Valarie Lagorio labyrinth

Valarie Lagorio labyrinth

Behind St Columba Church
by The Auckland Psychogeographer

A hidden place of contemplation and ritual, this unexpected Grey Lynn treasure is tucked behind the Anglican church of St Columba on Surrey Crescent, near a clutch of light industrial buildings and beside an nearly-abandoned bowling club. Based on the 12th century example at Chartres Cathedral in France, this beautiful handmade labyrinth was the first in Auckland and one of the very few in New Zealand.

Built from stone by members of the church community - and members of the wider community, including nearby Grey Lynn School - the labyrinth project was supported by Auckland Council and Anglican trust, the Hostel of the Holy Name. It’s named for American scholar Valarie Lagorio, a noted expert in medieval literature and mysticism.

An inward journey that becomes an outward journey, the labyrinth is daubed in an opaque blue tone, almost Egyptian, the kind of detail that hints at something multilayered. This labyrinth may sit in the grounds of a Christian church, but the design has roots in ancient Greece, and cousins in Native American and Indian culture also. So this is a place of generous syncretism - walking this path reveals the shared human desire for introspection, meditation and solitude, common to all faiths and traditions.

Restorative and peaceful, set amongst the fruit trees and flowers clustered to the side of St Columba’s, it’s a proudly spiritual and anticapitalist use of land and place, all the more resonant for being in one of Auckland’s most notoriously over-priced property markets.