The spiral is one of the ancient symbols of the world. Both the single and double spirals were among the most sacred signs of Neolithic Europe. They appreaed on mealithic monuments and temples all over the continent and the British Isles. The spiral was connected with the idea of death and rebirth: entering the mysterious earth womb, penetrating to its core, and passing out again by the same route. Sacred dances imitated this movement, which is why so many pagan-derived European folk dances use the spiral line of dancers circling into a center and out. Spiral labyrinth designs were also common in cathedral decoration, transposed from the older shrines formerly located on the same sites. The magical staff called lituus, used by Roman augurs (diviners) to mark out sacred areas such as temple sites, usually terminated in a spiral.