On the Pilgrim Trail

I met a Pilgrim as I went walking, and we got talking, Pilgrim and I.   The setting was Chartres in 2008 where I only spent a brief two nights before travelling on.

Chartres Cathedral Festival d'Illuninaire

I had ended up in Chartres to drop off a friend to the train and spent a couple of nights there before journeying on.  Having studied Chartres Cathedral's architecture, stained glass and iconography extensively throughout uni,  I spent two days refreshing my mind and soaking in "the real thing."

Janet's Pilgrim Passport Stamps

But whilst I was outside taking a break at the cafe opposite I got talking to a woman.  Her name was Janet and she was in her late 40's-ish. She had been drawn to the Cathedral also, for a very different reason. She was a pilgrim.   Janet had walked a number of pilgrim trails including le grand piece de resistance in the pilgrim world, the trail from San Sebastian to Santiago di Compostella.

They're done in small organised groups, and although the main aim is to walk the trail, they also communed with prayer and meditation along the way.

Janet had walked the pilgrim trail into Chartres from the north to meet a group for a two week workshop to study and meditate upon the Labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral.  Lectures and prayer by day and then walking it each night.

Pilgrims walking the Labyrinth

The Cathedral Labyrinth is said to have been built in the early 13th century, with various datings from 1200 - 1240.  Much mystery and myth has surrounded the labyrinth which today is used for walking for mediation and prayer.

Certainly to design the labyrinth into the architecture was obviously deliberate; it's huge; right in the front entrance,  holding a very prominent place within the Cathedral. Given that, it's hard to think it was simply decorative but the research is very mixed about what the original use may have been.  Some say it was used for meditation, others say that is a modern invention. The most outlandish legend about the labyrinth is that its a door to the occult, the other world, or by contrast a protection device from the devil himself.

Janet said it was only recently (at that time) that the cathedral gave permission for the chairs to be removed and the Labyrinth to accessed for meditation and prayer on a weekly basis on Fridays.  Pretty much due to public pressure. Their  two week meditation workshop was the first group the Church had allowed to officially access the Labyrinth for such purposes  (I think they got an hour each night for the two weeks, after the cathedral was closed to visitors). This was after five years of negotiation by the organiser with the committees and Cathedral powers that be, to build a relationship of trust and get everyone allowing it to happen.  The Cathedral bishopric is rightfully very protective of the building and the space.

Old Testament Scenes West Facade

So after sharing our knowledge the the building (mine seemed pretty lame by comparison) we ventured inside and I took her on the iconography tour of stained glass, sculpture and flying buttresses and of course we also studied the Labyrinth - chairs and all -  wondering about its original use and meaning.  Is it really is the same size as the rose window above?  and if, as they say, the rose window was to implode flat into the cathedral floor in one piece it would it exactly fall match the size of the labyrinth?

Given the mathematical proportions used in Cathedrals, (sometimes more than 2:1 emphasising height to reach to the heavens) the myth of the rose is possible but although disappointingly untrue.  I'm not sure about the one that has the proportions of Chartres Cathedral echoing those of the great pyramids...

We spent a lovely afternoon together sharing our knowledge and wonderment.  However you interpret or enjoy the cathedral it does inspire awe and calm.  I think of Janet from time to time and trust she is well wandering the pilgrim trails. And where  did  Janet-The-Pilgrim originally hail from? Shepparton in Victoria.

How we saw it. With Seating.