The labyrinth appears in old legends and travel writings, in ancient art, on floors and walls of churches, cut into turf and built of low stone walls.

In the last decade, the labyrinth has made a comeback. Its power has been rediscovered and its mysteries once again fascinate the human mind.

A Brief History of Labyrinths

Suggested Reading

A Personal Account

A Brief History of Labyrinths

Labyrinths are frequently confused with mazes, however, they are fundamentally different. A maze has one real path with a beginning and an end, and many other paths that lead nowhere making it a puzzle. A labyrinth has only one path that winds its way to the center. To get out of a labyrinth, one must retrace their route.

The earliest mention of a labyrinth comes from Herodotus, the Greek “father of history”, who referred to an enormous structure in Egypt that was believed to have been built circa 2000 BCE. It seems that this early labyrinth, which may have been more of a maze than a labyrinth, was a huge building (or series of connected buildings) with a myriad of confusing passageways in which it was easy to get lost. By the time Paul Lucas, a traveler from France, visited in 1700, very little remained of what had become known as the “Temple of the Labyrinth”.

The most well-known legend of the labyrinth tells of the one King Minos of Crete built to constrain the Minataur. While the story describes the structure as being more like a maze, coins from ancient Crete display a one-path, seven-circuit labyrinth. Depictions of the Cretan labyrinth have also been found in the ruins of Pompeii and carved on a rock in Sardinia (dating to between 2500 - 2000 BCE).

The oldest known labyrinth design on a church floor dates to 400 in Orléansville, Algeria, and measured eight feet in diameter. By the 12th century, variations began to appear on church floors in greater numbers throughout France. The largest with a 42-foot diameter is the eleven-circuit labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral. Other cathedrals in France and Italy have two-foot wide labyrinths etched into their walls. Many of these have been worn down from people tracing the winding path with their fingers.

In addition to the number of circuits, the church labyrinth differs from the Cretan labyrinth in another way: Rather than the path simply coming to an end in the center, the church labyrinth has a wide circle at its core. The one in Chartres has a six-lobed rosette at its center. A few other variations of the floor labyrinth were constructed in Germany and England.

During the time of Christian pilgrimages to the holy land, church labyrinths were referred to as “Chemin de Jérusalem”. For people who could not afford a trip to the Middle East, the church labyrinth served as a way to spiritually take the journey. For those less physically able, the wall labyrinth was available. Both became objects for expressing devotion.

The ancient Romans produced their version of the labyrinth in England in the form of “turf mazes” which were cut approximately six inches into the ground. (This worked very well in many parts of England where chalk or clay is just under the surface.) They were constructed for the children’s game “Troy Town”. According to the ancient Roman scholar Pliny, they were so named because their seven circuits resembled the seven defensive walls of the city of Troy.

The turf labyrinth was more popular in England than the church labyrinth, however, many of these have been found near monastery ruins. Some consisted of eight circuits, others nine. A few of these date to between 1080 and 1220, the time of Saxon and Norman rule. Over the centuries these were also used for May Eve games. An observer in 1866 noted that those who trod the labyrinth seemed to be under the “persuasion of something unseen and unknown”.

A turf maze at Boughton Green in Northamptonshire called the Shepherd Ring has a spiral at its center. For centuries, walking this labyrinth was the main event of a three-day county fair that began in 1353. In Asenby, Yorkshire, a labyrinth was built on a rise called the Fairies’ Hill. Up until the early part of the 20th century locals walked this labyrinth then paused at its center to “hear the fairies singing”. Dr. Stukeley, an 18th century antiquarian, noted that people who walked the labyrinth spoke of it with a great deal of pleasure “as if there was something extraordinary in the thing.”

Labyrinth and Spiral
It is believed that the concept of the labyrinth was developed from the spiral – a fundamental form found in nature in the nautilus shell, the turn of a ram's horn, the manner in which snakes coil and birds spiral up to ride thermals. Only visible to modern people with telescopes and microscopes are spiral galaxies and strands of DNA.

To ancient people the spiral was sacred as the powerful primal symbol of the Great Mother Goddess and her transformative powers. As a symbol representing energy and transformation it was painted on cave walls and on pottery throughout southeastern Europe, as well as on the walls of the Tarxien temples of Malta. According to Professor Marija Gimbutas in The Language of the Goddess, the spiral visually portrayed life-force energy. Symbols created from objects in the natural world function to open human awareness.

