Monday, August 20, 2007

Mandalas


I first got into mandalas a few years ago and I honestly can't tell you how or where I saw them but I remember wanting to paint one really badly. I painted one and then forgot about them for years until last year when I read about them in a feng shui book. That got me to go out and buy a book about mandalas and their healing abilities.
Funny enough, when looking back before I even knew about the information I have read, it was as if I knew that they do something to the psyche.The information I read was that mandalas go way back throughout history.
Carl Jung got into mandalas by chance when he kept a journal and found himself drawing circular objects - and while doing so found peace expanding within his being. I read that the first objects that children draw are circles and drawings that resemble mandalas - this is a ritual to express their being and individuality. According to many psychologists and professionals who studies this subject, the act of drawing circles encourages one's venture into his/her own consciousness, setting boundaries of their universe - becoming the 'I'.
So when I got into drawing my next mandala - years after my first - it felt horrific! I felt like I added layers upon layers of color hiding the last. I felt so many emotions rise and it was like cleansing shame and realizing my fear of having it come out bad. The next one was a breeze - and then I realized I needed to unblock much of the garbage. The mandala is a symbolism of the 'I' that you experience in life. The colors, shapes, size and numbers (you can count circles, squares, lines that are repetative to get the subliminal numerology) all have something to do with what's going on inside. So I decided to paint a few and they got a good response on my online store interestingly enough - I got healing and good business! How about that!
More importantly, it was a way for me to reconnect after having my daughter. It was such a life changing experience and I found mandalas to be very grounding and purifying to paint.Now, I recently began painting them again and funny enough, my husband was laughing because many of the shapes look like flowers and sperm - is it time for another one? perhaps :)