Schweden-Tour 2007
Bericht Ingrid Bredenberg

Friday, May 25, 2007

I'm in Sweden! I am finally living the dream I've had for over 20 years. Some goals take longer than others to fulfill. I left yesterday flying out of Hartford to Philadelphia where I met one of the other labyrinth tour participants, Sharon. We had several hours before our flight left so we had a meal and got to know each other a bit. Sharon joined the tour at the invitation of her friend Irene who unexpectedly had to have surgery and was unable to join us. Sharon had no previous experience with labyrinths but seems up to the adventure.

Our flight arrived about half an hour early that allowed us to catch a bus directly to Västerås, about 90 kilometers northwest of Stockholm. On the drive there we passed farms and acres of forests. During our cab ride from the bus station to the hotel, our cab driver pointed out some important features of Västerås, including a castle.

While we waited for the rest of our group to join us, Sharon and I decided to get something to eat. There was a historical museum nearby with a café. It took us awhile to find it so we unintentionally got a bit of a tour of our surroundings, mostly apartments with playgrounds and a shopping area. The museum was a historical farm museum with a collection of houses and barns that probably dated back to the 1700's or earlier. Some had turf or thatched roofs. The café served a traditional luncheon meal of potato goulash (I had a vegetarian version) with a selection of salads and pickled things like cabbage and olives. It was delicious.

It felt wonderful to sit in the small courtyard of this old Swedish village and imagine the activities that had taken place there for hundreds of years. Now it was being enjoyed by families and workers.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Dawn comes early in Sweden … the sun rises about 4:00 am spreading a band of glowing orange across half the horizon.

Our group of “Maze Inspectors” has just had breakfast and is getting ready for our first outing together. We are a group of seven … Jeff and Kimberly Saward are the tour leaders. Jeff is a world-reknowned labyrinth expert and has written many books on the subject. Kimberly brings her expertise in spiritual traditions and a gentle sensibility to our journey. In addition with Jeff and Kimberly, I have traveled with three of the other four adventurers before in England on another tour in 2005. Erwin, from Germany, is a retired surveyor who designs labyrinths for schools and communities. Els, from Holland, is working on promoting the idea of a labyrinth to her city. Lisa, from Minnesota, is on the board of The Labyrinth Society with Jeff and Kimberly. She has designed and built many labyrinths and is an expert in her own right. Our “newbie”, Sharon from Florida, is fitting right in and brings a wonderful curious “beginners mind” to our pilgrimage.

John Kraft will be our guide. He is a leading Swedish labyrinth expert and friend of Jeff Saward's. He joined us last night for dinner and gave us an overview of what we will be doing today. He has researched many labyrinths in the area and found that they are located close to farms and towns named after an ancient air god and fertility goddess. He has written a short book on goddesses and the labyrinth.

Later …
Today we visited a beautiful 15 circuit modern labyrinth here in town at John's office. It is made of two kinds of stone pavers. Even though the path is quite narrow, it was easy to walk. After leaving Västerås, we travelled a distance to other labyrinths, many of them built on eskors, sand ridges left behind by receding glaciers. The first visit was to see the standing stones and runestones at Badelunda. This area has stones laid out in the outline of ships. At one time this area was actually on the water, but the sea withdrew, leaving the area landlocked. In addition to the runestones and shipstones, there is a very tall earth mound that may have been the grave of a revered warrior or king. These monuments dated from the Bronze Age to the Viking period.

Nearby there is a small 15 circuit labyrinth on another eskor, a formation of sand and rocks left behind as ancient glaciers retreated. Some of us walked it.

Afterward we went to a grocery store where we stocked up on food for a picnic and then heading to the Rösaring labyrinth in the forest at Låssa. Approaching this labyrinth we walked on a ceremonial road that runs straight through the forest for about a kilometer and ends in an open field with a view of a huge lake below. The field has several labyrinths and grave cairns. John was one of the first people to discover this path in modern times but at the time didn't realize its significance. It is still a mystery who built it and why since it doesn't have a practical use, being in the middle of a forest that seems not to need a stonelined road that seems to appear out of nowhere.

Heading back to Västerås, we stopped to visit a modern labyrinth that was built to replicate an older one that was buried when a nearby church expanded its graveyard and covered it with soil and graves. The modern labyrinth had been altered when people took stones away and shifted the path. Lisa attempted to restore the path by moving some of the stones around.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Leaving Västerås after breakfast, we drove to the west coast of Sweden, to northern Bohuslän, near the border with Norway. We stopped along the way to visit the 13th century church at Grinstad, which has a unique labyrinth wall painting – just about the only ancient example of the “Medieval” or “Chartres” design in Scandinavia. While waiting for Jeff and Lisa to find someone in the neighborhood to open the church, we explored the cemetery that surrounded the church. The gravestones often had gold lettering and many had beautiful fresh flower arrangements. It appeared that this weekend might have been a Memorial holiday here as in the U.S. Unfortunately we were unable to find anyone to open the church so we resorted to climbing up on a bench to peek through a window. It wasn't easy to make out the labyrinth in the darkened room, but that didn't stop some of the folks from taking photos through the double panes of antique glass.

