How to Make (new) 11 Circuit Labyrinths, Part 3

In the previous articles on this topic, I have already explained the method of the stamp-folding calculation brought into play by Tony Phillips.

Now it should go on here. Namely, it is possible to generate further variants of labyrinths by simply rotating the polygon used.

I take again the net with the polygon from the last post on this topic (part 2).

The net with the polygon

This diagram can be used to create four different labyrinths. Two directly (line 2 and 3), the other two by a simple calculation.

Other constellations can be gained by rotating the network 12 times by 30 degrees. Or in other words, it’s just like changing the clock for the summer or winter time.
Since only interesting labyrinths are of interest here, I omit all positions where the lines would point to the first and / or last circuit. So from the 12 you should not reach the 1 or the 11. Only the “times” are interesting, which point farther away, that is, run more sharply.
That would be in the above net the 1, 5 and 6. So I turn only to these times. In other words, I bring the 1, 5, and 6 into alignment with the 12. I turn the net by 30, 150, and 180 degrees. To rotate is the net with the polygon, the numbers stay in place.

Here’s the first turn:

rotated by 30 degrees

I get four completely different path sequences than in the original above.

The second rotation:

rotated by 150 degrees

I get four new variants again.

The last rotation:

rotated by 180 degrees

Here I just get a different order of the sequences than in the original polygon. So there are no new variants, just another arrangement. This is because the rotation of 180 degrees corresponds to a symmetrical reflection.

It is not always possible to find new variants. With the help of this net I have generated a total of 12 different path sequences for 12 new labyrinths.

The path sequences can be directly converted into a labyrinth drawing.
Here only one (again in concentric style) is to be shown (the 2nd path sequence from the first polygon above):

A new 11 circuit labyrinth

Related Posts

• How to make (new) 11 circuit labyrinths, part 1
• How to make (new) 11 circuit labyrinths, part 2

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How to Make (new) 11 Circuit Labyrinths, Part 1

In my last posts I had shown the method of transforming the Medieval labyrinth by leaving out the barriers.

The first possibility to generate a labyrinth is of course the use of the seed pattern. Thus most of the Scandinavian Troy Towns with 7, 11, or 15 circuits were created.

Some years ago I wrote about the meander technique. Thereby many new, up to now unknown labyrinths have already originated.

Andreas still has demonstrated another possibility in his posts to the dual and complementary labyrinths. New versions of already known types therein can be generated by rotating and mirroring.

Now I want to use this technology to introduce some new variations.

I refer to simple, alternating transit mazes (labyrinths). Tony Phillips as a Mathematician uses this designation to explore the labyrinth. He also states the number of the theoretically possible variations of 11 circuit interesting labyrinths: 1014 examples.

The theoretically possible interesting variations of the 3 up to 7 circuit labyrinths once already appeared in this blog.

I construct the examples shown here in the concentric style. One can relatively simply effect this on the basis of the path sequence (= circuit sequence or level sequence). There is no pattern necessary.  The path sequence is also the distinguishing mark of the different variations.

I begin with the well known 11circuit classical labyrinth which can be generated from the seed pattern:

The 11 circuit labyrinth from the seed pattern

To create the dual version of it, I number the different circuits from the inside to the outside, then I walk from the inside to the outside and write down the number of the circuits in the order in which I walk one after the other. This is the new path sequence. The result is: 5-2-3-4-1-6-11-8-9-10-7- (12).
In this case it is identical to the original, so there no new labyrinth arises. Therefore, this labyrinth is self-dual. This in turn testifies to a special quality of this type.

Now I generate the complementary version. For that to happen I complement the single digits of the path sequence to the digit of the centre, here “12”.
5-2-3-4-1-6-11-8-9-10-7
7-10-9-8-11-6-1-4-3-2-5
If I add the single values of the row on top to the values of the row below, I will get “12” for every addition.

Or, I read the path sequence in reverse order. This amounts to the same new path sequence. But this is only possible with self-dual labyrinths.

I now draw a labyrinth to this path sequence 7-10-9-8-11-6-1-4-3-2-5-12.
Thus it looks:

The complementary 11 circuit labyrinth from the seed pattern

This new labyrinth is hardly known up to now.

---

Now I take another labyrinth already shown in the blog which was generated with meander technique, however, a not self-dual one.

The original 11 circuit labyrinth from meander technique

First, I determine the path sequence for the dual labyrinth by going inside out. And will get: 7-2-5-4-3-6-1-8-11-10-9- (12).

