The Labyrinth Bath: A Path Home to Self

Before taking my sacred bath I was on Pinterest looking through pictures of labyrinths. I had always wanted one but now it looked like it might be a few years until we had a large outdoor space. I found some portable canvas ones for 2K but I wasn’t spending that. Then I saw this cute labyrinth rug for $380 which was a possibility…but I digress.

This was before I climbed into my sacred bath and asked for guidance. I was shown what an important symbol the labyrinth had become for me and why. If you look at it the paths are windy but from a distance there’s symmetry or a plan and it is all part of a larger whole.

When I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer four years ago it felt like I was unexpectedly dropped in the middle of the Amazon jungle without a map and I had to feel my way out, relying on my spiritual senses instead of my mind. And as a result, they opened up. I felt lost and learned how to experience chaos and the negativity out there and even physical pain while ever returning to that inner space of love, peace and trust. This latter energy fed my cells with light and returned me home to Source, regardless of the length of my time here. This was a powerful realization that I wrote about in my book, ‘The Cancer Path: A Spiritual Journey Through Healing, Wholeness & Love.’

Let’s not sugar coat it—when you go through a dark night of the soul there are losses. In my case there was severe disappointment in certain people, the loss of parts of a breast, loss of my hair and eyebrows for a year, loss of energy and for some even an inability to work for some time. And that is just the case with breast cancer. There are many dark nights of the soul like deaths of a loved one, divorce, community tragedies etcetera that rock your normal world and you wouldn’t wish them to occur because we are creatures of habit, comfort and as creators we like to plan things. But when we come back to center, really, we recognize that Spirit co-creates with our destiny so that we can grow and connect with our inner light even more when all seems dark. It is what will always light our way. Because what is real will remain—love.

When I lost all my hair I had a henna artist in Brooklyn named Kenzi do a henna labyrinth on my head. It helped me feel like a goddess monk and reminded me that cancer was not some kind of punishment; it was a spiritual journey.

A labyrinth teaches us to hold our center even as things fall away and to keep our faith. Although the journey is winding and the ending unclear, we can stay present and peaceful while taking steps forward while we feel our way to center. We need to be willing to be surprised and to relinquish control, to release the details in favor of unveiling the bigger picture. It is in this movement in and out that we find our balance and our connection to above and below, within and without, to God and ourselves and each other…and yes, even to life and death.

When something is lost, we often find ourselves in a new way and can feel reborn. Is it an Ella Fitzgerald song that crooned, ‘Every time we say goodbye I die a little,’ but every time we also grow.

And getting this labyrinth rug below is one tool.

But, so are meditation, prayer and taking a sacred bath. You can go into your sacred bath to wash away a chaotic day, limiting beliefs, and negative energy from others and more so that only love, essence and guidance remains. Calgon’s motto describes a bath as being a place to escape but I think of it as a way to come Home to you.

So take your sacred bath and ask your Higher Self to show you images of all your labyrinth trials and winding paths in this life and how they helped you to gain wisdom and return to your Self and Spirit in a stronger way.

Happy Bathing!
Paulette