IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
Labyrinths, Mazes, The Unbroken Path, dreaming tracks and meander patterns, Nazca Lines, Nasca Lines, Nasca Monkey, Trelleborg's Slott, Tanumshede, rock art figures, Minotaur, vision quest, vision serpent, shamanic rituals, kolam patterns, Troy Town, Maiden's Dance, pilgrims, pilgrimage, maze gardens, maze 'craze', Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the Secret of Immortality, Utpanishtim, Sigurd, Fafnir, runes, runic inscriptions, coil, spiral, Zuni pottery, serpent coils, Batak Sumatra uungle labyrinth, spiraling forms in nature: fungi gill patterns, folds of coral, Meandrina Brain Coral, Ramayana Labyrinth & The Army of Monkeys, death and resurrection, Rainbow Serpent, Carpet Snake, Dreamtime spirals, tantric drawings, Korawa tattoo pattern labyrinth, Tamil Nadu labyrinthine designs: threshold or kolam patterns, Native American Tapu'at double labyrinth, Mother Earth symbol, The Man in the Maze, Tohono O'odham People, The House of Litoi, rock art, Camonica Valley
This webpage consists of three sections:
I LABYRINTHS AND MAZES ( IN GENERAL)
II A SHORT HISTORY OF A LONDON LABYRINTH!
III LABYRINTHS AND SERPENTINE FORMS IN MONOPRINTS
FIVE BOYS WALKING OUR LONDON LABYRINTH! (September 2008)
LABYRINTHS & MAZES (In General)
A-MAZED (Not For Sale)
What comes to mind when you mention the words 'labyrinth' or maze? Getting lost in the maze at Hampton Court? Running between high hedges? The Greek legend of Theseus battling with the Minotaur in the labyrinth at the Palace of Knossos? For me high rise parking garages are labyrinths of our time, with their low ceilings and level after level of parked cars as you spiral up or down in your own car. The thing definitely missing here is the spiritual centre or 'sacred heart' that makes the journey worthwhile.
SERPENT COIL LABYRINTH (30 x 30 cm) £115
Mazes and Labyrinths are related. However, they are distant relatives rather than siblings. Labyrinths came first. Labyrinths even existed in the Stone Age! They appear all over the world. From stone labyrinths on the Swedish Coast to 'meander patterns' in Siberia and the 'dreaming tracks' in the Australian bush (for more about 'dreaming tracks, please see the very bottom of this page). A labyrinth has even been found in the remote highlands of Sumatra! (See 'Batak Labyrinth').
TRELLEBERG'S SLOTT
My husband walking a labyrinth called 'Trellebergs Slott' in Sweden, May 2006. It is situated on the Swedish West coast in the province of Bohuslan, just north of Grebbestad. This is an area famous for rock art and prehistoric monuments. Like many Scandinavian labyrinths this one is locate close to the sea (you smell the sea and hear the sea-gulls as you walk it!) and was probably walked by fisherman before they headed out to sea
And here I am walking the same labyrinth!
HEDGEMAZE IN SPAIN 2007
There has been a lot of speculation regarding the origin of the Greek word 'labyrinthos'. Some people it claims from the word 'labrys', meaning 'house of the double ax'. This is debatable, as 'labrys' isn't an ancient Greek word, it's from another (Carian) language.The literal meaning of the word 'labyrinthos' is 'structure of large stones'.
It's unclear who 'invented' the labyrinth. Maybe someone doodling in the dust with a stick hit upon it and it spread. We don't know. The design has certained travelled the world over a period of centuries.