After arriving in Tanumshede, some of us opted to walk to town, about a mile away. Most of the stores were closed, so this was a reconnaissance trip to see what we might want to explore in the coming days.

Monday, May 28 – Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Based at a newly renovated hotel, we had three full days to explore the area around Grebbestad and Tanumshede in northern Bohuslän. The hills and valleys, rugged coastline and sandy coves of this area provided some beautiful walks through the fields and forests; in search of the often remote and difficult to find stone labyrinths, including the well-preserved example at Ulmekärr, the prehistoric rock art sites and other stone monuments that abound here. On Monday, we visited the Vitlycke Museum at Tanumshede, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that displays rock carvings made during the Bronze Age. However, we enjoyed the interpretive displays of Bronze Age art and shopping in the museum store. The museum has a Bronze Age village where they stage reinactments for school children and tourists. Since it is not yet the tourist season, we didn't see any of these. We also visited an area that had huge gravestones, granite monoliths standing up to 8 feet high. In this particular field, a band of Scots who had come to plunder the local village, were buried along with families of villagers. On Tuesday we took another short trip to visit more stone carvings.

On Wednesday, we went in search of a labyrinth carving on a stone located on a farm. The carving had been discovered when a nearby mill ruin was being documented for historical purposes. We only had some sketchy information about its location and some coordinates so this was a real search. After crossing a stone bridge over a little stream, we found the mill ruins. Scraping away the moss that covered the boulders around the mill, we discovered graffiti carvings from the 1700 and 1800's. Some runic-type symbols and people's names. And then one of our group saw the labyrinth carving. It was about a foot and a half in diameter and carved into the side of a boulder. We spent the next half hour figuring out how to photograph it, finally pouring some water on it to bring out its dimensions.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Leaving the west coast, we drove back across Sweden to Nyköping, to visit the stone labyrinth at Lindbacke, adjacent to a sacred grove and spring dedicated to Frey. This labyrinth, and others that we will visit in southern Sweden, are considered to date to the Iron Age, maybe 1500 to 2000 years old. Just before dusk, Lisa, Sharon, Erwin and I walked across a field of radishes and discovered the labyrinth in a cow pasture. A group of curious adolescent bulls followed us at a respectful distance as we approached the labyrinth. Once we were in the enclosure, they moved on. We were delighted to find this labyrinth well maintained. Originally a stone labyrinth, the turf had overgrown the stones but the grass had been mowed and, since the labyrinth gets used, the path was maintained by the treading of people's feet.

Friday, June 1, 2007

After visiting the Lindbacke Labyrinth again in the early morning drizzle we headed to Nynäshamn, to catch the ferry to the magical island of Gotland. En route we stopped at a church that Jeff knew contained a wall labyrinth. We didn't know if we'd find the church open, or someone to open it if it wasn't. We were delighted to find the door ajar and beautiful organ music drifting through the air. We entered a jewel of a church, dating back to the early 1500's. While the outside was simple and stately, the inside was ornately painted and decorated with statues, gilded reliefs, chandeliers and a beautiful stained glass window.

The inclement weather kept the ferry from leaving Gotland so we were delayed several hours in Nynäshamn that I passed in an internet café writing some emails. The replacement ferry was like a small cruise ship with separate sections for dining and socializing or quieter areas for watching movies, reading and sleeping. There were even private rooms for families and people who preferred their own space. We watched the sun set at about 10:00. Erwin gave me an extensive tutorial on building labyrinths using his CAD-designed templates.

Saturday, June 2 – Tuesday, June 5, 2007

We arrived on Gotland at 11:30pm and got settled into our hotel around 12:30am. The sun had set around 10:00 but by the time we were getting ready for bed we could see early dawn light on the northeastern horizon. It was blazing into the windows by 4:00 am so sleeping wasn't so easy.

Several mornings I did my yoga stretches on the balcony that overlooked the park behind the hotel. There was a pond with a fountain and a sculpture in the middle. We discovered that our hotel was right next to the walled medieval city that makes up most of Visby, the capital of Gotland. Just inside the wall and up a cobbled street was a beautiful botanical garden that was established in the 1800's by two swimming buddies who were interested in preserving the natural beauty of the island for the city residents. The society that they founded also funded vegetable gardens and schools for the poor.

