Editing Labyrinth (section)

==<span id="Modern"></span> Modern labyrinths==
[[File:Labyrinth.JPG|thumb|left|Labyrinth on floor of [[Grace Cathedral, San Francisco]]]]
Starting in the late 20th century, there has been a resurgence of interest in labyrinths and a revival in labyrinth building, of both unicursal and multicursal patterns.<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Saward |first=Jeff |date=2003 |title=Labyrinths and Mazes |publisher=Gaia |chapter=Chapter 6: The Modern Revival |pages=179–208 |isbn=1579905390 
}}</ref> Approximately 6,000 labyrinths have been registered with the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator; these are located around the world in private properties, libraries, schools, gardens, and recreational areas, as well as famous temples and cathedrals.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bliss |first=Laura |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-29/the-pandemic-era-appeal-of-labyrinths |title=The Pandemic-Era Appeal of Getting Lost in a Labyrinth |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=29 July 2020 |access-date=30 July 2020 }}</ref><ref name="World-Wide Labyrinth Locator">{{cite web | title=Welcome to the World-Wide Labyrinth Locator! | website=World-Wide Labyrinth Locator | url=https://labyrinthlocator.com/ | access-date=23 November 2021}}</ref>

The labyrinth is also treated in contemporary [[fine arts]]. Examples include [[Piet Mondrian]]'s ''Pier and Ocean'' (1915), [[Joan Miró]]'s ''[[Labyrinth (Miró, Joan)|Labyrinth]]'' (1923), [[Pablo Picasso]]'s ''[[Minotauromachy]]'' (1935), [[M. C. Escher]]'s ''[[Relativity (M. C. Escher)|Relativity]]'' (1953), [[Friedensreich Hundertwasser]]'s ''Labyrinth'' (1957), [[Jean Dubuffet]]'s ''Logological Cabinet'' (1970), [[Richard Long (artist)|Richard Long]]'s ''[[Connemara]] sculpture'' (1971), [[Joe Tilson]]'s ''Earth Maze'' (1975), [[Richard Fleischner]]'s ''Chain Link Maze'' (1978), [[István Orosz]]'s ''Atlantis Anamorphosis'' (2000), [[Dmitry Rakov]]'s ''Labyrinth'' (2003), and drawings by contemporary American artist Mo Morales employing what the artist calls "Labyrinthine projection." The Italian painter Davide Tonato has dedicated many of his artistic works to the labyrinth theme.<ref>Davide Tonato, ''Labyrinth of Transformations'' (edited by Renzo Margonari), Grafiche Aurora, Verona 1988</ref> In modern imagery, the labyrinth of Daedalus is often represented by a multicursal maze, in which one may become lost.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

[[Mark Wallinger]] has created a set of [[Labyrinth (artwork)|270 enamel plaques]] of unicursal labyrinth designs, one for every tube station in the [[London Underground]], to mark the 150th anniversary of the Underground. The plaques were installed over a 16-month period in 2013 and 2014, and each is numbered according to its position in the route taken by the contestants in the 2009 [[Guinness World Record]] [[Tube Challenge]].<ref>{{cite news
 | last = Brown
 | first = Mark
 | title = Tube celebrates 150th birthday with labyrinth art project
 | newspaper = The Guardian
 | date = 7 February 2013
| url =https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/07/tube-150-birthday-labyrinth-art-project
 | access-date = 9 February 2013
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last=Wallinger |first=Mark |date=2014 |title=Labyrinth: A Journey Through London's Underground |url=https://art.tfl.gov.uk/labyrinth/ 
 |publisher=Art Books |isbn=9781908970169 |author-link=Mark Wallinger |access-date=7 January 2017 }}</ref>

=== Cultural meanings ===
[[Prehistoric]] labyrinths may have served as traps for malevolent spirits or as paths for ritual dances.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}} Many Roman and Christian labyrinths appear at the entrances of buildings, suggesting that they may have served a similar [[wikt:apotropaic|apotropaic]] purpose.<ref>Ruth Mellinkoff, ''Averting Demons'', 2004, Vol. 2, p. 164.</ref> In their cross-cultural study of signs and symbols, ''Patterns that Connect'', [[Carl Schuster]] and [[Edmund Snow Carpenter|Edmund Carpenter]] present various forms of the labyrinth and suggest various possible meanings, including not only a sacred path to the home of a sacred ancestor, but also, perhaps, a representation of the ancestor him/herself: "...many [New World] Indians who make the labyrinth regard it as a sacred symbol, a beneficial ancestor, a deity. In this they may be preserving its original meaning: the ultimate ancestor, here evoked by two continuous lines joining its twelve primary joints."<ref name="Schuster 1996 307">
{{cite book|last=Schuster|first=Carl, & Edmund Carpenter|title=Patterns that Connect: Social Symbolism in Ancient & Tribal Art|year=1996|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|isbn=978-0-8109-6326-9|page=307}}
</ref> Schuster also observes the common theme of the labyrinth being a refuge for a trickster; in India, the demon [[Ravana]] has dominion over labyrinths, the trickster Djonaha lives in a labyrinth according to Sumatran [[Batak]]s, and Europeans say it is the home of a rogue.<ref name="Schuster 1996 307"/>

