Maze of the Week #124 - Monarch Butterfly

May 13, 2024

Maze of the Week #124 features a Monarch Butterfly. National Start Seeing Monarchs Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of May each year !

Here was my preview image, very easy to guess !

Here is the first version of the maze. Traditional monarch colors.

And the alternative version I went with a different colored butterfly and dropped the monarch from the name. This would actually make a good coloring page if I made it white.

Downloads are available in the comic book style maze section. Come back tomorrow to see what the comic book cover looks like !

Next weeks Maze Preview: I think you know what this one is ! ? Maybe ?

7 Labyrinths to Visit in Maine

May 11, 2024

So you want to visit a labyrinth in Maine. I can help. I have selected 7 of the best (there are over 40) that are accessible to the public from around the state. If you want a full list of labyrinths in the state check out the Worldwide Labyrinth Finder. Also, there is a wonderful website dedicated to the Labyrinths of New England run by Yadina Clark.

Why visit a Labyrinth ?

Labyrinths are ancient and mysterious symbols that have been used for centuries for meditation, contemplation, and spiritual renewal. They are also a lot of fun to explore! If you're looking for a unique and challenging experience, walk a labyrinth with intention - it often leads to self-discovery. Personally, I like to walk labyrinths between dawn and sunrise or at sunset until dusk, but any time of day works. You may not realize it, but there is probably a labyrinth near where you live. Today we explore…

7 Labyrinths to Visit in Maine

1. St Luke’s Cathedral Labyrinth

This 5 circuit labyrinth is made of granite blocks placed on the lawn of the church. You can plan your trip using the church website.

Location: Portland, Maine

Address:
143 State St
Portland, Maine 04101

2. University of New England Labyrinth

This labyrinth is also featured in the video above. It is a 5 circuit labyrinth made of local fieldstones is located behind the school’s art gallery.

Location: Portland, Maine

Address:

716 Stevens Avenue
Portland, Maine 04103

3. Saint Joseph's College - Julie’s Path Labyrinth

This labyrinth is dedicated to the memory of student Julie A. Lentz. It has 3 unique branches on the outer pathway and is a modified classical labyrinth. You can read about the labyrinth on the school website. It is located off the walking path to Sebago Lake.

Location: Standish, Maine

Address:

278 Whites Bridge Road
Standish, Maine 04084

4. St. Mark's Episcopal Church Labyrinth

St. Mark's Episcopal Church Labyrinth - Waterville, Maine — ***photo used by permission of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Waterville, ME***

A 7 circuit labyrinth in the St Paul style. You can plan a trip on the labyrinth’s webpage which also includes an informative brochure pdf.

Location: Waterville, Maine

Address:
60 Eustis Parkway
Waterville, Maine 04901

5. Kennebunkport Conservation Trust Labyrinth

This 7 circuit classical rock labyrinth is located down a gravel path at the Emmons Preserve. The labyrinth also has it’s own facebook page with pictures and information and it’s own webpage.

Location: Kennebunkport, Maine

Address:
57 Gravelly Brook Rd
Kennebunkport, Maine 04046

6. Labyrinth in the Woods

This 7 circuit stone labyrinth is off the Garden Trail at Crystal Spring Farm and built in partnership with the local First Baptist Church. Has it’s own entry on Google Maps so it is easy to find. Here is a short video showing it being walked. The center features 3 stone benches.

Location: Brunswick, Maine

Address:

90 Maurice Drive
Brunswick, Maine 04011

7. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby Labyrinth

An 8 circuit medieval labyrinth made from brick/pavers. This labyrinth is known for the wonderful views of the city harbor from Belfast Common Park. This labyrinth has it’s own entry on Google Maps so it is easy to find !

Location: Belfast, Maine

Address:

Belfast Commons, Miller Street and Cross St
Belfast, Maine 04915

5 TIPS FOR VISITING A LABYRINTH

Set an intention for your walk so you can walk with purpose. It could be prayer, reflection, meditation, contemplation, or openness.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes, as you will be doing a lot of walking.
Bring water with you, especially if you are visiting on a hot day.
Take your time and enjoy the experience. There is no need to rush through a labyrinth.
Be respectful of other visitors. This includes not making noise and being respectful if walking with other people.

5 BOOKS TO READ ABOUT LABYRINTH WALKING

I wrote a blog post reviewing the following 5 books, each that deals with walking labyrinths. You can check them out yourself at the Amazon links below or read this blog post: 5 Books about the Spiritual Aspect of Labyrinths to learn a little about what each book teaches.

Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Dr. Lauren Artress 201 pages. AMZN
Labyrinth : Your Path to Self-Discovery by Tony Christie 312 pages. AMZN
Exploring the Labyrinth: A Guide For Healing and Spiritual Growth by Melissa Gayle West 209 pages AMZN
Walking the Labyrinth: A Place to Pray and Seek God by Travis Scholl 240 pages AMZN
Labyrinths from the Outside In: Walking to Spiritual Insight by Rev Dr Donna Schaper and Rev Dr Carole Ann Camp 187 pages AMZN

If you are interested in more spiritual labyrinth aspects I suggest the following websites:

Lauren Artress website - For coaching, workshops and classes.
Veriditas - The nonprofit labyrinth group founded by Lauren Artress
Worldwide Labyrinth Finder - Find a labyrinth to walk near you, or while on vacation

I am a maze artist but I have never made any mazes from Maine. If you have suggestions - drop me a note. Otherwise here are some mazes of famous buildings:

Taj Mahal Maze

The Louvre Maze

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Maze

Circle Mazes - What Maze Constructions are Possible ?

