The Labyrinths of Faith Part 1. By Etruscan Corner

“The world is a labyrinth where the soul must wander until its liberation” – (Hippolytus, 3rd century)

The labyrinth is one of the most recurring symbols in the iconography of the ancient world. We do not know when it was first conceived, yet we compare it across numerous civilizations, sometimes very distant geographically.

Furthermore, there are several similarities among the petroglyphs engraved on rock faces across Europe, from Spain to Norway to Italy, which feature the labyrinth symbol. 

In the British Isles, labyrinths are known as promotional Troytown because, in popular legend, the walls of the city of Troy were so intricately constructed that any enemy entering them would be unable to find their way out; similarly, in Scandinavia, they are called Trojaborg, the equivalent of the English Troytown.

The name "Troy" has been associated with labyrinths since ancient times. The famous Etruscan vase from Tragliatella depicts a seven-ring labyrinth marked with the word TRUIA (which may refer to Troy). To its left, two armed soldiers appear to emerge from the labyrinth on horseback, while the emblem on their shields recalls the crane, the bird whose intelligence allows it to traverse the labyrinth. The vase dates back to around 630 BC and potentially references the ancient Roman equestrian event known as the “Trojan Games,” which involved riding through labyrinthine patterns.

Stone labyrinths around the Baltic coast have been dated to between the 13th and 17th centuries. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, once existed, and many still survive, especially in more remote areas.

There are stone labyrinths on the Kola Peninsula and on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island, a cluster of about 13 labyrinths covering an area of ​​0.4 km2 on a small island. Local archaeologists have speculated that these labyrinths may be 2,000–3,000 years old. The Solovetsky Islands alone have 35, dating back 3,000 years. They are known as Vavilons (Babylon) by the locals.

The labyrinths of Northern Europe are almost all close to the sea and of the classical type. In Sweden, they were built by fishermen during difficult times and were believed to trap evil spirits, the "smågubbar" or "little people" who brought bad luck. The fishermen would walk to the center of the labyrinth, calling on the spirits to follow them, and then run out and head for the sea.

In Finland, such labyrinths are called Jatulintarha ("giants' garden" or "giants' enclosure") or jättiläisen tie ("giants' road"), or are named after important biblical places, such as Jerusalem. Walking through the labyrinth was considered a symbolic pilgrimage to the place from which it takes its name.

In the coastal areas of Swedish-speaking Finland, labyrinths are also called jungfrudans or Maiden's Dance.

Labyrinth: Common Heritage

Is the labyrinth therefore part of a common heritage with an unconscious meaning?

The geometry of the labyrinth is clearly spiral, and this is a symbol found since ancient times: among Paleolithic rock carvings or inscribed on Celtic monuments, where it is believed to symbolically represent the Water of Life.

From the natural world, we could also cite spiral galaxies, the vortex of a hurricane, the cochlea in the inner ear, and the spiral shape of DNA; the primordial form of the spiral as a symbol of cycles of growth until it reaches the perfection of a circle when no further growth is possible; the achieved unity symbolized by the serpent Uroburos, the serpent biting its own tail and enclosing the universe. Hence the ancient association of the serpent with the Goddess who presides over Life and Death, the immortal, legless serpent, a chthonic being rooted to the Earth, in intimacy with the Mother who created us all.

We find numerous examples from the Bronze Age, around 2500 BC, and the Iron Age, around 750 BC, as for example in Valcamonica in Italy and in the passage of the important and spectacular mound of New Grange, in the Boyne Valley north of Dublin. We see the same geometric design later on the aforementioned Etruscan vase from Tragliatella from 550 BC.
Subsequently, around 300 BC, the same symbol was used on Cretan coins and was later rediscovered in the Middle Ages, present in Gothic cathedrals.

The oldest known labyrinth is believed to be engraved on a mammoth tusk dating back to the Paleolithic period and found at the archaeological site of Malta, Siberia (excavations by M.M. Gerasimov, 1928-1930; Maltinsko-Buretskaya culture, 21st-17th millennium BC).

In Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets, the labyrinth is the "palace of the entrails." It is represented by a double spiral that imitates the entrails of animals, to be inspected for divination.

The Mysterious Egyptian Labyrinth

The Egyptian labyrinth is the greatest architectural achievement of the ancient Egyptians, built by Pharaoh Amenemhet III (1843-1797 BC) near Lake Moeris (Moeris), now Birket Qarun.

“This I have indeed seen, a work beyond words. For if one were to put together the buildings of the Greeks and the display of their labors, they would seem less both in terms of effort and expense for this labyrinth… Even the pyramids are beyond words, and each was equal to many mighty works of the Greeks. Yet the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids.”

These are the words of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, written in the 5th century BC ("Histories," Book II, 148), describing a colossal temple said to contain 3,000 rooms, some underground, filled with hieroglyphics and paintings, spanning an area of ​​approximately 70,000 square meters. The labyrinth's system of passages, courtyards, rooms, and colonnades was so intricate and perplexing that, without a guide, a stranger would never have found their way out. Most of the labyrinth was immersed in total darkness, and some doors, when opened, were said to produce a terrifying sound.

Herodotus was not the only historian to describe the labyrinth of ancient Egypt. The imposing complex was mentioned by many classical authors, including Manetho (3rd century BC), Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), Strabo (64 BC–19 AD), Pliny (23–79 AD), and Pomponius Mela (c. 43 AD), two of whom claimed to have seen the labyrinth firsthand.

It is said that numerous papyri relating to the lost civilization of Atlantis were preserved within this gigantic structure. The mighty labyrinth of ancient Egypt has unfortunately been lost.

The Most Famous, the Labyrinth of Knossos

The most famous labyrinth of our Greco-Latin culture is that of Knossos, Crete. It was in this impenetrable labyrinth that the Minotaur, a monster half-man and half-demon, was imprisoned, devouring any humans who dared enter. It consisted of a single path that wound back and forth to form seven circuits delimited by eight walls surrounding the central section.
It was the hero Theseus who, after slaying the Minotaur, found his way out thanks to the thread given to him by Ariadne.
This detail helps us better understand the origin of the ball of yellow wool (the color of the sun), used during Easter rites in Chartres Cathedral (The Labyrinths of Faith Part 2).

Just as Theseus fought the Minotaur, so man fights against evil and is led out of the labyrinth by Ariadne or by divine grace. The slaying of the Minotaur can be seen as a triumph of self-knowledge; A spiritual liberation, or the killing of the vile, superficial, and selfish aspects of ourselves to transform us into loving and wise spiritual beings. 

Friedrich Dürrenmatt explains: Wherever he turned, he was always face to face with himself. He was walled in within himself; everything was himself; he was infinite, reflected by the labyrinth in infinity. Ultimately, Theseus and the Minotaur become one, each a mirror image of the other. 

Theseus slowly realizes that it is himself he is attacking as he attempts to kill the Minotaur, who, in this case, symbolizes the monstrous aspects of human nature that must be transformed or else they will be destroyed.

Labyrinths symbolized the implications and illusions of the lower world through which the human soul wanders in search of truth. The labyrinth is home to the lower animal, the bull-headed man, who seeks to destroy the soul trapped in the labyrinth of worldly ignorance.

Hall, Manly P, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, TarcherPerigree, 2003

The myth in this context may preserve the memory of a time when Knossos was invaded by a rebellious Greek force, seeking not a mythical beast but Minos himself as the representative of an oppressed dynasty. The resolution of the conflict was a marriage between the heir to the Minoan dynasty and one of the Greeks, whose memory is preserved in myth as the thwarted love story between Ariadne and Theseus. After an unfortunate series of events, Athens was forced to send seven young men and seven young women to Crete every nine years to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.

