Whence the labyrinth: a short history and a decision

Labyrinths were often used by Christian pilgrims who were unable to journey to a holy shrine; they walked a labyrinth instead. (You might see the Camino de Santiago in Spain as a very long, stretched-out labyrinth.) However, this structure predates Christianity and is found in many ancient cultures. The word labyrinth is derived from the word labrys, the sacred, double-sided axe of the Minoans, who worshipped the Mother Goddess and gave us the myth of the Minotaur.

The cathedral at Chartres is supposed to have been built on the site of a shrine sacred to the earth mother. Its 12-circuit labyrinth ( the centre counting as the 12th)  is a rather mysterious addition to the cathedral and is thought to connect to very ancient beliefs in feminine deities. Look carefully, and you can see double-bladed axe-shapes.

Source: www.lessons4living.com/chartres_labyrinth.htm

Chartres is redolent with feminine symbols in addition to the circular labyrinth. The veneration of the Virgin Mary, which arose in the early middle ages when Chartres was built (1250 A.D.), reflected a desire to balance patriarchal Roman Catholicism with the addition of the feminine. This resulted in the assimilation of the Goddess with Mary.  Read more if you like at this link: 

http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id149.html

Episcopalian priest Lauren Artress notes that, if the Rose window in Chartres Cathedral, were laid on the floor of the cathedral, it would cover the labyrinth. Or at least come close. According to another authority, Robert Ferre, the centre of the Rose window misses the roseate centre of the labyrinth by five feet but is "exactly 100 of the mason's foot measures from the floor," so there does seem to be some degree of intentionality  (www.labyrinthproject.com/FAQ005.html).

Source: www.discover-chartres.com/chartres-cathedral-choir-and-chapels.html

At this point you may want to read the Rev. Artress’s seminal book on the labyrinth, entitled Walking a Sacred Path. She notes the many approaches to this type of process meditation: allowing the Ego to let go, paying “gracious attention” to what is waiting to well up in you, asking a question, repeating a mantra, reading scripture,  asking for help, honouring a benchmark in life, or working with a dream.

Working with a dream while walking the labyrinth is engaging. I like the idea of having something coming from the unconscious and being walked through on a path on the physical, concrete, material (Mother) earth.  Artress adds that the pattern of the walk can be seen as one of purgation (on going inwards), illumination (during meditation at the centre) and union (going outwards to rejoin the world in a transformed, more compassionate, way). 

  

I would like to have made a 12-circuit labyrinth because it provides a more convoluted walk in and out of the four quadrants, but it is very complicated mathematically. The little curves around the circumference are not decoration, but are called lunations and correspond to the phases of the moon. Getting them right would be tricky as would the pattern in general. 

I chose a simpler model — the seven-circuit labyrinth. It lacks the surprise and mystery of the 12-circuit, but for an enneagram Five, who really needs to put thought into action, it is a good place to start. As a friend of mine used to say, "Never let the perfect become the enemy of the good."

Source: www.lessons4living.com