One can think of labyrinths as symbolic of [[pilgrimage]]: people walking the path ascend toward salvation or enlightenment. Mystical teachings in traditions across centuries suggest that they can also be understood as coded maps of the spiritual path.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bair |first=Puran and Susanna |title=Follow Your Heart: The Map to Illumination |publisher=Living Heart Media |year=2011 |isbn=978-0983303800 |pages=9–13 |language=English}}</ref>

Many labyrinths have been constructed recently in churches, hospitals, and parks. These are often used for contemplation; walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind.

===Christian use===
[[File:Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral.JPG|thumb|300px|Walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral]]

Labyrinths have on various occasions been used in Christian tradition as a part of worship. The earliest known example is from a fourth-century pavement at the Basilica of St Reparatus, at Orleansville, Algeria, with the words "Sancta Eclesia" {{sic}} at the center, though it is unclear how it might have been used in worship.

In medieval times, labyrinths began to appear on church walls and floors around 1000 AD. The most famous medieval labyrinth, with great influence on later practice, was created in [[Chartres Cathedral]].<ref name="kern_church">{{cite book
|last=Kern
|first=Hermann
|title=Through the Labyrinth: Designs and Meaning Over 5,000 Years
|year=2000
|publisher=Prestel
|isbn=978-3-7913-2144-8
|chapter=VIII. Church Labyrinths
}}</ref>

The use of labyrinths has recently been revived in some contexts of Christian worship. Many churches in Europe and North America have constructed permanent, typically unicursal, labyrinths, or employ temporary ones (e.g., painted on canvas or outlined with candles). For example, a labyrinth was set up on the floor of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] for a week in March 2000.<ref>Ian Tarrant and Sally Dakin, ''Labyrinths and Prayer Stations'', p 6.</ref> Some conservative Christians disapprove of labyrinths, considering them pagan practices or "[[New Age]]" fads.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=3440 |title=Maze Craze |author=Mark Tooley |work=Touchstone Magazine |publisher=The Fellowship of St. James |date=September 2000 |access-date=29 December 2016}}</ref>

=== Usage in media ===

Labyrinths and mazes have been embraced by the video game industry, and countless video games include such a feature. For example, the 1994 video game [[Marathon (video game)|Marathon]] features many maze-like passages the player must navigate.

A number of film, game, and music creations feature labyrinths. For instance, the avant-garde multi-screen film ''[[In the Labyrinth (film)|In the Labyrinth]]'' presents a search for meaning in a symbolic modern labyrinth. The well-received 2006 film ''[[Pan's Labyrinth]]'' draws heavily upon labyrinth legend for symbolism. A magical labyrinth appears in the third episode, "And The Horns of a Dilemma", of ''[[The Librarians (2014 TV series)|The Librarians]]''. See [[Labyrinth (disambiguation)]] for a further list of titles. The cult classic film by Jim Henson [[Labyrinth (1986 film)]] features an enormous otherworldly maze which a young woman must traverse to save her younger brother.

The Argentine writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]] was entranced with the idea of the labyrinth, and used it extensively in his short stories (such as "The House of Asterion" in ''The Aleph''). His use of it has inspired other authors (e.g. [[Umberto Eco]]'s ''[[The Name of the Rose]]'', Mark Z. Danielewski's ''[[House of Leaves]]''). Additionally, [[Roger Zelazny]]'s fantasy series ''[[The Chronicles of Amber]]'' features a labyrinth, called "the Pattern," which grants those who walk it the power to move between parallel worlds. In [[Rick Riordan]]'s series [[Percy Jackson & the Olympians]], the events of the fourth novel, ''[[The Battle of the Labyrinth]]'', predominantly take place within the labyrinth of Daedalus, which has followed [[History of Western civilization|the heart of the West]] to settle beneath the United States. [[Ursula K. Le Guin]] used an underground labyrinth in the second book of her [[Earthsea]] series, ''[[The Tombs of Atuan]]'', in which the series hero [[Ged (Earthsea)|Ged]] is captured by the book's protagonist Tenar on his trip to the Kargish Empire – the spiritual power of the "Nameless Ones" is vested at least in part in the labyrinth. Australian author [[Sara Douglass]] incorporated some labyrinthine ideas in her series [[The Troy Game]], in which the Labyrinth on Crete is one of several in the ancient world, created with the cities as a source of magical power. [[Lawrence Durrell]]'s ''The Dark Labyrinth'' depicts travelers trapped underground in Crete. Because a labyrinth can serve as a metaphor for situations that are difficult to be extricated from, [[Octavio Paz]] titled his book on Mexican [[National identity|identity]] ''[[The Labyrinth of Solitude]]'', describing the Mexican condition as orphaned and lost.