All photos by Norma Stark
1) Norma's yard before; 2) Norma's yard after;
3) Nautilus sculpture by Marty
Perspectives and Landscapes Change Lives
There is always an interesting story behind the creation of labyrinths,
whether they are public or privately commissioned works of art
created by a group or
an individual. The labyrinth at Norma Stark’s home near Toledo,
Ohio is one of those labyrinths with just such a story.
Around 2002, Norma Stark was introduced to labyrinths through Helen
Raphael Sand's book, The Healing Labyrinth. Norma was fascinated
by what she read and began
to seek out labyrinths to walk in her local area and around the country.
Little did she know what a wonderful healing tool it would become
in her own life.
Just three years later, Norma's parents died within six months
of each other. As an only child struggling to deal with the grieving
process, Norma
found
herself in need of hope and healing. One balmy summer day while she was
sitting on her
patio meditating and asking for spiritual guidance about the future, the
inspiration for the labyrinth began to take shape in a powerful and certain
way. It became
clear that her backyard could be transformed into a memory garden for her
parents with a labyrinth as the focal point.
The next nine months were spent consulting with experts such as John Ridder of PAXworks in Indianapolis, Indiana, working with civil engineers to eliminate drainage problems in the space where the labyrinth was to be constructed, planning with a landscape designer how to incorporate fountains, benches, paths, garden art, and a variety of perennials in this memory garden, and utilizing the expertise of Marty Kermeen from Labyrinths in Stone, to build a beautiful brick paver labyrinth, 33 feet in diameter, complete with an original sculpture of a nautilus created by Marty at the center.
Interestingly, Marty arrived onsite in April 2007, and the birth of the labyrinth in Norma Stark’s memory garden began just nine months after the idea was conceived. Planning and implementation of the plan proceeded so smoothly that it was clear this labyrinth was meant to be.
It
seemed so natural that “The Garden,”
as it would soon be called, would be open to the public for all who
wished to come and experience the healing energy and find peace.
Norma never intended to
advertise its availability, but information would spread “by
word of mouth.”
In the first five months after completion, over five hundred visitors
were welcomed at the Stark’s. As John Ridder put it, “This
labyrinth has changed NW Ohio forever!”
Healing from the grief over her parents’ deaths began to take place for
Norma when she became aware of a plan for her life unfolding over the years—a
plan which included the labyrinth and her work as a Veriditas Certified Labyrinth
Facilitator. In July 2005 Norma attended a conference in San Francisco, which
was related to her work in music at a United Methodist Church in Ohio at that
time. It is here that she walked the labyrinths at Grace Cathedral and first
heard The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress speak about labyrinths.
Norma was in awe after her experiences at Grace, so it is not surprising that one year later, while she and her husband were on a Native American Cultural Tour in Santa Fe, she walked the labyrinth outside the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi there. She was taken aback when many passersby interrupted her walk with questions about what she was doing. As she pondered these strange interruptions, she began to feel that she was hearing a call to guide people to a better understanding of the labyrinth.
Just
minutes later, Norma learned of a conference to be held in
October 2006 in Santa Fe featuring Dr. Artress and entitled “Walking
Together.”
The conference included labyrinth facilitator training, and Norma
knew it was the next step on her journey. She returned to Santa
Fe in October for a wonderful
experience which began to give her a vision and hope for the
future, quite a contrast to the bleak days she had spent resulting
from her parents’ deaths.
Like many of the other participants in training to be facilitators,
she considered it a ministry to share the labyrinth with others.
But there
was so much to
do before that would be possible.
At the facilitator training in Santa Fe, Norma first learned
about John Ridder of PAXworks in Indianapolis. Upon returning
to Ohio
she contacted
him about
building a labyrinth in her backyard. In December 2006 John
traveled to Perrysburg to
Norma and Jim Stark’s home to meet with the landscape designer, civil engineer,
and the Starks. During this meeting it became obvious to Mr. Ridder that his
labyrinth colleague, Marty Kermeen, would be the one to construct Norma’s
labyrinth. John told Norma that this was no ordinary project and Marty had the “heart
and soul and passion” necessary for this particular project.
It is rare
to see two "competitors" in the same business working
side by side on projects; however, as you can see from the
Collaborations page
of this website and many other labyrinth builder websites,
competitiveness doesn't seem to enter into the equation with
most of them.
John returned to Indianapolis and in January 2007 completed
his design for the Stark’s labyrinth on his daughter’s 25th birthday. Several of the
photos on this website show the Melissa Labyrinth, affectionately named after
John Ridder’s daughter.
In these photos one’s attention is sure to be drawn to the 13-chambered
nautilus sculpture at the center of the Melissa Labyrinth.
Much of the healing from Norma’s grief over her parents’ deaths
took place because of the many synchronicities that occurred during this
project. Norma Stark views
the number 13 much differently than many people. When she was
a little girl, she told her grandmother that her favorite number was
13. Grandma tried to convince
her granddaughter that 13 was an unlucky number and that she
should rethink her choice. Norma felt strongly that superstitious events
were not related to the
number 13 and has found her theory to be reinforced not only
during the creation of her labyrinth but continuing in her experiences
as a facilitator. Norma’s
father passed away on October 13, 2005, her facilitator training
in Santa Fe began exactly one year later on October 13, 2006, the bricks
for the labyrinth
were poured April 13, Marty was onsite constructing the labyrinth
for 13 days, the landscape planting was begun June 13… the synchronicities
just go on and on, even in the stories that visitors to the labyrinth
share.
Rather
than list all the events/synchronicities associated with the number
13 that have occurred and continue to do so in the story of this labyrinth,
the main message here is
that something thought to be "unlucky and negative" to
most people has proven to be a very positive influence in Norma
Stark's life. Norma
definitely sees it as affirmation that she is on the right
path.
People come from all over. Frequently Norma facilitates scheduled
walks for individuals and groups. Often people come and walk
the circuitous
paths when she and her
husband are not home. Norma and Jim are amazed at the number
of people who send cards or leave notes and express their
gratitude for being
blessed to be part
of the ever growing labyrinth movement.
The labyrinth helped Norma transform the grieving for her parents into a healing gift for herself and all those that choose to visit the memorial garden in her backyard. She speaks of the many butterflies that frequent the area now, which were never present before the labyrinth was built. Perhaps if we choose to view things from a different perspective, as Norma did with the number 13, we could change a negative life event into a positive one. The labyrinth assists us in doing just that and brings forth the transformations needed to help us heal.