he twisting, tortuous paths are often seen as guarding the central goal from direct penetration, for here the souls of the dead ancestors were sometimes thought to reside, barred from escaping and causing trouble in everyday life, but contactable once the labyrinths coils had been traversed. Likewise young women would stand here as suitors would chase through the windings to seek out a potential bride. As many stories are told as mythologies exist, but whether in spiritual or secular use, the labyrinth seems to symbolise the path to be followed, however long and complex, to reach the goal, the object of the quest, at the centre...

Nazca Plain, Peru

     In the Americas, the labyrinth is found etched into the sands of the Nazca Plain in Peru, in use among the Caduveo people of Brazil and scratched on boulders and rockfaces in Northern Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona.  Among the Hopi it is known as Tápu'at (Mother and Child), and is depicted in two forms.  A circular variety symbolizing the Sun Father, the giver of life; the lines and pathways represent the road of life to be followed and the four points where the lines end represent the cardinal points.  The square form has a subtle reconnection of the lines to produce one labyrinth within another, the Mother Earth symbol depicting the unborn child within the womb of its mother and cradled in her arms after birth.  The labyrinth is also seen as a plan of the concentric boundaries of their traditional lands which have secret shrines hidden at key points around their circuits.