TANUMSHEDE LABYRINTH PERSON I (Sold)
These paintings resulted from visiting Trelleborg's Slott and the rock art in nearby Tanumshede. Rock art figures a great deal of spirals and stylized human figures. These painting feature human figures containing a labyrinth
TANUMSHEDE LABYRINTH PERSON II (Sold)
Labyrinthine and spiralling forms often occur in nature: the gill patterns of fungi and the folds of coral, not to mention the underground passage ways of ant or termite colonies. We were in Mexico in Spring 2007. As we visited some pyramids (and the iguanas that inhabit them these days!) I came across labyrinthine patterns on what I took to be stone, but turned out to be a large chunk of coral. (These pyramids are on the coast, near the city of Cancun).
MEANDRINA BRAIN CORAL COLONY
Example of 'labyrinths' that occur in nature. I took this picture in Mexico, Spring 2007
In Peru the Nazca people carved very large figures into the earth about 1500 years ago. These figures are so huge, you need to go up in a small airplane to see the shapes formed by the lines. It is now believed that these figures were walked as part of processions. If this is true, their shape and use makes them something akin to labyrinths.
NASCA MONKEY
(Zapallal Ceramic designed by Imelda Almqvist)
I did an artist's residency in Zapallal just outside Lima, Peru in 1998. My brief was to design a series of ceramics that looked fresh and contemporary, yet had a very Peruvian subject matter. I chose the Nasca lines as my main source of inspiration. This dish shows the figure, drawn in the Nasca desert, known as the Nasca Monkey. It is now believed that these figures were walked as part of a spiritual quest. That would make these figures labyrinths. The monkey's tail in particular looks like a labyrinth!
Mazes have many paths and dead ends. Labyrinths have just one path. And this is the big difference between them. Labyrinths have a spiritual dimension that a maze lacks. A path winding inwards can be seen (and experienced) as a journey inwards, an excursion into deeper layers of consciousness.
RAMAYANA LABYRINTH & ARMY OF MONKEYS
(30 x 30 cm) £155
In the great Ramayana epic from India, the demon Ravana abducts Sita, wife of the hero Rama. He holds her hostage in an impenetrable fortress. An army of monkeys helps Rama attack the labyrinthine fortress and he manages to rescue his wife.
The labyrinth at the centre of this painting is a design known as the Chakra-vyuha. Literally this means a magical troop formation created to to ensure victory in battle in the Mahabharata epic.
The first creature to ever be associated with a labyrinth was the Minotaur (see Mythical Beasts series). This Greek myth was written by the Greeks in the 8th century BC. The Minotaur was a monster, half man and half bull, trapped inside a prison so intricate that no one who entered it could escape. Every nine years young men and maidens were sacrificed to the monster. The Minotaur was the offspring of an unholy union between a Queen of Crete and a white bull. Anyway, one day a young hero appears on the scene: Theseus. A princess called Ariadne gives him a clue of wool to unwind as he enters the labyrinth, so he can find his way back out. Theseus defeats the Minotaur and escapes from the Labyrinth. (This story does not have a 'modern Walt Disney ending': they do not live happily ever after. Theseus takes Ariadne with him aboard his ship, then abandons her on a beach somewhere as he moves on to new pastures and new adventures).
LABYRINTH II (D 30 cm) £110
In the past our forebears saw the bull as a symbol of virility and fertility. The bull was slaughtered and his blood renewed the earth. This very simple story of death and resurrection is an analogy for the seasons. On a deeper level it represents a fundamental truth of human existence: new life arises from the death of the old. All over the world spirals and double spirals are used to depict the perilous path of death and rebirth. Australian Aboriginal people use spirals and concentric circles to denote sacred places and beings associated with their creation stories (or Dreamings, see the Australian Aboriginal page!) in their sandpainting (and more recently: Western style art). See the bottom of this page for labyrinthine tracks made by the Rainbow Serpent and Carpet Snake.
BILLABONG (size?) £399
Billabong is the Australian Aboriginal word for a waterhole. It was believed that billabongs (as well as freshwater lagoons and coral reefs) were places where the spirits of unborn babies lived. These are also the places where the souls of the dead will return. Here I have painted the billabong as a labyrinths surrounded by totemic spirits standing guard. The labyrinth shape is because birth, death and rebirth are all part of life's great journey.
