not all about labyrinths. Between them, the Goddens have seven grandchildren who are a great focus of their attention. They are also both very involved with the Langley Seniors Resource Centre. Through the years, they have led workshops and courses about the use of labyrinths and they’re still supporting the work of hospice volunteers, who find the labyrinth a useful resource. And, although they are no longer active with the local community garden, they still produce a wealth of marmalades, jams and jellies each year, goods which often accompany their gifts of labyrinths.
When asked how long he will continue to create these labyrinths, Bill chuckles. “By the end of 2013, I reached 2,600 and will have been hand-making finger labyrinths for almost 11 years, he calculates. “I hope to continue my work as long as I am able and would love to reach 5,000. Based on my past results, I will then have reached the great age of 100 years!”
People are watching as Bill continues on his own creative labyrinthine path. “The world is enriched with every labyrinth he completes,” says Dr. Rhodes. “Personally, I hope he makes it to 5,000!”
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