The Path of the Holy Fool: How the Labyrinth Ignites Our Visionary Powers

by Lauren Artress

The Path of the Holy Fool summons each of us to become a Holy Fool: one who is accountable, stands for equality and social justice, embraces an ecological vision, and encourages community spirit. Lauren Artress, who established the two permanent labyrinths at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, is a leading force in the Labyrinth Movement. Her new book The Path of the Holy Fools: How the Labyrinth Ignites Our Visionary Powers expands upon her earlier work in Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice.

Through the Parsifal story Artress suggests the labyrinth serves as a Grail that is discovered in the invisible, imaginative, in-between world symbolized by the Grail Castle. Most importantly this book invites readers to explore and reflect upon their own uniquely configured imaginations. It is through the imagination that self-reflection and raw experiences of the Holy occur.

Once we navigate our imaginative processes without fear, the labyrinth experience ignites our creativity, heals our wounds and opens our big picture vision that nurtures empathy and gives us eyes to see and ears to hear—even through the sorrows of the pandemic—the call for a life-enhancing future. The labyrinth offers the Holy Fool an unwavering path as we learn to takes risks, create new modalities and find a way to contribute to our evolving world.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

Published November 10, 2020

About the author

The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress is the author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, and The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform (Putnam/Riverhead Books, New York). Artress is a spiritual director, Marriage and Family therapist, and Canon Emeritus at Grace Cathedral and Founder of Veriditas a non-profit dedicated to introducing people the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth.

Reviews

[Tom Keelan]

Lauren Artress, has been working with labyrinths for almost 3 decades now. In a warm conversational tone, Artress opens up and shares her knowledge & experiences gained after globally presenting and introducing people to the 11-Circuit Labyrinth that was placed in the floor of Chartres Cathedral, France in the early 12th Century.

But this is not a history book. Artress embraces her imagination and gently challenges the reader to "relight" their own imagination and creativity to destress, solve personal and spiritual problems and become the best version of yourself using the labyrinth as a focal point for the positive change that can happen if you open up to them. Her use of a "Grail ", myths and story telling keeps this book grounded and the reader engaged. She encourages you to look at your own "shadows" and to bring them into the light. To move towards a better life for yourself.

Artress, writes in a warm conversational tone that draws you in and keeps the pages turning. I felt hope for the world and myself by the last page. The freedom (no cookie cutter spirituality here) within the structure she outlines is a true gift. I found the use of the, "Reflection Exercises" to be a great way to pause and absorb what I had just read.

"The Path of the Holy Fool", is an appealing read for the times we are all struggling through. After getting a little lost with Covid-19, lockdowns, politics etc. I now feel hopeful. I have to say my own creativity and imagination are relit and I am enjoying exploring both. This book is arriving at the right time for all of us. Enjoy.

[Lisa]

simple, short, but profound. Profound enough that it took me 2 years to read! Started in January 2022 and finished in January 2024. I enjoyed every page, but I'd have to bite off a bit and chew chew chew, swallow and digest, before I could bite off some more. Lauren Artress has a way of taking very profound material and putting it into a very accessible format. I resonated profoundly with her interpretation of Parzifal's journey as a metaphor for life. Particularly the piece about his protected and sheltered childhood. Embarking unprepared into the world armed with nothing but bad advice from people who love him and only wish the best for him. And how he makes terrible egregious mistakes on that faulty foundation of bad advice. But he continues his journey through his wilderness until he is presented with the opportunity to make things right.
Sometimes, I think we all have phases of feeling sorry for ourselves and grieving the life we envisioned that we could have lived, in hindsight, if only, if only, if only. If only our parents loved us better, if only we didn't have that mean sibling, or teacher, if only we had married someone more deserving of our tender natures, if only that business had not failed. If only if only.
Injecting the legend of Parzifal as archetypal journey, the human journey.... was deeply moving, affecting, profound. I'm so grateful to Lauren Artress's journey and insights and perspectives and her commitment to "peppering the world" with labyrinths and writing down the unwrite-able.

[Pamela Cole]

This is a beautiful book about using the meditation labyrinth. Lauren Artress began the Labyrinth movement out of Grace Cathedral. Back in the early 90's Lauren & friends visited Chartres Cathedral.
When there they removed the chairs on the 1000 year old labyrinth and began walking it.
This book is full of history and wonderful wisdom. Veriditas is a non-profit organization in Petaluma CA that promotes using the labyrinth as a meditation tool. Veriditas.org

[Mary Ann]

Lauren Artress clarifies and inspires as she shares her story and invites us to join her in being Holy Fools. She brings her background as a psychotherapist to add to her interpretations. This book is well documented. And the ending! Artress generously packs every conceivable resource to assist us in choosing our way of Sacred Activism. Thanks again, Lauren!

[Nancy]

Lauren's best book yet as it includes personal stories about her life. Now that I've read her book I'll be "finger walking" again until the weather warms up and I can walk outside.