Unless you knew what to look for, you wouldn’t even know it was there. Woven in among rows of perfumed grasses and herbs, the labyrinth simply looks like a garden from Fisherman Bay road. It is not, however, as simple as that.

Everyone has an idea of what a labyrinth is, whether it is derived from myth or popular television. Susie and Nick Teague are using the word in its most original form, however, and for its most original purpose.

“Labyrinths have been used for thousands of years from the Hopi and Aztecs to the Cretans and Christian builders of cathedrals. They are a symbol of wholeness and have been used historically for spiritual transformation, healing, creativity, prosperity, fertility, regeneration of land,” Susie said.

The labyrinth is very different from a maze of corn or box hedges. The path is very clear and there are no wrong turns. As Susie said, mazes are there to confuse, Labyrinths are a mechanism for healing and meditation.

The Teagues began work on the Lopez labyrinth about three years ago. Planning had started the year before when Linda and David Hudson approached them about using a piece of the Hudson land for a garden. “We presented our idea to them about building a labyrinth healing garden and they loved it immediately,” Susie said, “They had been talking about wanting a labyrinth on their property, so it was really a synchronistic moment that we all four shared together.”

The labyrinth pathway took about a year and a half to landscape, with the first flowers and herbs planted in spring 2009. Since the completion of the labyrinth, the Teagues have been organizing community labyrinth walks that vary in theme. “We’ve had a memorial walk, birthday and anniversary walks, healing walks, a home-school lantern walk, retreat walks, full-moon walks and the high school seniors walked after their baccalaureate ceremony. We are open to ideas from the community,” Susie said.

The walk sees people navigate their way along the path of the labyrinth until they reach the center, before wending their way out. The process of walking induces different reactions in everyone who participates, “Labyrinth experiences are different for each individual who walks, so one person may have a meditative experience while another has a creative burst of ideas, or an intuitive thought about an action in life that they need to take, such as exercise more. Children oftentimes have a burst of joyful energy there wanting to run or skip. So different for everyone.”

Susie said that the experience of the labrinbth is not religious, but personal. “The purpose of a labyrinth walk depends on what your intention is. Labyrinth walks effect both sides of your brain at the same time synchronizing the left hemisphere actions of reasoning, problem-solving and language with the right hemisphere actions of intuition and creativity. The possibilities are endless to what your purpose may be,” said Susie.

There will be an ‘All Souls Day’ luminary walk on Oct. 30 when the labyrinth will get a little extra embellishment. Just after dusk, approximately 200 farolitos (little sacks with sand and candles) will be lit to light the way for participants. After that, the next two healing walks are Nov. 21 and Dec. 19.

For more information, visit www.whispersofnatureherbs.com; or contact the Teagues by email, whispersofnature@gmail.com or on 468-0550.