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In early February, @healer.josephine launched a most exciting tarot challenge on the Instagram platform: #intothehealinglabyrinth !
And since this little joyful has led me to clear up a lot of interesting information, I decided to do a series of articles on this subject 😉 So come with me in the windings of the labyrinth …
A labyrinth is a symbol that is found in many cultures around the world (Celtic, Amerindian, pre-Columbian, Cretan …) but the most famous story is that of the Minotaur in his maze.
Note to shine in society n ° 1 : Be careful then … a labyrinth is not a maze, no no no! The difference being that a labyrinth does not want us to get lost … it unfolds naturally under our feet, without asking us to choose our path.
So all the mazes are labyrinths but the reverse is not true.
One of the most famous labyrinths of this kind (which does not wish to lose us in) is the one of Chartres Cathedral (where I plan to go one day … yes, everyone has their own dreams! Paradisiac islands just have to wait their turn 😉 and it proves that its only goal is to bring us into its center, no matter how complex it can be:
The labyrinth is not a symbol that has revealed all its secrets. It remains very mysterious … nobody knows what these drawings could be used for. Some bio-energeticians (like Stéphane Cardinaux) have made amazing energy readings! The hypothesis being today, that the labyrinths allow us to increase our vital energy.
For the Jungians, the labyrinth represents our journey towards individuation, made up of roads and routs, obstacles, changes of direction … to arrive at our center: our Self. A figure of life itself.
The oldest traces of labyrinths are representations of the “classic 7 circles” type and it’s this kind of labyrinth precisely that I wanted to explore in the challenge. Why ? Because some authors dedicated to the exploration of sacred femininity attribute to them a link with the original Goddess (notably Seren Bertrand). It was an opportunity to deep in this wisdom!
A multi-part adventure.
The creatrix of the challenge suggests that we divide our exploration into 3 parts. This article will therefore be devoted to part 1 : preparing for the adventure!
For each day, we had to draw a major arcana for :
Day # 1: identify our main companion.
Day # 3: find our protector.
Day # 5: greet the one who will be our comfort throughout the trip.
As usual, the cards were very meaningful: here are Arcana XIV (Temperance or here Mediatrix) VI (the Lovers) and XIII (Death, yeah!)
No hesitation here : the Margarete Peterson tarot definitely called me for this challenge !
What we can already see are the common colors of Temperance and 13: it’s all very multicolored! The XIV even has a rainbow in the background! ! ! !
It immediately makes me think of an interpretation of the classic type 7 labyrinths …
7 like the 7 colors of the rainbow …
… and of course to make the link with the 7 chakras!
According to another author, each level of the labyrinth has its correspondence with a specific chakra. And in the end it gives us a beautiful rainbow within the symbol itself (see the picture above accompanied by my “beautifuuuuuul” coloring!)
And who says 7 chakras, also says ????
Kundalini! Yes, well done people!
And the serpent is present in cards VI and XIII (in the latter, there is even clearly the white serpent and the black serpent, the two faces of the Kundalini, as you can see in the picture at the end of the article). Hmmm … then, could these labyrinths have enabled the awakening of the Kundalini into the practitioners? I am very tempted by this exotic hypothesis, I admit …
Especially since Temperance and Lovers are very closely linked cards (for the Gnostics they are sister cards). Both, in fact, speak of sexuality. With Lovers it’s the sexual act itself (very terrestrial), while Temperance figures it from a more spiritual view: the mixture of male and female fluids as the sacred inner union (the famous sacred marriage of alchemists!)
It is indeed question of this union in the two cards, and on several levels : again a clue of the Kundalini (which balances our inner masculine and feminine, hence the 2 snakes that entwine) and frankly, the very shape of the labyrinth looks very much like a serpent coiled on himself!
This snake is one of the symbols of the energy implemented into our body. It is also represented in Eastern cultures by the divine Shakti.
Shakti, this divine creative essence could be exactly represented by this Temperance which dances and seems to create the cosmos and the Earth. On the 14th arcana here, we could then see the representation of the most primordial Goddess of the Indian pantheon:
Everything seems to fit together perfectly so far … but I still have some doubts concerning the arcane XIII which is supposed to represent a comfort … Death, a comfort? No matter how much I activate my neurons, nothing comes to me …
Until I understand that it is about the 13th Original Mother!
Why this link? The number 13 obviously, and more, the Mother of Clan of the 13th lunar cycle is the one who carries the color … rainbow! But above all, she is the One who UNIFIES the different facets of her sisters (as do VI and XIV)!
