A LABYRINTH IS NOT A MAZE

A labyrinth has a single path that leads dependably, although

circuitously, to the center. If you stay on the path, you WILL
reach the center. A maze, on the other hand, has many paths and
intersections. Its purpose is to confuse you. You may get lost and
never reach the center.
Pictured to the right is the worlds most famous hedge maze,
located in Hampton Court, England. Many people use the words
maze and labyrinth interchangeably. Below is the maze from the
movie Labyrinth, starring David Bowie.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A
LABYRINTH
The following characteristics of a
labyrinth are taken from Through the
Labyrinth: Designs and Meanings over
5,000 Years by Hermann Kern.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

A single path
An enclosing perimeter
A single entrance
Back-and-forth motion (turns)
A center
The only way out is to retrace
the way in

Below are examples of labyrinths.

Above: Santa Rosa labyrinth design

(protected by copyright see website
www.srlabyrinthfoundation.com).
Right: Paver labyrinth in Naperville,
Illinois, built by brick paver artist Marty
Kermeen (see www.artpaver.com).
Display provided by Labyrinth Enterprises www.labyrinth-enterprises.com (800) 873-9873

HISTORIC LABYRINTHS
Fivecenturies before Christ, labyrinths were pictured on coins in Crete, the island known for the Greek myth
of Theseus and the Minotaur. For this reason, labyrinths of this design are sometimes called Cretan
labyrinths. Another way of naming labyrinths is to describe the number of
concentric paths circling the center or the number of walls (lines). In the case
of the Cretan labyrinth, there are seven paths (also known as circuits). The
patternon the coin could be called a 7-circuit or an 8-walled labyrinth. Also quite
common are 11-circuit (12-walled) designs.
There are hundreds of stone
labyrinths (left) located in
Scandinavia, most of them
along the shores of the Baltic
Sea. Some are thought to date
back to Viking times. Fishermen
made and walked the labyrinths in order to obtain good
catches and favorable winds. There were also springtime
rituals with young men running through the labyrinth to
reach a young maiden in the center.
Below is the Man in theMaze pattern, a traditional Native
American pattern of the Piman tribe in Arizona.
Paradoxically, the figure is not a man but the deity Iitoi, also
known as Elder Brother, and the design is a labyrinth, not
a maze. It is a variation of the classical 7-circuit design
which is found all over the world.

Turf labyrinths (left) have been found in England since the

13th century.
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EARLIEST LABYRINTHS
It is difficult todate labyrinths. Somehistorians feel thelabyrinth
carved into the wall of the Neolithic tomb in Luzzanas, Sardinia,
(right) could have been made 2,500 years before Christ. Others
say it could have been a
Roman graffito.
We are more certain
about the labyrinth on a
clay tablet from Pylos,
Greece (left). It was a
casual doodle, made by a
scribe about 1200 BC on
the back of a list of
people giving goats to the
palace. That night, the
palace burned down,
firing the clay, which was
buried in the debris until
rediscovered in modern times.

THE PLANET MERCURY

One labyrinth scholar, Sig Lonegren, suggests that the classical
seven-circuitCretan labyrinth reflects the path of the planet Mercury as seen from Earth. That might explain
why the labyrinth can be found all over the world.
Mercury, also known as Hermes, was the god that served
as messenger between the gods and theearth. Could there
be a more fitting symbolism for the labyrinth?

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ROMAN LABYRINTHS
Roman labyrinths were made of mosaic tile and laid
on the floor. Each quadrant is a separate labyrinth
based either on the seven-circuit design or on the
meander.
There are dozens of mosaic labyrinths still in
existence, a number of which can be found in Italy,
Spain and Portugal. They are generally not large
enough to walk. Many have walls, gateways, and
crenelations surrounding the labyrinth, representing
a city or a fortress two common associations with the
labyrinth. Some labyrinths are named Troy Town,
after the City of Troy.
The first Christian labyrinth was a converted Roman
labyrinth, dating to the fourth century.

OPENING THE MEANDER

Opening a double
meander makes a sevencircuit round labyrinth. It
is not quite like the Cretan
design, but is a labyrinth
nonetheless.

DRAWING THE LABYRINTH

Start with the seed pattern, consisting of a
cross, four brackets and four dots. Then,
connect the top of the cross to the top of the
first bracket (you can go in either direction,
to the left or to the right). Continue
connecting subsequent elements until the
labyrinth is completed. We know that
ancient people used this method for drawing
the labyrinth because they made the seed
pattern in a different color. You can make a
larger labyrinth by adding additional brackets. Two brackets in
each quadrant yields an 11-circuit labyrinth, for example. The
labyrinths shown here are left-handed, which is to say that the
first turn is to the left. Historically, a majority of the labyrinths
were right-handed.
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