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Kerenyi theorizes that the labyrinth, spiral, and meander are [unicursal] paths or journeys in which one returns to the beginning. (D: 92-96.) Labyrinth means the place of the labrys. (MTPC: 11: n. 7.) The etymology for both labyrinth and labrys is the Greek labyrinthos, ‘a network of intricate passageways.’ “The palace of Knossos was itself called labyrinthos, or ‘the palace of the double axes and both the labyrinth, a universal symbol of the uterine maze, and the double axe (or labrys), derive their meaning from the word labrys (/labia/lip),’” fertile womb of the Great Mother Earth. (EW: 65.) Cameron adds that from this same “root comes the word labia, the elaborate folds of the labia majora and the labia minora of the vulva. The butterfly/double – axe symbol could represent [the] opened labia.” (SA: 10, n. 7.) Adding to the butterfly – labia consideration, archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans “published a series of chrysalises, butterflies, and goddesses related to chrysalises or with butterfly wings. (RN: 53-71.) He interpreted the chrysalis as an emblem of new life after death.” (GGE: 186-7.)

In addition to the labrys symbols, ‘butterfly – chrysalises – labia’, the double axe conjoined at apexes is also a prototype of Cretan labia and a common theme found in Minoan – Mycenaean art. The double axe (or more appropriately labium (SA: 10)) has two conjoined triangles at the apexes. Also, images of Minoan – Mycenaean butterflies are frequently portrayed with double axe wings or conjoined triangles at the apexes.  (See, MMRS: 195. Fig. 90 (41).) According to Gimbutas, “these schematized butterflies are the prototypes of the Minoan double – axe.” (GGE: 186.) The ancient symbols for the triangle, double axe, and butterfly may well be the X and V as first introduced in Re-Genesis 70,000 entry, Blombos Cave followed by numerous other Re-Genesis entries as noted below. For additional V/triangle/vulvic research, see (GGE: 186-7; LOG: 13; WAM: 116-8; ECLE.)

Further X considerations include Holy for the Goddess.

Concerning the use of the mark X in Near Eastern religions, Urs Winter, op. cit., 301 quotes O. Keel who discovered that the X on the forehead of certain Near-Eastern statuettes is a sign, which identified the woman as belonging to the goddess. The X, which in old Canaanite alphabet is the same as, the letter Taw meant ‘Holy for the goddess.’ So were cakes and breads also marked that were dedicated to the goddess. From the Old Testament, Keel refers to Ex 28.36 and Ezekiel 9.4-6 where such signs were used meaning a dedication for JHWH. See also Urs Winter, op. cit. p. 569 concerning remarks on terra-cotta figures, which may represent baked goods with the sign of an X (TVG: 188, n. 64).

The double – axe indicates significant objects of worship that were used for ritual purposes in caves, mountains, and on altars in temple shrines including the Shrine of the Double Axe and the Tomb of the Double Axe. These and other labyrinth cave sanctuaries are considered as prototypes of 12th century CE cathedrals. It is also of note that the sizes of double axes vary significantly. Many are either 6-8 feet tall (MAL: 30-31, Fig. 9) such as the ‘pillar culture’ finds from the Dictaean Cave as discussed by Evans (MTPC: 9-13) – or – much smaller bronze or stone votive objects found in conjunction with priestesses and rituals. Re-Genesis suggests that the labrys is a manifestation of incantation rites and metamorphosis or re-generative rituals. Interpretations of the labrys include the: labia; butterfly; chrysalises; double axe conjoined at apexes; figure 8 (eternity); earth’s center; and the waxing and waning moon. Significance may be a homecoming to self and mother (or cosmocentric matrix) that sparks or enhances be – ing and be – coming as in re-creation i.e. thelytokous parthenogenesis/autopoiesis. This awakening spark might also be compared to the “spark of the indigenous genius of humankind” that each person embodies. (NHI: 155.) Self-actualized numinosity.

