The A.R.E. Labyrinth - Virginia Beach, VA

Photo Credit: Randall Bentley

The Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E) Labyrinth is painted on the patio in front of the historic Edgar Cayce hospital building at A.R.E. Headquarters, in Virginia Beach, VA, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Designed by artist and labyrinth builder Meryl Ann Butler, she and a crew of volunteers completed it on April 30, 1998. It is 48 feet in diameter, and the design is based on the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral in France.
The Native American Medicine Wheel-like design was already part of the patio, and was incorporated as the center of the A.R.E Labyrinth. Other existing designs on the patio added decorative interest. Since Butler selected an attractive light tan color of paint in order to avoid a pronounced target-look, the labyrinth seems to magically emerge from the ethers, upon approaching it. The editor of Venture Inward (A.R.E.’s membership magazine), A. Robert Smith, wrote an editorial on walking the labyrinth. He said "Edgar Cayce, you can be sure, would be pleased to see this ritual being performed on the steps of the building he felt called to construct and to dedicate to the art of holistic healing." The labyrinth is handicapped accessible and is available to walk at any time. For more information about the A.R.E. contact the website

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