Читать книгу The Big Book of Mysteries - Lionel and Patricia Fanthorpe - Страница 14
ОглавлениеThe mysteries of labyrinths and mazes can be examined under seven broad main headings:
1. Those built for religious purposes, including the induction of altered states of consciousness and deep meditation.
2. The maze as a sacred place where a god or goddess may be found.
3. Gateways and vortices leading to other dimensions — tesseracts for example.
4. Places of imprisonment for people and spirit beings.
5. For defensive purposes against physical or psychic opponents.
6. The Virgin-in-the-Maze rituals as aspects of courtship and marriage practices.
7. The use of mazes and labyrinths as aptitude tests, or intelligence tests.
The induction of altered states of consciousness by using mazes and labyrinths seems to have been effected in two main ways: a small stone maze or labyrinth pattern is cut into a portable piece of stone such as a sheet of slate and kept at home by the user; or a maze pattern is carved into a large rock or cliff face, which the users then have to visit — perhaps at particular times such as the full moon, new moon, solstices, or equinoxes. Whether the stone is portable or fixed, the users seeking an altered state of consciousness close their eyes and trace the labyrinth pattern with their fingertips. This ritual can be accompanied by a low chanting or singing. Once the desired state of trance has been achieved, much depends upon the belief system of the particular labyrinth user. Some may think that they are in communication with the Cosmic Consciousness. Others believe that they are in touch with the spirits of dead ancestors or other psychic entities. Some users may simply feel that they are in contact with the vast powers stored in the depths of their own subconscious minds.
LABYRINTHS IN ART
Many artists have depicted labyrinths and mazes in their artwork. Some works include Piet Mondrian’s Dam and Ocean (1915), Joan Miró’s Labyrinth (1923), Pablo Picasso’s Minotauromachia (1935), M.C. Escher’s Relativity (1953), Jean Dubuffet’s Logological Cabinet (1970), Richard Long’s Connemara Sculpture (1971), Joe Tilson’s Earth Maze (1975), Richard Fleischner’s Chain Link Maze (1978), István Orosz’s Atlantis Anamorphosis (2000), and Dmitry Rakov’s Labyrinth (2003).
Rocky Valley is a unique and spectacular beauty spot near Tintagel in Cornwall. Carved into one of its steep sides is an ancient maze design that has defied the passage of time.
At the Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft, not far from Tintagel, is another stone that is closely connected with the Rocky Valley carving. This one is a sheet of slate forty-five centimetres long and fifteen centimetres wide carrying a typical labyrinth design very similar to the one at Rocky Valley. This fascinating old slate came from a field in Michaelstow, south of Boscastle. It had for many years done duty as a ritual object and been used by several local wise women. The stone was actually donated to the museum in the 1950s by the daughter of Kate “The Seagull” Turner, who had enjoyed a great reputation as a local wise woman during the first half of the twentieth century. Kate Turner had received it from Nan Wade, the Manx wise woman. Sarah Quiller from Ballaveare, Port Soderick, Isle of Man, had given it to Nan. But Sarah was far from being its maker; she had simply received it from an older wise woman. It appeared to have been handed down over many generations.
Carving of a labyrinth in Rocky Valley, near Tintagel, in Cornwall.
TROY STONES
