A Touch of Laybrinth Lore!

photo by ana traina

Labyrinths are an important part of many cultural heritages and mythologies. Unicursal labyrinths — a labyrinth which consists of a path which twists and turns, but which has no dead ends — can be found as rock paintings dating back thousands of years, while the earliest coin found in the world has on its face a labyrinth. Mazes also form a rich part of our history (mazes differ from labyrinths in that they do have dead ends; a person will get lost within a maze but never within a labyrinth), and both have influenced garden design and structure within western culture for at least a thousand years. 

The very idea of labyrinths and mazes offer the curious a means to become lost, and then find oneself again. They suggest danger lurking behind every twist and turn, and redemption for the true and brave of heart. They represent blindness and light, temptation and chaos, and satisfaction and serenity for those who brave the perils of the unknown, and who win though.

During the medieval period garden labyrinths became very much associated with love — they were, after all, the perfect place for secret dalliances. According to legend, Henry II built a labyrinth in his garden at Woodstock to hide his mistress Rosamund from his jealous wife, Eleanor of Acquitaine – the original 'summerhouse of sin'.

May-pole dances reflect the labyrinth and the unwinding into life and birth again — May dances being not only danced versions of the labyrinth, but also a spring rite.

photo by ana traina

A Bit of Odd and End ~ As a child you may have played hopscotch, or you may even have played, avoid the cracks in the pavement. Well, you were playing the ancient labyrinthine Game of Troy — without evening knowing it, you were avoiding the monster in the dark heart of the labyrinth! Both the game and the superstition date from thousands of years in our past — they are games of lines, of not crossing lines, and of avoiding the evil that lurks for the unwary.