Suzanne Askham

Answers in the maze

Old stone walls create a micro-climate.

Someone I love faces a difficult medical decision: accept invasive treatment or follow a more holistic route?

This person looks to me for guidance, and I have none to give. My mind has seized up with indecision. What on earth is the best way forward?

I head to La Seigneurie Gardens on the island of Sark for inspiration. Here, old stone walls create a micro-climate which is surely good for humans as well as plants.

There happens to be a maze in the garden, and I decide to use the maze to help me reconnect with my own inner guidance.

At the entrance to the maze, I ask the question in my mind: surgery, or holistic route?

I become aware of my own fears for this person I love. The fears are frankly getting in the way of guidance. So I consciously put them to one side and hand the question over to the universe, the invisible powers that be. I let go of any attachment to a particular outcome. I know that the person I love will be looked after. I begin to feel calmer.

The first thing that happens is that I get help.

The maze has a small wooden castle right at the centre. Three girls have reached the castle and climbed it. They have a good view of the maze and they shout out instructions to me: “Turn right, turn left; now straight on…

Monsters are usually more scary in our imagination.

“Watch out for the monster around the next bend,” they add. This sounds faintly alarming… until I see the monster. After that, I reach the centre very quickly.

The second thing that happens is that I feel slightly disappointed. Being told exactly how to reach the centre takes away the sense of adventure. It’s actually fun to take a wrong turn and then discover the way forward.

The third thing that happens is that I decide to explore the maze for myself. Deliberately, I go the wrong way, again and again. And guess what I find out?

There is more than one route through the maze. Actually, there are several – including some natural gaps in the hedges.

The fourth thing that happens is that my head clears and I can see the way forward for the person I love.

The three girls are like the medics: they have found a route through the maze, and they want to help others follow exactly their path. In fact, the girls are so persuasive, when you follow their instructions it can seem that theirs is the only way forward.

But life is simply not like that. There are always more options available and the right one for you is the one that feels right.

The monster can show us the riches of our soul.

And the monster in the maze? Well, in dreams the monster frequently represents some aspect of ourselves that we have walled off, believing it’s not acceptable. But when we face the monster, we discover it’s not nearly as bad as we feared. It just wants to be listened to, and then it will transform.

So the monster is a reminder of the more feared aspects of our own psyche… aspects that can contain the riches of our soul.

As I leave the garden I know exactly the guidance I will give the person I love and, if they choose, they can repeat the same words to their persuasive medics:

“There is more than one route through the maze.”