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Presents a place to share stories of the beauty of the Earth...
In early August, we traveled from the hot and humid Minnesota prairie to the cool headland of Point Arena, California. It was the presence of the Point Arena Labyrinth that drew us there, and it did not disappoint.
After a sunset drive up the coast, all vertiginous plunges and hairpin curves along Highway 1, we passed through the tiny village of Point Arena to arrive at the locked gates of the lighthouse after dark. With fog rolling in and only the tall white pillar of the light visible, the lonely appearance of the park could not have been more gothic. Fortunately, the friendly and efficient staff had provided us with a code to unlock the gate and instructions on how to settle into our accommodations in the Lighthouse Keeper’s Room. Clean, comfortable, well-appointed, and affordable, we were glad to turn on the electric fire, sip a glass of the complementary local wine, and drift off to sleep with the sound of surf besieging the rock cliffs nearby.
The next morning, still on Minnesota time, we arose early. After making coffee in the little kitchen area, we ventured out to look for the labyrinth. We knew from our friends, the labyrinth’s designers, Marilyn Larson and Lea Goode-Harris, that it was within the precinct of the lighthouse grounds but we didn’t have a map yet, so we simply wandered. We knew that the choreography between human design, expressed in rock, and indigenous lush xeriscape plantings that have volunteered to frame the stone and dance above it in the constant winds have inspired many who have been here before us, so we went exploring.
We knew that Point Arena Lighthouse was built in 1908 and has been a dominating feature on the Mendocino coast for more than 100 years. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places, with an indoor museum. On the grounds, spectacular stone art installations wrought in the local Mendo Blue Shale and other local stones provide a powerful sign post that this is the western terminus of the Art Line, which runs coast to coast, like a transcontinental railroad, along the 39th parallel, from Point Arena to Cape May, New Jersey. Point Arena may be the beginning of the Art Line, or it’s end, or simply a point on an imaginary line that encircles the globe.
From our lodging we were drawn to the tall Druid stones—blue, white, and grey—commanding as they rose out of the treeless but lush landscape. From there, we discovered the encountered the Shiprock sculpture that evokes the dangers of shipwreck and the safety of reaching dry land. Finally, just inside the exquisitely constructed fencing of evenly spaced stone menhir forms, we found the Point Arena labyrinth.
This labyrinth grounded us at the same time that it offered a sense of the infinite. Firmly attached to the flat paving stones that comprise the path on which we walked, we were simultaneously drawn outwards and upwards by the rhythmic crashing of the waves and by the enveloping mists and fogs that swirl off the Pacific. The native grasses and plants that form the walls outlining the seven-circuit path were heavy with moisture in the early morning, quickly soaking our jeans and shoes with a visible blessing from the Earth that lasts well into the afternoon. Less visible were our feelings of integration, peace, calm, exhilaration, vision and insight, and being at one with the natural surroundings—seasons, weather, geology, local botany, gratitude, joy, and healing, which last much longer. This labyrinth, which celebrates the polestar, Alpha Ursa Minoris, (Polaris) provided an unhurried journey, complex in its inner and outer turnings, but with no fear of losing our way.
Video by Timothy Braulick 2024
Still Images by Leslie Schultz 2024
First labyrinth & Lighthouse Image by Lea Goode-Harris 2021
Point Arena Lighthouse Labyrinth in Mendocino County, CA
Envisioned and funded by Laura Franklin
Labyrinth Consultation by Lea Goode-Harris & Marilyn Larson
North Star labyrinth design by Marilyn Larson
Built by Stone Masons Julian Carmellino, of France and Kevin Carman, of Riverside California
Westernmost installation on the 39th Latitude Art Line across the heart of America