Gotland has over 30 labyrinths of one type or another, and over four days we took a series of excursions out through the delightful and varied countryside to look at stone labyrinths on beaches and headlands, in churchyards and next to schools and lighthouses – all examples of particular episodes of labyrinth history on this island. We visited labyrinths at Visby, Fröjel, Hallshuk, Holmudden, Bunge and Nyhamn. Some of them were difficult to find … which made me feel like a real explorer and researcher. A couple of the labyrinths were in disrepair or completely grown over. In some instances, we made efforts to restore the labyrinths by pulling up weeds or moving stones to improve the paths. We also visited the medieval churches with labyrinth wall paintings and graffiti.

The first day trip took us through the middle of Gotland, the second day we explored some of the southern portion and the third day we went to the northernmost part. We took a car ferry to the island of Fårö where we walked the 15-path labyrinth located near the beach. We also explored the unusual limestone formations and contemporary human-made stone designs that were made in the 1980's along the beach. En route to our destinations, we passed antique windmills and modern wind farms, acres of farmland and lots of sheep and horses.

Since it stayed light so late, when we returned to Visby after our explorations, we could walk the famous Visby Trojaborg labyrinth near the city, roam the cobbled streets or climb the ramparts to watch the sun set over the Baltic Sea. It was easy to imagine what life might have been like in the 13th century when Visby was a vibrant trading center in the Baltic. The wall that surrounds the city dates back to that time ad many of the houses and shops are from the 16th century.

Jeff and Kimberly chose the best week to be on the island. It was just before tourist season so the streets were often empty and we could stroll at our own pace. The flowers were in full bloom … lilacs galore, golden rain trees, fields of poppies, bachelor buttons and Queen Ann's Lace were a delight for all our senses.

Our return trip on the ferry gave us the opportunity to review our adventures by updating our maps while sharing a bottle of wine. We also showed off our purchases, Viking-inspired jewelry and some crafts. Those of us who are working on labyrinths got tips from Lisa, Kimberly and Jeff. I'm adding to my travel notes and wrote the few postcards that I'll send this trip.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

On the last full day of our tour we met up with John Kraft, Bo and Anita Stjernström, who took us to the island of Ojai, one of the southernmost islands in the archipelago south of Stockholm. It had been a critical defence position for Sweden for many years until military technology outdated its effectiveness. When the military was removing its bunkers, they discovered a labyrinth underneath. John Kraft was contacted to validate what it was and record its design. He then contacted Bo and Anita who, along with their son, reconstructed the labyrinth. This visit was the first time John had returned to see it in 25 years. We spent several hours exploring the fishing village on the island, enjoying the labyrinth and walking around the bunkers and the famous lighthouse.

That night we had our final dinner on a boat restaurant named Freya, after the goddess of love and fertility.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/freya.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja

Thursday, June 7, 2007

After our final breakfast at the hotel, we watched a slideshow of our trip that I'd put together. It gave us a chance to remember the many adventures and places we'd experienced. Then we piled into the van for one last ride to the airport where we went our separate ways. What a wonderful, educational and enriching journey this has been.

Sharon and I headed for Stockholm. From our base at the Sheraton, we explored the Old Town and then took a ferry to Djurgsgamen, where there are museums, an aquarium, Tivoli (an amusement park) and Skansen, a historical park representing the different cultural and geographic sections of Sweden.

We saved Skansen for the following day and headed to Tivoli where we regressed to about 14 years old and enjoyed some of the rides. The place was packed with teenagers, freshly done with school and ready to rock. After a couple of hours we were ready for some peace and quiet.

After a glass of wine at a trendy bar on the water, we took the ferry back to the city center and headed for our hotel.

Friday, June 8, 2007

We got a leisurely start back to the ferry to Skansen where we enjoyed learning more about Swedish traditions, history and agriculture. Skansen has recreated buildings (and even villages) of historic significance. People dressed in period clothes explain what took place in the buildings of the time.

By mid-afternoon, we were really dragging and it was time for me to return to the city, pick up my bags and head for Gävle to visit a friend and his family for a few days. I'm sitting in their beautiful home right now as I write this. They have just celebrated the high school graduation of their youngest daughter. She has been partying with her friends for about a week. There are decorations, pictures and presents around the house.

Tomorrow I take the train back to the airport and head for home. This has been more than a labyrinth tour for me. It has been an exploration into my family's heritage, an important time away from my work and home, and a journey into myself which is still revealing insights and emotions that will take more time and reflection to understand.

Ingrid