Silk Labyrinth Carved Central Stone
“A traditional Cornish witches' tool useful for inducing trances and the state of Becoming is the Troy Stone; also known as a 'Mazey Stone' from the Cornish 'mazed' meaning to be of a maddened, en-tranced or intoxicated state. This is traditionally a slab of slate carved with a uni-cursal labyrinth. One method of use is to sit with the stone on the lap, or on a table of comfortable height, in a room lit dimly by a single candle, and to slowly follow the labyrinth's path repeatedly in and out with the left index finger whilst rocking or swaying gently and humming rhythmically.”
~ Gemma Gary in Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways, 2011
Inspired by the labyrinths carved into the side of a rock face at Rocky Valley near Tintagel, and by the Troy Stones in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in nearby Boscastle, we created our own granite version on a large, sea-smoothed pebble from St Agnes. Layan knapped the path into the stone in the shape of the current form of Troy Town Maze, which we confirmed with our aerial photographs of the site earlier in the summer. In this way the maze made of pebbles became the maze on a pebble.
As you walked between the semi-transparent silk panels of the artwork, the stone at the centre became slowly more visible, in an experience similar to using a Troy Stone for “entering the state of Becoming” or undertaking a “journey into the Other World.” Labyrinth walking is also often considered to be a similarly meditative experience, with the winding paths bringing a person towards the centre, and we wanted this trance-inducing symbolism to pervade the whole of this installation.
“Entrance to the Other World? The labyrinth has always been associated with Mother Earth and the entrance to her underworld. Notice the shape of the entrance to a labyrinth and its womb-like centre. Slowly walking, or finger-walking, a labyrinth can induce a trance-like state (en-trance) suitable for the journey into the 'Other World'. With a uni-cursal (one way) labyrinth one can't get lost - start at the bottom and slowly follow the raised path, you will be moving deosil (sunwise) as often as you are moving widdershins (anti-sun wise). Eventually you will arrive, well balanced, at the sacred centre of the symbol and maybe of another world.”
~ description accompanying the Troy Stone (below) in the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
A photograph of a Troy Stone from The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic’s archive. The labyrinth stone in this photograph was made by a Cornish witch and was used before scrying.
An example of a Troy Stone on display at The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, which came from a farm at Michaelstow.
“The riddle of the maze stones - well may the witch ponder the problem. To get a reading from them is like working the tarot cards - but once you master the system you treat them with respect.”
~ Cecil Williamson, founder of The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
