The Magic of Labyrinths: Following Your Path, Finding Your Center

Chapter 2 LABYRINTHINE PATTERNS

“…everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is

because the Power of the World always works in circles,

and everything tries to be round…”

BLACK ELK, OGLALA LAKOTA, 1930

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LABYRINTH PATTERN

It may seem odd that if someone wanted to come up with a simple design symbolizing our journey through life, they did not just draw a straight line from A (birth) to (death). But then, is life ever that straightforward? The labyrinth motif has maintained its appeal because it speaks to the reality of having to navigate many twists and turns as we journey towards our goals.

The meander or “Greek Key” pattern is thought to be the basis of the Classical seven-circuit labyrinth design.

However, while all labyrinths follow a general design comprising of a unicursal path, there are many variations on that theme, and it is these designs that we focus on in this chapter.

The Classical, Seven-circuit Pattern

The oldest labyrinth pattern is that of the Cretan labyrinth, so-named because of its association with that island civilization and religion. It comprises, typically, of seven concentric circuits, although this form exists from three circuits up to nineteen. The oldest British example to which a date can be ascribed is that of a carving on granite named the Hollywood Stone, now on display in the Museum of Antiquities in Dublin. The stone and its seven-circuit Cretan design was found on a pilgrim’s track that wove its way through the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland from Hollywood to the Celtic monastic settlement at Glendalough.

When playing around with the labyrinth design, Jeff Saward the British editor of the labyrinth journal Caerdroia (see story here, and Resources), together with a friend, worked out that the Classical seven-circuit labyrinth was simply a variation on a theme commonly depicted on Greek and Roman pottery – the meander. This meander pattern or “Greek key” was common to Old Europe many thousands of years before the Greek civilization flourished and indeed examples have been discovered on “Bird Goddess” figurines at Mezin in the Ukraine that date back to c. 18000–15000B.C.

The Hollywood Stone, found on a pilgrim’s way in the Wicklow Mountains, Ireland.

While not resembling a labyrinth at first glance, when you twist this unbroken design into a circle it does indeed become labyrinth-like. The similarity is even more apparent when you look at the Man in the Maze motif of the Hopi tribe of Arizona, where the corners of that labyrinth are squared-off rather than curved. One modern example of this design – having the wider entrance and squared-off rather than curved corners – can be found outside the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico (see story, here).

Interest in the meander design has been maintained over the centuries and, given the vast number of products available on the Internet that incorporate it, particularly jewelry and home furnishings, the interest continues unabated. One interior design company specializing in the Greek key design claims that introducing this pattern into the home helps achieve a sense of a bigger, warmer, softer, calmer, friendlier environment. Is this just marketing rhetoric or is there something special about the energy created by the meander pattern, as is claimed for the labyrinth? Certainly, earlier civilizations, such as that of the Greeks, stressed the importance of design for achieving harmonious living. They called this approach “sacred geometry” (see here).

The Man in the Maze motif from the Hopi tribe, Arizona. The squared-off corners are reminiscent of the “Greek Key” design.

Although it is the most common form, the classical Cretan labyrinth pattern does not have to comprise of seven circuits. One of the most unusual three-circuit labyrinths is featured high in the Peruvian Andes where ancient artists created gigantic geometric forms and animal outlines that are discernible only by air. These are the Nazca lines, named after the culture that flourished in the region during the sixth or seventh centuries. Thought variously to be the landing strips for alien spacecraft or to have astronomical/astrological importance, the Nazca images were formed by scraping away the top layer of the pampa to expose the chalky white gypsum underneath. These strange labyrinthine-like totems include that of the curling tail of a Monkey and the winding pathway formed by the outline of a Spider.

The Monkey and the Spider – two of the many ancient labyrinthine totems at Nazca, Peru.

Examples of Cretan labyrinths are manifold – from the plains of Peru to the basketry of the Native American tribes of Arizona. They appear as “turf mazes” throughout Britain and as stone labyrinths across Scandinavia. But this design, while the oldest, is not the only labyrinth pattern.

The Chartres, Eleven-circuit Pattern

The second labyrinth pattern is the medieval Christian or Chartres design which sprung up in Gothic cathedrals and churches – principally in France and Italy – during the twelfth century, although it may have been designed as early as the eighth century. However, ecclesiastical links between these pavement labyrinths and churches goes back much further. W.H. Matthews, who has conducted an exhaustive study of the history of mazes and labyrinths, reports that the oldest known example of a pavement labyrinth can be found in the Church of Reparatus in Orleansville, Algeria which is believed to date from the fourth century. This miniature example (just 8ft in diameter) comprises four quadrants like the Chartres design. It is very “meander like,” having squared-off pathways rather than curved ones. In the center of this example there is a form of word puzzle on the letters that make up the words “Sancta Eclesia.”

The number 7 – the number of pathways within the Classical Cretan labyrinth – occurs in many esoteric and religious groupings. For example, there are seven main chakras; the Mystery School at Chartres studied the Seven Liberal Arts – Arithmetica, Astronomica, Dialectica, Geometrica, Grammatica, Musica, and Rhetorica; and, according to the Old Testament (Genesis 2:3), when God completed his creation of the Earth and its inhabitants He blessed and sanctified the seventh day. Indeed, the Bible is full of references to the number 7, from the length of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:19) to the seven sayings of Jesus uttered from the Cross.

This labyrinth, in the Church of Reparatus in Orleansville, Algeria, dating from the fourth century, is the oldest known example of a pavement labyrinth. The letters in the center are a puzzle based on the words “Santa Eclesia.”

So, given the widespread connection between the Christian religion and the number 7, why does the Chartres design consist of eleven rather than seven circuits? To answer this, we need to take a brief journey into the realm of numerology and sacred geometry.

Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was not just being facetious when he wrote that the meaning of life was 42. Numerology – the study of numbers and their relationships – is an ancient occult or esoteric art. While it is believed to have originated with the Greek mathematician, Pythagoras, some experts argue that he learned about the prophetic nature of numbers from the Kabala. This early Hebrew work mainly consists of mystical practices aimed at uncovering the nature of divinity, creation, the soul and the earthly role of human beings. You may have had a small taste of numerology yourself when adding up the numeric relationship with the letters making up your name or your birth date. According to modern numerologists, such calculations offer clues to a person’s talents, life challenges, basic values and the way they might best express themselves through their choice of work. Pythagoras is said to have developed a letter wheel by which he could predict – like an astrologer – the future events in a person’s life based on their name.