Lady of the Labyrinth
My partner and I have just returned from a weekend of sacred dance with June Watts deep in rural Wales. We stayed in a lovely early twentieth century house set in a delightful wooded valley. Lambs in the fields, swathes of daffodils in the gardens, everything bursting with life in the sunshine. We created a traditional seven circuit labyrinth in the garden and danced to honour Ariadne and explore Her myth. Beloved Ariadne, source of creativity in nature and human culture. Some words of Homer came to mind, Diadalos created a dancing place for Ariadne of the lovely tresses. How the Goddess loves the dancing place!
We remembered how the Greeks had spun the myth to discredit the Minoan way. The bull turned into a monster, The labyrinth as a place of human sacrifice. Ariadne portrayed as the betrayer. We danced for truth, for beauty, for Ariadne. One dance I found particularly evocative. Set to an ancient melody with an unfamiliar rhythm it became our processional dance for those who would leap the bull and find life.
One final thing made the weekend perfect. The secluded spot meant it was possible to experience real darkness. I live close enough to the city to be bathed in light pollution at night. At home it is never possible to experience real darkness and the utter beauty of star light. The human heart yearns for the peace and beauty of real darkness. To enter the dark is to enter the labyrinth, to walk an unknown path, to feel the Goddess there beside you and at the still centre touch timeless eternity.
Labels: Ariadne, dance, Labyrinth, real darkness, sacred, Wales
posted by Paul at 12:24
2 Comments:
There are still places in South Africa where the nights are dark.
Alas, not where I live anymore, but I was privileged to do some of my school in then-Rhodesia, and the night skies were glorious.
I sat up many a night and early morning to catch a Messier object of incredible beauty in my telescope, or to see Mercury rise before the sun.
Dark night skies are becoming rarer across the planet-will we raise dreamers of the stars when they can no longer be seen?
But of course,there's always the internet. :)
Love,
Terri in Joburg
Oh aquila how will we raise dreamers without the stars ? Why has so much that is rich and beautiful become something to be feared? People seem to hate the dark, cannot live without artificial light, see the dark as a metaphor for evil. Yet I find it so nourishing and in the dark you can feel the Goddess gently leading.
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