Theseus, the courageous prince of Athens, decides to put an end to this macabre practice. He volunteers to be one of the seven youths on the third sacrificial journey to Crete. Upon his arrival, he attracts the attention of Princess Ariadne, who falls deeply in love with him. When she learns of his mission, she decides to help him.  Ariadne will give Theseus a ball of yarn, which later becomes known as "Ariadne's thread." Theseus unravels the thread as he ventures deeper into the labyrinth, leaving a path for his safe return.

The association of young men and women with the Minotaur in the labyrinth may not refer to acts of sacrifice but rather to the cult associated with this sacred animal. Echoes of mythical elements are found in the religious ceremonies of the frescoes at Knossos. The Minoan ritual of the bull leaping, which involved young men and women, is one such ritual, as are the spring dances.

The Labyrinth of Porsenna

The Etruscan labyrinth of Porsenna in Chiusi (Siena) is an underground passageway of approximately 130 meters consisting of tunnels that are part of a complex Etruscan hydraulic system that extends beneath the entire city. Popular tradition has long identified these tunnels with the "inextricable labyrinth" found in the basement of the grandiose mausoleum of Porsenna, described by Pliny the Elder.

Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, describes an underground labyrinth within the mausoleum of the great Etruscan lucumone Porsenna. Pliny did not personally see this structure, but cites the description given by the Roman historian Varro (116-27 BC) in a manuscript that has never survived.

It is appropriate to mention what the Etruscan king Porsenna had built for himself as a tomb, and also to demonstrate that the Italians are superior to foreign kings even in vanity. Since its fabulous grandeur exceeds all limits, we will use, in describing it, the words of Marcus Varro: 'The king was buried near the city of Clusium, in a place where he left a square monument made of squared stone blocks: each side is three hundred feet long and fifty feet high. Inside this square plan is an inextricable labyrinth, constructed in such a way that if someone were to enter without a ball of thread, he would never be able to find his way out. Above this square base rise five pyramids, four at the corners and a central one, which are seventy-five feet wide at the base and one hundred and fifty feet high. As a crowning feature, they have a bronze disc at the top and a single curved canopy that overlaps all five, from which small bells are suspended, held by chains (when the wind stirs them, their sound spreads a great distance, as once happened at Dodona); Above this disk stand four pyramids, each one hundred feet high, and above them a single platform with five pyramids.' Varro was shy about declaring the height of these pyramids: fanciful Etruscan traditions say that this height would have been equal to that of the rest of the building. It was a vain folly, to have sought glory at an expense that would have benefited no one, and to have further exhausted the forces of the kingdom—with the result that the greatest glory ultimately went to the architect.

Geranos, the Dance of the Cranes

A particular dance, the Geranos (Dance of the Cranes), was first performed on Delos by the young Athenians (seven males and seven females) whom Theseus, using Ariadne's thread, had rescued from the Minotaur and led out of the Labyrinth.
The crane knows the path to the afterlife and, like Ariadne's thread in the labyrinth, establishes the connection between the beginning and the end, between the visible and the invisible, between the human and the divine.

The ritual dance was performed annually, solemnly, at the sanctuary of Apollo on Delos, during a festival instituted by Theseus.
While dancing, participants form Farandoles, holding hands and sometimes holding each other with ribbons. This is a remnant of the dances that must have taken place within the confines of the most ancient labyrinths.

The Crane Dance also bears similarities to the French gavotte, the English jig, and the tarantella typical of southern Italy.

The Farandole is the oldest dance, linked to agrarian rites. It is known as the dance of the labyrinth, with its spiral and serpent figures; it is also the dance around the fire, the sacred center of village life. In the Farandole, everyone must follow the same path, abandoning themselves to the will of the one who leads the dance.

The labyrinth always has an exit, and the dance symbolizes the concept of eternal return. It is also the ritual dance in the celebrations of Samahin, the Celtic New Year celebrated between October 31st and November 1st.

