"The earliest labyrinths are unicursal , consisting of a single convoluted path, without junctions, intended for ritual walking, running, and processions." "The Art of the Maze" by Adrian Fisher and Georg Gerster publ.Seven Dials 1990 £12.99 ISBN 1 84188 025 6 The Unicursal Classical seven ring design is the oldest known design. The oldest dateable labyrinth in Britain, c. 550 AD, is the Hollywood Stone in Dublin, which goes in to the right. They can go in on the left as in the two pictured below, or there can be two entrances so that two young men can compete against each other to reach the virgin in the centre. Mostly found in Scandanavia. Labyrinths are a very appropriate part of the Beltane celebrations. The oldest known public turf labyrinth in England is in Saffron Walden, on the common. It's a fourcornered (and Roman/Christian) design, takes a remarkably long time to walk, but it's a labyrinth and not a maze, it's unicursal with no blocks. On May Day you will often find a group of circledancers dancing near or on it. Other labyrinths near to Ipswich are Hilton in Cambridgeshire (ancient) and two modern ones:
here are a couple of fairly clear
photos of examples of the simple seven
ring design.
Illustrations from Wikipedia.
|
 Tintagel, Cornwall, Rocky Valley labyrinth. Could be 6th Century or 18th Century (wikipedia) |
"Increasingly, the maze as an
art-form is being sought for a wide range of contemporary
applications. A hands-on science museum uses mazes to get
visitors to think in non-verbal and non-numeric ways. ....One clue to
the enigma of the maze has been present throughout in our
subconscious. The unconscious is often symbolised by corridors,
passages, cellars, chambers, unlocked exits, labyrinths and
mazes. An Egyptian papyrus of 1400 BC has been found portraying
the seven doors of the Egyptian underworld, itself seen as a maze, a
further link with the sevenfold nature of siege legends and the
Classical labyrinthdesign.(Art of the Maze
see above).
|
| "The best known labyrinth myth is
the Greek story of Theseus slaying
the Minotaur. Other traditions have no such monstrous
creature.
Instead, the labyrinth is a walled city or fortification which onlyh
the cognoscenti can enter, the womblike bower of a maiden or goddess,
or a place of retreat and protection for its initiates. Indeed,
the
labyrinth has been a place of initiation by ritual procession from
childhood to adulthood. The labyrinth also has powerful sexual
imagery, with the seed entering and penetrating, and the life of the
newborn child emerging. There are clear parallels with the
concept of
reincarnation. The labyrinth has also been used to draw upon
spiritual
or magical powers, such as prosperity and fertility, personal safety on
a voyage or control of the weather." (Art of the Maze
see above) |
 Troy Town, on St Agnes, Scilly Isles, thought to have been built by a lighthouse keeper in 1729 (wikipedia). |
One way to use a labyrinth is suggested by a reading of The Lovers card from an old book called The Tarot by Paul Foster Case. (Macoy Publishing, copywrite 1947, renewed 1975) In the Lovers card, (Rider Waite pack) the woman looks toward the angel, the man toward the woman. "Man" equals Self-conscious, "Woman" equals Sub-conscious. The Angel is the Superconsciousness. There is, needless to say, no physical gender relationship implied, we are each individuals striving for integration. But sometimes we strive with ourselves rather aggressively and the labyrinth offers a gentle way in... " The self-conscious intellectual mind, although it is the determining factor in personal consciousness, does not become directly aware of superconsciousness. Self-consciousness does receive and transmit the powers of superconsciousness, but conscious awareness of the nature of those powers comes from careful observation of the activities of subconsciousness. ...... constructive operation depends on the discriminative exercise of self-conscious powers. Personal happiness, health and success depend on harmonious cooperation of these two modes of mental activity. The relationship between selfconscious and subconscious should be one of loving intimacy. The two figures are nude, they veil nothing from each other. ....Since love is the ideal relation between the two modes of consciousness, (we are warned) against any attempt to bully or coerce subconsciousness. Discrimination is the key to the establishment of happy cooperation between the two modes of personal consciousness. The burden falls on the selfconsciousness because it is the framer of suggestions. All that is necessary is to formulate suggestions embodying the idea that subconsciousness can and does receive influence from above, and that it can, and does reflect that influence to self-consciousness. Your words are best, and have most power. You will be amazed and delighted with the result." Walk the labyrinth as a way of allowing your outer conscious self to relax into loving intimacy with your inner subconscious, to empower your inner self to open to the influence of the Above, and then to bring the knowledge back out of the labyrinth into the clear light of conscious awareness.... You could replace all that by simply saying, Meditate, gently,with self-love, on your inner purpose, recognising and allowing that you will constantly lose focus,and constantly, gently, refocussing. Take in your issues, and listen with your heart. The great thing about a labyrinth is that you can't lose your way... |
