Labyriths: re-post

There's is evidence of labyrinths dating back as far as the Egyptians in 1000BC although the term was first used in 484BC by Herodotus and they are made from a variety of materials from stone, turf (in Britain) and tiles (Roman).

To be a labyrinth rather than a maze they have to have one path leading to the center and the same path out.

The use of labyrinths in Churches is uncertain: it has been suggested that they had various uses:

Ending a pilgrimage
A preparation for services

A way of becoming calm

In the 12^th Century the journey to Jerusalem became difficult and dangerous because of the Crusades and during this time the labyrinth in Chartes cathedral was built (between 1194-1220) as a substitute to pilgrimage.

Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartres_Cathedral

The labyrinth’s path is 861.5 feet long which is the number of days it took to travel to Jerusalem and its diameter is 42 feet with the path 16 feet wide. The Cathedral has, in its east, a great rose window and if this were lain flat it matches exactly to the labyrinth’s center and the rose is the rose of Mary. The six petals of each represent the six days of creation.

Labyrinths can be used as a metaphor for either the journey of life or the pilgrimage as you must look ahead to see the twists and turns of the journey and the way that it doubles back can be seen as the unexpected events in life and its complexity can help with meditation.

Nowadays a pilgrim can use a labyrinth as a way of prayer or meditation or in place of a physical pilgrimage or to prepare for a pilgrimage.

Comments

The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

Pilgrims' Trail to Saint Michels Mont, France

I have only walked two of the Camino routes (the Frances and Portuguese) and still want to try many of the others and yet I am also finding other Pilgrimage routes that I want to walk - I did the Pilgrims' Way in the summer which starts from Winchester which is also the starting point for the Pilgrims' Trail a 155 mile route that finishes at Mont St Michel in Normandy, France. The cult of saint Michel was popular in Britain from the 9th century and the Pilgrims walking this way were called Miquelots and many Pilgrims on their way to Santiago. The route is marked by green way markers in Hampshire taking walkers from Winchester to Bishop's Waltham to Southwick and then to Portsmouth where ferries are caught to France and Way markers become blue. Tradition says that, in 709 Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop of Avranches, Saint Aubert, and told him to build a chapel in his honour on the island. The bishop obeyed and soon sent a group of monks over...

On the Camino

Search This Blog