In the oldest descriptions of the dance, the three repetitive elements—Ariadne's thread, labyrinth, crane—although their mutual implications are unclear, could actually be read as three distinct ways of expressing the same concept. The thread is the tool that Ariadne offers Theseus to find his way from the outside to the center of the labyrinth and from the center to the exit. This is what Marcel Detienne called "the longest journey in the shortest space."

Journey into the Labyrinth

The time has come to take the first step. The outside world recedes from us as we advance through the labyrinth, keeping only what is truly meaningful with us. All the trivialities of mundane life are left behind, each step is a step into the darkness toward a future still unseen. And we perceive nothing but the curve of the envelope of the walls that envelop us.

Clement Jewitt, Labyrinth: Myth, Meaning & Symbol

The labyrinth has, since time immemorial, been associated with duality: entrapment and liberation, external and internal, death and birth. It appears in similar forms throughout the world, whether in myth, as a constructed structure that can be entered, or as a small talisman used for protection in connecting with other realms.

Helmut Jaskolski writes: Thinking people these days have come to appreciate the mandala as an object of reflection and meditation; however, they lack an adequate understanding of the symbol of the labyrinth, which can be considered the mandala of the Mediterranean world and the European culture that grew out of it.

The winding paths can be followed with the eye or the finger meditatively (Chakra-Vyuha and Yantra) or as an aid in the shaman's journey.

Labyrinths are also linked to the ancient Hindu traditions of medicine women. Since obstetrics was part of this tradition, the Chakra Vyuha was used as a meditative tool that midwives gave to the mother during labor to facilitate childbirth.
The structure of the ancient labyrinth symbolically represents the path the child must travel to emerge from the mother's womb.

The Indian epic Mahabharata mentions the Chakra Vyuha, a special military formation used in the Kurukshetra War, considered impregnable.
Krishna, Arjuna, Jayathratha, and Pradhyumna (Krishna's son) knew how to defeat the Chakra Vyuha. Abhimanyu knew how to enter but did not know how to exit, since Krishna, his uncle, had taught him how to enter while Abhimanyu was still in his mother's womb. But Krishna had to leave before teaching his nephew how to exit the Chakra Vyuha.
Another version of the story says that Arjuna found the right moment and the right words to enter the Chakra Vyuha. This seems to indicate that there was apparently some sort of key word that could be used to break through and defeat the labyrinth of warriors.

Etymology and Likelihood

The etymology of the word labyrinth remains uncertain. An initial interpretation seems to trace the word labyrinth back to the Greek λαβύρινθος (labýrinthos), used in mythology to refer to the labyrinth of Knossos.

Apparently originating from a pre-Greek language, the word is traditionally linked to the double-edged axe, the Lydian labrys, a symbol of royal power, which accords with the theory that the original labyrinth was the Minoan royal palace in Crete. It would therefore mean "palace of the double axe." However, Dutch linguist Robert Beekes finds this "speculative" and suggests that the word derives from the pre-Greek word "laura" (λαύρα: narrow street, or underground corridor). But several depictions of the double-headed axe have been found in King Minos' palace at Knossos.

From the Greek root laf- from làas -> làfas, from which the Latin lapis = stone, refers to caves and metal quarries whose intricate paths cause one to lose one's sense of direction. From the Greek λαβιριον (làbirion), meaning a tunnel dug underground, branching off in various directions, or from λαβιρος (làbiros), meaning cavity; From the Greek λαμβάνω (lambàno) = I take and ρινάω (rinào) = deception, meaning "I fall into deception," precisely because of the inextricable and deceptive structure of the labyrinth;

The same design is frequently painted on Late Minoan pottery and engraved on seal stones.

The Cretan double-bladed axe also symbolizes the waxing and waning moon, the two halves of life, or the lips of the Devouring Mother at our death. For these reasons, it is often depicted held by a goddess guarding the entrance to the labyrinth, as a gateway to the unknown world or the underworld. The double-bladed axe is a symbol equivalent to Janus, and like him, the two blades point to the past and the other to the future.

