“Life’s works is nothing but the slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence one’s heart first opened.” – Albert Camus.

Cosmos… temple, tomb and play (Feliu-Gonzalez) all suggest ways in which the Labyrinth may be approached.  From ancient to modern culture, this archetype speaks of the genesis and its antithesis, of our human condition.

It is both the womb and the final journey. It is the path of the nomad as he would circumambulate the area around a camp, getting to know the many resources and perils that were within the vicinity. It is also the definition of concentric territories belonging to the Native Peoples, such as the Hopi Indians of SouthWest America. They have been used to enclose or keep out the ‘other’, and followed as a path to enlightenment...

There is a sense of eerie familiarity that people will report, when they have experienced the Labyrinths’ subtle magic. They work to inspire the imagination and often become a narrative device. The indigenous Australian Dreamtime symbol of the Rainbow Serpent leaves a labyrinthine groove in the Earth which then becomes a setting for the adventures of Aboriginal people. More recently, players have opted for the ‘slugfest’ entertainment of suspense-filled computer game ‘Doom’ where the labyrinth has been re-created as a popular location for challenge and intrigue.

Historically, the most famous Labyrinth tale is that of the Minotaur, imprisoned at Minos. This epic Greek myth features a host of powerful, deceptive, ingenious, pathetic and enduring characters not least of which is the Minotaur himself.

As the child of a vengeful union between the god Poseidon and the mortal queen Pasiphae, the half man - half bull, was concealed by Pasiphae’s husband, the king Minos (who recognized the creature as punishment for insulting the sea-god by not sacrificing his prized bull) and was sentenced to devour fourteen youth every nine years.

When the third cycle of youth arrived from Athens, Theseus among them, Ariadne (the king’s daughter) fell in love with the beautiful young hero and sought counsel from the Labyrinth’s designer, a greek craftsman called Daedelus. It is said that this architect had modeled the structure from the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Menes, where the Labyrinth illustrated the path of the soul on its journey home.

As Theseus was due to enter the Labyrinth and confront the Minotaur, the couple was given a ball of twine to unwind as a path for return (Ariadne’s thread), and some wax to throw into the Minotaurs’ mouth. Theseus successfully entered and emerged from the labyrinth having confronted, then slain the beast within. When Theseus returned to his homeland, Athens, he devised a dance that followed the turns of the labyrinth and so developed a prototype for ritual dances in Mediterranean custom.

The interesting, often neglected detail of this story, is that the beast also had a name; ‘Asterion’ which means ‘Star’ (Moore, 21). Those who appreciate Jungian psychology and the work of mythologists Joseph Campbell and Thomas Moore will recognize the correlation between the gift inherent in ‘the shadow’ (ie. the protective device of the soul) and the name of this unfortunate beast. The paradox of dealing with our internal beasts of grief, addiction, guilt, depression and loss, is that we must confront them eventually before we can reveal our own star or sense of divinity.

The obvious initiatory symbolism of this tale runs deeply throughout stories of ‘the Hero.’ The very battle that humans have with managing their fear of death and the unknown is still experienced by labyrinth-walkers today. Moore also points out that “our life journey in terms of the pathway that our soul travels, is unpredictable and meandering. It is not rational, and it is almost certainly never the straight-line journey of logic (250 – 260)” A walk through the Labyrinth can be likened to the “decensus ad inferos” or the “symbolic death and return to life” (Freitas, 412). This would explain why it was used during the festivals of Easter (Resurrection) and May Day (fertility).

Of the most popular labyrinth stories throughout history, several themes reoccur: disobedience as the cause of exile, imprisonment as protection and concealment, journeying as initiation, dealing with the threat of the unknown, ego related to loss, animal forms as an embodiment of human power, and finally, reaching the Promised Land as a remedy for suffering (Attali, xx).

No matter where labyrinths have presented themselves, or in what medium they were created, there is no doubt they have facilitated the cultural, social and psycho-spiritual transformation of many cultures, throughout many ages.

References:

Feliu-Gonzalez, Candida, Labyrinth: Ancient Mystical Tool for Tending of Soul. http://saintanselmgg.org/labyrinth/laby_art.htm (cited 24/10/07)

Moore, Thomas Care of the Soul – A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life., HarperCollins Publisher, New York, 1992

Freitas, Lima de, “Labyrinth”, The Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. Sixteen Vols, New York, Macmillan 1987

 Attali, Jaques The Labyrinth in Society and culture - Pathways to Wisdom North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 1999