Labyrinth

                 Labyrinth at Chartres

What is generally  referred to as a maze these days is actually one of two classical structures with different forms and symbolism. The original and most ancient  structure is the labyrinth, usually seven ringed, and with only one path through to the centre.  A maze has many branching paths and sometimes more than one route.  Its symbolism is very different. 

The labyrinth is a simplified symbolic cross section of the Egg. If we are being precise about this, it is more correctly a cross section of the Matrix, as the Labyrinth also shows the cells and not just the levels and layers.

The Egg in reality is a more complex entity than a Labyrinth, as its spheres move – see Egg and its Moving Layers. 

The Labyrinth is thus a symbolic description of the spiritual path - only one route, always going towards the centre, but with many possible turns back and forth, and with both ascent and descent possible on the way.  It is a flattened version of the soul cone or if you prefer a squashed Christmas tree!!

Observations

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• Ancient Egyptian - Djew
• Blake, William - Around Golgonooza lies the land of death eternal
• Cretan complex
• Dionysius Andreas Freher - Paradoxa Emblemata
• Hypnerotomachia Poliphili - Egg and the Labyrinth
• Kipling, Rudyard - Just So stories - Before the High and Far-Off Times
• Malta - 07 The Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni
• Mircea Eliade - On caves and labyrinths
• Novalis – Heinrich von Ofterdingen
• Ovid - Metamorphoses - The Story of Phaeton 3
• Shaivism - Concepts and symbols - Labyrinth
• Swedenborg, Emanuel - The Unit of energy and infinitely small
• Thompson, Francis - An anthem of Earth
• Thompson, Francis - The Hound of Heaven 1
• Tikal - Mayan - Central Acropolis
• Tranströmer, Tomas - Walking Running Crawling