Maze of the Week #74 - Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze

May 29, 2023

Maze of the Week #74 concludes our run of religious building mazes with the Templo de Sangre de Cristo (Temple of the Precious Blood of Christ), a church located in the centro of Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca. It was consecrated in 1689 and is not as famous a church compared to it’s very impressive neighbor down the street, the Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán or the Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca (which opened in 1573).

Very short, YouTube short link.

Photo: Taken by me

I went back a few times to get some additional photos of details of the church to help in my making of the maze. Hopefully this additional detail helps make the maze more interesting. Here is a collage of some of those photos:

Templo de Sangre de Cristo photo collage

The Maze: There is not a lot of color in this building, but I went with a mostly black and white version with a few detailed items in color. It is medium difficulty.

I hope you enjoy the maze. Download is available on the homepage. Also you can watch the making of the maze on my YouTube channel !

Month Review: One last religious building from around the world

A temple maze - Bagan Temple - Myanmar

A church maze - Old Stone Butter Church - Canada

A mosque maze - KAFD Grand Mosque - Saudi Arabia

A church maze - Hallgrímskirkja Church - Iceland

A church maze - Templo de Sangre de Cristo Maze (this maze) - Mexico

Coming next week:

A university building !

Americana Mazes - Mazes that celebrate the USA

May 28, 2023

Usually I create my maze collections with a theme in mind. I make a group of animal mazes or number mazes or name mazes. But now, since I have done my daily mazes for a few years I have the ability to be able to gather groups of mazes that fit into a theme. Today I am going to do just that by gathering together some of my Americana Mazes. A little bit of history, a little bit of holidays and a little bit of things I associate with the USA, all in maze form. I hope you enjoy !

My Top 10 Americana Mazes

The best place to start is with the flag. I have made a few different versions of the United States Flag Maze. This version is an on-line version, so you solve it by traveling on the line rather than between them like normal !

And of course, one of my most popular mazes and one that I use a lot, the Bald Eagle Maze. It is very difficult to solve. I used a vertical maze construction for the head and a horizontal for the beak. I hope you enjoy it !

Two of my most favorite mazes to make (and I like how they look) were these US coin mazes. Here are my Penny Maze featuring Mr. Lincoln and the US Quarter Maze with George Washington. Both are medium difficulty.

US Penny Maze — Penny Maze

download penny maze

US Quarter maze — US Quarter Maze

download quarter maze

Then we have our American sports. Definitely the leader here is football, and for some of you ‘American Football’. Hope you like this Football Maze. But the game it surpassed has been played for a long time and still has many fans so I made a Baseball Maze, or a softball maze depending on your perspective.

And how about a bit of history with this Alamo Maze. Now I have replaced this with a much more detailed maze art version that I prefer, but this one below is for kids.

The Alamo Maze for kids — The Alamo kids Maze

download alamo maze

And of course a Lady Liberty Maze belongs in this collection. Or maybe more accurately, a maze of her wrist and torch. Very easy to solve.

Statue of Liberty Torch Maze

download liberty torch

You thought we were done with money ? Nope. George Washington returns for this US Dollar Bill Maze. Medium-easy difficulty but fun to solve !

And let’s end where we began, with another version of the US Flag Maze. This in a more traditional maze format.

download us flag maze

I specialize in making maze art, mostly of buildings and signs. If you love mazes, check out my home page where I feature a new maze each week !

More posts you may like:

The 10 Most Famous Labyrinths from Around the World

Discovering 7 of the World's Most Interesting Mazes

What I learned using AI to make maze art

6 Creative Ways to Use Mazes: It's Not Just Solving !

May 27, 2023

When you think about mazes what comes to mind ? For most people I think it is a black and white maze on a piece of paper in front of them to solve with a writing utensil. For a few people they might think of physical mazes like a hedge maze or a corn maze that can make for a fun outing. I think about mazes a lot and have come up with a few new ideas for types of mazes and even wrote an 11 part series (post #1) showing my experiments. You can see all 11 in this post: EXPERIMENTAL MAZES REVIEW. Today I want to consider other creative ways to use mazes.

6 Creative ways to use mazes

1. Use the solving of a maze as a team-building exercise, where participants must work together to find their way out. For a workplace this would mean using a large maze that would take one person a long time to solve on their own that could be solved much faster wit some teamwork.. A good team would have one person solving from each direction, both from the start and goal, while other people could be marking dead end pathways so they are never taken in the middle portion of the maze.

2. Use a maze as a fun and challenging activity for kids by having maze races. I have mentioned this before and in the right situation this could be fun for a classroom (let’s be honest - it could also be a disaster). HOW TO RACE MAZES - RULES, AND IDEAS FOR MAZE COMPETITIONS. If the kids have some friends over, if it is an inside day (rain?) instead of sitting them in front of the television/videogames opt for a boardgame or some maze races !

3. Use a framed maze as decoration instead of a painting. There are 2 ways to do this. One is the standard black and white maze which would give you a modern look, while the second is using some of my maze art for a more standard look. I used Starryai to create what a maze museum would look like (gallery below) and I added a few of my favorite maze art I think would look good framed on a wall. A subset of this, slightly different, but not enough for it’s own line, use a maze as décor in a photoshoot.

