Elemental Stations of the Spiral Beyond Shame Labyrinth

Oct 22

Along the labyrinth’s outskirts, four elemental stations inspired self-care for the journey: a butterfly-laden “air pod” for journaling and reflection, a refreshing water misting station, an earthy Zen garden for grounding new patterns , and “Global Warming”, a 6’ tall fire sculpture created by Robert Harrison of Flamewerx.

These stations helped walkers process their journey and added further interactivity to the installation.

As summer drew to a close, I created a netted enclosure in my backyard as a temporary work station. Watching a butterfly land on it one afternoon, it became the inspiration for this labyrinth station. I spent Sunday morning of the burn inside The Air Pod Listens, stretching and reading notes left in the journal book by other burners. Someone peppered the pages with stickers of turtles, apparently as part of a turtle scavenger hunt.

Mist Emotions made a mess, which is so fitting for the element of water. Grappling with the battery pack under the soaked table, I muttered, “Why is water so much work?” Truly, a prescient statement. Later that evening, I watched someone joyously spritz the mist with lavender, burying her head in the fragrance, her delight as palpable as the mist wreathing her smile. The work is worth it.

Surprises awaited me every time I visited Grounding Patterns. Additions like a mermaid tail or turtle. Sand scraped aside to let the green glow from the puck lights under the tray refract from crystals. New configurations of stones and lines. The nighttime dew made it a very different tactile experience than the warm, dry day, but participants did not seem to mind the clumping sand and found ways to interact with it that I never would have imagined.

Because the nights got into the low 40s, a fire sculpture drew burners like moths. Fire is the last element I step through in my own trauma processing, the letting go, the transmutation. Robert has such an open heart, and I am so grateful for the honor of hosting some of his art alongside my own. Global Warming was one of his first flammable sculptures. Although my camp mates were more skilled at working the propane connections, I leveled up in learning how to connect the tank and work the pressure valves to make it poof.

The Air Pod Listens

A pop-up netted space covered with monarch butterflies to represent the element of Air offered a cozy space and journal book for processing and conversation. Solar lanterns emphasized the swirls of the breeze.

Butterflies alit in two varieties: a magnet set placed directly onto the netting, both inside and out, and stakes to create swirls on the ground outside to point walkers into the entrance.

Mist Emotions

A low pop-up table offered two spray bottles of water--one unscented with a tourmaline stone inside to promote safety and one lavender-scented to promote calm--and featured a night-time atomizer with color-change LEDs to spill a gentle mist over the edges of a tall jar.

This table got wet when the atomizer ran. A two-tiered clear tray acted as a splash guard, and a high-caliber battery bank was stored in a waterproof tote that fit under the table to protect elements from moisture and dew.

Grounding Patterns

A second low table with two stools offered a Zen rock garden setup with an assortment of stones, rakes, and cobozen spheres for patterning the sand, inviting participants to express new patterns in temporary media.

The garden featured battery-powered LED puck lights at night with a shallow level of sand.

Global Warming

Incorporated safely within camp parameters was a fire sculpture by Robert Harrison of Flamewerx.

Global Warming is one of Robert’s first propane sculptures and has graced multiple burns, events, and weddings. It has an 18" square base and 6' tall profile.