Pan
Pan (Greek Πάν, genitive Πανός), in Greek religion and mythology, is the companion of the nymphs, god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein, meaning “to pasture”. He has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat, in the same manner as a faun or satyr. With his homeland in rustic Arcadia, he is recognized as the god of fields, groves, and wooded glens; because of this, Pan is connected to fertility and the season of spring. The ancient Greeks also considered Pan to be the god of theatrical criticism. In Roman mythology, Pan’s counterpart was Faunus, a nature spirit who was the father of Bona Dea (Fauna). In the 18th and 19th centuries, Pan became a significant figure in the Romantic movement of western Europe, and also in the 20th century Neopagan movement.
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (Greek λαβύρινθος labyrinthos) was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Daedalus had made the Labyrinth so cunningly that he himself could barely escape it after he built it. Theseus was aided by Ariadne, who provided him with a fateful thread, literally the “clew”, or “clue”, to wind his way back again.
The term labyrinth is often used interchangeably with maze, but modern scholars of the subject use a stricter definition. For them, a maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage with choices of path and direction; while a single-path (unicursal) labyrinth has only a single Eulerian path to the center. A labyrinth in this sense has an unambiguous through-route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.
Although early Cretan coins occasionally exhibit multicursal patterns, the seven-course “Classical” unicursal design was widespread in artistic depictions of the Minotaur’s Labyrinth, even though both logic and literary descriptions of it make it clear that the Minotaur was trapped in a multicursal maze.
A labyrinth can be represented both symbolically and physically. Symbolically, it is represented in art or designs on pottery, as body art, etched on walls of caves, etc. Physical representations are common throughout the world and are generally constructed on the ground so they may be walked along from entry point to center and back again. They have historically been used in both group ritual and for private meditation.
Esoteric Connotations
The main character Ofelia is a physical manifestation of the underworld princess Moanna. Moanna becomes curious about the world above and enters it. The Sun blinds her so she forgets who she is. Ofelia follows a fairy to a labyrinth and is given 3 tasks from a faun (Pan).
The First Task
Retrieve a key from a giant toad that lives beneath a huge fig tree. The frog is destroying the tree and must be fed three stones to make it explode thereby divulging the key.
The Second Task
Use the key to retrieve an ornate dagger from the lair of the Pale Man. The “Pale Man” is described as a child-eating monstrocity who sits perfectly silent and still waiting for Ofelia to violate the rule that she does not eat from the table. This can be paralleled to the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Eating from the table awakens the Pale Man causing him to insert two eyeballs into his hands. Ofelia must choose from three locked containers to unlock using the key.
Notice the checkerboarded Freemasonic floor. Of course there is the eye symbolism tied to the Pale Man.
The Third Task
Ofelia must prove to be Princess Moanna and achieve immortality by sacrificing herself with the dagger. Ofelia sacrifices herself with the ornate dagger and enters the underworld to be rejoined with her immortal family. The connotations of this movie seem to imply reincarnation, incarnation, other realms, alchemical tasks to achieve immortality, self-sacrifice, and knowing who you are truly. The Pale Man can be seen as evil or negativity awakened by the action of temptation (eating the fruit that appears so delicious). This entire movie seems to be a story of consciousness entering the physical realm and becoming lost in the material. Only to be guided by a fairy and given the steps needed to reclaim the true self.
Tags: Movies, Pan's Labyrinth
