Thoughts of a Labyrinth Builder

by
Alex Champion

Ed Stillman made some comments about his tool he used to measure brain waves. As I remember, he pointed out that one must be very careful when measuring brain activity in the delta range, which is apparently very sensitive to any motion. I used to love telling people about the beta and delta regions showing high activity, as I interpreted that as exemplifying the basic nature of dowsing, as a technique that bridges the physical and spiritual realms. I still believe that although I like the to use the model of consciousness expansion to illustrate the point.

About the Cretan and sacred geometry, my present belief (I have a little bit of evidence to support this) is that making the Cretan using the compass and straight edge will produce better results than constructing it free hand, all other factors being equal. How much better, that I don't know. I am talking raw energy here. I would say the intent of the builder is very important, in fact I don't think anything will come in unless the builder has the proper intent, which I think anybody can possess. Two experiences support this suggestion. When I was in England roaming around visiting every turf maze we had time for, and dowsing each one, I remember visiting one in central England that was on private grounds. I remember it being a 11 or 15 ring Cretan and being very beautiful, and having a sign that said -PLEASE DON'T WALK. Just looking at the design it was clear why, the paths were narrow and seemed fragile. Nevertheless Joan and I walked it, with a certain feeling of guilt. The experience was unremarkable, and when I dowsed it I found no energy lines! I was shocked.

Story #2. A couple east of Sacramento built an Cretan earthwork that was identical to mine here in Mendocino, a 62 footer, and I believe right handed. the husband bragged how they had dug it out in one day, which is not hard to do if you have the right people and soil. The experience of walking it was again unremarkable, and when no one was looking I dowsed looking for mound energy. Again I found none, and I found none of the other lines that I usually find with that design.

Then a friend of mine who is an excellent dowser once did some dowsing and made the statement that 50% of the energy present was due to me. So I conclude that the energy coming in is due to a co-creation between the builder with the right intention and the spirits who actually bring the energy. What energy will depend on the design.

Then there is the use factor. How someone uses the design will definitely affect the outcome of the experience. I think that's pretty obvious. So there are a number of factors that will affect experience. I would love to see an experiment done in which two Cretans are set up side by side, one drawn with compass,etc., and the other drawn from the seed pattern. In every respect except the method of drawing, the two designs are topologically identical. then put the same prayers in each, and instruct the people walking it to use the same techniques in walking both. Then have many people walking both, not telling them what it was all about. If you get enough people you might see a difference. this type of experiment is really difficult because of the preconceived notions of people.

One thing I do see a big difference is in the cross used. I very much favor the circular cross over the straight cross, but that is another long story. I am attaching my dowsing results, (dowsing for mound energy which is really form energy and I see only with earthworks and rockworks), with the three types of crosses I have made. I can say this: the first cross I made as an earthwork had both circular and rectilinear aspects to it. the second type I made was the straight cross and the third - the circular cross. Definitely the most profound experience I have yet had, came with the circular cross.

The pattern of the path in the Classical (aka Cretan) (032147658, 0 is the outside, 8 the "center" of the design, 1 - 7 rings of path surrounding the center) is two connected meander patterns, a meander pattern being 03214. The meander pattern or double spiral is an ancient symbol, at least 20,000 years old. I have made some three dozen different geometric designs (based on natural geometry), ten were based on the meander pattern, either alone in combination with other symbols. I have also done extensive dowsing studies looking for energy lines that are present before and after layout of a design. I found something I call power spot energy (which may or may not be the same as the power spots found by Sig and others) which comes in only when the meander pattern is present. In most meander pattern designs I had similar sort of, what I call, indicator experiences (feeling energy, performing an energy releasing technique, leaving feeling very relaxed, having vivid dreams the following night, and feeling dizzy, nauseous or strange), experiences that indicate to me that spiritual healings (work done on your energy fields) were occurring. I also note that I reacted slightly differently to different meander pattern based designs, so other things besides the meander pattern are important. I have found that combining different sorts of designs can have unexpected dramatic results.

So I would agree that the pattern of the path is of primary importance with the Cretan, but for me it hasn't been the only thing. There are three types of crosses that I have made for the Cretan (email me and I will send a drawing), and I made them in this order, circular/linear, linear, and circular. I had several profound experiences with the first Cretan earthwork I made, but the number of interesting experiences dropped after I made a few more, which included one with a linear cross. I interpreted this that I had become acclimatized to the design, and that meant less interesting experiences during passive exposure (using the labyrinth without a specific intent). Then I made my first circular cross, and, going in with the attitude of not expecting much to happen, I had one of my most profound experiences, and a number of other interesting experiences. In addition, my upper vertebrate, shoulders and neck hurt for two months afterwards and it was not a particularly difficult job. The only difference from the first earthwork I made were the site and the cross, and I dowsed no energy lines of any sort were present before layout, suggesting that the cross was a key agent in the experience. I dowsed that a Spirit, called the Spirit of the Labyrinth (channeled by Nancy Riddle), came in and the experiences were the result of the presence of the Spirit's energy field. I dowse that it will only come into a Cretan with a circular cross. So here a small difference in design had a big effect on experience. I have seen less extreme examples of this with designs based on the vesica piscis, an ovoid shape form. I've made several designs combining three or four vesicas in different ways, which affected the amount of energy that came in, which affected to some extent the experiences in them.

As regards the Chartres design, for five to six years in the early nineties, I used to make it along with a Cretan and, many years, a third design at the West Coast Conference of the American Society of Dowsers. Most of the time I made it without the lunations and several times without the petals, which, when done, were sketched by hand and not drawn precisely. I made it close to the original several times, then made variations, mostly making the path width wider while keeping the center around 10 feet wide. I don't remember noticing any differences in experiences. Then one year at the conference I decided, quite spontaneously, to add the lunations. I couldn't remember the sacred geometry or the number, so I made a template that was close and ended up adding two more than I should have. In spite of my minor glitches, I was dazzled by the lunations. They added a sparkle that wasn't there before. It appeared that energy was being radiated out as little sparks of energy from each lunation. I also saw it as providing protection, reflecting back non resonanting rays of energy coming from the outside. It was so much more enjoyable to look at. In addition, I felt energy every time I walked it. (I usually feel energy as a tingling, or noticeable sensation ,or a pulsing, some where in the body.) The lunations made a big difference, while changes in the ratios between the path width, center, and size did not.

I only made the Chartres once coming close to replicating Robert's version (only the lines were too narrow). I first did it in chalk and then we put tape to highlight the design, so it took 4 or 5 of us two full days to finish it. It was the first time I made it with the lunations, the petals, and the turns/labryses together and laid out correctly. During the second day in the morning I started feeling energy moving around in me; later in the afternoon I started feeling strange and tired, which are symptoms that I have been in the energy of the design too long. So I had to get out and rest for 30 minutes before I wanted to go back in. I thought I had acclimatized to the design, and since the only difference was the addition together of petals, lunations, and turns and done according to the original design; this suggests that they do have an effect on experience.