May 9, 2024

I have written about how to make over 40 different types of mazes. I used one subject and made it in every maze type possible to show what it would look like. Most mazes are square or rectangular and the thought process to make them is similar. But what happens if the shape is circular ? Let’s try to answer some questions:

Are all of the maze constructions possible ?
What adjustments are needed to use them ?
Do they look ok ?

I started thinking about this when I wrote a blog post featuring some circular mazes:

A Look at 7 Different Circle Mazes; Create a Circular Maze Template

45 types of maze construction:

The Grid Mazes: All of these use a grid construction, which is possible for circular mazes. But do all of them make sense in a circular format ?

Grid Maze - Yes. See the example. That’s a perfectly fine maze.

Escape Maze - Yes. Just switch the internal goal in the above example to the outside portion of the circle and you have made it.

Arrow Maze - Yes. But you need to be careful. Easy to make mistakes on this because of the 45% angle movements aren’t really 45 degrees anymore.

Slide Arrow Maze - I lean no. Technically yes, but the complication of the slide feature make this complicated to follow. It certainly would be challenging to design and to solve ! How do you deal with a 45 degree angle ? It would need many walls if the center was the goal (which makes sense looks wise) because any arrow pointing in reached the center if no wall. Any 45 degree slide arrow angled in towards the center - same thing. If the goal was in a block (not the center)….hmmm. That’s better !

Block Move Maze - I lean no. Like the slide arrow, the circle shape makes it possible but confusing. Not confusing in a good way, but in an annoying way.

Color Grid Maze - I lean no. Same as above.

Puzzle Maze - Yes.

Number Maze - Yes.

Letter Maze - Yes.

Hidden Message Trail Maze - With some adjustments this becomes possible. Let the below example be a fill in for what a number, letter and hidden message trail maze would look like. To solve this one reach the goal after spelling the message “the circle of life”.

Obvious Yeses:

All of these are features that can be added to any maze:

Find Items Maze - Where a solver must find items in maze to solve the maze

Avoid Items Maze - Where a solver must avoid items in maze to solve the maze. Essentially the items become extra walls in the maze.

Go and Return Maze - The solver must reach a point in the maze then return to the start (which is now the goal). Sometimes they must use a new pathway than the “go” to return.

Dual Entrance/ Exit Maze - The solver chooses which is the start and which is the goal

Object as Goal Maze - Instead of finding the exit of a maze, the goal is to get to an internal object.

Warp Zone Maze - A feature in a maze that allows the solver to jump around the maze.

Mixed Section Maze - Using multiple constructions to make a maze.

Racing Maze - Yes. You can race with any type of maze.

Unsolvable Maze - a maze with no solution is possible for any type of maze construction.

Depth Maze / 3D Maze - this is a feature that can be added to any maze, including a circle maze.

Free Drawn Maze - Yes. You can free draw any type of maze. Drawing a circle by hand is hard !! Have you ever tried it ?

Cut Thru Maze - Maybe this isn’t obvious, but you can ‘cut-thru’ any shape to make a maze.

Horizontal/Vertical Circular Maze - A circle shape with pathway lines moving vertical or horizontal. Yes. From a design standpoint it doesn’t fit well, but it is possible.

The Yeses:

Standard Maze / Standard Equal Maze - Yes.

Kids Maze - Yes. A smaller version of all the workable mazes that is easy enough for kids.

Spiral Maze - While my version of a spiral maze uses the square version this is where a circular version is actually preferred !

Maze Art - Yes to circular objects. The Moon and Spaceship Earth at Epcot Center are 2 examples I have made of circular Maze Art.

Draw and Cut Maze - Yes. Each of the mazes noted above were made using this method. For a plain simple circle there would be nothing to “cut”, but I still lean yes.

Pod Maze - Yes. Any shape works for a pod maze. Here is an example of triangles and a central circle using a standard maze construction.

Connected Dots Maze - Yes.

Weaving Paths Maze - The best way to make this is to free draw weaving pathways into a larger circular pattern.

Directional Maze - Yes it works. The solver must keep track of the turns correctly, but here is an example:

Conditional Path Maze - Yes. Here is a red, white and blue conditional movement maze.

Objects Maze - Sure make the objects circles in a circle shape and you’ve got it.

Yes, But:

Axonometric Maze - I’m sure there is a scientific way to do this that I do not understand. So, yes it can be made, but it doesn’t make sense to use.

Math Maze - A math maze could be made that looks circular (the questions could be in bubbles in a circular pattern). I think this would be a poor choice for the structure.

Pattern Maze - In a pattern maze the pattern would be in a circle….but what pattern would make sense in the circle ? I made some floral looking draw and cut mazes that are circular, so a variation of these might qualify also.

Math Additional Trail Maze - Yes, but a bit complicated.

Pipes Maze - Yes, but have you seen circular pipes ? Bends, yes, but circular ? You can make the overall look of the entire maze circular, but not the pipes.

The No’s:

Mobile Maze - Not really possible. A mobile maze is one formatted to fit on a mobile phone. Unless a circle can be long and skinny (and that would be an oval, not a circle)…it is not possible.

Line Leads Maze - Most Line leads mazes have no structure. You could put a line leads maze into a circle, but why would you ?

Name Maze - Technically you can make your name in a circle or using a circular font, but it seems like that is just making it complicated for no reason, and it may not be readable. So, not really.

Hidden Message Maze - If you can’t make a name maze, then no here also.

THE FINAL TALLY:

33 - Yes

5 - Yes, But

7 - No.

So generally you can make almost all maze types in a circular construction with some adjustments. Some you can make, but they don’t fit the shape well. And 7 are just a no it does not make sense.

Happy mazing !