The symbolism of the labrys dates back to the Middle Bronze Age. It was never an instrument of war, contrary to what official iconography would have us believe. It would not have been an advantageous weapon because it was difficult to handle. The double blade may be impressive, but in combat, it brings more disadvantages than advantages. In Old English, the labyrinth is called dmasian, meaning "to disorient" or "confused state of affairs," like the ethereal deception of the wind we must fight to regain our grounding in the Earth, to feel connected to it, otherwise we would lose our way.

The labyrinth shares a certain interesting visual similarity with the human brain. At the center of the labyrinthine folds lies the pineal gland, awaiting activation. The division of the brain's functioning into right and left lobes is similar to walking in a labyrinth.

The Numbers of the Labyrinth

The design of the classic labyrinth is simple, unicursal, resembling a spiral or a square where the lines or lanes reach directly to the center and vice versa.

The classic labyrinth is composed of seven spirals, or circles. The path from the outside immediately reaches the third spiral, then turns onto the first and outermost spiral, gradually approaching the center. Much more complex is the labyrinth that originated in the Middle Ages, and is therefore called medieval. It is interesting to note that precisely during this period, the labyrinth appeared in numerous Christian religious buildings.

First in the Renaissance and then in the Baroque era, the labyrinth became multi-path, where humans could choose which direction to take but without knowing the final outcome. More than one path leads to the center, meaning that humans can and must choose between several equally valid options: life and death, good and evil, perdition and redemption; but it also speaks of solitude, anguish and fear, occult mysteries and jealously guarded secrets.

Winding and intricate outdoor labyrinths are thus created, where getting lost, giving in to distractions, and wandering aimlessly become part of the game, which, like fate, is capricious and deceptive, but also intriguing and fun. Humanity has broadened the horizons of its consciousness and, aware of its changing existential conditions, claims the possibility of self-experimentation, doubts and errors included.

Multicursal labyrinths were endowed with a certain constructive logic, and many mathematicians, starting in the 18th century, have attempted to solve their layouts, thus arriving at theorizing various formulas, more or less complicated. One of the simplest proposed solution formulas is that the exit of a labyrinth can be reached by always turning in the same direction every time one comes across a fork in the road.

The Swiss mathematician Euler (1707–1783) was one of the first to mathematically analyze labyrinths, laying the foundations of the branch of mathematics known as topology. Meanwhile, the French mathematician Tremaux (1818–1895) devised an algorithm to solve the labyrinthine path.

The myth tells of seven Athenian boys and seven Athenian girls sent every nine years to Crete as a sacrifice to the Minotaur. Undoubtedly, the number seven had a symbolic meaning in the Mycenaean-Cretan culture: the number of victims was doubled. Seven and the labyrinth with seven convolutions.

The number nine is associated with the labyrinth of initiation. 

Seven was anciently considered to be the Virgin; it is the number that mediates between those that precede it and those that follow it. Virgin because seven is a prime number, greater than 1, and allows only trivial divisors, namely 1 and itself. Seven appears everywhere: the seventh heaven, the seven planets known to the ancients, the celestial spheres, the days of the week, the types of crystals, the colors of the rainbow.

Nine is the threshold beyond which lies the highest mathematical order of magnitude. 9 represents the higher realms of which it is the connection. It contains within it the three numbers of creation and the four of manifestation. Nine is also the Norse Odin of the Nine Worlds: hanged upside down on a branch of the ash tree Yggdrasil for nine days and nine nights in exchange for the wisdom of the Well of Urd, also called the Source of Destiny.

Yggdrasil, the tree of life, contains nine worlds within its branches: Helheim, Svartálfaheim, Niflheim, Jötunheim, Midgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Asgard, and Muspelheim. 

Nine are the years of the siege of Troy, and nine are the Muses.

The ancient method of self-knowledge, the Enneagram, consists of a nine-pointed star, each point representing a different psychological type. The nine original Templars, who may have learned the Enneagram in Jerusalem, caused a profound cultural shock. The number of Templars increased nine years after their first appearance.