BELTANE
Walking a Labyrinth is a good way to celebrate Beltane. Many of the existing Scandanavian labyrinths seem to be associated with Boy Girl spring rites. Going into the centre, following a sacred pilgrimage path, being fertilized with new ideas, coming back out into the light. - connecting with Earth energy and Sexual energy..are ways to use a labyrinth as a meditation tool as part of your spiritual pilgrimage. Glennie Kindred's book "Sacred Celebrations, A Source Book" publ.Gothic Image Publications 2001 ISBN 0 906362 48 2 "Our view of sex is still influenced by a male conception of what sexuality is. Use this time to explore sexuality as sacred union. Love, intimacy, tenderness and sensitivity towards another's emotional needs, are all areas which help focus the deep integration of the erotic, the sexual and the emotional. These elements touch and inspire a deeply spiritual experience of sexual ecstacy." Glennie Kindred also shows you a smaller 4 ring labyrinth and how to draw it. You can use white string held down by white stones and lit by candles, or masking tape on an indoor floor, or silver sand on a lawn, it can be painted onto a piece of canvas - a big piece! - or made very temporary or as permanent as the one bricked up in channels and filled with water in Bristol. You could draw it on the beach...with a big bonfire in the middle....  Not a labyrinth, just heartstones on Walberswick beach |
| You can draw labyrinths by
starting
from "seed patterns". Below is the simple Classical Seven Circuit Labyrinth. |
The Labyrinth
Society Labyrinths are not mazes. Labyrinths have no blocks in them, they are not puzzles, they are a convoluted path into the centre and out again. Once you're on it, you just walk it, or dance it, or run it. There is a website dedicated to labyrinths. The Labyrinth Society. It's American. The below are from their site. There's also patterns which have curved lines in their seed patterns rather than rightangles. They're called Goddess or Hecate labyrinths, There's a central entrance and the middle is a spiral rather than an about-turn. Look at http://labyrinthsociety.org/html/howto.html to see their brilliant animated instructions. |
 |
  seed
patterns for "Goddess" Labyrinths which have two entrances, enabling
young men to compete with each other for the girl in the middle..... |
foam on the beach at Walberwick  |
Jung maintained that in all
cultures the labyrinth has the meaning of
an entangled and confusing representation of the world of matriarchal
consciousness: it can be traversed only by those who are ready for a
special initiation into the mysterious world of the collective
unconscious. Within this interpretation, the Minotaur symbolises
the decadence of matriarchal Crete, with Theseus representing the young
patriarchal spirit of Athens. His rescue of Ariadne denotes the
liberation of the animal figure from the devouring aspect of the mother
image, thus reaching his first true capacity for relations with
women. The hero-monster battle is therefore a symbolic expression
of growing up, and of breaking free from the psychic energy attached to
the mother-son relationship, and becoming ready to achieve a more adult
relationship with women. If this interpretation of the mass experience is expanded to act as a universal metaphor for coming of age for both men and women then the ubiquity and longevity of the maze begins to be explained." (Art of the Maze see above). Personally, I think that if killing animals and dumping Ariadne on Naxos is Theseus' idea of "a more adult relationship with women" then I think Jung may have been more limited by his cultural conceptions than is generally realised: or perhaps, the ubiquity of the maze and the Theseus myth suggests a way in which a matriarchal priestesshood retained a sacred symbol and rite while allowing it to be apparently taken over by the newly thrusting young patriarchy. Rather ironic then, as the labyrinth presents no difficulty such as would require a golden thread to find your way out, and ,Hopefully, Ariadne actually chose to use Theseus to escape to freedom and willingly leapt off ship on Naxos where she went off to discover true intimacy and higher spiritual purpose - and have babies - with some quiet, lusty local shepherd..... Ed. |