Mandalas
Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘whole world’, ‘sacred circle’ or ‘magic circle’. Mandala-making is used for insight, healing and self-expression. Making and filling-in a circular design with colors, images, shapes and symbols, reflects the wholeness of the person creating it and provides a pathway of connection with the intuitive and unconscious parts of ourselves where insight and deeper understanding reside. The practice of drawing a mandala does not require artistic skill or experience – only a desire to learn more about what is going on inside of us.
I discovered the medicine of mandala making through participating in the Creating Mandalas certification program:, and the Chakradance Alchemy course, Level 1 Freedom facilitator training program, and Level 2 Heal Your Life facilitator training program. My mandalas reflect my personal explorations of archetypal figures and the Chakra system represented by symbolic images.
“Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life.”
-Pema Chödron
PART I - ENTERING THE CIRCLE:
12 Stages of the Great Round
Stage 1 The Void
Stage 3 Labyrinth/Spiral
Stage 2 Bliss
Stage 4 Beginning
Stage 6 Dragon Fight
Stage 5 The Target
stage 7 Squaring the Circle
Stage 9 Crystallization
Stage 8 The Functioning Ego
Stage 10 Gates of Death
Stage 12 Transcendental Ecstasy
PART II - ENGAGING THE CIRCLE: STUDY & REFLECTION OF THE MANDALA
Deep Dive Into Chakra Exploration:A mentored independent exploration of the relationship between the chakra system and the 12 Stages of the Great Round. My process was deep meditation facilitated by Jessaiah Rose Zure, followed by creative movement as a way to access my chakra system. The mandala images reflect each chakra.
6 Third Eye: Divine Communication
Focusing attention on the third eye was electric. I saw bursts of almost neon pinks, and shades of violet, fuschia, and purple. What came to me during the meditation/movement was the practice of communicating with loved ones through the third eye. Oftentimes verbal communication can be difficult because the self is often overshadowed by the ego and we hear and interpret others through the perspective of the ego. Silently expressing love and unconditional approval and a genuine desire for harmony with a loved one can create a silent calmness that disarms the ego and allows two people to be in a relationship of greater peace.
5 Throat: Purpose
4 Heart: Web of Loss and Grief / The Golden Heart
The second heart mandala is freedom from the bondages of grief, loss, betrayal, fear, and shame from ancestral, past life, and present life trauma. Living a purposeful life of peace that supports my deepest joys.
After the heart chakra journey I left there was more to do. I made a plaster gauze heart with a blue door which is reflected also in the Throat Chakra Mandala titled Purpose. The heart is reminiscent of white stucco Mediterranean houses with blue doors on the coast. I made the door so that it can open and close. Inside there is a shelf where I put objects and photos which represent generational, archetypal, ancestral, and relationship healing. I hung the two Mandalas on either side of the heart shaped house box and photographed some of the objects inside. When I stepped back and looked at the entire installation, I realized it looked like a womb in the center with ovaries on either side.
Stage 11 Fragmentation
7 Crown: Honoring the Ancestors
The theme of this mandala is about connecting with ancestors through music and dance. Since I made this mandala, everyday when I practice playing my frame drum I consciously communicate with my ancestors who I know are always surrounding me just above my crown. The making of this mandala has brought to my awareness the importance of being in communication with my ancestors because I feel a sense of comfort and belonging to something greater than myself.
During my meditation/movement journey with the throat chakra the word Purpose was very loud. Expressing Purpose. In reference to my life's purpose, my meditation guide Jessaiah asked me the question, “how do you see yourself in 10 years?” I immediately reflected on the Stage 4 mandala I made during Part I. My Stage 4 mandala was me at the age of 6 in Sicily. My greatest joy in my entire life was my childhood in Sicily. I felt alive, free, wild, and completely right. The throat mandala I made is me, 10 years from now at the age of 60 in the mediterranean living my purpose. It is me sitting in harmony with doors of creativity and abundance surrounding me with the Pizzica Spider Dance in my heart. I will be dancing and drumming and teaching. The great sun above me is a honeycomb eye shaped hive where the honey bee, the symbol of the ancient priestesses of the goddesses of the Mediterranean, celebrate the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth. I will return back to the hive of my ancestors.
The first heart mandala symbolizes suppression of emotion and the emotional bondage of deep grief, loss, betrayal, fear, and shame. A heart afflicted by the “spider’s bite” that is bound up and unable to be free. It is bound by the shadow side of the spider’s web. The shadow side of the spider’s web is the negative aspect that arises from trauma that threatens our safety, mental, physical and emotional health, our freedom to choose, and our overall wellbeing. The trauma can be ancestral, past life, and present life trauma.
When I first encountered my Solar Plexus during meditation/movement, the image and feeling was murky and sad and depleted. My will had no strength. My Aries drive was asleep.
After bringing light to my Solar Plexus and imagining healing warmth and golden light I was able to envision what I want my Solar Plexus to look and feel like. It is this image of a vibrant magnetic center that I now focus on.
3 Solar Plexus: Depleted Magnetic Center/ Radiant Magnetic Center
1 Root: Spinning Dance
Grieving my birth story. Losing vital life force. Reminiscent of the Danaids who were condemned to eternally carrying water in a sieve or perforated jug, or in another version, filling a basin that continuously leaks water.
This mandala represents me in an underground dome shaped chamber made of hand hewn stone. I am spinning, dancing, and my feet are on top of a golden egg embraced by two serpents. I once read a story about an incarnation of Mary who resided in the center of the earth and transformed into a golden egg. There are four picture frames on the wall. In each of the picture frames are my father, paternal grandfather, paternal great grandfather, and maternal great grandfather. I accessed the chamber by walking through a portal dug through a sandstone wall on the Adriatic Sea.
The sun is rising over the Adriatic. This mandala connects to my Part 1 - Stage 11 mandala. It is about the underworld, Persephone’s journey, falling apart, facing my darkest fear and deepest shame. Forgiving my father and the fathers that came before him. My healing is the healing of all the women in my family who came before me. I heal for them. I heal for us. My ancestors, who were forced to marry without love. Who endured the heavy hands of men. Who bore children and lost children, and had to give up children to be raised by others.
