Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00145)

Lewis:

 This past weekend I was introduced to labyrinths, the history,
myths, and use as a spiritual tool.

 John first told the Cretian myth about the Theseus and the
Minotaur. He then talked about the different types of labyrinths and
places they are found.

 One of the more interesting ideas to me was his identification of
two basic types, meandering and maze. Meandering, he said, did not
have dead ends or offer choices to the walker like a maze does, and
suggested that each were metaphors for the path of the individuality
and the personality respectively.

 He noted how we are constantly faced with choices and cannot see
how they will work out until we have gone down them a ways. On the
other hand, he sees the individuality following a path, if we stay on
it, leads directly to a goal.

 He gave some symbolic correlations between the 7 cycle labyrinth
and the planetary order given in traditional astrology based on the
Ptolemic view of the universe which orders the planets by their
apparent speed of motion. Thus the outer most circuit was correlated
to Saturn, while the next was to Jupiter, then Mars, Sun, Venus,
Mercury, Moon, and the Earth at the center of the labyrinth. These
were then related to the seven principles in theosophy, for instance,
Mars to passion (Kama), Venus to intuition, the Moon to Etheric, and
Saturn to Manas.

 We were given a simple pattern for constructing a 7 circuit
labyrinth and then given an opportunity to practice drawing one. One
was also layed out on the grounds and all the participants were
invited to walk it. Later, they were asked to share their experience
and some reported it had a unexpected impact or influence on them,
such as making those who tended to be more emotional felt their mind
was stimulated, while those who were more mental had strong feelings
and emotions invoked within them.

 Several books were recommended (no, I don't have the titles, but
JEM may as he also attended) and the group decided to make the
labyrinth a more permanent feature of Stil-Light by filling in the
lime lines with stones from the creek and surrounding woods.

llucas@mercury.gc.peachnet.edu