The re – turning journey to the labrys is known in Greek as the katabasis or the descent. Metaphorically walking the labyrinth may have three stages including: detachment; parthenogenetic re – birth; and then integration or a Re-Genesis during the exit or ascent. In Mazes and Labyrinths of the World, W. F. Jackson Knight links the labyrinth to death and rebirth themes as a: “microcosm of the earth and a macrocosm of the human anatomy.” (MLW: 10; MLT.)

In death one returns to the earth, the mother, from which one is eventually reborn. The presence of the labyrinth at burial structures signifies a ritual entry into the earth; the labyrinth represents both the earth and the human body as sources of life (MLW: 10; MLT).

Following on Jackson’s theme that in death is the return to mother earth, *

propose the universal quest of all seekers and pilgrims to the womb – cavern to reunite with one’s origins.

Because the journey into the cavern of the underworld [or labyrinth Cosmic – womb] is the central human quest, the womb – cavern is the archetype of every holy – of – holies. It is as though architecture has recorded for eternity the forgotten goal of religion [spirituality] – to reunite with the feminine [female] principle in order to transcend duality and attain wholeness, oneness, and enlightenment (BT: 36).

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* For an 11th century translation of a Hymn to Mother Earth:

Battaglia, Frank.  “Goddess Religion in the Early British Isles.”  Varia on the

Indo–European Past: Papers in Memory of Marija Gimbutas.  Eds. Miriam Robbins Dexter, and Edgar C. Polomé.   Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph No. 19 (1997): 67-73. (GR.)

From the earliest, spirals, meanders, labyrinths, and labryses starting with ancient rock and cave symbols and engravings are reminders of human’s “unceasing preoccupation with the spiral order and his [one’s] spiral development.” (MS: 29.) The spiral may also “be thought of as an elementary unicursal labyrinth as they have an indirect path leading to a hidden center.” (MLW: 18.)

The spiral or labyrinth [and meander], depicted in ancient tombs, implies a death and reentry into the womb of the earth, necessary before the spirit can be reborn in the land of the dead. But death and rebirth also mean the continuous transformation and purification of the spirit throughout life; the alchemists use the word VITRIOL to stand for Visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultum lapidem. ‘Visit the interior of the earth; through purification thou wilt find the hidden stone.’ Such a descent into the underworld (the kingdom of Pluto) is the theme for most initiation rituals, and is comparable to the passage through the wilderness, or the ‘dark night of the soul,’ which is experienced by mystics [and all soul seekers] on their path. It is furthermore [almost] always symbolized by the spiral. Those on the columns of the Treasury of Atreus (a relic which is still to be found in the volutes of the Ionic column) have a further correspondence; by passing between two spiral columns, the initiate becomes the central axis or pillar and consciousness and equilibrium, for he [/she] has thus passed between two opposite pillars of the Tree of Life, or between the coils of the serpents of the caduceus, and has thereby come into direct contact with the Source of Being (MS: 29-30).

In a more contemporary light, the soul or spirit’s search for wholeness is an ongoing labyrinthine journey back to the labrys that includes further considerations such as the: center, matrix, matter or mother earth. With each new spiraling re-turn or katabasis to mother earth, is the possibility of another Re-Genesis. In William Braud’s article, “The Ley and the Labyrinth: Universalistic and Particularistic Approaches to Knowing” he eloquently speaks to a spiraling re – turn (or nonlinear) process.

The labyrinth is the winding, all – encompassing path; meandering here and there, moving nonlinearly [or nonlinear] toward, then away from, then toward the goal again – patient path that seems to enjoy its own winding [serpentine] journey. … Manifold ways of knowing [that] …suggests the multiplicity of being [be-ing] – the vast possibilities of what may be realized in the form of concrete particulars. The winding labyrinth path that touches and depends upon each and every point of its area may symbolize the infinite possibilities that may be realized – an infinite appreciation of a pluralistic universe (LL: 1, 17).