How to Draw Labyrinths

The image above shows the pencil lines I would use to draw the design I call the half-Chartres labyrinth. (This design is the inner half of the Chartres labyrinth, and appears in mirror image in a church at Guingamp in Brittany, dating from the late 1850s, according to Jeff Saward's book "Labyrinths and Mazes".)

Make six concentric circles. Draw two paths from the bottom up to the center. Then mark the turns, using the X shape. At the top, there is an X through the first two pathways. Skip one, then draw an X through the next two. On the left, draw an X through the second and third pathways in from the edge. On the right, draw an X through the third and fourth pathways in from the edge. At the bottom, to the left of the pathways, mark a turn through the bottom two pathways, and through the next two. On the right, mark a turn through the second and third pathways from the bottom, and through the next two. Go over the lines with a dark marker, leaving a space at each turn and spaces at the top of the left-side entrance and the bottom of the right-side entrance. If the spaces are too confusing, you can just use the above diagram. When you walk, if you come to a turn, follow the direction of the curve. For reference, here is a picture of the half Chartres completed:

The next image shows the pencil lines for drawing the full Chartres labyrinth. Notice that it's very similar, except that it has twelve concentric circles. The Xs at the top are at the first and second paths, then skip one, draw one at the fourth and fifth, the seventh and eighth, and the tenth and eleventh. On the left side, starting at the outside, draw Xs through the second and third, the fifth and sixth, the eigth and ninth. On the right side, starting at the outside, draw Xs through the third and fourth, sixth and seventh, ninth and tenth. On the left side of the two paths coming in from the bottom, draw turns through the first and second from the bottom, the third and fourth, seventh and eighth, ninth and tenth. On the right side of the two paths coming in from the bottom, draw turns through the second and third from the bottom, the fourth and fifth, eighth and ninth, tenth and eleventh.

Then use the diagram below to draw in the solid lines in ink over the pencil lines. Again, leave a space before each turn.

There are several places on the Internet that will show you how to draw a classical labyrinth, but I'll put my own picture below. Start with a "seed pattern" of a cross with angles in the corners and dots inside the angles. Then start connecting edges in concentric circles. For better instructions, see Jo Edkins' Maze Page or the Labyrinth Society

You can put turns into the classical labyrinths too, but you have to be careful where you put them or you block off some of the passages. The eleven-circuit classical labyrinth works well for adding turns. Put a turn at the outside two paths on the left and right, then skip one turn and put another one on the next two paths. At the top, skip one path, put a turn through the next two, skip another path, put a turn through the next two, and the next two below that, skip one more path, and put another turn in the last two paths. This makes for a classical labyrinth that feels like the Chartres pattern. I've made this one in the sand at the beach and it's great, but you need a lot of room. Here's a quick sketch.

You can leave out some of the turns, which is kind of nice because the longer outside circuits have turns but the shorter inner ones don't:

And here's what it looked like on the beach:

Here's the seed pattern for a Baltic Labyrinth. This labyrinth has no center, but goes from an entrance to an adjacent exit in one path. That way a procession of people can walk through it without bumping into each other. The red line is optional. If you leave it out, you can repeat the walk as many times as you like by going back in on the left after you finish on the right. (I drew this freehand with the mouse, so forgive the clumsy drawing.)

You can use more or fewer curved lines in the seed pattern, but always have one more in the lower right corner than in the lower left. The number of curved lines at the top is independent of the other two corners: the more curved lines there, the more times you will spiral into the center. You can use as few as one curve on the right and none on the left, for a very simple pattern, or increase the numbers as much as you want. Just always make one more on the right than you do on the left.

You can use a mirror image of the seed, in which case the first connecting line would go the other way. Note that the first connecting line goes from the dot around the end of the first curve and connects to the second curve. A very common mistake which I have made many times is to try to connect it to the first curve.

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copyright 2006 by Karen Deal Robinson

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