Turija Labyrinth: Developing a Working Plan
This single
trail labyrinth appearing at Turija, Serbia, reminds us of the Hod Hill
formation with its labyrinth within. It seems to emphasize the
importance of the symbolism of the winding path in life, and the
importance of the Inner Journey.
Just last night
I was reading a new chapter in Bayley’s The Lost Language of
Symbolism and found a reference to another old book about the
Bohemian Brethren called The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise
of the Heart by J.A.Komensky, 1631. Bayley describes the
Bohemian Brethren (founded 1457) as “obviously a manifestation of that
spirit of mysticism which, either active or somnolent, is traceable from
the dawn of History, and will be found noted under such epithets as
Essenes, Therapeutics, Gnostics, Montanists, Paulicians, Manichees,
Cathari, Vaudois, Albigeois, Patarini, Lollards, Friends of God,
Spirituals, Arnoldists, Fratricelli, Anabaptists, Quakers, and many
others.” ( Bayley 17) The labyrinth symbolizes the inner spiritual
journey and the meandering path it follows in an individual’s life. This
can be interpreted as an oppositional attitude to the established Church
and its doctrines. The spiritual groups listed wanted to reform the
Church of the time and indirectly contributed to the Protestant
Reformation. Wyclif in England was an intiator of these philosophies
that took hold in the teachings of Jan Hus of Prague.
These images, along with those on the comments page,
show us that the labyrinth is a very prevalent and common symbol in
Western cultures.
The connections
with the book I’m reading, the Hod Hill formation, and various cultural
depictions of the labyrinth only serve to emphasize the imperative of
this beautiful crop circle located by an appropriate meandering river,
which is: The personal individual inner life is the answer to spiritual
dilemmas. Ultimately when individuals live on their personal track,
society does as well.
The labyrinth
has an inner ‘origin’ point from which the individual starts on the
journey (perhaps the initial journey toward birth) to the outer world of
life. Once living as a conscious being the individual always has access
to the inner ‘source’, and can re-enter the labyrinth (the unconscious)
to gather new information, unravel a mystery or confront negativity,
then emerge once again, reborn. The Light (of Love) and Thread
(hunches, dreams, glimpses) that guide one through the darkness of our
own unconscious is comprised of: our emotional reactions to events,
people, ideas; our intuitions and instincts; our feelings regarding
exterior happenings and our perception of ‘coincidence’ or synchronistic
events. These clues are what assist us in solving untold mysteries and
problems before us. In order to extract meaning from the clues, the
all-important and ever-present question ‘WHY?’ must be asked. It
requires humility to be open to whatever answer might reveal itself; it
requires patience and a silence of the mind; it requires a certain
amount of solitude.
Players in the Myth of the Minotaur: the Monster -
negative repressed psychic energy causes fear and destruction; Theseus
–hero, positive action, defeats the evil; Ariadne – The Feminine,
guiding Light of Intuition, enables the hero to see his way and to
survive the ordeal
Perhaps on the
collective level this clearly defined crop circle gives us hints about
how to approach negative world issues in a totally different way from
the present failing attempts to curb and alleviate them. How can we
(i.e. United Nations, governments, societies, communities) pose the
‘WHY?’ question and then apply suitable action in response? To whom do
we put the questions? How do we formulate them? How do we relate to
those who identify with the problems; who are affected by the conflicts;
who are intermediary to both? What are the issues? These are the
elements of the World Labyrinthine situation.
What/Who is the
MINOTAUR? That is the target of ‘WHY?’. After these questions are
answered we can begin to take healing action.
The Minotaur is a symbol for the powerful dark and
unresolved forces in the unconscious that encourage deceit, cruelty and
perversion of authority.
The Minotaur
symbolizes: “a psychic state of perverted domination” in combination
with feelings of guilt and the repression of negative feelings in the
unconscious. In the myth of Theseus and Ariadne, the seven sacrificial
maids and youths symbolize voluntary lies and evasions of truth offered
to keep the conscience soothed. As a whole, the myth of the Minotaur
represents ‘the spiritual struggle against repression’. “However, this
struggle cannot be won without the weapons of light since, according to
the legend, it was Ariadne’s luminous crown, lighting the gloomy
passageways of the palace, and not simply her ball of twine” that
enabled Theseus to defeat the dark energy of the Minotaur. (Chevalier
657)
THERE ARE HUGE,
WORLD-ENCOMPASSING ISSUES FOR THE PRESENT!
Why and how did
terrorism begin? (Answers probably vary from region to region)
Why and how did
multi-nationals begin to indiscriminately sacrifice environment and
communities for ‘progress’, ‘profit’ and ‘economic growth’?
Why and how did
governments begin to abandon the good of the populations they
rule?
These are big
and dangerous questions because the answers would expose the responsible
parties, namely ALL OF US ON THE PLANET, INCLUDING WORLD LEADERS, CEO’s,
TERRORISTS, VICTIMS and EVERYONE! A collective turn around is required
in order to prevent the Minotaur of terrorism, destruction, greed, fear,
hatred, shame, madness and waste from becoming the next deity to which
we kneel.
Theseus has entered the labyrinth and slays the
Minotaur while Ariadne waits outside with the Golden Thread fastened in
place to guide Theseus back to life.
The essential
element for the transformation of negative energy into new usable form
is a confidence in the Guiding Light and Love that maintain the
universe. They are manifest in dreams, intuitions, feelings as much as
they are apparent in the knowledge, science, mathematics and arts of
humanity throughout the millennia.
–
Michelle
Jennings (
https://michelle-jennings.squarespace.com/blog )
Sources:
Ann, M. &Dorothy Myers Imel. Goddesses in World
Mythology. Oxford University Press. New York. 1993.
Bayley, Harold. The Lost Language of Symbolism. Dover
Publications, Inc., Mineola, NY. 2006.
Bruce-Mitford,
Miranda. The Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols. Reader’s
Digest. Montreal. 1966.
Chevalier, J. &
Alain Gheerbrant. The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Penguin Books.
London. 1996.
De Vries, Ad. Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery.North-Holland
Publishing Co.Amsterdam. 1974.
Encyclopédie des
symboles. Michel Cazenave, red. Le Livre de Poche. 1996.
Purce, Jill. The
Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul.Thames & Hudson. London. 1974.
Stevens,
Anthony. Ariadne’s Clue: a Guide to the Symbols of Humankind. Princeton
University Press. Princeton. 1998.
Walker, Barbara.
The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects. Castle Books.
Edison, NJ. 1988.
http://tomorrowstheme.blogspot.ca/2011/05/journey-into-labyrinth.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth
http://quadriformisratio.wordpress.com/2013/07/01/an-eternal-way-of-confusion/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne
http://www.web-books.com/Classics/ON/B1/B1537/03MB1537.html
http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Mythology/en/TheseusSculpture.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tondo_Minotaur_London_E4_MAN.jpg
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