4. Add a maze to your garden landscaping. When you think of outdoor mazes you probably think of very large hedge mazes in public places that take years to grow and a lot of gardeners to maintain. But, you can also scale this down to a personal garden. You can use flowers, edible plants, and local grasses to create a maze. If you want to get really fancy and ambitious add a knot garden. They do not need to be as fancy as this one at the Hatfield House. Another variation of this is by adding a labyrinth to your property with a company that specializes in it.

The Knot Garden at Hatfield House — flickr - **Jayembee69**

5. Use a maze as a clue/quest in a real world game. This could be any number of types of games. A scavenger hunt that includes a maze (physical) with clues along the way or at the exit. A scavenger hunt with a paper maze with multiple exits with different clues, but only a solved maze leads to the correct clue. An escape room as many clues that need to be solved to exit. Incorporate a maze as one of them. Honestly combining an escape room with a hedge maze would be cool but that wouldn’t be a room would it ? A corn maze with clues and obstacles might be a better version of the idea. The Evionnaz Adventure Labyrinth in Switzerland contains obstacles in the maze. You can get a sense of them here:

6. Use a maze for protection. Well there had to be one wild suggestion. Remember when castles were surrounded by moats to help prevent attacks from invading armies ? Couldn’t you do the same thing with a maze built of a solid material ? If the army could climb the walls they become easy targets. If the maze is boobytrapped Indiana Jones style the same for troops in the maze. I could even see it being flooded to repel attacks or lit on fire. This could be a movie…?

Mazes aren’t just for solving sitting at a desk ! What are some other ways mazes could be used ?

From Crete to Hogwarts: 7 Famous Mazes in Literature

May 25, 2023

Today we explore the fascinating world of mazes in literature. From the ancient labyrinth of Crete to the magical maze of Hogwarts, mazes have captured the imagination of readers for centuries. In this post, we'll take a closer look at seven famous mazes in literature and the stories behind them. Let's explore the twists and turns of these literary labyrinths.

7 Famous Mazes in Literature:

1. Greek Mythology (AMZN): All discussions of mazes in literature must start in Greece. The ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur took place in a labyrinth. King Minos was upset because his son, Androgeus, did so well at the Pan-Athenian games, he was assassinated. He sent his fleet to Athens, and demanded the assassins be turned over, but nobody knew who did it. Theseus volunteered to go to Crete as one of the sacrifices to the Minotaur. The king's daughter (Ariadne) fell in love with Theseus and gave him a clue to the labyrinth so that he would succeed, which of course he did. In addition to books the story has been made into movies and graphic novels.

Theseus and the minotaur comic book cover

2. The Maze Runner (AMZN): The Maze Runner series by James Dashner starts with an elevator bringing a teenage boy to the middle of plain surrounded by a very high walls. We soon learn that the walls actually house a massive maze, which a group of trapped teenage boys must escape. The maze is filled with dangerous creatures and constantly changing walls and serves as the central plot device in the story first part of the series. The movies have some of the best maze themed movie posters.

3. The Shining (AMZN): I consider this the best maze movie of all time, directed by the great Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson. The book was released in 1977 it was written by the great Stephen King, giving him his first major bestseller. The story features a hedge maze at the end that serves to increase the panic of the characters and the suspense for the audience.

4. Jorge Luis Borges' works (AMZN): Jorge Luis Borges, a blind Argentinian librarian, is known for his mind-bending micro-fictions that play with the concept of mazes and he probably deserves his own blog post on the topic. He chose Labyrinths as the descriptive title for this English-language selection of his best stories and essays, where he imagines tortuous labyrinths, metafictional labyrinths, and a vast labyrinth without walls; ‘The Library of Babel’ presents a maze-like universe, and ‘The Garden of Forking Paths’ imagines infinitely dividing parallel universes. I also like the use a mirror maze on his Labyrinth book cover:

5. The Palace of Laughter (AMZN): I knew I just had to include a book for children. Written by Jon Berkeley, The Palace of Laughter is a children's book about a boy named Miles Wednesday who enters a magical world called Eldritch City. In Eldritch City, there is a maze that is said to lead to a palace of laughter. Miles and his friends must navigate the maze to find the palace and save the city from an evil ruler. Good news - if you enjoy the book it i spart 1 in a series of 3 !

6. House of Leaves (AMZN): Written by Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves is a horror novel that tells the story of a family who moves into a house that is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. The house contains a maze-like structure that is constantly changing and growing, and the characters must navigate it to uncover the secrets of the house. I like that the book cover is a mix of maze imagery with the spiral shell.

7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (AMZN). By J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series. The novel begins with Harry having a dream about the murder of a Muggle by Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione then return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their fourth year. Harry's name is mysteriously entered into the Triwizard Tournament, a dangerous competition between three wizarding schools. And one of those challenges is the Triwizard maze. As Harry competes in the tournament, he discovers a plot to bring Voldemort back to power. The book is filled with action, adventure, and mystery as Harry and his friends try to uncover the truth and stop Voldemort's return.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book cover

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie poster

The books above were written over many centuries and many have been adapted into successful movies. Whether you're a fan of ancient mythology or modern literature, there's no denying the allure of a good maze. So the next time you find yourself lost in a book, remember the twists and turns of these literary labyrinths and enjoy the journey.

You may also like:

THE BEST BOOKS ABOUT MAZES AND LABYRINTHS (THAT AREN'T ACTUALLY MAZE BOOKS)

5 BOOKS ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF LABYRINTHS