In more than one culture labyrinths symbolise a child growing inside the a mother's womb and/or birth: the one way passage out of the womb. There are pictures of labyrinths in several Indian manuscripts from the 17th century onwards (mostly from Rajasthan and Gujarat). Many labyrinths appear on Tantric drawings as protective magical charms.
KORAWA TATTOO PATTERN LABYRINTH FROM INDIA
Tattoo pattern designed to ease labour pains and ensure an easy birth
(30 x 30 cm) £155
Other labyrinths are designed for easing labour pains and ensuring an easy birth. A pregnant woman would put saffron on a metal plate and draw a labyrinth in it with her finger. She then rinsed the plate and drank the water.
Labyrinths have also been found as tattoo patterns in southern India, in the design pattern books of wandering Korawa tattoo artists.
Today in Tamil Nadu protective labyrinthine designs, called threshold or kolam patterns, are still placed on doorsteps to keep unwanted spirits out. These elaborate patterns are traced in rice flour on a freshly scrubbed doorstep. They serve as an offering to Lakshmi: the goddess of rice, earth and wealth. They are supposed to stop evil spirits from entering and to bring good fortune to those within the dwelling.
BATAK LABYRINTH (30 x 30cm) £110
This painting was inspired by a labyrinth found in a magical text, written on tree bark, from the remote highlands of Sumatra in Indonesia. How this labyrinth made its way through remote jungle territory remains a mystery!
In the remote highlands of Sumatra, Indonesia, lived the Batak tribes hundreds of years ago. The Batak magicians were troubled by a mischievous spirit pestering their villages. The magician had a book of magic charms that recommended drawing a labyrinth to send the spirit home! (See also Batak I & II in the Language & Mark Making Series)
NATIVE AMERICAN TAPU'AT LABYRINTH
(30 x 30cm) £125
There is a Hopi reservation in Arizona where two forms of the labyrinth pattern are in use. One is the classical style, very similar to labyrinths found all over the world. The other design is a square form known as the 'Tapu'at' (Mother & Child). It has two entrances and in essence consists of two labyrinths, one within the other. This is a Mother Earth symbol depicting the unborn child in the womb and cradled in the mother's arms after birth!
The classical circular labyrinth symbolises the Sun Father, giver of life. The lines represent the road of life and the four points where the end are the cardinal points.
In the past labyrinths were undoubtedly used in shamanic rituals: vision quests (see the Vision Serpent in the MESOAMERICAN SERIES), seasonal celebrations and so forth. Labyrinths are calming and fascinating to look at. They are useful in inducing trance-like states in people who look at them or walk them.
In many Medieval manuscripts, the ancient city of Jericho is shown as a labyrinth of seven circuits.
In Scandinavia we find more labyrinths than anywhere else in the world! All are made out of stone. They are called Troy Towns. Sometimes they are referred to as 'Maiden's Dance'. There are two components to the folklore associated with them. One is a maiden standing in the middle of a labyrinth as a man dances or runs towards her. The second is about labyrinths as a protective and magic device.
These stone pathways in Scandinavia were often places near shorelines to 'capture' violent winds before they could harm ships. Fishermen sometimes walked them seven times before heading out to sea, to rid themselves of 'trolls', gremlins or other malign spirits. Once caught in the centre of the labyrinth, the spirits were trapped, they couldn't get out. Scandinavian labyrinths are also in close proximity to places of execution and burial grounds, indicating a connection to the underworld and rites of the dead.
LABYRINTH I (D 30cm) £110
Labyrinths are even found in churches. In medieval times pilgrims would have walked or crawled them as an act of penance. (See MEDIEVAL SERIES for more detailed information on pilgrims). Possibly they were trying to leave their sins behind in the winding coils. These labyrinths may have been a symbol as well for pilgrims journeying through strange territories and peril on their way to a spiritual centre.
