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Labyrinth Introduction

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 9:49pm — mdwimagin
What is a labyrinth?
  • The original labyrinth design follows a single path which has no branches, no dead ends, and no wrong turns. The path takes up and down, repeated bends inwards and outwards till it finds its way into the center.

Labyrinth design found as a petroglyph in Pontevedra, Spain Brief history of the labyrinth
  • The oldest labyrinthian designs have been found in the excavations of a palace at Pylos in Greece. Researchers can date back the burning down of the palace some 3,200 years ago but the carvings would predate that time. It seems the idea and designs of the labyrinth spread east across the Mediterranean to Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesian, South America (Peru), Mexico, and western North America (Hopi, Navajo, Pima, & Papago Native American tribes). They also be found throughout Europe; spreading from the Mediterranean north past the Spanish Atlantic coast to England, Iceland, and Scandinavia.

    Thus many cultures have used the labyrinth in their religious and spiritual ceremonies. Amazingly, all the symbols have stayed fairly consistent with the idea that the path inward is the journey humanity walks through life with the center being the goal or where enlightenment stems. The return path reflects a new life.

    The traditional labyrinth design has seven circuits. There are seven days in a week and the return trip was seen as the eighth day which is the number of new beginnings. In the 8th Century, Christian monks expanded the paths to eleven. The symbolism was that there were Ten Commandments and twelve disciples. Eleven stands for human excess and imperfections. Some time in the 12th Century the cross was added as a central image in the layout representing both our origins and as a life support.

    Today, labyrinths can be found in a variety of different shapes and sizes and made from a variety of different elements. Pagans and Christians alike have found deep spiritual connection to labyrinths.
How labyrinths have been used?
  • Labyrinths can be a pathway which can be walked or traced with the finger or eye. Always, it has represented a spiritual journey. During the time of the Crusades, individuals took pilgrimages to either the Holy Land or to one of seven cathedrals throughout Europe. Labyrinths became widely used for individuals who couldn’t make the physical pilgrimage but could take the journey in their heart. Several labyrinths were specifically know as “The Way to Jerusalem.” The path becomes a symbol of the resurrection. The sojourner’s journey to the center with their goal in reaching the Holy Land, yet, one is not trapped in the center but is asked to turn around and return on a new path with new life.

    People walking the Chartres Labyrinth
    Adrian Fischer, a modern labyrinth researcher and creator, describes the principle of the labyrinth as a way “to acquire wisdom with joy and curiosity. The labyrinth teaches you without your noticing.” We all need to take a breathe and find the center of ourselves, our homes, and our community. “The labyrinth is a sacred tool for knowing; an image that connects us to God, the world, and ourselves.” There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. The path only asks that you move forward.
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