Then I construct the dual labyrinth after this path sequence.
This is how it looks like:

The dual 11 circuit labyrinth

Now I can generate the complementary specimens for each of the two aforementioned labyrinths.

Upper row the original. Bottom row the complementary one.
3-2-1-4-11-6-9-8-7-10-5
9-10-11-8-1-6-3-4-5-2-7
The bottom row is created by adding the upper row to “12”.

The complementary labyrinth looks like this:

The complementary labyrinth of the original

Now the path sequence of the dual in the upper row. The complementary in the lower one.
7-2-5-4-3-6-1-8-11-10-9
5-10-7-8-9-6-11-4-1-2-3
Again calculated by addition to “12”.

This looks thus:

The complementary labyrinth of the dual

I have gained three new labyrinths to the already known one. For a self-dual labyrinth I will only receive one new.

Now I can continue playing the game. For the newly created complementary labyrinths I could generate dual labyrinths by numbering from the inside to the outside.

The dual of the complementary to the original results in the complementary of the dual labyrinth. And the dual of the complementary to the dual one results in the complementary one of the original.

The path sequences written side by side makes it clear. In the upper row the original is on the left, the dual on the right.
In the row below are the complementary path sequences. On the left the complementary to the original. And on the right the  complementary to the dual one.

3-2-1-4-11-6-9-8-7-10-5  *  7-2-5-4-3-6-1-8-11-10-9
9-10-11-8-1-6-3-4-5-2-7  *  5-10-7-8-9-6-11-4-1-2-3

The upper and lower individual digits added together, gives “12”.

It can also be seen that the sequences of paths read crosswise are backwards to each other.

I can also use these properties if I want to create new labyrinths. By interpreting the path sequences of the original and the dual backwards, I create for the original the complementary of the dual, and for the dual the complementary of the original. And vice versa.

If I have a single path sequence, I can calculate the remaining three others purely mathematically.

Sounds confusing, it is too, because we are talking about labyrinths.

For a better understanding you should try it yourself or study carefully the post from Andreas on this topic (Sequences … see below).

Related Posts

• How to Build a Troy Town
• How to Draw / Build a Labyrinth with Meander Technique, Part 1
• Sequences of Circuits in Dual and Complementary Labyrinths

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Variations on the Babylonian Visceral Labyrinths in Knidos Style

By rotating or mirroring one will get dual and complementary labyrinths of existing labyrinths. Or differently expressed: Other, new labyrinths can be thereby be generated.
So I have three more new labyrinths as I can make a complementary one from a new dual labyrinth and I can make a dual one from a new complementary, which are identical. (For more see the Related Posts below).

Seen from this angle I have examined the still introduced 21 Babylonian Visceral Labyrinths in Knidos style and present here the variations most interesting for me. Since not each of the possible dual or complementary examples seems noteworthy.

Many, above all complementary ones, would begin on the first circuit and lead to the center on the last, which is yet undesirable.

VAT 984_6, dual

VAN 9447_7, dual

E 3384 r_7, dual

E 3384 r_8, dual

E 3384 v_6, red.

E 3384 r_8, compl+red

Leaving out trivial circuits also will generate new labyrinths. This applies to the last two ones. If you compare the first and the last example you see two remarkable labyrinths: The first with 12 circuits and the last with 8 circuits, but using the same pattern.

Related Posts

• The Babylonian Visceral Labyrinths in Knidos Style
• Sequences of Circuits in Dual and Complementary Labyrinths
• The Complementary versus the Dual Labyrinth
• Complementary and Interesting Labyrinths

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The New Labyrinth in the Church Mariä Schutz on the Vogelsburg at Volkach an der Mainschleife (Germany)

There is now a new labyrinth at this extraordinary and historically significant place.

In the church Mariä Schutz a labyrinth was built during the three-year period of renovation and rebuilding on the area of the Vogelsburg.
Father Bernhard Stühler, hospital chaplain of the Juliusspital, initiated it. Architect Stephan Tittl from the office SequenzSieben Würzburg made the architectural design of the church and delivered the layout. During the inauguration of the project turned out, that Sr. Hedwig Mayer, prioress of the Augustinusschwestern on the Vogelsburg, always had wished a labyrinth.

The new labyrinth

It’s a newly created sector labyrinth with 5 circuits. In the middle is a bowl-shaped pitch circle to divert the direction. The dividing bars form a cross and are arranged symmetrically.
The diameter amounts to 6 m, the middle to 2 m. The ways are 34 cm wide and are marked by a 6 cm wide brass sheet on the terrazzo floor. The way into the center amounts to about 64 m.