COSMOGONIC MYTH LABYRINTH (size?) £250
Inspired by Native American rock art
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the first hedge maze 'craze' swept across Europe. Elaborate maze gardens were created in the grounds of palaces and public buildings. However they were associated with romance, secret trysts, deception and the changing fortunes of love. Mazes are clearly associated with worldly concerns whereas labyrinths have otherworldly dimensions. They are a device for 'going deep'.
THE ULTIMATE LABYRINTH: THE HUMAN HEART
(size?) £125
The Zuni are a native American tribe known for their pottery. The pottery was made by the women and had sacred significance. Pots and bowls were considered living beings. The pattern on them always began with a circling line, but it was broken so that the spirit of the vessel and anything it contains could escape. Closing the line would also signify the closing of the potter's life, i.e. meaning that she would die.
THE MAN IN THE MAZE (oval canvas) £175
(The House of Litoi)
'In the beginning there was only darkness, inhabited by Earth Maker and Buzzard. Earth Maker rubbed dirt from his skin, from which grew a greasewood brush. A Buzzard created the mountains and rivers with the passage of his wings, the Spider People sewed the earth and the sky together.
The Tohono O'odham People of southern Arizona are well known for their woven baskets featuring a 'Man in the Maze design'. They use the labyrinth extensively in their mythology and craftwork. It appears as a motif on e.g. silver jewellery as well.
In time Earth Maker brought about a race of people in the desert. They lived for several generations, but they all became sinful, except for one: Litoi, the Elder Brother. Earth Maker told Litoi that a flood would kill all people and placed him high up on the sacred mountain Baboquivari. Litoi witnessed the disaster and helped create the Hohokam people. In time these people turned on Litoi and killed him. His Spirit fled back atop Baboquivari. From time to time his spirit, in the form of a small man, sneaks into villages and takes things from people. Despite their attempts to catch him, the twisting path he takes always confuses them!Thus in the labyrinth one can see Litoi on the pathway and trace the mysterious and bewildering turns he makes on the journey back to his mountain home, Baboquivari.'
This is the Creation Myth of the Tohono O'odham people of southern Arizona. They are well known for their woven baskets decorated with a design known as 'The Man In The Maze'.
The Tohono refer to the labyrinth as 'The House of Litoi'. In their creation myth the path to Litoi's house is so long and winding that no one has ever managed to find its exact location. The small figure standing at the entrance of the labyrinth is Litoi (or Siuku). He alone knows the safe way back to his home!
THE MAN IN THE MAZE II £115
(3D paper mache face on canvass)
Let's stay on the subject of Creation Stories. I mentioned Australian Aboriginal 'meander patterns' earlier. These are also called 'Dreaming tracks'. The great creator of the Dreamtime, is the Rainbow Serpent (for the people on the coast) or Carpet Snake (for the people inhabiting the Central Desert).
The Rainbow Serpent (80 x 100 cm) £599
To read more about the Rainbow Serpent please click here for a link to the
Serpents of all kinds make a frequent appearance in Australian Aboriginal Mythology. There is the Rainbow Serpent, an archetypal Creator Being found among tribes inheriting the Central Desert. It represents fertility and the water element in nature.
Then there is the Carpet Snake, whose dreaming tracks stretch along the coast of Eastern Australia. It is believed that the so called 'Dreaming Tracks' in the Australian bush were carved out by the Carpet Snake as he moved around. Another believe is that Uluru (Ayers Rock) is a giant egg of the Rainbow Serpent.
These great snakes guard sacred places and punish those who defile them.
This painting shows The Carpet Snake and the Dreaming Tracks he leaves behind. Those Dreaming Tracks are labyrinths in essence, which is why I have added these images to this page. In the right hand corner is a giant egg: Uluru.
Then something from a very different part of the world: Mesopotamia!
