5
The Fool and the Hero
in the Labyrinth
Taking the path of the labyrinth is a journey. It is a journey towards something greater, better, and more beautiful. It is not always an easy journey, and the end is not always clear. Yet, when you embark on this journey, you are entering into a new relationship with yourself where you are externally interacting with the labyrinth, and internally getting to know yourself better. Dag Hammerskjold, former secretary general of the UN and deeply spiritual person, wrote, “The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.” The labyrinth journey, in representing your inner journey, leads you to insights of some of life’s fundamental questions about who you are, where you came from, where are you going, and what is your purpose.
The labyrinth journey contains symbolism and associated metaphors unique to the labyrinth. It also shares many characteristics with other great journeys that you can learn from. Strong similarities exist between the labyrinth journey and the Fool’s journey of the tarot, and the hero’s journey as represented by the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. While each of these journeys or paths can be looked on as an external undertaking, they primarily illustrate the greatest journey of all—the journey inwards. Hidden within these paths are the keys to self-realization and enlightenment. When you walk the labyrinth path you are accessing and interacting with these teachings in a new and insightful way.
Your Journey Through Life
The way of the labyrinth is a single path on which you are always moving forward, where the centre represents what you are moving towards. On this journey, you experience many twists and turns, some that appear to take you away from your centre and some that bring you closer to it. At times, your life is progressing well, you feel in control and everything is “rosy in the garden.” Then, something happens and your life takes a turn. It is no longer obvious where you are going. You cannot see clearly where the next step will take you, and you feel further away from what you thought was your life’s purpose and destination. Stopping is not an option, as you will just stay stuck if you don’t move. So, you keep going, and take another step. Then, your life takes another turn, this time one for the better. You feel like everything is back on track and once again you have a strong sense of what you are doing and where you are going. The labyrinth turns reflect your life; some turns take you away from your centre, and others bring you nearer. Your life must be lived going forwards, but can often only be understood when you look back at it. This is also the case with the labyrinth, when it is often just before you enter the centre that you realise where you are.
The labyrinth can represent more than one journey at a time. In exploring your life through the labyrinth, your labyrinth walk may represent a single issue in your life that you are moving through seeking clarity and resolution. It can also be the whole journey of your current life from birth to death. And, it can be the journey of your soul through many lifetimes. You do not need to choose which one it is; the labyrinth can accommodate them all. The labyrinth is multidimensional and represents all facets of your journey within a journey, and more.
You may not be aware of all aspects of your current journey, and may not be able to identify clearly the current stage of your journey. However, the more aware you are, the greater will be your understanding of the stage you are at, and the greater benefit you will gain from the combination of the knowledge and the experience. In considering where you are on your journey, and at what stage you are now at, looking at some of the other journeys that the labyrinth reflects will give you some insights your own.
The Labyrinth and the Tarot
Just as the labyrinth is the path of your progress through life, the tarot is also a progression from one way of being to another. The tarot is comprised of seventy-eight cards divided into major and minor arcana. The major arcana consists of twenty-two cards, each one experienced on the path of the labyrinth and representing some aspect of your personal and spiritual journeys. The minor arcana cards are the equivalent of the four suits in the standard deck of playing cards. The suits of tarot cards, pentacles, swords, wands, and cups, which are associated with the elements of earth, air, fire, and water respectively, are represented by the quadrants of the labyrinth.
The Fool’s Journey in the Labyrinth
The Fool’s journey is a metaphor for your journey through life, where your life events present different situations for your personal and spiritual growth. Each major arcana card represents a stage or aspect of your labyrinth journey of life. At times, there are pleasant and enjoyable experiences, while at other times you need to face adverse situations. Like the fool starting out on your journey, you feel like you know very little. Yet there is something driving you forward. Your step into the labyrinth of your life is a journey of faith, one that culminates in greater wisdom and understanding. The major arcana enhances your understanding and experience of your labyrinth path of self-discovery, giving you greater understanding of what is happening in your life and where you are going.
Major Arcana Cards and Their Labyrinth-Related Symbolism
The Fool’s journey begins with you about to step off the cliff and into the labyrinth of your new life. The Fool card is initially outside the labyrinth as you contemplate setting out on your journey. The first group of seven cards in the major arcana is made up of those forces that prepare the fool for his journey, and are found on the three outer circuits of the labyrinth (see Figure 8). These three outer circuits correspond to your three lower chakras, the physical chakras representing power, creativity, and safety that you must master to advance on your spiritual path. The walking of these three outer circuits is grounding—preparation for the remainder of your journey.