One enters the church from the south over an outside stair. On the left hand of the entrance is the labyrinth which is aligned to the west and the east. You enter it from the west, arriving the center, one looks to the east in the direction of the altar and leaves it also again in this direction.

The Oberpflegeamtsdirektor (Chief Administrative Officer) Walter Herbert of the Juliusspitalstiftung (foundation Juliusspital) said on occasion of the inauguration of the altar in May, 2016 to the interior design of the church:

With the elected interior design and with the labyrinth in the ground we would like to offer to every visitor of the Vogelsburg the possibility to find the way to one’s own center, to get back to basics and to find the possibility of steering towards God in the church space.

The segments of the 5 circuits

As Andreas proposed in his last article we can number the 20 segments for the 5 circuits in this 4-armed labyrinth. The sequence of segments can be derived from it for the pathways. Some segments form a connected section which runs through several quadrants. These segments can be marked by brackets. The sequence of segments then looks as follow: 9-5-(1-2-3-4)-8-12-(16-15)-11-(7-6)-10-(14-13) – (17-18-19-20)-21. I write the result a little bit differently than Andreas and still add the center at the end. Inside this labyrinth we have as a specific feature two segments which enclose the full length of a circuit.

Related Post

• The Sequence of Segments in Multiple-arm Labyrinths

Further Links (in German)

• Wikipedia: Vogelsburg
• Wikipedia (in English): Stiftung Juliusspital Würzburg
• Wikipedia: Augustinusschwestern
• Augustinusschwestern Vogelsburg
• Architekten SequenzSieben Würzburg

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The Sequence of Segments in Multiple-arm Labyrinths

In one-arm labyrinths, each circuit is represented by one number. Therefore it is possible to capture even quite large labyrinths appropriately with the level sequence. In labyrinths with multiple arms, the pathway may repeatedly encounter the same circuit. Various possibilities exist to take account of this in the level sequence. For this, according to the number of arms, the circuits have to be further partitioned to segments. Here I will show a method in which all segments are numbered through.

For this I use an example of a labyrinth that has repeatedly been presented on this blog. It has 3 arms and 3 circuits.

First, each circuit is partitioned to three segments. One segment corresponds with a unit of the pathway between two arms. Next, the segments have to be numbered through. This can be done in different ways. Here I number them from the outside to the inside and one circuit after each other.

Now we can track the course of the pathway through the various segments. This results in the sequence of segments encountered by the pathway. In labyrinths with multiple arms the level sequence thus extends to a sequence of segments.

The sequence of segments of this labyrinth is 7 4 1 2 5 8 9 6 3. The length of this sequence of numbers is a result of the number of circuits multiplied with the number of arms. Thus, for a labyrinth with 3 circuits and 3 arms, 9 numbers are required. Whereas in a one-arm labyrinth with 3 circuits only 3 numbers are needed.

However, besides the numbers no other information is needed. The sequence of segments itself determines where the pathway makes a turn or traverses an axis. In one-arm labyrinths this had to be indicated additionally by use of separators.

Related posts:

• The Level Sequence in One Arm Labyrinths
• Flower of Life and Labyrinths with Multiple Arms

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The Level Sequence in One Arm Labyrinths

In an earlier post „Type or Style / 6“ (see related posts, below) I had already mentioned the level sequence. And I had stated two reasons for why I do not use it for naming types of labyrinths.

• Among the one-arm labyrinths only in alternating labyrinths there exists exactly one type of labyrinth for each level sequence. If we also consider non-alternating labyrinths, in which the pathway traverses the axis, there can exist multiple courses of the pathway for the same level sequence.
• In labyrinths with multiple arms the level sequence may rapidly increase to a length and complexity that is difficult to memorize.

Here I want to address the first issue further. I do this because there is a very simple solution for it. In one-arm labyrinths every circuit is represented by one number. In real practice only few of the larger labyrinths will have more than 15 – 17 circuits. Most one-arm labyrinths have a markedly smaller size. Therefore these labyrinths could be quite simply be named with their level sequence. But there remains the problem with the ambiguity. Erwin had elaborated on it in his post “The Classical 7 Circuit Labyrinth with Crossed Axis“ (see related posts, below). I will illustrate it here and use some figures of Erwin’s post.

