Painting
a Chartres labyrinth on the grass
At
first consideration, the idea of painting the classic Chartres Cathedral
labyrinth might seem either simple or daunting to you.
I can assure you that in both cases you are wrong!
It is both daunting and simple. Yes,
it is only a series of concentric circles.
On the other hand each line starts and stops in a different place.
In fact, there are 44 different start/stop points and no two lines are
the same. It can become very
confusing, very quickly, especially at the “6 o’clock” part of the design.
If
you plan to draw a permanent labyrinth, I suggest that you learn to draw it on
the grass first. It is a nice way
to get experience, it won’t hurt the grass and your mistakes go away in a week
or two. It is a useful method to
create a labyrinth for a meeting or a workshop, and can be used to help a
congregation become familiar with the idea if it is considering a permanent
labyrinth.
The
Chartres Cathedral labyrinth is nearly 42 feet in diameter with 16 inch paths,
and it is nice to make your design that large if you can.
That creates a sixth of a mile path to the center, and takes about 15
minutes to walk it in a “meditative” mode.
Smaller designs take less time to walk but get more crowded when meeting
others on the same or adjacent paths. The
trade-off for a quicker walk is the crowding, so if you are planning for a lot
of folks to walk it at about the same time you can chose which dilemma you want
to deal with.
It
is not hard to alter the dimensions to fit your space.
The 120 inch diameter center, or “rose” is about right because folks
congregate there, but if you are planning for a very small number it can be
reduced in size. The path width can
also be readily changed. Paint lines on the grass are essentially zero in width, so
the 42 foot labyrinth will have 17 inch paths (instead of the 14 inch original
because it has 3 inch lines). It is much easier to alter the size of the design
when you can ignore the line width. The
calculations for a permanent labyrinth are much more difficult, and you will
have to consider the “magic proportions” that some believe are an important
part of the Chartres Cathedral design.
The
chart below might help you decide how to fit into the space you have.
Diameter
Center diameter Path width
41
feet
120 inches
17 inches
36 feet
120 inches
14 inches
36 feet
60 inches
17 inches
31 feet
60 inches
14 inches
26 feet
48 inches
12 inches
Materials
List (get
it all at the hardware store)
Paint: get 4 or 5 12 oz. Spray cans of fast drying white (or your
choice) and one can of “grass green” (everyone makes mistakes).
While you are there, get one of those pistol grips that snaps on to the
cans or you will get very tired of pushing the nozzle button.
You also need a way to fix the tape to the paint can that can be easily
adjusted for each line. I found
that at very large “paper binder clip” fits over the pistol grip very nicely
and holds the measuring tape firmly exactly where I set it.
This is well worth the trouble.
String: you need at least 100 feet of white, and 150 of yellow and
200 feet of orange. White string is
easy to find, but look in the tools area for the stuff they use to mark off
construction lines. It comes on
some sort of handy spool and in several bright colors.
I got florescent yellow and orange.
Nails: get 20 spikes about 5 inches long
A
center stake
with a pivoting hook: get one of
the things intended to hook a dog chain in the middle of the yard.
You might want to get a double ended latch hook or something like that
from the chain department to hook your measuring tape to the stake pivot.
A
measuring tape
at least 25 feet long: Actually,
you should get one of the construction type tapes that comes on a reel with a
crank and is at least 100 feet long. They
have a flexible cloth tape that is easy to fix to the paint device and you
always need lots of tape to find the best location for the center of the
labyrinth. A shorter tape or yardstick is also very useful to measure out the
path widths.
Once
you have determined the size and location, the next step is finding the center.
If you have to squeeze it into a small location you will probably find
the center by trial and error. Be
sure to try several spots and walk the entire perimeter before starting to
paint. Remember that if you
miscalculate, the labyrinth design does not work if you leave off the last path
or two!
Of
course, you also have to decide how to align the labyrinth with the rest of the
world. The original is pointed
east, but because I personally don’t think it matters, I put the entrance at
the most convenient position... and I think up an answer for those who seem to
need a more official explanation (the North Star, Sunrise, Sunset, etc.).
Begin
by cutting a white (blue in the following drawings) string a little longer than
the total diameter, and stretching it from the entrance (6 o’clock), directly
across the center to the 12 o’clock position.
Secure both ends with a spike. Then
do the same from the 3 to the 9 o’clock positions.
These two strings need to be exactly perpendicular to each other.
One method to get it square is to make all four strings the same length
from the center and then the measurements from 12 to 3 to 6 to 9 and 12
o’clock should all be the same. Adjust
accordingly.
Next
place a yellow (or whatever color you bought) string from the entrance to the
center ½ a path width to the right of the 6 o’clock white string. Wrap it
around a spike, move over ½ path width on the left side of the white string and
take it back to the entrance edge. Place
it around another spike, move over a full path width to the left, stretch it
back to the center and spike it. If
you measure correctly at each end you will now have three parallel yellow lines
a path width apart with a white string down the middle of the two on the right
(as you stand at the entrance).
Now
tie one end of the orange string to a spike at the entrance one path width to
the right of the right yellow string and stretch it to a point one path width
from the 3 o’clock string at the center.
Spike it there and stretch it out the 3 o’clock position, spike it.
Move over to the other side of the white string, wrap it around another spike
and head for the center..., and so on. Don’t
cut the string or quit until you are back at the entrance area and have an
orange string exactly one path width on each side of each white string (and one
path width outside of the yellow strings at 6 o’clock).
Everything should look very parallel (and look like the diagram).
Now
you are ready to paint. Go ahead
and print out the individual line “maps” because it is pretty hard to follow
the complete labyrinth design as you paint.
It is a good idea to have a helper who can be watching the map and will
yell at you before you forget to stop at the appropriate yellow or orange
string. However, even with a helper there are so many opportunities to paint
past a “Stop” that it is wise to mark each “Stop point” before you begin
painting each circle. Use the lids
from the paint cans to remind you where to quit.
Start
by hooking your long measuring tape to the center stake.
I use a double hasp that adds about 4 inches to the total length.
Make appropriate changes to your tape if it helps you to get the
measurement exact. You can
calculate the exact feet and inches of each line if you like, but it may be
easier to just be careful to move the tape exactly one path width after each
line.
When
you paint the center circle, remember not to paint over the “doorway.”
Then adjust the tape one path width longer, carefully check the map, and
proceed with each of the other circles as described on the illustrations.
Finally
paint the five straight lines at 6 o’clock, and the short lines at the “turn
arounds” at 3, 9 and 12 o’clock. Stay
paranoid until the end or you will be using the green (“white out”) paint.
The details in the rose at the center make it really look nice, and I
always paint them, but I cannot be enticed into painting those 112 lunations
around the outside for any temporary labyrinth!
There
is usually a bit of trial and error to the petals in the rose.
I carry a card board template for it, but I find it is much easier to
free hand the turns (a turn template is just a circle twice the path width).
Finally, walk it. I have never finished one only to find that the path does not meet the center. For workshops I place ten or twelve “Education Stations” on four foot stakes around the outside. I use 1 by 2’s pointed on one end and angled at 30 degrees on the other. After they are pounded into the ground I staple an 8 by 10 cardboard to them and tape on a print out of my teaching point. Folks tend to circle the labyrinth and read the stations as they wait in line to walk the labyrinth. If you do it well, the labyrinth tends to teach itself.