"Nulla dies sine linea."                                                    Ovid

Every writer is born with a limited amount of time; from the moment you sit down to write, you begin a battle against death.  You won't have time...

 

    The Labyrinth is writing about writing, fiction and autobiography and non-fiction, structured in the shape of a labyrinth, meant to be read in a meditative way, just as one would walk a labyrinth, over and over, in order to release thought and embrace serenity. The subject is writing and going in circles and a lyrical song of self. The overall project is less concerned with story, or meaning, and more interested in movement, and sound.
     The original labyrinth, at least in the use of the word, if not the form, comes from the author's current home in Heraklion, Crete, where Minos' palace in Knossos contains the labyrinth Daedalus built, around 1600 B.C., where according to myth lived and hungered the famed Minotaur, half-man, half-bull, conceived in a moment of illicit passion by queen Pasiphae, Minos' wife and earthly representative of the Mother Goddess, with the beautiful white bull that Poseidon, god of the seas, gave to Minos as a gift. She hid inside a wooden model of a huge white cow that Daedalus custom-built for the queen, strategically endowed with a hole where the queen's pudenda would be, like a prototype of the Trojan Horse that later saved the Greeks in Troy and led to its sacking. After her lust was satisfied, the queen was impregnated and secretly gave birth to baby Minotaur, who was raised in the labyrinth, constructed so that neither the beast nor the innocent human who entered could ever come out. The Minotaur became infamous at the decline of Cretan-Minoan hegemony, when Theseus, prince and hero of the Ionian city of Athens, volunteered to come to Knossos with the annual offering of seven Athenian maidens and seven Athenian boys, chosen by lot, who were given annually to Crete as a token of submission to Minos' control of the Mediterranean sea. Ariadne, princess of Knossos, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, fell in love with Theseus at Athena's doing (Athena asked Eros to shoot his arrow into Ariadne's virgin heart), and betrayed her family by helping Theseus to find his way out of the labyrinth once he went in and bravely killed poor Minotaur. Ariadne's thread ('mitos'), attached to the entrance, led Theseus out again. The hero left Crete victorious for Athens, but after promising marriage to Ariadne, abandoned her while she was sleeping on the deserted island of Naxos, and sailed on. He sailed on, conveniently forgetting to change the color of his sails from black to white, as per his previous agreement with his father, who hadn't wanted to send him to Crete at all. The black sails indicated to his anxious father, Aegeas, who was waiting on the rock of Sounion that his beloved son was dead. Aegheas jumped from the rock into the sea, which was named after him, Aegean sea. Theseus proceeded to be crowned king of Athens, and eventually married Ariadne's sister, Minos' and Pasiphae's other daughter, Phaedra, and thus sealed the submission of Crete to Athens. Phaedra is known for some betrayal of her own, when young man Hippolytus refused her advances and she accused him to king Theseus for trying to rape her, which led to Hippolytus' brutal death, and Phaerda's suicide in remorse right afterwards. As for Ariadne, she was approached on Naxos by the god Dionysus (Bacchus) and became his companion-consort.
     Exploring the labyrinth is an ancient, as well as Christian, and contemporary, spiritual practice. The labyrinth is considered a pathway to wisdom, a praying tool, like the rosary and the mala. Walking the Sacred Path is a challenge that can help those struggling with grief or anger, or a physical impediment or an illness. Walking (or, in this case, reading, or, best of all, walking and reading) the labyrinth fulfills seven important contemporary needs: deepens spirituality; promotes inwardness and soul-searching/soul-connection; provides access to intuition and creativity; encourages simplicity; helps the integration of body and spirit (and mind); encourages community and intimacy; and provides clues to the meaning of existence.
     The labyrinth provides reflective time away from the busyness of daily life, and also forces us to come face to face with our darkest fears and demons, which inevitably surface in the quiet solitude of the interminable No-Way-Out. This is how labyrinths rejuvenate your creative juices and point the way to healing and wholeness. The labyrinth holds up a mirror for the soul, reflecting back to us the light of our finer selves, but also whatever restrains us from moving forward.  The labyrinth is a powerful spiritual test.
     This book is following the shape of the Cretan labyrinth, which takes the walker through seven circuits before reaching the center. It is the oldest and most universal type of labyrinth, dating back at least 3,500 years. There have been variations of this classic model, the most famous of which is the Chartres labyrinth, permanently set in stone into the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France during the 13th century, which has eleven concentric paths that wind through four quadrants of a circle. It's a distinctly Christian pattern of an equal-armed cross. Set in the center is a rosette, a six-petaled design representing a rose, traditional symbol of the Virgin Mary. Between Pasiphae and Mary lies most of the history of the labyrinth.