Book Review - The Magic Of Labyrinths

Book Review - The Magic Of Labyrinths by Liz Simpson 192 pages. AMZN.

The full title of the book is The Magic of Labyrinths: Following your Path, Finding Your Center, and really that is what the book is about. It starts with the history of the labyrinth and the various types of patterns you can find and transitions into the spiritual aspect of labyrinths.

What I learned in this book:

• I learned about new labyrinths around the world that I had not heard of previously, like the square labyrinth from the Church of Reparatus in Nigeria and the Ely Cathedral in the UK.

• I learned some background on the Man in the Maze labyrinth from the Hopi tribe of Arizona and how it is reminiscent of labyrinths in Scandinavia !

• The Maekula Islanders in the South Pacific have a myth that in order to cross over to the Land of the Dead the soul must complete a labyrinth.

• I never knew that churches in England were built on “ley lines'‘ as a way to convert non-Catholics by taking over their physical places of worship.

• There is a section discussing the Hindu concept of Kundalini energy and it’s relation to the journey through the labyrinth.

• Chapter 5 goes into the construction of physical labyrinths and how to creatively measure them out, the use of dowsers, and the choosing of an appropriate location. If you want to draw a labyrinth on paper, I’ve got you covered.

What this book does best: Speaking to how to create a labyrinth in your lawn, church, etc. Options and things to think about before actually doing it. I also think the book does a good job exploring the fringes of the history of labyrinths and some unique shapes.

Book Review - Labyrinth A-Ω by Clive Owen

Book Review - Labyrinth A-Ω by Clive Johnson 106 pages. AMZN.

Sometimes the author tells you about the book right there on the cover. This is the case with this book. The subtitle is “An Introduction to the How, What, and Why of Labyrinths and Labyrinth Walking”, and that is a perfect way to describe just what you will learn in this book !

What I learned in this book:

• Despite reading many books on labyrinths in the past, I was still introduced to a few new ones I had never heard of. I found myself switching to a new tab and doing visual searches to see them.

• The first chapter does a nice job speaking about labyrinths throughout history while the second speaks about why the labyrinth has so much appeal.

• When I think of labyrinth legends I think of Theseus and the Minotaur. But I learned about a Hindu story that is about a labyrinth, from the Mahabharata that the warrior Abhimanyu where he is shown how to defeat his enemies but not how to return from the battlefield.

• The word ‘maze’ did not appear until the 14th century, possibly coined by Geoffrey Chaucer. Before that labyrinth was used to describe what today we call mazes and labyrinths.

• There have been health studies that verify the health benefits of walking labyrinths, including reduced blood pressure and reduced stress and reduced anxiety.

• The organization Veriditas offers Facilitator Training for those that want to guide others through the labyrinth effectively.

What this book does best: Overall a good book. I really appreciated learning about many new and interesting labyrinths. There is also a nice directory of labyrinth resources that can be explored further.

Book Review - The Labyrinth: Rewiring the Nodes in the Maze of Your Mind

The Labyrinth: Rewiring the Nodes in the Maze of Your Mind by Rei Rei 242 pages. AMZN.

First I need to mention that despite the cover and the title this book is not about labyrinths. It is also not about spiritually walking a labyrinth. To me it is a book or Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu guru sayings and thoughts. It reads like a spiritual self help book. If is full of quotes from religious texts and philosophers. To give you an idea of what you will find on the pages I present the following words found among a sampling of pages in the book to give you a sense:

divine quality

cosmic reality

manifest the will

guidance of the higher self

time-bound persona

self-imposed illusions

epigenetics

miraculous healings

high-beta brain waves

The chapters are in alphabetical order and include titles like: Abundance; Anxiety; Awakening; Core Beliefs; Compassion’ Conditioning; Disassociation; Forgiveness; Grounding, Manifesting; Meditation; Renunciation; Resilience…and many more.

I would guess that this gives you a good sense of just what is in this book.

