Mazes
From Maze
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With this secular turn, the maze became a space of leisure as well as ritual, and was lined with hedges, marked by rocks, and surrounded by grooves. Church-like mazes and mazes that invite a ritual attitude surfaced on the turf of Europe, although several of these were more related to pagan rites of spring than to Christianity. In ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream,'' the faerie queen, Titania, ponders the ghostly outlines of abandoned turf mazes: | With this secular turn, the maze became a space of leisure as well as ritual, and was lined with hedges, marked by rocks, and surrounded by grooves. Church-like mazes and mazes that invite a ritual attitude surfaced on the turf of Europe, although several of these were more related to pagan rites of spring than to Christianity. In ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream,'' the faerie queen, Titania, ponders the ghostly outlines of abandoned turf mazes: | ||
| − | The nine men's morris is fill'd up with mud,<br /> | + | The nine men's morris is fill'd up with mud,<br /> |
| − | And the quaint mazes in the wanton green<br /> | + | And the quaint mazes in the wanton green<br /> |
| − | For lack of tread are undistinguishable. (2.1.98-100) | + | For lack of tread are undistinguishable. (2.1.98-100) |
As more and more pagan and secular mazes emerged alongside church and other labyrinth traditions, they retained some of their profound, sacred nature while also offering puzzle-play and leisure. | As more and more pagan and secular mazes emerged alongside church and other labyrinth traditions, they retained some of their profound, sacred nature while also offering puzzle-play and leisure. | ||
