Labyrinth : How to layout & pack a Classic Cretan 3 level

Labyrinth :  How to lay out and pack a Classic Cretin 3 level Labyrinth, and why.

Before I begin I would like to dedicate this 'Ible to all the members of the Instructable community who have used the immortal legend "It's what I had" somewhere in their Instructable.

First off - where I live the water is incredibly brak. (All water is borehole water, at 6" of rain a year there's not much fresh water) This is probably due to the fact that on Google Earth ( S 32 31.047' E 022 54.096 ) I appear to be living in a in a bit of a hollow, a sort of underground Dead Sea effect is formed I guess. The only things that grow with any sort of gusto is the lawn grass and the alien invader Presopis trees. Which have horrible thorns, the points of which are guaranteed to break off inside you after penetration and don't even make for nice tree-house trees for crying out loud. So my wife's hopes for a garden get progressively withered with each salt laden watering of the new seedlings. The Idea for packing a Labyrinth came about because

(1) The calcium deposits rocks I used were ... well free
(2) Most of the project itself was free and only took time. (aside from step 1 paragraph 25)
(3) and I certainly have enough space
(4) They don't need to be watered
(5) aren't going to die - to great disappointment.
(6) I used bare ground because if it were lawn grass the thought of having of having to clean it up with the weedeater / weedwhacker did not have me jumping for joy.
A brief history of Labyrinths :

Jo Edkins' Maze Page was my inspiration, http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/index.htm where I got my ...Ah..Ha moment This site is extremely detailed and comprehensive.

http://www.labyrinthos.net/ was of great interest

http://www.thelabyrinthladies.com/7.html Gives one an Idea to what extent people have been able to turn Labyrinths into a career.

Of course no reference is complete without http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth


- The oldest Classic Cretin Labyrinth was found scratched into the wall of a Neolithic Tomb, which I think is about 40 000 years years ago (Picture).
Thereafter, on coins from the Cretin Era of the Minotaur (Picture). Since you could get lost there it was technically a maze but the Cretins called it a Labyrinth. Today however if you can get lost in it, it's a maze, if not it's a Labyrinth.
There are a lot of different layouts of Labyrinths, The Classic Cretin 2 level and the Chartres from the floor of the French Cathedral by the same same name being the most notable(Photo of Cathedral floor and a picture).
Roman Labyrinths were about as exciting, imaginative and long winded as their numeric system. (picture)

On a different neurological note, one I have not been able to confirm but have only heard (I would like reference confirmation if anyone can do so) APPARENTLY when walking a labyrinth the subconscious side of your brain for navigation that is always switched on updating your position is able to go mostly into sleep mode since on an intellectual level it knows you can't get lost. Secondly, as you walk round the curve of the Labyrinth so only one side of your brain is in 'charge' regarding walking, then as the path doubles back, the working side then rests and the other side then takes over.

I heard a neurologist saying on the radio that the "Toi Toi" which is so traditional to mass demonstrations in South Africa (sort of slow motion running on the spot with the right hand & foot being raised and put down simultaneously, then left hand and left foot ) is a very unnatural and aggravating thing to the brain's neuro-wiring and subconscious - leading to raised levels of aggression and general excitability. Once again - this is hear-say and I really would like confirmation of this statement. If not then I will remove this last statement.

Whether this really is so I can't tell you but I do know that it is restful walking it. Since the distance of my own is very nearly a 1km to the center and back (!), there is the added sense of well being that comes from taking a bit of exercise. Curiously I am able to get visitors to walk it who would never do so had I told them the distance. (Yes, I know it isn't far- but  for some it is). So perhaps it does offer a great deal of benefit to convalescents .

Step 1: How to easily draw a Classic Cretan

The title photo is of  Annette Reynold’s beach labyrinth was taken by her daughter Missy. It was not posed.



The following is an excerpt from  http://www.sacredlabyrinth.com/annette/index.html  website reprinted without permission....
The Bulletin’s cover picture gives an intimation of the excitement a single-path labyrinth can generate. The woman in the picture, the mistress of that particular labyrinth, is Annette Reynolds, and the picture was taken by her daughter, Melissa. Annette is the head of the Labyrinth Project of Alabama. Their site has more about how the picture came about. Also, for general information about labyrinths, a good place to start is the site for Caerdroia magazine.

The drawings in the bottom picture is one of the ways to draw a 2 level Cretan. They come from the http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/index.htm as well.

The picture and paragraph below is by Craig Swanson 

You Call It Labyrinth...

A labyrinth is a set of twisty passages, all alike. (Or is that a twisty set of passages all alike?)

According to Pliny there were four famous labyrinths of antiquity: 1. The Egyptian (by Petesuchis which had 3000 apartments - half of which were underground), 2. The Lemnian (similar to the Egyptian in style, but with 150 columns), 3. The Italian (an intricate series of chambers which was the tomb of Lars Porsena, King of Etruria), and 4. The Cretan.

drawing from: The Notebooks of Craig Swanson http://store.perspicuity.com/sections/Products/Labyrinth.sized.jpg
 

The 5 pictures at the bottom show how to lay out and draw a 2 level Cretan. Just follow the steps.
These come from the website  http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/index.htm

http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/maze/cretan/cretanmv.gif

Comments

[tinker234]

oh wow wish i could do this

[davodana]

Terrific 'ible! I once went camping in Louisiana, and discovered by accident a campground which had a meditation labyrinth attached to the campground. It was wonderfully soothing, and totally unexpected. We left that campground a whole lot later than we originally intended - and didn't mind it a bit! Wonderful job on your instructible!