The first two cards that you meet almost immediately as you enter the labyrinth are the Magician and the High Priestess, representing your spiritual parents at the beginning of your spiritual journey. The Emperor and Empress, which are on the first path and turn into the second circuit respectively, are your physical parents. You then turn full into the second circuit, leave home, and receive education from the Hierophant. The turn into the third circuit holds the Lovers card, representing passions and motivation. While the outer circuit, equating to the Chariot, is the actual setting off on the quest. This is the longest circuit on the labyrinth and is symbolic of how long your journey appears at the outset.
You are now prepared for your inner journey. On the labyrinth, you move almost immediately on to the short section between the outer and fourth circuits where the Strength card represents the Fool’s mastery of himself and the world. Having mastered the material world, you are now leaving it behind. However, at the turn, the Hermit indicates to you that you need to go further inwards and shines a light to show the way to enlightenment. You are about to enter the fourth circuit that equates to your heart chakra and you can feel the energy in your heart expanding in anticipation. The fourth circuit is the Wheel of Fortune and shows that things are in motion. Which brings you to the next turn and understanding in the Justice card.
Figure 8: The Fool’s journey in the classical labyrinth
The next short section of the path represents the trials and challenges of the Hanged Man, leading to a defeat of sorts in the Death card. You are now on the shortest circuit of the labyrinth and rather than be defeated, you are transformed and reborn into a deeper spiritual life, as shown in more detail in the Temperance card at the turn into the next circuit.
This turn and the next circuit equating with the Devil card appear to be taking you away from your centre, where it seems that things can’t get any worse. But the Tower card, in seeming to destroy your world and turning you further away from the centre of the labyrinth, saves you by shaking you free of attachments. As the dark despair is blasted away, the Star shows a glimmer of hope as you walk the final circuit in the light of truth.
The final turn of the Moon illuminates the way, and the final narrow path before the centre Sun is indicating that you are a shining light. You then enter the centre of the labyrinth where the Judgement card represents your triumphant victory.
The final major arcana card the World is found at the centre point of the cross in the labyrinth. This is the point from which you create the labyrinth and from which all aspects of the labyrinth emanate. It is the spirit point; it represents order restored and understanding of your place in the world when you see the labyrinth as representing your whole life.
The Labyrinth and the Tree of Life
The labyrinth is also connected to the Kabbalah Tree of Life, another path to spiritual illumination. Eliphas Levi published a book in 1856 which was the first book of the modern era to associate the twenty-two cards of the major arcana with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. He also associated the four letters of the name of God (the Tetragrammaton: YHWH) with the four suits of the minor arcana.
On the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah, the major arcana represent the lines, or flow of energy, between the ten sephirot in the Tree of Life. The sephirot are states of being, while the twenty-two paths between them are states of becoming. So, representing the twenty-two paths in the circuits, turns, and paths of the labyrinth make the labyrinth a tool for “becoming,” a tool for realizing your true self.
Figure 9: Kabbalah Tree of Life & Chakras
The labyrinth and the Kabbalah are also connected through their associations with the seven chakras. While some sources associate the seven lower sephirot with the chakras, a more complete association is to map the chakras onto the Tree of Life in its seven distinct levels, as in Figure 9. In this approach, Kether at the top is the crown chakra. Chokmah and Binah representing wisdom and understanding are the third eye. Chesed and Geburah representing love and might are at the throat chakra. Tipharet, beauty, is at the heart chakra. Netzach and Hod, eternity and majesty, are at the solar plexus centre. Yesod, the foundation, is at the sacral chakra. And Malkuth, the kingdom, is the root chakra.
Figure 10: Kabbalah Tree of Life & the four elements
The ten sephirot also correspond to the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water (Figure 10). The four elements represented by the four quadrants of the labyrinth are found in the Tree of Life as follows (The Tree of Life, n.d.):
Fire (world of Atziluth)—Kether
Water (world of Briah)—Chokmah and Binah
Air (world of Yetzirah)—Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod
Earth (world of Assiah)—Malkuth
As the energy can flow both ways on the paths between the sephirot on the Tree of Life, walking into and out of the labyrinth can have significantly different meanings and impacts. So, just as you can ascend and descend the Tree of Life learning and experiencing new aspects of yourself each time, you can also walk the labyrinth in and out as many times as you wish learning something new each time.
