Nairobi Museum Multi #3: Peace Path
The cache, a small screw-topped tube inside a plastic jar, is hidden in the arboretum of the Nairobi Museum. (You will need to bring your own writing tool). The stages are based on clues collected from a labyrinth called the Peace Path - 'a sacred site for all Kenyans' -situated towards the rear (east) of the museum grounds.
To Find the Cache:
Step One: Proceed to the given coordinates where you will find a brass plaque set into a rock which commemorates the opening of the path and information on who was involved in creating it. The path opened on October 2A 2013
Step Two: At S 01 16.497 E 036 48.963 you will find a stone sculpture of an eagle. The alphanumeric value (eg. A=1, B=2, C=3 etc) of the last letter of the first name of the sculptor = B
Step Three: Go to S 01 16.494 E 036 48.946 where you will find a large information sign explaining what the Peace Path is. Here you will learn that the labyrinth has C cycles.
Step Four: Now move to nearby S 01 16.496 E 036 48.944 where you will find 2 dark stone slabs with various astronomical symbols on them. There are D stars on the lower slab (the one with the new moon).
Step Five: Next proceed across to S 01 16.495 E 036 48.939 where you will find another statue (fallen at the time of placing the cache) called 'The Prophet' which was carved in 201E
Step Six: Now, from any convenient place in the centre of the labyrinth you will note that the number of stone benches = F
The cache can be found at:
S 01 16.BA(F-2) E 036 48.(C+1)(D+4)(E+6)
The Peace Path
According to the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) . . . the new labyrinth shows harmony between all lands and peoples of Kenya. The TICAH Peace Path first looks like an ordinary green grassy lawn but the carefully placed stones - some granite, others mica and soap stone in multiple colours, sizes and shapes from many parts of Kenya hint that something else is going on.
Ever since the post-election violence in 2007/8 Dr Mary Ann Burris dreamt of building a proper Peace shrine or sanctuary in Nairobi. Her dream came true in October 2013 with the opening of ‘The Peace Path’.
A labyrinth is a universal, ancient symbol - often a spiral - that has been used for centuries in many different cultures for spiritual ceremonies involve meditation or prayer and also healing. It has been found in ancient African rock art sites.
Dr Burris first took an interest in labyrinths after finding one in France. Having studied non-Western healing practices as a Chinese-studies graduate student
at Stanford University and having a Cherokee grandmother who was a shaman healer, Burris believed that the deeper, more psychological, invisible wounds suffered by Kenyans during those traumatic days still needed to be addressed.
Her dream of doing something to help with healing didn’t happen until she met several Kenyan sculptors who helped her find the best way forward after she first got approval from the National Museum, to use the previously ‘unused’ piece of land to develop a peace shrine.
She tried several times to get her labyrinth idea going because she had both seen and read about so many people who had benefited by walking through labyrinths elsewhere in the world. But her efforts did not succeed until she met Gerald Motondi, the award-winning sculptor, who initially proposed they collect different kinds of stones from all over Kenya to construct the peace path.
She liked that idea because the labyrinth is a symbol of unity and wholeness, so that the different stones could symbolise the different communities of Kenya working together to become the peace path.
When she was introduced to veteran sculptor Elkana Ong’esa, everything quickly fell into place. The sculptors, assisted by another sculptor Charles Kombo obtained supplies of various stones from all over Kenya at very low cost. They then implemented her idea and design, creating a spiral walkway that only takes right turns.
Burris has already witnessed the healing effects of the Peace Path - which may be simply because one has to slow down to actually walk the path. It is clear to her that the Peace Path is especially valuable as a site for prayer or meditation, which she feels can definitely result in healing new and even old wounds.
TICAH has hosted labyrinth ceremonies with torture survivors, rape survivors, children, school groups, religious leaders - any group wishing to experience the peace and specialness of the Peace Path. It is free and open to anyone - Treat it with Care and Walk it in Beauty.
See here for a video of the official opening ceremony.
Labyrinth Walking
A labyrinth is a universal symbol of wholeness patterned from Nature. It creates a sacred space where inner and outer worlds connect.
Labyrinth walking offers a vision of how we can live together in harmony. There are no wrong turns or tricks in a labyrinth. Once we agree to enter, every step comes naturally. We are quiet as we walk. Our hearts are open.
On this Peace Path labyrinth you walk from 'The Eagle' sculpture at the entrance, in along the grass paths to 'The Eye' (by Charles Kombo) at the centre and then out again to 'The Eagle'. 'The Prophet' a sculpture by Elkanah Ong'esa watches over you as you walk. It is good to walk the labyrinth bare-foot and silently.
Walking a labyrinth is a three step process:
1. Walk around the paths gradually moving towards the centre, releasing any unhelpful feelings, thoughts or worries on the way
2. Pause in the centre to reflect and receive
3. Walk out back along the same path, returning with peace, remembering who you are.