The Face of Humbaba (80 x 100 cm) £550
I read the epic of Gilgamesh recently and was fascinated by the passage where two heroes, two young men, set out to slay a monster. However, by doing so they invoke the wrath of the gods and bring down disaster on themselves.
Gilgamesh is the story of a hero's journey. Gilgamesh is the young king of Uruk who ventures to the Cedar Forest, accompanied by his servant and best friend Enkidu. The Cedar Forest is guarded by a terrifying monster, called Humbaba. At the crucial moment in the confrontation, Humbaba begs for mercy. Gilgamesh is prepared to spare his life, but Enkidu insists they go ahead and kill Humbaba. This invokes the wrath of the gods and decides the future. Enkidu is doomed to die because he interfered with the natural order of things. The monster had his place in the natural order of things, he had an important job to do! Enkidu's death leaves Gilgamesh devastated by grief. Gilgamesh decides to set out on another journey: the quest for the secret of immortality. He seeks out a hermit who leaves at the edge of the world whose name is Utpanishtim. He is a Noah-like character who was granted the gift of immortality as he was the only survivor of the great deluge. Utpanishtim tells him that life is short and death is final - there is no secret of immortality. Eventually Gilgamesh returns to Uruk as a much wiser and more compassionate king.
I then came across a picture of a clay face that is in the British Museum. It showed the face of the monster, Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, made out of an unbroken path winding in on itself: a labyrinth, by all means and purposes! And that was the idea behind this painting: painting the quest of the heroes and the face of the monster as a labyrinth.
YELLOW RIVER HORSE (size?) £299
(Story about the origin of the I Ching or Book of Changes)
In terms of Mythology, the authorship of the I Ching (Book of Changes)is attributed to China's first emperor. He was a mythological figure called Fu His (or Fu Xi), also called Pao His. He lived about 5000 years ago and was supposed to half man and half dragon.One day Fu His saw a dragon-horse rise from the Yellow River. On it's side were markings, which were recorded as the 'Yellow River Map' ('Ho Tu').Fu Hsi interpreted the four directions of the Ho Tu in eight diagrams, consisting of geometric lines. These diagrams became the hexagrams that make up the I Ching or Book of Changes.It is likely that Kung Fu-Tze (Confucius) added commentary and created the book as we know it today.Historically speaking the I Ching probably developed out of earlier methods of divination, using tortoise shells or ox shoulder bones. (A red-hot poker was applied to cause a random pattern of cracks from which priests deduced meaning).
LABYRINTH FACE (oval canvas) £125
Inspired by rock art from the Camonica Valley in Northern Italy
APEP THE EGYPTIAN CHAOS SERPENT
(30 x 30 cm) £125
In the mythology of ancient Egypt, there is a constant battle between Ra, the Creator Sun God and the Chaos Serpent Apep.The Sun God travelled in his barque across the sky. During the night hours of darkness,he travelled through the underworld, where he meets the demonsand the deities of each region, as well the blessed dead and the condemned.Throughout the night Ra had to contend with his arch enemy Apep, but inthe last hours he himself entered a great snake, from which he emerged rejuvinated, to be reborn at dawn.The sun's cycle was celebrated daily in many temples.
IRREVERSIBLE JOURNEY (30 x 30 cm) £115
This painting was inspired by an illustration in a science book about how light behaves once enters a black hole. Essentially it becomes trapped. The gravity in a black hole is such powerful that even light particles can't escape it. And so the light entering such a black hole is on a labyrinthine journey from which there is no return. (Please visit the MATHEMATICS PAGE for more paintings about concepts from the world of Science and Mathematics)
One final painting that takes us back to where we started: Scandinavia:
Sigurd and The Language of Birds (80 x 100 cm) £450
Sigurd slaying the dragon Fafnir is a favourite subject for many stone carvings with runic inscriptions in Scandinavia.