The “un-named” sephirot on the Tree of Life is called Da’at. It is the Hebrew word that means knowledge. Da’at is the location, or mystical state where all ten sephirot are combined as one, each radiating divine light, and each no longer distinguishable from the other. The state of Da’at also exists at the node or centre of the cross in the labyrinth, when all aspects become one and you experience a sense of infinite oneness.
The Hero’s Journey in the Labyrinth
The labyrinth represents the hero’s journey that you undertake on your spiritual path. When you step into the labyrinth, you are undertaking a journey that re-enacts the hero’s journey of mythology. Your journey into the labyrinth of your inner world is similar to the hero’s journey described by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. While Campbell described seventeen stages in the hero’s journey, it can be condensed into three main stages: departure—the hero leaves the familiar world behind, initiation—where the hero is subjected to trials and experiences adventures, and return—where the hero returns to the world he left with greater understanding from living through his experiences.
A labyrinth walk is a microcosm of the hero’s journey. You decide to leave the familiar outer world behind, if only for a short period of time. You enter the coils of the labyrinth, where the twists and turns can serve to disorientate and challenge, often resulting in new insights and recognition of inner strengths previously untapped. Your return from the centre of the labyrinth is symbolic of the hero’s return home changed for the better and ready to live a renewed life. The hero’s journey relates to everyone who walks the labyrinth. In being prepared to journey to your inner depths in the labyrinth, you are a hero destined to overcome the conflicts in your inner and outer worlds so that both are in union and in harmony.
Whether you know it or not, you are a hero. You are the one who is prepared to let go of the old and bring in the new. There are several levels on which you are doing this. Firstly, if you are a beginner labyrinth walker, you may not realise that this is what you are doing. You may simply consider that you are having a nice meditative walk. And so, you may be. However, the labyrinth walk is having a positive effect on you. Walking the labyrinth brings you into an altered state, however slight. It induces realizations that bring about a shift in your consciousness. You are letting go of the old and bringing in the new. You are releasing what no longer serves you and making space for new energies in your life.
On another level, you can consciously walk the labyrinth to bring about change in you. You have a deliberate intent to let go of something, to find something new, to change your life. And you are not only walking for yourself, you are also walking for all of humanity. Therefore, what you are doing is being a light of consciousness between your own internal world of conflict that might overwhelm you, and the outer world that wants to destroy you for breaking the old ways. You are a true hero—bringing about change in yourself and change in the world around you, despite the powers that might wish otherwise. You are a catalyst for change.
We have already read about the myth where Theseus entered the labyrinth to slay the Minotaur. As with most myths there are several levels at which the story of Theseus and the Minotaur can be interpreted and absorbed. Look on all elements of the myth as aspects of yourself; you are on a hero’s journey into the unknown, both searching for a hidden part of yourself and embarking on a mission of saving your whole self. Through being willing to sacrifice everything, you emerge stronger and empowered.
In this story of Theseus and the Minotaur, we meet Theseus, the Minotaur, Ariadne, Daedalus, Minos, and Pasiphae. Each one of these has a significant part to contribute to the whole story. In your labyrinth journey, there are aspects of yourself that are represented by the characters in the myth. Theseus is the hero within you who partakes in a death-defying story reminiscent of many other tales and myths. The Minotaur represents your shadow side—that part of yourself that you keep hidden away for fear it will devour you! The death of the Minotaur can also be seen as a type of “death of the ego,” or the uncontrollable mental forces. Ariadne is the help that is available to you, and someone who loves you unconditionally. Ariadne’s thread assists and transforms the labyrinth of confusion into a clear path home. She is the goddess who guides Theseus and helps him to access the unconscious and enlightenment. Meanwhile, Daedalus represents the wisdom and assistance that is available to you from outside. As Daedalus was the inventor and creator of the labyrinth, seeking assistance from the creator as to the secret of the labyrinth can be achieved through asking, meditating. and being open to receiving the answers.
According to Fulcanelli, Ariadne is a form of airagne (the spider). Fulcanelli asks of Ariadne when writing about the symbolic value of the famous myth: “is not our soul the spider which weaves our own body?” (Fulcanelli 1971). Fulcanelli, in the somewhat oblique language of the alchemist, wrote in Le Mystère des Cathédrales, “To make the eagle fly, as the hermetic expression goes, is to extract light from the tomb and bring it to the surface … This is what the fable of Theseus and Ariadne teaches us” (Fulcanelli 1971). In your labyrinth walk, you are entering the tomb of the labyrinth, finding your true self, and bringing this back out to shine into the world, all with the help of the soul.