Personal note, (optional): from a personal point of view, I had to interrupt the study of the Original Mothers between the 12th cycle and the 13th cycle (in order to focus on the children in homeschooling and are inspected at the beginning of the year.) I find myself out of the pace initially planned and I have barely started editing this 13th workshop …
I no longer have any doubts … the 13th Mother gives us her support (and this tarot challenge seems to have things to teach us in parallel with her wisdom). So do not hesitate to connect with Her in your peregrinations.
Let’s recap our findings :
The preparation for the adventure allowed us to take stock of the very nature of the labyrinth symbol.
We could say so far that it may be a sacred temple: it improves our inner balance (card XIV) and allows us to confirm our relationship to the cosmos which awakens our life force, the Shakti (arcana VI) in the form of our Kundalini (XIII).
Basically, it’s therefore a question of raising our consciousness through earthly energies resonating with those of our body.
The movement of course in the labyrinth would then seem to generate a subtle energy which relaxes and magnifies itself by interacting with our Kundalini: the serpentine form seems to in turn inhale and exhale the energy … like a dance of creation (XIV) that unwinds our inner serpent. Our first steps in the structure will be the moment to release (XIII) all our thoughts and fears to awaken our Shakti (VI).
So who was right? Bioenergeticians? The Jungians? The authors attributing this symbol to the Goddess of the Origins?
Well all at once!
The labyrinth is all that! A setting in motion of the life force, the primordial Goddess, which allows us to find our Self.
And even the neurosciences are joining the fun! They would have measured that each sudden change of direction, created in the brain a passage of energy from one hemisphere to another. Right and left hemispheres, activating in turn, end up connecting together , it is the union represented in Arcana VI and XIV! ! ! !
I’m amazed here!
A colorful labyrinth dating from the Middle Ages
Going through the labyrinth connects us to our life force, our Shakti towards the discovery of our “Home-Self“. It’s an energetic and sensual adventure that awaits us (and this, under the watchful eyes of the 13th Clan Mother for those who practice this teaching).
And the Kundalini in this story? Can we be launched into the windings of the Goddess without any risk? Or should we fear this force (as we can read it everywhere!)?
Well yes … and no!
Let us not forget that the Kundalini is a natural phenomenon which happens at its own pace in our journey. As always, our ego must accept that things are like this: they follow cycles and that’s it. If our Kundalini has never awakened, it is not a “delay” or a lack of evolution. It’s just that we don’t need it right now in our life.
And since this challenge began during the 1st lunar cycle of the year, under the moon of 1st Clan Mother (The one who speaks to Her loved ones and who honors the rhythms and cycles) I say to myself, it is probably also a lesson in accepting divine timing!
What can be dangerous in the end is to let the ego takes over and activates this energy before being ready … in this case, yes, we harvest what we sow and what we experiments may be unpleasant.
In my personal case, the kundalini awoke very comfortably … then it got stuck on my throat chakra for a long time (months and months). One night, without the slightest warning, it suddenly released itself in a very intense way. Even though I understood what was going on, it was a total panic. My heart was racing and I had to focus for long minutes on my breathing and take pauses while lying on my right side, (yes, that’s a trick to stop it: get into a fetal position on the right side … I no longer have the sources of the info, but it works!) This is the reason for my yes-no, yes-no answer: the experience can change quickly and this, even in the same person!
The life force, Kundalini, Shakti or Original Goddess is indomitable and wild … finally just as we love it here on SheArtsWild!
But rest assured, according to the energy measurements, the practice of the labyrinth will not trigger an unexpected rise, the forces are not powerful enough for that! But it can be a tool for triggering consciousness (it’s well done, isn’t it? Strong enough for some but also secure for others).
Thus, without knowledge of Kundalini, we still enjoy the benefits of a surge of energy in the body and if we already have a little control over the phenomenon, we can decide to walk with all our attention focused on our serpentine energy.
And it can be very useful after winter! Because our Kundalini does everything like a real snake: during the frosts she can curl up at the bottom of the earth and be lazy while waiting for sunny days.
In conclusion, I can’t wait to see more wisdom teachings thanks to this amazing challenge! So, stay tuned for more.
Endnote to shine in society: unlike warm-blooded animals, snakes do not hibernate! They will indeed go to protect themselves in the heart of the earth in search of heat, but they remain conscious ALL WINTER, waiting for renewal … another great lesson in timing and patience, right?
