At the center they were greeted by a woman inside a cloth tent, holding a spindle of red yarn. She portrayed
the archetypal figure of the Mother and symbolized connectedness, Jeff Albaugh said.
"We're really never alone," said Albaugh, a spokesman for the Touchstone Local Council of the International Covenant
of the Goddess, which organized the event.
"Sometimes we'd like to be alone, but it just doesn't work that
way," he said.
The Touchstone Local Council represents the Inland area Wiccan
community and pagans, a term that encompasses a wide variety of nature-based practices that trace their roots to pre-Christian
Europe.
The group put together the labyrinth Saturday because of the phase
of the moon and the time of year. The labyrinth event, which is not religious or denominational, was also for the community,
Albaugh said.
"So anyone who walks through it will find some meaning," he said.
"They're very meditative," Albaugh said of labyrinths. "They're
very introspective."
Those who ventured into the labyrinth went in groups and were greeted
by 11 costumed people symbolizing archetypes, among them the Crone, a woman in black who wore a mask of feathers and symbolized
death.
"I just got this wonderful, warm, embracing, loving feeling," said
Rowan Wakefield, 42, of Hemet as she was in the tent with the Mother figure.
Wakefield, who is with the Hemet Pagan Inland Empire Fellowship,
said the effects of going through a labyrinth aren't always instant.
"Sometimes it doesn't hit you immediately," she said. "This is
more a catalyst, a trigger, for an emotional response or a subconscious response."
Erin Chester, 17, of Highland, said: "It makes you think of deeper
things. It's very calming to me."