According to Nordic mythology Fafnir used to be a giant who turned himself into a dragon to hoard a lot of gold he had stolen. The hero Sigurd kills Fafnir by hiding in a pit and stabbing upwards with his sword. He then roasts Fafnir's heart over a fire. He burns his thumb and sucks it. 'When the blood from the dragon's heart touched his tongue he knew the language of birds' to quote a runic inscription quite literally.
Quite a few of these runic inscriptions are inside a coil or serpent winding in on itself, depicting the serpent-like dragon Fafnir. Once again this spiral shape reminds strongly of labyrinths. This is why I made this painting and included it in the Mazes and Labyrinths Series. (Please click here to read more about Dragons and other Mythical Beasts)
"GHOULS VISITING OUR LABYRINTH" (London, October 2008)
I LOVE having a labyrinth in our own garden! It is a play space for the children and their multitude of visitors as well as a sacred space in our own garden. To read more please see 'A Short History Of A London Labyrinth' just below this section.
The children love it too. They show their friends how to walk it and they all proceed with great concentration (see the picture at the very beginning of this webpage). My dream is to put a candle on every red cobble that creates the path, one night after dark, and invite all my friends to come over and walk it, paying careful attention to their own thoughts!
Imelda Almqvist, July 2007
(Last Updated: August 2010))
A SHORT HISTORY OF A LONDON LABYRINTH!
Mazes and Labyrinths have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. Reading about Theseus and the Minotaur while studying Latin and Greek in secondary school stayed with me, became part of 'my mental landscape'.
Ever since we bought this house I have had the wish to build a labyrinth in our own garden. In the summer of 2008 this dream came true: we built a small cobble labyrinth at the very back of our garden, as well as a 'Tree Castle' for our three boys.
It is my intention to walk this labyrinth every day and be totally 'present in the moment' while I do so. To pay attention to the birds and the clouds and garden sounds as well as my own thoughts and to 'receive those gifts of the moment'.
I have found great joy in observing the Life of the Labyrinth as the seasons come and go and visitors come and go. The day our builder finished the labyrinth I took great delight in climbing the tree house to see the pattern from above!
Our middle son Elliott's birthday is Halloween. At his party last year we had 20 children in amazing Halloween costumes walking the labyrinth.
CHILDREN IN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES WALKING OUR LABYRINTH,
HALLOWEEN 2008
One day soon after something appeared at the heart of the labyrinth: our boys (then 8,7 and 4) had built a Minotaur in the labyrinth after learning the story of Theseus in school. This 'Minotaur' looked rather like an Inuksuk! (For more information please see the INUKSUK Page)
Then a day came where I could barely see the labyrinth for the autumn leaves. I had to sweep aside the golden splendour before walking it.
Everyone in London woke up one February morning in 2009 to a city covered in snow. London showed her 'White Goddess Persona' that day and the labyrinth had, once again!, disappeared from view. Our eldest son Quinn strapped on angel wings and walked in the virgin snow that covered the labyrinth.
He walked the 'invisible labyrinth' from memory before lying down and making a snow angel.
'OUR ANGEL' GREETING THE 'MINOTAUR'!
MAKING A SNOW ANGEL
After that a morning of sunshine came... a morning that held the promise of Spring. There was a white feather waiting for me in the labyrinth that morning: a greeting from a bird spirit or an angel that visited in the night?!
Then our family was in Thailand where we performed a beautiful ceremony on the beach, offering flowers to Buddha. I only realised the next day that the famous big mountaintop Buddha of Phuket sits on a mountaintop overlooking exactly this stretch of beach. The Buddha sent us an amazing rainbow to confirm that he had received our offerings.
Then my dear friend and 'Shaman Sister' Judith walked in one week ago, carrying a Buddha statue she had commissioned from a stonemason here in London. I knew straight away that this wonderful Buddha was going to sit at the heart, the destination, of our labyrinth.