[princeygirl]

oooooh i walked one of these in Delaware and we wanted to make one, but it never got done...or started for that case

[dollywild]

Wow! Such a cool use of space! Thank you for the inspiration. Don't give up on the garden idea- there are salt tolerant plants. You may have to have them shipped. Just get one plant at a time, and tell it that if it thrives, you'll get it some friends! Your labyrinth shows tat you clearly have a lovely design sense. Thanks again!

[Mike McGill]

Nice idea. The labyrinth is symbolic of man's journey to spiritual completion. It is interesting to note that when you are almost at the centre you pass close to the commencement. This is to indicate that even when you despair of ever reaching your goal you are often much closer to it than you think. I have walked the labyrinth in Chartres cathedral. And all those who talk of walking in a meditative state are spot on.

[MrNathann]

I would love to see what it looks like a few years after it was built... Hopefully nature is kind to it.

[Karroo Oakey]

Well, about a year has gone by since it was completed. A Geologist who made a turn there, told me the calcium stones will bleach whiter in the sun.

[MrNathann]

Has there been any growth inside the labyrinth? Or any kridders move in?

[Mr. Potato Head]

Cool project. I'm assuming you're planning on building the stone walls up to where you can't see over them. As it stands in the photos it wouldn't be much of a challenge to find your way out.

[ladybellringerm]

A labyrinth is not meant to confuse. There's only one way in and only one way out. You just keep walking. It's really very peaceful.

[Mr. Potato Head]

I must be missing the point somehow. I thought it was supposed to be challenging. Not sure how just walking around a path is peaceful, but to each his own I suppose.

[cyberfysh]

A labyrinth is meditative rather than challenging - some of the more elaborate ones in Christian Europe were used as substitutes for pilgrimage when travel was dangerous. I enjoyed reading this ible! :-)

[Mr. Potato Head]

Thanks! I looked "labyrinth" up on Wikipedia and you guys are right. I always thought it was just a fancy synonym for "maze". I'm definitely gonna give this a try over the weekend. I'll let you know how it goes...

[Karroo Oakey]

Thank you, as you can see by the length it took quite some writing too!

[romaine]

AMAZING! Congratulations on the result. I came across this site, www.labyrinthos.net, when researching this subject. Very wholesome.

[PrimevilKneivel]

Technically that is not a labyrinth. A labyrinths has choices designd to make it difficult to find you way. That is a path in a cool pattern. Nice path. :)

[romaine]

Not exactly. Ancient designs only have one way in/out. Many labyrinths are intended to meditate: to walk in circles and make those turns to the middle makes you think about your inner self. Or so they say.

[lucek]

"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, non-branching path, which leads to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate."

[hammer9876]

I looked at Google Maps Satellite, but couldn't find/see your labyrinth. Am I missing it or has Google not updated their images since you made this?

[Karroo Oakey]

No actually I finished it quite a long time ago, but what with life and the fact that for some weird reason the 'telling of the story' just grew and grew. I think that on google they give greater detail to areas where there are more people. In that the nearest town can be viewed at a much better resolution than the 30km down the drag where I am.

[merijnvw]

he published this 5 dags ago, and I think he made it recently... So probably it's not indexed yet because Google refreshes the sattelite photos only once every few years. and when a photo is made first they need to edit it (make some parts clearer, etc, and combine photos with eachother) but I'm not sure how long that takes.

[hammer9876]

I was only hoping. It would be great if we could see this from a satellite. Looking forward to it.

[lucek]

I'd rather go for The Pattern instead of a labyrinth.

[l8nite]

ooooh my aching back ! This has got to be the wordiest ible Ive actually read most of but the finished product is off the wall cool

[Karroo Oakey]

Yes, I'm not quite sure as to how it got so wordy, just sort of grew I guess. But please do tell me if it was worth reading. For future reference for me kind of thing.

[l8nite]

a question first, you use packing in place of laying out or building, is that a localism to your area of the world ? As for the wordyness, Im pretty good at speed reading which basically means skipping over parts not really germaine to the subject, in this case a lot of the history and how to draw parts. Someone else may find it all very interesting. Personally I think if you broke up your lists into smaller segments and the same with the pics ie: instead of a list of 20 followed by 14pics, make 4 sets of 5 and 3-4 pics, it breaks it up more and keeps the interest rolling, again thats just my perception. A lot of the time I spend in instructables Im looking to be entertained by seeing what others are doing, with no intention of ever doing it myself but then it sparks the imagination for something similar. I dont have the room for a labyrinth like yours but that doesnt mean I couldnt create a walkway in the front yard that curves back on itself a couple times (see imagination sparked) I applaud your efforts and the enthusiasm all the extra history etc shows. I can only wish that I was able to explore the vistas while enjoying your creation

[yoyology]

I'm completely obsessed with labyrinths. I doodle 2-level Cretans all the time, and I keep hoping to find a place to build one for real. Thank you for making such a wonderful Instructable!

[kcls]

That is a lot of rocks! Nice i'ble, very descriptive.

[Udon]

I looked at those pics, and I thought "No, that ain't Australia, those trees, those rocks...this is veld". And sure enough, you live outside Beaufort West. Really good instructable.

[Karroo Oakey]

Thanks China

[Archergal52]

Awesome! Well done!