Aura Vista

Labyrinth at Davis Cemetery District

Davis, California, United States

In the Davis Cemetery District's grounds, a permanent labyrinth sits among the working cemetery's sections, walked by mourners and by the town's visitors. Cemeteries and labyrinths have long kept company; here the district has made the pairing official.

In the Davis Cemetery District's grounds, a permanent labyrinth sits among the working cemetery's sections, walked by mourners and by the town's visitors. Cemeteries and labyrinths have long kept company; here the district has made the pairing official. The Labyrinth Locator's record lists it as Classical.

Every labyrinth is a walking practice, not a puzzle: a single path winds to a center and back out, and the walk is done slowly, as prayer or meditation. The pattern descends from the medieval pavement labyrinth at Chartres, and the modern urban revival began in the 1990s when Lauren Artress brought replicas of that path to American congregations and public grounds through Veriditas and the Labyrinth Society, whose World-Wide Labyrinth Locator now catalogs thousands. There is no branching and no trick to the path; walkers of every religion and none use it.

Visiting

daviscemetery.org carries the site's own information and schedule.

Associated traditions & practices

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