In addition to the spiral, the labyrinth encompasses other powerful symbols: the circle, meander and labrys from which it gets its name. Like the spiral, the circle is a fundamental form of nature. It is the earth, the moon and the sun. It is the turning of seasons and of life. It represents time and timelessness, completion, unity and equality. We gather in circles for worship and we create a circle when working alone.

Also like the spiral, the meander was a symbol of the Great Mother Goddess and her life-giving and nourishing aspects. It was from the divine waters of the Mother’s womb that life came into existence. Some of the earliest depictions of the Goddess showed her as a hybrid woman/waterbird. Without water, life cannot be sustained, and for ancient people waterfowl were an important source of food. This complex notion of the Goddess first starting life and then sustaining it with gifts of food and water was represented in the simple symbol of the meander.

The labrys is sometimes referred to as a double axe and is believed to have been an agricultural tool. Minoan depictions of the Mother Goddess show her with the labrys. Archeologists have found them at ritual sites. Many of these are miniature-sized and others are delicately crafted – as such, neither type would have been useful for working the fields. As a symbol it depicts the power of abundance that the Goddess bestows.

The Labyrinth's Mystery: How does it work?
While sacred geometry – the balance and relationship of form and structural elements – is said to have been used to create labyrinths, no one understands how the winding path of the labyrinth creates psychological and physical impact. In fact the classical church labyrinths were based on sacred geometry but others were not and yet are said to be no less powerful.

As a form of spiral, perhaps the labyrinth produces a vortex of transformative energy that allows us to connect with our deepest selves, the web of life and the divine. In Eastern spiritual practices, mandalas are used for similar meditative and spiritual purposes. The word “mandala” is sanskrit for the “circle that contain the Essence”. Our very ancient ancestors seemed to have perceived this energy and knew that it was sacred.

Copyright - Sandra Kynes
Portions of this article appeared in
Llewellyn’s 2002 Magical Almanac

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Suggested Reading

Exploring the Labyrinth: A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth by Melissa Gayle West. Broadway Books, 2000.

Labyrinths in Culture and Society: Pathways to Wisdom by Jacques Attali, translated by Joseph Rowe. North Atlantic Books, 1999.

Mazes and Labyrinths: Their History and Development by William Henry Matthews. Dover Publications, 1985.

Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Dr. Lauren Artress. Riverhead Books, 1995.

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A Personal Account

Many people claim that they feel peaceful and focused as they tread the winding path of a labyrinth. Others suggest that you go in with a question because on the way out (or soon thereafter) you will find an answer. As a meditation tool, the labyrinth helps to focus and clear the mind. In addition to the mental and spiritual aspects, hospitals are having them installed because of the physical benefits to patients. In studies, people who used labyrinths during their recovery were found to heal quicker than those who had not.

A couple of years ago I had my first chance to walk a labyrinth during a weekend women's retreat. Saturday afternoon I walked the labyrinth twice. The first time through, I felt a very strong movement of energy to the point that my legs were actually wobbly. It was a Medieval style labyrinth and as I stood in the center of the rosette I felt lifted by the energy flow. My second walk later in the afternoon was different. As I stood in the center of the labyrinth, I felt as though my heels were driving into the ground and then the entire soles of my feet seemed to press into the floor. It was the most solid, grounded feeling I have ever felt. On Sunday morning I took my third walk and it was powerful. All three times I had entered with the same question in mind. When I reached the center for the third time, I sat down and closed my eyes. The Goddess gave me an answer.

Since that weekend I have acquired my own personal-sized labyrinth. Initially I was concerned that a small one might not be as powerful. I was drawn to the Classical style, which is based on the labyrinth of Crete. That had me concerned about the lack of lunations around the outer circle because I had read that this was an important feature. Both my fears were unfounded. As soon as I stepped onto it I felt the energy just as strongly as I had on the large labyrinth. When I reached the center, I could feel the energy rising around me to the point where I could hold my arms out at shoulder height and feel them supported. (The only similar experience was stepping into a faery ring in the woods.) Using the labyrinth has become an important part of my spiritual practice. Because it is circular in design, I sometimes use it to define the circle I cast for ritual and shamanic journeying.

If you have an opportunity to walk a labyrinth, know that you are engaging in an ancient form of energy work, and follow the path to discovery.

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