Ancient Labyrinths • Video Walk-Through

Ancient Labyrinths • Video Walk-Through

This video serves three purposes:

1. To bring attention to the ancient tradition of walking a Labyrinth.

2. To enable people without regular access to a Labyrinth to ‘walk’ the Labyrinth by watching this video, which depicts a complete walk through the Labyrinth pattern of the Chartres Cathedral. The video can also be used by people with disabilities. In addition to this video, you can also walk a Labyrinth online: www.labyrinthsociety.org/flash/labyrinth.htm

3. To recognize the efforts of the Creative Edge company, which has created true works of art labyrinths utilizing waterjet technology on materials like granite, concrete pavers, marble, terrazzo, rubber, carpet, and vinyl • creativeedgemastershop.com

Video produced by Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio • elmker.com

About the Labyrinth: In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur eventually killed by the hero Theseus. Daedalus had so cunningly made the Labyrinth that he could barely escape it after he built it. In colloquial English, labyrinth is generally synonymous with maze, but many contemporary scholars observe a distinction between the two: maze refers to a complex branching (multicursal) puzzle with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal)labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not difficult to navigate.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the labyrinth symbol, which has inspired a revival in labyrinth building.
Countless video games depict mazes and labyrinths. On bobsled, luge, and skeleton tracks, a labyrinth is where there are three to four curves in succession without a straight line in between any of the turns.

Prehistoric labyrinths are believed to have served as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances. In medieval times, the labyrinth symbolized a hard path to God with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth). One can think of labyrinths as symbolic of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment. Many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel.

Many newly made labyrinths exist today, in churches and parks. Modern mystics use labyrinths to help them achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind. The Labyrinth Society provides a locator for modern labyrinths all over the world • labyrinthsociety.org

Labyrinths have on various occasions been used in Christian tradition as a part of worship. The earliest known example is from a fourth-century pavement at the Basilica of St Reparatus, at Orleansville, Algeria, with the words "Sancta Eclesia" at the centre, though it is unclear how it might have been used in worship.

In medieval times, labyrinths began to appear on church walls and floors around 1000 C.E. The most famous medieval labyrinth, with great influence on later practice, was created in Chartres Cathedral. The purpose of the labyrinths is not clear, though there are surviving descriptions of French clerics performing a ritual Easter dance along the path on Easter Sunday. Some books suggest that mazes on cathedral floors originated in the medieval period as alternatives to pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but the earliest attested use of the phrase "chemin de Jerusalem" (path to Jerusalem) dates to the late 18th century when it was used to describe mazes at Reims and Saint-Omer. The accompanying ritual, depicted in Romantic illustrations as involving pilgrims following the maze on their knees while praying, may have been practiced at Chartres during the 17th century. The use of labyrinths has recently been revived in some contexts of Christian worship. For example, a labyrinth was set up on the floor of St Paul's Cathedral for a week in March 2000.

Music: Fluidscape by Kevin MacLeod, provided free of copyright by YouTube.

Video produced by Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio
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