The labyrinth is one of the symbols I’ve been exploring in my ongoing inquiry of the transitional/liminal phase of initiation (see previous blogpost for more on the three phases of initiation.) The labyrinth represents the maze of great confusion we enter when we have lost our identity. It is a twisting journey of discovery, transition and reclamation, the unrelenting longing to find one’s center or the Self – who we really are when we shed the limited outer identity. The labyrinth is also seen as a trap, prison, or obstacle, and conveys the real dangers of getting lost in the chaos and confusion of the in-between. We have all had moments where we feel we have no compass and no sense of direction – the challenge of the in-between times is profoundly complex and it’s easy to feel bombarded by the psychological task of this phase of change. Yet, wrestling with the chaos of this maze is necessary to connect to and discover our eternal divine nature and the one who walks the labyrinth comes away transformed by the journey and the encounter with the Self – more deeply rooted in one’s authenticity.
The mythic stories of the labyrinth tell us that not many enter the winding maze and make it out alive. The myth of the Minotaur at the center of the Cretan labyrinth is one of those myths. Many Athenians attempted to enter the labyrinth and slay the Minotaur but never made it out. Theseus was the exception, for the goddess Ariadne (feminine consciousness) fell in love with him and in her wisdom gave him a roll of golden thread to hold onto while he wound his way into the center, a thread that would also lead him back out. So what guides us through the labyrinth? What can we hold onto in the dark, twisting turns of our own evolution? What is our golden thread?
Imagination. (more…)