The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress
About Lauren
The Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress is Canon Emeritus of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and author of three books: Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, The Sacred Path Companion: How to Use the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform, and The Path of the Holy Fool: How the Labyrinth Ignites our Visionary Powers. Her first book, Walking a Sacred Path, is instrumental in launching what is now known as The Labyrinth Movement. Laurance S. Rockefeller recognized Lauren’s visionary work and funded her creation of Quest: Grace Cathedral Center for Spiritual Wholeness in 1987.
Lauren founded the non-profit, Veriditas, the World-Wide Labyrinth Project in 1996 to “pepper the planet with labyrinths”. With over 6000 labyrinth sites in the US alone, her non-profit work embraces the vision to activate and transform the human spirit through the labyrinth experience. The Veriditas offices are in Petaluma, California. Bi-annually Veriditas offers the Walking a Sacred Path program in Chartres, France.
Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education at Ohio State University, Master’s Degree in Education at Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Pastoral Psychotherapy at Andover Newton School of Theology. She trained in psychodynamic psychotherapy at the Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute at the Institute of Religion and Health in New York City and held a private practice there from 1974 to 1986. She holds an honorary doctorate from The California Institute of Integral Studies in 1999. She received the Gandhi, King, and Ikeda Peace Award for her work in bringing people together in creative, peace-giving ways. In 2021 she received the Extraordinary Visionary Leader award from Women Creating our Futures. She is on the Editorial Board of Presence Magazine, a publication of Spiritual Director’s International.
About the Labyrinth
“The labyrinth is a tool for transformation, a path to healing and wholeness.”
– Rev. Lauren Artress
The labyrinth is an ancient pattern found in many cultures around the world. Labyrinth designs have been found on pottery, tablets and tiles that date as far back as 4000+ years. Many labyrinth patterns are based on spirals and circles found in nature. One feature labyrinths have in common is that they are unicursal. They have one path that winds in a circuitous way to the center.
About Veriditas
Veriditas is a 501 c3 not-for-profit organization incorporated in the State of California in 1995. Lauren Artress is the Founder and Creative Director. The vision of Veriditas is to activate and facilitate the transformation of the human spirit. The work of Veriditas centers around the Labyrinth Experience as a personal practice for healing and growth, a tool for community building, an agent for global peace and a metaphor for life.
Walking the labyrinth is being embraced as a spiritual practice throughout the Western world mostly because of Veriditas trained facilitators. The Veriditas Facilitator Training — which began in 1997 — remains the most rigorous and comprehensive training offered. Some people take this two-day course to deepen their knowledge of labyrinths. Others take it with the goal of becoming a Veriditas Certified Labyrinth Facilitator.
Veriditas is the premiere organization for labyrinth workshops. Ranging from introductory workshops of several hours to several days to more in-depth retreats, Veriditas will customize the workshop to meet your needs. We regularly hold programs in schools, hospitals, retreat centers, spas, churches, and many other types of organizations.
Veriditas also sponsors two special annual events. Walking a Sacred Path with Veriditas is a special pilgrimage to Chartres, France. And numerous programs are also run at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA.
Veriditas invites you to join a community of people who believe in the work of Lauren Artress and the healing power of the labyrinth experience.
To learn more about Veriditas, visit www.veriditas.org.
Lauren Artress
A Leading Force in the Modern Labyrinth Movement
The Reverend Dr. Lauren Artress is Canon Emeritus of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and the author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, and The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform (Putnam/Riverhead Books, New York). Her latest book The Path of the Holy Fool: How the Labyrinth Ignites Our Creative, Healing and Visionary Powers is inspired by her thirty years of work with the Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral.
In addition to her writings on the labyrinth, Dr. Artress is a spiritual guide, speaker and trainer, and the founder of Veriditas, a non-profit dedicated to introducing people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth.
Veriditas is a 501c3 non profit incorporated in the State of California in 1995 by Lauren Artress. The word "Veriditas" originated with Hildegard of Bingen and means "the greening power of life".
Grace Cathedral is home to not just one but two labyrinths — and to the Modern Labyrinth Movement. We welcome you to our labyrinths as a walking meditation, a spiritual practice or simply an opportunity to calm the mind and enjoy peace, quiet and reflection.
The World-Wide Labyrinth Locator has been designed to be an easy-to-use database of labyrinths around the world.