Community Labyrinth to be Dedicated Friday

As dusk falls over Doylestown tonight, Native American blessings and the cutting of a ribbon will officially welcome a new spiritual experience into the borough.

At 7:30 p.m., the public is invited to gather on the corner of Pine and East Ashland streets to help dedicate the new Community Labyrinth at the Michener Museum.

The labyrinth - a single pathway that winds in a circular pattern to a center point - is meant to symbolize the journey towards the center of one's self.

The Doylestown labyrinth is the culmination of two years of work by a dedicated group who volunteered their expertise to make the labyrinth possible, said JoAnn Maroney, one of the group's leaders.

"It’s amazing the positive energy that has come out of this," Maroney said Thursday. "I can’t believe the talented people who have come out of the woodwork to offer to help. It’s really been great."

The group was brought together by Maroney's faith in a four-leaf clover. That faith sustained her through 15 years of grief after her daughter was killed in 1995.

While praying one day at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Maroney begged God for a sign that her daughter was at peace. She walked back to her car telling herself how silly she was being.

"I got in my car and was ready to slam the door and I looked down and saw a four-leaf clover. I absolutely knew it was the sign I asked for," Maroney said. "I had given up looking for it, but it found me. After that, they found me in lots of places."

In the summer of 2010, Maroney found herself at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in western Massachusetts, walking a labyrinth, searching for her center. Another four-leaf clover found her that day.

On the way home to Doylestown, she and her neighbor and yoga instructor, Maria Starr, discussed the find.

"All the way home I said to her, 'This means something. What does it mean?' " she said. "Finally we said, 'You know what it means? It means we should build a labyrinth in Doylestown.' "

The open lot across the street from the Maroneys' home seemed the perfect size for the proposed labyrinth. It belonged to the Michener Museum, so JoAnn approached museum director Bruce Katsiff with her crazy idea.

Suddenly, it didn't seem so crazy after all.

The museum agreed to lend the land to the labyrinth group for 10 years, Maroney said, and even contributed $1,000. Volunteers stepped forward to design it, to install it, and to raise the estimated $13,000 needed for the project. They've raised $8,000 so far.

This week, volunteers spread mulch over the landscaping and planted grass.

The project still has some parts to be completed, Maroney said, including installing a permanent sign. Renowned Doylestown ceramist Katia McGuirk is creating the mosaic that will grace the labyrinth's center. It will include a depiction of a four-leaf clover, Maroney said.

And tonight, after Lenape tribe members Nokomis and Bluejay offer a Native American blessing and Doylestown Mayor Libby White cuts the ribbon, the public will be invited to walk the seven-circuit labyrinth and find their own path.

"There's only one way in, and only one way out, and the path always leads to the center," Maroney said. "You can never get lost in a labyrinth."

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. It will be cancelled and rescheduled in the event of rain.