Flex Mentallo

- very different from the rigid formal depictions of other contemporary cultures -

The surviving frescoes are wonderfully alive –

Visitors found its 1000 rooms so confusing that it is thought to have inspired the myth of the Minotaur’s Labyrinth.

A multistory complex of corridors, rooms and staircases built around a central courtyard, the palace covered over three acres, was at least three stories high and possessed central plumbing, including running water and flush toilets -a technology that was not seen again in the ancient world for well over 1000 years.

Their palaces count amongst their greatest works of art. The most famous is the palace at Knossos, often called the ‘Palace of Minos’.

From its founding around 2700 BC, the Minoan civilization came to dominate the seas, sailing for hundreds of miles in search of trade, from Spain in the west to Syria in the east.

A great power without a military aristocracy; a palace that was not a royal residence and neither the king was glorified; a religion with no grandeur, while women were equal to men and free. The Minoans were building palaces, paved streets and sewers, while most Europeans were still living in primitive huts and are credited as the first European civilization.

It measures about 200 Km from east to west, and between 12 to 58 Km from north to south at its narrowest and widest distances, making it one of the largest islands in the Mediterranean sea. While the island appears today completely deforested, in ancient times timber was one of the natural resources that was commercially exploited and exported to nearby Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland.

The island of Crete is located in the center of the eastern Mediterranean at the crossroads of Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The rhythms and patterns of her sacred dance would have performed the function of evoking her manifest presence, as medieval pilgrims walking the labyrinth of Chartres evoked the Mystic Rose. Homer, describing the shield of Achilles, remarked that the labyrinth was Ariadne's ceremonial dancing ground.

In fact, the Minoan society was one of the last holdouts for the worship of an all encompassing universal life source envisioned in the form of the Goddess; one that had previously thrived throughout most of Europe and the Mediterranean.

‘Labyrinth’ is indeed a Minoan word, derived from the archaic Lydian word ‘labrys’, meaning a double headed axe, a symbol of Creation frequently associated with Gods – and in Minoan religion with the Goddess. In the deciphered linear B -script of Mycenae, her name is Da-pu-ri-to-jo,po-ti-ni-ja, literally, ‘Mistress of the Labyrinth’. (In this iteration, ‘labyrinth’ may have referred to the palace at Knossos, where there is a fresco depicting a dancing ground which was probably sacred to Her.)

The most iconic of all labyrinths is the one commissioned by King Minos as a home for his son, The Minotaur. Its designer, Daedalus – who later invented wings for his son Icarus – made the labyrinth so intricate that on its completion he barely found his own way out…

GODDESS OF THE LABYRINTH ‘The first person known to us by tradition as having established a navy is Minos. He made himself master of what is now called the Hellenic sea, and ruled over the Cyclades, into most of which he sent the first colonies… and thus did his best to put down piracy in those waters, a necessary step to secure the revenues for his own use.’ Thucydides

When the Labyrinth of Buda Castle opened in 1983 the first and biggest Hungarian historical wax museum was set up here. More recently, exhibitions and installations referencing the deeper resonances of labyrinths became a tourist attraction.

In Budapest, there is a network of naturally formed caves created by hot water springs almost half a million years ago. Later the small caves were connected to each other to form a labyrinth stretching over 10 kilometers.

Prehistoric labyrinths are believed to have served as traps for malevolent spirits or as defined paths for ritual dances.

The earliest labyrinths to be found in Europe are at least 4000 years old.

He encounters many tests and tribulations, none more fearsome than the demon Apollyon, Lord of the City of Destruction.

In John Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress the protagonist Christian journeys through a treacherous landscape to reach the Celestial City.

In Chartres, if the entrance wall were flattened onto the Labyrinth, its Rose Window would perfectly cover it. Its center, Mary, the Mystic Rose, would merge with the rosette…

The most famous medieval labyrinth is in Chartres Cathedral. The circular path winds eleven times in four large quadrants before reaching the center, a six-petal rose or “rosette.”

Labyrinths are symbolic of pilgrimage. In the medieval period mazes were created on cathedral floors as symbolic pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The labyrinth symbolized a hard path to God with a clearly defined center (God) and one entrance (birth). Pilgrims walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment.

It might be said that life’s journey begins in a maze and ends in a labyrinth. For a maze presents us with many forking paths in which to get lost, but a labyrinth has only one path to the centre. Looking forward, we see many dilemmas, many paths; looking back, we see clearly only the path we have taken, even though we may reflect from time to time on the countless roads we have not walked, whether with relief or regret, the shadows on the wall. We all have our ghosts.

If suffering has taught us wisdom, that process of awakening may lead us step by painful step along the way to reconciliation and acceptance.