Path of the Divine Child

With my fingertip, I enter the labyrinth and begin my journey by weaving upward through part of Grogu’s garment, winding through one ear and around his face, then following the path through the other ear and downward through the remainder of his garment. From here, I trace upward into the core of Grogu’s body, where I circle back and forth, finally arriving in the center, the Dan Tien.

I recently purchased a Star Wars-themed board game featuring the Yoda-like character of Grogu. It seemed a fun Christmas gift for my grandnephew, a fifth grader, but I wanted to give him another gift that would be complementary. I searched for a small action figure, but only found a plush toy Grogu, which I did not buy. Later, while drawing my holiday labyrinth design, it occurred to me that I could create a finger labyrinth for my grandnephew, and so the Grogu labyrinth was conceived and born.

While creating this labyrinth, I was struck by the parallels between Grogu and Baby Jesus of the Christmas story. Both represent the Divine Child archetype. The Divine Child is cross cultural and appears in many myths and religious narratives. Moses, Krishna, and the Buddha are examples of this motif (1). Both Grogu and Jesus, with their respective guardians, must flee tyranny, represented by the Empire in Star Wars and by King Herod and his troops in the Bible.

Grogu is innocent, yet potentially quite powerful. His connection with the Force is strong, but he needs training from a Jedi to realize his potential. In the care of a Mandalorian bounty hunter, Grogu is pursued by kidnappers from the Empire who want to subvert his power for evil intentions. Together, Grogu and the Mandalorian travel from planet to planet, seeking a Jedi to train “the child” so he may fulfill his destiny.

Jesus, too, is innocent and is prophesied to be the future “King of Israel” who will bring hope, joy, and light into the world. Jesus and his parents flee to Egypt as refugees to escape persecution and death at the hands of King Herod’s troops. In this way, Jesus can survive beyond infancy and eventually fulfill his destiny.

Life is like a labyrinth. We can take the path of innocence that leads to the center, the source of our power. It is here that we can awaken to the Divine Child within and resonate with the Cosmic Christ, the force that permeates and connects us all in the web of existence (2). Winding outward along the path, we can carry the possibility of hope, joy, and light into our world.

For all that is,

1) Taylor, Jeremy. (1988). The Living Labyrinth: Exploring Universal Themes in Myths, Dreams, and the Symbolism of Waking Life. New York: Paulist Press.

2) Fox, Matthew. (1988). The Coming of the Cosmic Christ. San Francisco: Harper Collins.