The following exercise draws on the symbolism and associations in the story of Theseus and the Minotaur to take a step of bravery and integration.
Exercise: How to Conduct Your Own
Hero’s Journey in the Labyrinth
Being your own hero entails facing your fears. The Minotaur is a symbol that represents your fears. This exercise is about meeting your Minotaur and facing your fears.
To know what your fears are you need to identify them clearly. The best way to identify your fears is to write them down. It may take a little while to compose yourself to write down your fears, because the very fact that they are fears may make this difficult for you. Yet, the first step in facing your fears is to know them. Indeed, the very act of describing your fears can have the effect of reducing their impact on you.
Take a little time to write down all your fears that you can think of. If you are finding it difficult to do this, then put at number one “the fear of writing down my fears!” Write down a heading for each fear, and describe as much as you can about them. For each, write about when you feel it, what the fear feels like, and who is involved in the fear. In what places and situations do you feel the fear? Keep writing. Describe each fear in as much details as you can, until you have nothing left to write.
If you feel that you are not ready to face all your fears, then write down those that you know you can face. You can come back to the others at another time. You will know if a fear is possibly too much for you at this time as you will find ways to avoid writing it down. You may distract yourself, or try to convince yourself that it is not a fear, or tell yourself that you don’t have enough time to be doing this exercise. There are a myriad of other ways to avoid doing it. If you can come up with one fear that you are willing to face, then that is sufficient to do this exercise.
When you are finished, put what you have written into an envelope. Seal the envelope, write on the outside “Minotaur,” and do a rough sketch of a Minotaur or your best effort of a horned creature that represents your Minotaur. Then underneath this image write the words “I love you.”
With your envelope in your hand, walk towards your labyrinth. Remember, you are not alone on this walk; your guides are there to help you. Before you begin your walk, remind yourself that if at any time you feel that you cannot go any further in the labyrinth, you can always turn around and come out of the labyrinth.
Stand at the entrance of the labyrinth with the understanding that you are going to meet your fears in the shape of a Minotaur as you walk. You do not know where or when your Minotaur will appear; you just know that at some stage you will meet it. As you walk the labyrinth, be aware of every sensation in your body and beyond. Feel every step you make and every breath you take.
Your fear, or fears, may come to mind as you walk. As soon as a fear comes to mind, pause. Feel the fear as much as you can and then hug yourself and tell yourself that you love yourself. Imagine your fear in the shape of a Minotaur who just wants to be hugged. Squeeze your Minotaur so tightly and with such love that it brings a smile to your face. You will know when you have embraced your Minotaur enough as you will get a feeling to release. Consciously release your Minotaur and whatever fear(s) are associated with it. Let them go. Let them go with love. Let them go with the feeling and knowing that you no longer need them in your life. As you let them go, thank your Minotaur and your fears—for being companions and teachers on your journey. Continue your labyrinth walk. If you have another fear, then walk in anticipation of meeting the Minotaur of that fear. Each time you meet a fear, repeat the exercise described above.
When you reach the centre, if you still have some fears left to meet, spend some time in the centre embracing all your other fears. Consciously choose to let go of all your fears. Even if you have not let go of all your fears, give yourself a big long hug at the centre. Assume a position of power by standing erect, legs a little more than shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, chest out, and feel your power running through you. Do this for about two minutes. Then walk out of the labyrinth ready to face the world as the new you.
As soon as you exit the labyrinth, find a safe place and ceremonially burn the envelope with the list of your fears. See the fears dissolve and change into energy moving on to another dimension.
You may find that you need to do this exercise a few times to fully release yourself from some fears. Do it as often as you feel the need. When repeating this exercise, it is important to have a strong intention of meeting and releasing your fears. Also, as you release some fears, you may find that you think of some other smaller fears that you have also to release. Do this exercise as often as you feel you need to become fearless. If a memory or fear comes up that is too strong, consider if you would like to have a close companion, facilitator, or trained counsellor with you.
Reflection
Write down all the positive thoughts, feelings, and experiences that you had during the labyrinth walk. Remember what these feelings and experiences were like, and retain them for as long as you can.