Love Week-- Love makes the World Go Round & Mandala Mondays
Quote de Jour
"I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point--namely to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation...I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of self, I had attained what was for me the ultimate."
C.G. Jung
With Valentine's Day around the corner, I thought I'd explore the different forms of love, in words and images all week.
To free up some more time for writing, I'll be posting mandalas every Monday from my extensive archive. Mandala means circle in Sanskrit. They are usually circular works of art in any medium, from drawing, painting, sand, or even stained glass. Usually, they employ geometric forms and symbols to represent the sacred path to wholeness. For me, they are sacred, snapshots of the soul and a form of meditation. Whenever I make one, they bring me back to the center of my true nature. They reflect the subconscious mind, and are wonderful tools for spiritual growth. Mandalas are easy to do and require no artistic ability. If you're able to hold a crayon or paintbrush, you can do them. My preferred method is pencil crayon on black paper using a basic geometry set and templates. There are a variety of software programs available but I feel there is no substitute for creating a three dimensional mandala with your own two hands.
In 1995, my father suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. For the first time in my life, I couldn't write. I had always kept a diary or journal. There were stacks of travel journals, dream journals, angst filled love letters. Words never failed me, until then. At the time, I'd never been busier. I was teaching aromatherapy, massage and esthetics, seeing clients, training as a transformational counselor, undergoing psychotherapy as part of my training, writing a magazine column. I didn't know the meaning of 'couldn't'.
One day, after visiting my dad in ICU, I picked up a blank notebook and some pencil crayons and began to draw a primitive circle with geometric forms. Little did I know, I had just drawn my first mandala. A few days later my father died. A couple weeks after the funeral, I took a course in mandala making with world renowned mandala artist Paul Heussenstamm http://www.mandalas.com/ . Mandalas became my method for processing my grief. My journal without words. Eventually, I developed my own techniques and began teaching mandala workshops myself. While I don't create mandalas as obsessively as I used to, they remain a favored tool for personal growth.
"I saw that everything, all paths I had been following, all steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point--namely to the mid-point. It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation...I knew that in finding the mandala as an expression of self, I had attained what was for me the ultimate."
C.G. Jung
With Valentine's Day around the corner, I thought I'd explore the different forms of love, in words and images all week.
To free up some more time for writing, I'll be posting mandalas every Monday from my extensive archive. Mandala means circle in Sanskrit. They are usually circular works of art in any medium, from drawing, painting, sand, or even stained glass. Usually, they employ geometric forms and symbols to represent the sacred path to wholeness. For me, they are sacred, snapshots of the soul and a form of meditation. Whenever I make one, they bring me back to the center of my true nature. They reflect the subconscious mind, and are wonderful tools for spiritual growth. Mandalas are easy to do and require no artistic ability. If you're able to hold a crayon or paintbrush, you can do them. My preferred method is pencil crayon on black paper using a basic geometry set and templates. There are a variety of software programs available but I feel there is no substitute for creating a three dimensional mandala with your own two hands.
In 1995, my father suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. For the first time in my life, I couldn't write. I had always kept a diary or journal. There were stacks of travel journals, dream journals, angst filled love letters. Words never failed me, until then. At the time, I'd never been busier. I was teaching aromatherapy, massage and esthetics, seeing clients, training as a transformational counselor, undergoing psychotherapy as part of my training, writing a magazine column. I didn't know the meaning of 'couldn't'.
One day, after visiting my dad in ICU, I picked up a blank notebook and some pencil crayons and began to draw a primitive circle with geometric forms. Little did I know, I had just drawn my first mandala. A few days later my father died. A couple weeks after the funeral, I took a course in mandala making with world renowned mandala artist Paul Heussenstamm http://www.mandalas.com/ . Mandalas became my method for processing my grief. My journal without words. Eventually, I developed my own techniques and began teaching mandala workshops myself. While I don't create mandalas as obsessively as I used to, they remain a favored tool for personal growth.
You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle,
and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles,
and everything and everything tries to be round.
In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop
of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people
flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop,
and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace
and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north
with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.
Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle.
The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon
does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.
The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is
in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the
nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop,
a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.
Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux 1863-1950
I love the Mandala you've featured today. Filled with love and bursting with generousity.
Wishing you laughter, my friend
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Huge thanks for sending the wise words of Black Elk.
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