Labyrinths have been around for at least 4,000 years. They were built and walked upon not only throughout Europe, but also in North and South America and Egypt.

Today these ancient paths are being integrated into hospitals, parks and churches. They date back to a time when labyrinths were a form of comfort, meditation and a way to ease an uneasy mind. They are accessible to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation.

In Willow Glen, St. Francis Episcopal Church has a labyrinth outside the church in the courtyard facing Newport Avenue that is accessible to the public 24 hours a day. This labyrinth was built by Emily Zeroun, a Girl Scout working toward her Gold Award in 2003.

St. Francis Episcopal Church vestry member Duon Zeroun, Emily's mother, says, "Labyrinths transcend religion. I don't think you have to be a Christian. I think you only need to be a human because every human needs the peacefulness of walking it."

Emily chose this particular location because there's a bus stop, her mother says. She wanted to make sure that anybody who needed to walk it could easily travel here to do so.

Now it is enjoyed by children who run, skip or jump through it, Zeroun says. Adults walk it slowly or quickly. Some even bring their scooters.

Emily decided to construct the labyrinth after her church displayed a traveling labyrinth at the facility in 2002. Though she was unfamiliar with how to construct one, she was not deterred.

"It was a new adventure to try out," she says.

Emily, 16, started by going to Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, home to a beautiful and elaborate labyrinth. Along with others interested in adding labyrinths at their places of worship, she met with facilitators at Grace Cathedral. There, the facilitators, including Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress, explained the history and meaning of the labyrinth and taught them how to explain this to their communities.

"I think she was one of the youngest people there," Artress says. Artress, founder of Veriditas, a nonprofit dedicated to introducing people to the healing, meditative powers of the labyrinth and author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool, installed two labyrinths at Grace Cathedral in 1994 and 1995.

"Labyrinths are archetypal symbols; they have universal meaning," Artress says.

"There was a large population at Grace Cathedral looking for some kind of practice, meditation to quiet the mind," Artress says. "For me, quieting the mind is much easier when walking. There are too many thoughts in your mind when you are sitting. "

Artress also believes that "on another level, people are hungry for symbols."

"The beauty of the labyrinth is the path of it is a metaphor for life," she says. "It allows us to see the big picture, no longer just the small picture."

The labyrinths at Grace Cathedral were the first permanent labyrinths constructed in the Western Hemisphere in 600 years.

Both the labyrinths at Grace Cathedral and St. Francis are based on the one at Chartres Cathedral, near Paris, France. That renowned labyrinth was built around 1200.

Unlike the ancient labyrinth in Paris, the Willow Glen labyrinth was completed in two days.

"We had a very limited budget," Duon Zeroun says. "We used a broom, string, carpenter's pencils and inexpensive mixed paint. The church funded most of it."

With these tools, the girls, along with Emily, went to work.

"It took the Girl Scouts nine hours the first day to map it out, draw it and paint it," Zeroun says. " It took six hours the second day for the second coat of paint."

Emily says the hardest part of making the labyrinth was not having a ready-made pattern to follow. She had to calculate the dimensions using a formula in one of her research books and then draw it by hand.

Even before she could start on the design, she had to power wash the whole patio.

Then she took the broomstick and a string and measured off the space. The Girl Scouts drew the pattern out with carpenter pencils, Zeroun says.

The last thing Emily did for her project was create a small box that hangs on the rear building's wall and is easily accessible to the public. It holds the pamphlets Emily put together on labyrinth history and suggestions on how to walk it.

Duon Zeroun says every person takes something different from the experience.

"A facilitator for a labyrinth once told me this story," Zeroun says. "She was facilitating a walk and it was stormy out. The door banged and a guy with a little kid came in and asked if they could walk the labyrinth. She told them they could and continued walking. As she continued, she heard a voice behind her say, 'Daddy, I'm lost.' And a very calm voice said 'get back on the path and follow me.' "

"The main thread of it is finding the path in life. Even though it's an enclosed path, it's finding the freedom in your mind," Zeroun says.

The St. Francis Episcopal Church is at 1205 Pine Ave. The labyrinth is at the rear of the property facing Newport Avenue. It is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information, call 408.292.7090 or visit the website at www.stfrancisespiscopalchurch.org. More information on labyrinths can also be found at www.veriditas.net.