Thank you for allowing me to wake up to this this morning Peter! I love the threads you weave together here. As a labyrinth researcher, I have read countless iterations of this tale, each of them the same and yet different. Along with this striking image, yours is one of the most compelling and thought-provoking, so thank you for this careful curation.
It is impossible I feel, to read the story of Theseus, Ariadne, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur without grasping to unravel it. Part of its longevity may lie in the fact of the many interpretations on offer, and I found a new one in your piece this morning Peter, where I saw the Minotaur representing the hybrid bio-tech beings we are moving to create (amalgams of our own reach to become divine beings), beings which as products of capitalist/colonialist/scientific systems require nothing less than the sacrifice of ourselves, the earth, and all of life. "Where is our Theseus?!" we and our kin collectively cry. We all of us in a million different ways are grasping for that red thread, yet without really understanding what it is, where it leads, or who or what may be at the other end of it.
The labyrinth is such a beautiful symbol for our times, holding in its sinewy forms a sort of silent wisdom we have collectively forgotten how to hear. Both a messy, confusing, complex maze and a simple, unicursal path that leads neatly from the inside to the centre and back again, the labyrinth reminds us that polarities exist, that life cannot and never will be entirely one thing or another, but that the truth, the way through, is a flow, a dance along a path between the poles that remains largely hidden. It is a path that must be felt with the heart and which ultimately leads us all the way out into the world before bringing us home, back to ourselves.
Patrick Conty's interpretation of the Minotaur myth has the red thread, not as a ball of thread that Theseus unwinds behind him to show him the way out, but as one which unrolls before him showing him the way in, to the centre and his destiny. The way in is therefore the same as the way out, leading Conty to suggest that the shape the red thread unwinds into is the path of the unicursal labyrinth. As a psychospiritual tool, the labyrinth has many superpowers, its guidance on the inward journey being one of the most potent. Maybe your tale this morning Peter is a reminder that the beasts we are really trying to slay are the ones that exist deep inside; that the messy, chaotic labyrinth of life is navigated, paradoxically, by journeying within.
Yes, there are many ways to interpret the myth of Ariadne. Having been born in Crete, it is a myth close to my heart. Following are a few responses:
Asterion, a threatening beast, uncared for, unloved yet his name means Star. I often think of this paradox. Perhaps that diamond glint of light is to be found by facing the deepest darkest depths of our labyrinthine beings.
Minoan Crete was a matrilineal society however, today we only know of this story through the lens of a Mycaenean telling where the male god usurps the ancient goddess ways thereby reshaping those earlier stories to suite the agenda of a new patriarchal era, kind of like the ancient equivalent of fake news!
Ariadne, sister of Asterion, was guardian and the keeper of the Labyrinth; she alone knew how to navigate its depths, to venture to the very centre… and then out again. Sadly, so many interpretations ignore this fact and portray her as a foolish young girl providing back-up for a leading man who then goes on to dump her. Yet Ariadne, as well as her mother, Pasiphaë, represent Minoan goddesses from an earlier matrilineal time well represented in the many cultural artefacts to be found in museums today.
It is interesting to note that Ariadne later connects with Dionysus also a very ancient God predating Mycanean times. Female figures are often prominent in his myths.
Blessed Be! This puts words to so much of the primal diving descendant feelings I attempt to wrap my mind around!
Plus. The dual Qi to Li - mind blowing! I've never heard of Li in my Qi work... now I have the full circle ! (?) To begin more connective understanding...
The Li concept emerged from the neo-confucianists as they sought to unify different schools of Tao and Ch'an. Much debt to Jeremy Lent and his terrific book ‘The Web of Meaning’.
Thank you for allowing me to wake up to this this morning Peter! I love the threads you weave together here. As a labyrinth researcher, I have read countless iterations of this tale, each of them the same and yet different. Along with this striking image, yours is one of the most compelling and thought-provoking, so thank you for this careful curation.
It is impossible I feel, to read the story of Theseus, Ariadne, the Labyrinth and the Minotaur without grasping to unravel it. Part of its longevity may lie in the fact of the many interpretations on offer, and I found a new one in your piece this morning Peter, where I saw the Minotaur representing the hybrid bio-tech beings we are moving to create (amalgams of our own reach to become divine beings), beings which as products of capitalist/colonialist/scientific systems require nothing less than the sacrifice of ourselves, the earth, and all of life. "Where is our Theseus?!" we and our kin collectively cry. We all of us in a million different ways are grasping for that red thread, yet without really understanding what it is, where it leads, or who or what may be at the other end of it.
The labyrinth is such a beautiful symbol for our times, holding in its sinewy forms a sort of silent wisdom we have collectively forgotten how to hear. Both a messy, confusing, complex maze and a simple, unicursal path that leads neatly from the inside to the centre and back again, the labyrinth reminds us that polarities exist, that life cannot and never will be entirely one thing or another, but that the truth, the way through, is a flow, a dance along a path between the poles that remains largely hidden. It is a path that must be felt with the heart and which ultimately leads us all the way out into the world before bringing us home, back to ourselves.
Patrick Conty's interpretation of the Minotaur myth has the red thread, not as a ball of thread that Theseus unwinds behind him to show him the way out, but as one which unrolls before him showing him the way in, to the centre and his destiny. The way in is therefore the same as the way out, leading Conty to suggest that the shape the red thread unwinds into is the path of the unicursal labyrinth. As a psychospiritual tool, the labyrinth has many superpowers, its guidance on the inward journey being one of the most potent. Maybe your tale this morning Peter is a reminder that the beasts we are really trying to slay are the ones that exist deep inside; that the messy, chaotic labyrinth of life is navigated, paradoxically, by journeying within.
Yes, there are many ways to interpret the myth of Ariadne. Having been born in Crete, it is a myth close to my heart. Following are a few responses:
Asterion, a threatening beast, uncared for, unloved yet his name means Star. I often think of this paradox. Perhaps that diamond glint of light is to be found by facing the deepest darkest depths of our labyrinthine beings.
Minoan Crete was a matrilineal society however, today we only know of this story through the lens of a Mycaenean telling where the male god usurps the ancient goddess ways thereby reshaping those earlier stories to suite the agenda of a new patriarchal era, kind of like the ancient equivalent of fake news!
Ariadne, sister of Asterion, was guardian and the keeper of the Labyrinth; she alone knew how to navigate its depths, to venture to the very centre… and then out again. Sadly, so many interpretations ignore this fact and portray her as a foolish young girl providing back-up for a leading man who then goes on to dump her. Yet Ariadne, as well as her mother, Pasiphaë, represent Minoan goddesses from an earlier matrilineal time well represented in the many cultural artefacts to be found in museums today.
It is interesting to note that Ariadne later connects with Dionysus also a very ancient God predating Mycanean times. Female figures are often prominent in his myths.
Blessed Be! This puts words to so much of the primal diving descendant feelings I attempt to wrap my mind around!
Plus. The dual Qi to Li - mind blowing! I've never heard of Li in my Qi work... now I have the full circle ! (?) To begin more connective understanding...
Plus myth! This work is truly a wonderment!
Thanks for your kind words Jacob!
The Li concept emerged from the neo-confucianists as they sought to unify different schools of Tao and Ch'an. Much debt to Jeremy Lent and his terrific book ‘The Web of Meaning’.