THE BUDDHA IN OUR LABYRINTH
And so I hope that people will visit both the labyrinth and Buddha, and in doing so both take something away from the experience and leave something of themselves behind.
We host many playdates where the labyrinth becomes a play space for children. The labyrinth has hosted Teddy Bear Picnics and Tiger Safaris and a toy truck drove babydolls to the beach following the unicursal path....
TIGER SAFARI IN THE LABYRINTH
I hope that the footprints of human beings and robins and foxes and angels who touch down in the night will make this a place that holds spiritual power and healing energy.
Imelda Almqvist, 16 March 2009
MONOPRINTS
In the Autumn of 2007 the subject of labyrinths returned in a series of monoprints (one off prints on paper). These monoprints were made on the spur of the moment, led the way the paint behaved on paper. It must be emphasized that, unlike the paintings mentioned in section I, these pictures were not planned or mapped out in advance. The monoprints were like an adventure, or journey into the unknown.
Certain themes just cropped up, most notably: labyrinths, serpents, creation stories. Not a complete surprise, at age 41 I know what my paintings are about. Howeve, what did take me by suprise is that those themes appeared while I tried hard to clear my mind and not have any preconceived notions.
I really enjoyed squeezing paint from a tube and pressing down to make a print. All sorts of irregular and suprising shapes emerged. A lot of squiggles appeared. Some of the squiggles became serpents. Some of the serpents linked together and became labyrinths or appeared in creation stories.
(Postscript dated March 2008)
TURNING INWARDS TO EXPAND
A MEANINGFUL UNFOLDING
A TAKING SHAPE I
A TAKING SHAPE III
IRREVERSIBLE JOURNEYS
NOT YET A LABYRINTH
THE GIFT OF ANOTHER DAY
FINDING JOY ALONG THE WAY
THE LABYRINTH REMAINS, EVEN WHEN OVERGROWN
If you enjoyed this page, please consider adding a link to
LABYRINTHS, ancient paths of wisdom and peace Virginia Westbury Da Capo Press 2001 ISBN 0-306-813110-6
LABYRINTHS AND MAZES, The Definitive Guide to Ancient and Modern Traditions, Jeff Saward, Gaia Books Limited, UK, 2003 ISBN 1-85675-183-X
ABORIGINAL ART Wally Caruana Thames and Hudson 1993
ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN ART Ronald M Berndt & Catherine H Berndt with John E Stanton New Holland Publishers Ltd 1982
GILGAMESH Stephen Mitchell
THE ART OF NATIVE NORTH AMERICA Laurel Glen Publishing 1997 ISBN 1-57145-630-9
Labyrinths, Mazes, The Unbroken Path, dreaming tracks and meander patterns, Nazca Lines, Nasca Lines, Nasca Monkey, Trelleborg's Slott, Tanumshede, rock art figures, Minotaur, vision quest, vision serpent, shamanic rituals, kolam patterns, Troy Town, Maiden's Dance, pilgrims, pilgrimage, maze gardens, maze 'craze', Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Humbaba, Guardian of the Cedar Forest, the Secret of Immortality, Utpanishtim, Sigurd, Fafnir, runes, runic inscriptions, coil, spiral, Zuni pottery, serpent coils, Batak Sumatra uungle labyrinth, spiraling forms in nature: fungi gill patterns, folds of coral, Meandrina Brain Coral, Ramayana Labyrinth & The Army of Monkeys, death and resurrection, Rainbow Serpent, Carpet Snake, Dreamtime spirals, tantric drawings, Korawa tattoo pattern labyrinth, Tamil Nadu labyrinthine designs: threshold or kolam patterns, Native American Tapu'at double labyrinth, Mother Earth symbol, The Man in the Maze, Tohono O'odham People, The House of Litoi, rock art, Camonica Valley
IMELDA ALMQVIST ART: JOURNEYS TO OTHER WORLDS, INNER WORLDS AND AROUND THE WORLD IN PAINTINGS!
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