For the third consecutive year, members of Unity Center of Kauai are establishing a luminaria labyrinth near the main pavilion at Lydgate Park this Friday, Dec. 31, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The circular path formed by the placing
For the third consecutive year, members of Unity Center of Kauai are establishing a luminaria labyrinth near the main pavilion at Lydgate Park this Friday, Dec. 31, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The circular path formed by the placing of some 400 candles in paper bags (luminaria) contains spiritual and electrical energy, and according to church leaders also symbolizes “full mental, spiritual, physical and emotional health.”
“It’s also a sacred ceremony,” explained Omashar, recording artist and musical director of Unity Center of Kauai.
He is coordinating a wide range of live entertainment for the ceremonies and potluck festivities, and will perform as well. All are invited to participate, bring poems to read, share music, potluck foods and fellowship, said Omashar and Christine Kube, a board member of Unity Center of Kauai.
Set-up takes place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and is a key part of the overall ceremony, they said. The event runs from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by cleanup from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Participants who walk through the labyrinth are encouraged to leave behind all the negative things (pains, sorrows, regrets) that 2004 brought, and walk fresh into 2005, said Omashar. Also, old beliefs, spiritual and otherwise, may be left in the labyrinth, he said.
Luminaria labyrinths have existed for centuries, as meditation and prayer tools, and are believed by many to contain spiritual and even electrical energy, he said. “Theoretically, it’s a moving experience,” he said.
“We are all energetic,” said Kube, likening the experience to the practice of yoga, how that exercise which she practices and teaches restores blood flow to different parts of the body. “This is like plugging into a wonderful energy.”
The family event is free and open to the public, and is a non-alcoholic gathering designed to end in time for families, couples and individuals to get to their chosen New Year’s destinations in time to ring out 2004 and ring in 2005 in their own ways, they said.
The event is “a gift” from leaders of United Center of Kauai to residents of and visitors to the island, Kube said.
“To walk our labyrinth represents the journey into your own heart-center. It symbolizes surrendering that which no longer serves in your life so that when you re-emerge (from the labyrinth) into the ‘outer world’ you are renewed, empty of past pains, sorrows and regrets, ready to embrace the new year with gratitude for lessons learned, and a love for all life,” she said.
A labyrinth is an ancient archetypal symbol related to wholeness, or full mental, spiritual, physical and emotional health. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a purposeful life, they said.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