If you are a spiritual person and like philosophy, this might be the book for you. If you are looking for a maze book based on the cover you can skip this one, it is not the droid you are looking for.

Maze Comic Book Reviews - Jim Henson's Labyrinth Comics

I read and review maze books about the spirituality of mazes, or the history of physical mazes. I also delve into comic books that contain either mazes and labyrinths. You will not be surprised that today’s comics based on Jim Henson’s classic film from 1986 Labyrinth do just that. We have 4 different versions to look at.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth 2016 30th Anniversary Special (2016)

from BOOM! Studios, 40 pages

by Jonathan Case, Cory Godbey, Ted Naifeh, Adrianne Ambrose

The comic consists a collection of 7 stories featuring some of the movie characters (the wonderful Jim Henson puppets from the movie). It is actually a collection of previously released mini stories that were given out for free comic book day. The stories are quick, fun and are not interconnected. It is helpful to know a bit about the characters to enhance the relatability, but you will not be lost (maze reference?) if you pick this up with no prior knowledge.

The best story, and the reason for this review is story 4 titled “Rock Solid Friendship”, which features Ludo the monster in a predicament that has him entering the labyrinth to escape. But is entering the labyrinth really a good idea ? Now Ludo must find his way out !!

Ludo approaching the Labyrinth

Overall this is a comic great for fans of the movie, and worth a read if you are not but you do like 5 page fantasy stories.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth Tales (2016)

from BOOM! Studios, 46 pages

by Jim Henson, Cory Godbey

We come back with a second book based off of the same characters, from the same year, the same publishing company and the same illustrator. I think you will love the artwork you see in this volume from Cory Godbey and I suggest you check out his site/portfolio to discover even more.

And as far as a review. Really this book, despite having the same illustrator is more about the illustration than the first volume above. The book is almost completely full page illustrations that look like paintings. There are 3 short stories included in the book. Outstanding book. You will spend more time looking at the pictures than reading the dialogue.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth 2017 Special (2017)

from BOOM! Studios, 40 pages

by Jim Henson, Katie Cook, Delilah S. Dawson, Roger Langridge , illustrated by Jared Cullum and more

Our final review is from the 2017 Special volume that features 6 short stories. Of the three comics this one does feature a few stories with the Goblin King, but like the other volumes really focuses on the puppet characters from the film like Sir Didymus, Worm, The Four Guards, and Ludo.

Each of the stories are fun and we get a different look from our first 2 reviews. This is mostly because we have 5 different illustrators for the 6 stories. Although we do not see any illustrations of the labyrinth, we do get a call back to the famous MC Escher inspired room you probably remember from the movie.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth Artist Tribute (2016) AMZN

from Boom! Studios, 120 Pages

by various authors and illustrators (see list below)

First, let’s start with a photo of the page that lists all of the artists you will find in the edition. It is a large list and includes artists who use many different styles !

This comic is exactly what the title says it is. If you are a fan of Labyrinth, either the book, the movie, or the comics, this is the book for you. It has the feel of a coffee table book, because while there are snippets of writing, this is also about the artwork. The colorful characters created by Jim Henson that you saw as puppets in the movie make for great subjects for creative artists.

I did not want to include much artwork from book but this transition page did catch my eye.

And I did feel compelled to include this maze ! Because, well, this is a maze website and it features the characters from the Labyrinth world.

Overall, this is an artist tribute that I would love to see for many different franchises.

While my favorite comic of the 4 was Jim Henson's Labyrinth Tales because of the illustrations, all books are nice, short, fun stories that anyone could enjoy. If you were a fan of the movie (or still are a fan), all 4 are worth a read/look. And if you want to get into longer stories I suggest you check out the 2 longer comic series that have been published:

Jim Henson's Labyrinth (6 issues)

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation (12 issues)

Other blog posts you might like:

The 12 Best Maze and Labyrinth Movies Of All Time

Watchmojo's Best Maze Movie Scenes

How to make over 40 types of maze