The nine-pointed form is associated with conception, growth, and birth, and the nine months of pregnancy. In ancient times, "nine" was cognate with "new," from the Sanskrit nava, from which the Latin nova comes.

In Anglo-Saxon culture, "walking the full nine yards" means reaching a limit from which only a new beginning can follow, and everything becomes possible if you will it. So we walk the labyrinth, striving to walk the full nine yards before accepting each of the seven reversals or changes of fortune. Refusing to acknowledge the turning point, the new direction, cheating by stepping over the path and boundaries, leads us to confusion.

As Mark Booth says: "You must reverse direction seven times, but never travel the same path."

The medieval labyrinth has eleven convolutions, while the Cretan and Roman labyrinths have seven, but we'll discuss this in the next article (Labyrinths of Faith Part 2).

Other Labyrinths

The design of a mystical labyrinth was discovered in a cave atop a hill near the village of Kolimeru in India. The labyrinth, dating back to the Neolithic period, consists of seven circles of red ochre over white pigment painted on a rectangular rock in front of the cave, facing the sun.

According to archaeologist Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao, the discovery of the labyrinth "sheds light not only on the ancient religious practices of prehistoric civilizations, but also on their knowledge of astronomical signs. Ancient civilizations worshipped the sun and were able to predict the seasons and even natural disasters."

The labyrinth was found at the entrance to a cave used as a refuge; Alongside the labyrinth design, other sacred motifs, such as a bull and a deer, were found, suggesting that the rock shelter was a place of worship for Neolithic hunter-gatherers.

But Professor Rao emphasizes the astronomical aspect: "Ancient literature has shed light on the ways in which priests studied the equinoxes, solstices, and the movements of the Sun and Moon, hoping to gain mastery over the elements. Cult priests may also have performed rituals and other ancestral cult practices before the labyrinth symbol."

Interestingly, similar labyrinths are common in Aboriginal art and are typically associated with creative energy.

In India, labyrinths have been found at Halibedu in the Hoyasleshwara Swamy temple in Karnataka, and in Goa and Rajasthan, where they are venerated as the Manas Chakra, a religious emblem.

Southwest of Tucson, on the western wall of the Altar Valley, lies Mount Baboquivari. It is the center of the Tohono O'odham universe and contains the home of I'itoi, the Creator of the O'odham people.

The culture of these natives features a labyrinth with a design essentially identical to the classic seven-volute model known as The Man in the Labyrinth.

The Tonoho O'odham model has two distinct differences from the classic one: it has a radial design and the entrance is at the top, whereas traditional labyrinths have their entrances at the bottom, where the figure of I'itoi is located.

I'itoi is a creator who emerged from the swirling edges of the earth that touch the sky. He battled with the Yellow Buzzard and the Coyote for supremacy of the land. I'itoi then created people and, many years later, entered into a battle with a powerful figure named Siwani, who lived north of the desert, in what is now Pima country. Siwani killed I'itoi, but he returned the next morning. After being killed for four consecutive nights, I'itoi remained dead, but eventually returned as an old man. I'itoi retreated to a cave atop Baboquivari Peak and now emerges only when his help is needed.

I'itoi Cave is sacred; many Tohono O'odham climb Baboquivari Peak once a year to leave a small gift for I'itoi at the entrance to his cave.

The allure of the labyrinth lies not in its aesthetics, its ancient origins, or its universal connotations, but in the fact that, not being claimed by any faith or tradition, you can draw from its paths whatever you desire and use it as an aid to healing and meditation, to access that higher level of consciousness sought by all esoteric and occult systems. Indeed, for millennia, the labyrinth has had a powerful resonance with the inner life.

The Internet is today's labyrinth in which man, without limits but also without a destination, has not yet understood whether he should consider himself freer or more prostrate.

Iliana Borrillo ~ circoloinquieti.it/