Figure 1. Level Sequence 3 2 1 4 7 6 5

In Figure 1 three labyrinths with the level sequence 3 2 1 4 7 6 5 are shown. The first image shows the alternating Cretan type, the second and third images show non-alternating labyrinths with the same level sequence. In the second image, the pathway traverses the axis when changing from the 1st to the 4th circuit. In the third image it traverses the axis from the 4th to the 7th circuit. (There is an other labyrinth with the pathway traversing the axis twice, first from the 1st to the 4th and second from the 4th to the 7th circuit). We thus are here presented with the only one alternating and several non-alternating types of labyrinths with the same level sequence.

Now there is a simple solution, to take account of this in the level sequence. For this it has to be considered, that the single numbers (not numerals) of the level sequence are separated. This separation can be obtained in different ways, using blanks, commas, semicolons etc. These separators, however, can also be used to indicate how the path will continue on the next level. Therefore we could e.g. define: if the path changes direction from the former to the next circuit, we will separate the numbers with a vertical slash. If, on the other hand, the path continues in the same direction and thus traverses the axis, we separate with a hyphen. This enables us to specify the level sequence so that it is unique also in non-alternating labyrinths. I show this in figure 2 using the images from figure 1.

Figure 2. Level Sequence with Separators

Here we see for each labyrinth the unique level sequence with separators. The sequence of numbers is the same 3 2 1 4 7 6 5 in all three labyrinths. However, whereas in the alternating Cretan type all numbers are separated by slashes (as the path always changes direction when progressing from one circuit to an other), the level sequence in the second labyrinth is written with a hyphen between 1 and 4, and the level sequence in the third image with a hyphen between 4 and 7.

Indeed, the notation can be even simplified by separating with blanks and using hyphens only to indicate where the pathway traverses the axis. The level sequences would then be written as follows:

for the  1st image: 3 2 1 4 7 6 5
for the  2nd. image: 3 2 1-4 7 6 5
for the  3rd image: 3 2 1 4-7 6 5

What matters is that in the level sequence it is indicated where the path traverses the axis. With this specification it is now possible to give a unique level sequence to each course of the pathway and thus a unique name to each alternating and non-alternating type of labyrinth.

Related posts

• Type or Style / 6
• The Classical 7 Circuit Labyrinth with Crossed Axis

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How to Make a Babylonian Visceral Labyrinth (Umma Labyrinth) from a Wunderkreis

And vice versa: How to make a Wunderkreis from a Babylonian visceral labyrinth.

That’s possible, at least with the Babylonian Umma Labyrinth.

The essentials of a labyrinth ly in the course of the pathway expressed by the level sequence, not the external form or layout. More exactly Andreas calls this the pattern.

The Babylonian Umma Labyrinth

The Umma labyrinth has two turning points surrounded by two circuits each and a meander in the middle. The two entries ly outside. There is only one, unequivocal way through the labyrinth.

The Wunderkreis has a double spiral in the centre and two other turning points with arbitrarily many circuits. Besides, a side has a circuit more than the other. The entries are in the middle section.

A large Wunderkreis

In order to indicate the single developing steps I first transform a “completely developed” Wunderkreis into the smallest possible version.

It looks thus: A meander in the middle and two other turning points with a total of three circuits as to be seen in the labyrinth type Knossos.

The smallest Wunderkreis

To be able to compare this small Wunderkreis to the Umma labyrinth, I lay all centres (at the same time the ends of the boundary lines or the turning points) on a single line. Just as if I folded the triangle built from the turning points.

The compressed Wunderkreis

Both entries are here in the middle section, in the Umma labyrinth they are outside and side by side. Besides, there is one more circuit on the left side. Now I add one circuit to the figure and the entry will change to the outer side on the right as well.

One more circuit

I now turn the second entry to the left side. As a result, the two entries  point in different directions.

The two entries outside

Hence, I turn the right entry completely to the outer side on the left beside the left entry. As I do that geometrically correct, two empty areas appear.

The two entries side by side

Now I extend both entry paths by a quarter rotation upwards and turn the whole figure to the right by some degrees . Thus I receive the complete Umma labyrinth.

The Babylonian Umma Labyrinth

If I want to develop the Wunderkreis from the Umma labyrinth, I must leave out some circuits, turn the whole figure and finally raise the middle part.

The nucleus

The supplements made in the preceding steps are emphasised in colour. The nucleus of the visceral labyrinth contains the Wunderkreis.

Surely the Wunderkreis as we know it nowadays was not developed in this way. There are no historical documents to prove that. However, in my opinion the relationship of both labyrinth figures can be proved thereby. They are not simply spirals or meanders. These elements are rather included and connected in a “labyrinthine” way.

Related Post

• The Babylonian Visceral Labyrinth, Part 3

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