The Labyrinth Inspiration Cards were made to go with a labyrinth walk. You pull a card at the entrance, carry its word in with you, and see what it turns into by the time you reach the center. Rebecca Rodriguez designed the deck and Blue Nautilus published it in 2001. It’s a small, specialized deck that comes out of the labyrinth-walking world, not the tarot shelf, and you rarely find it with its full kit together.
What you get
- 36 cards: 18 purple and 18 teal, each with a title word, an affirmation, and a closing line
- The original drawstring pouch with the title and labyrinth rosette printed in silver
- The original folded instruction booklet
- A purple altar or reading mat screen-printed in silver with a full Chartres-style labyrinth
- Two blue flat-backed glass stones
This set is pre-owned; you will receive the exact set pictured. All 36 cards are included.
How the deck works
The two colors are two paths. The 18 purple cards correspond to the “silent” path and stand for moments of initiation, expansion, arrival, and rest. The 18 teal cards correspond to the “expressive” path: how we carry ourselves day to day, in thought, word, and action. You can draw one card from each pile and get a pairing: what’s going on inside you, and how it wants to come out.
Every card speaks in the first person. Co-Create reads as a commitment to pay attention to every thought, word, and action, and closes with “as above in thee, so below in me.” Other cards in the deck include Inner Calling, Responsibility, Meditation, Truth, Vision, and Compassion. Each card gives you a single word to work with, which suits contemplative practice better than a multi-page guidebook entry. The booklet is short for the same reason.
Provenance & tradition
The labyrinth on the mat and the booklet is the Chartres design, named for the floor labyrinth laid in Chartres Cathedral in France in the early 13th century. It has eleven circuits, a six-petaled rosette at the center, and a ring of scalloped cusps (lunations) around the outer edge. A labyrinth has one path, unlike a maze. There are no choices and no dead ends, so the mind can stop navigating and pay attention.
The Chartres pattern came back into wide use in the United States in the 1990s, when churches, retreat centers, and hospitals started building walking labyrinths. This deck comes out of that revival. Rodriguez worked with the Labyrinth of the Lake in Canyon Lake, Texas, a Chartres design built on a 32-foot wooden frame.
The mat brings that practice indoors. Lay it on your altar or reading table and use it as a finger labyrinth: trace the path inward with a fingertip or one of the gems, hold your question at the center, and trace your way back out before you turn a card.
Who this is for
- Labyrinth walkers who want a companion deck for their walks
- Anyone who wants a finger labyrinth for daily meditation
- Contemplative, interfaith, and Christian mystic practitioners
- Pagans and witches who want a one-word daily draw for altar work or journaling
- Facilitators running labyrinth walks or retreat groups
- Collectors of out-of-the-way oracle decks
- Gift givers: it’s a complete, ready-to-use set
