DO YOU know the difference between a labyrinth and a maze?

According to our visiting speaker Jeff Saward on Saturday, February 28, a maze is for fun, with multiple pathways, dead ends and blind alleys.

Whereas labyrinths have been around for at least 4,000 years, and have a single pathway to the centre with no false starts or decisions to make.

To produce your own labyrinth, you start with a cross and four dots, then join them up with loops until you have seven concentric circles.

Our speaker showed us a dazzling selection of labyrinths.

They can be difficult to date, but the earliest is in Sardinia, c.2500 BC.

Another in Greece is dated 1200 BC.

Some have been found in Goa, India, and petroglyphs in Arizona and New Mexico show the American Indians had them too.

Labyrinths are found on rock-faces and walls, or they can be flat on the ground, marked out by stones or turf.

Designs abound in Scandinavia, Iceland and northern Russia.

Cyprus has examples, as do Austria, North Africa, Algeria, Ireland and Turkey.

They spread simply by word of mouth. There were no DIY manuals back then.

Probably the most famous labyrinth is in Chartres Cathedral, France.

Dated AD 1220, copies on canvas were sent around the world.

We have one in Gloucester Cathedral every August, so we can follow the path.

Closer to home is the Labyrinth at Troytown in Slimbridge, dowsed by Peter Golding, our founder and President.

It is on private land, and after years of neglect, there’s not much to see, but it is simple to dowse.

Labyrinths the world over are often located in areas named Troy.

Today, labyrinths are enjoying yet another revival in popularity.

Following the path is certainly calming, and we are seeing them in hospitals and hospices, schools, colleges and universities, and they are in private homes and gardens.

Anyone who has walked a labyrinth will tell you there is some sort of uplifting feeling at the centre, possibly representing an inner journey in the form of a meditation, as you concentrate on following the path, excluding other thoughts and distractions.

Whether it is a transformational experience, or simply a short-lived inner peace, labyrinths undoubtedly had a purpose.

Next meeting Thursday, March 12 - Celia Gunn on her Chakra Garden.

slimbridgedowsers.org.uk or phone 01453 545855.