Mandalas

I first learned about Mandalas when I was reading Jung. For Jung, Mandalas are the expression of the self, the path to the center, to individuation. I found that fascinating. My google search for mandalas produced hardly anything that spiked my interest. But then I found a couple of really cool books on Amazon for coloring mandalas. I ordered them together with a hefty set of Prisma pencils (I believe I got the box with 108 pencils in it which immediately became the source of envy from my five year old who was upset that I would not share them with her!). I colored quite a few mandalas and I really found the whole experience highly therapeutic. Coloring a mandala on a lazy Sunday afternoon and experimenting with all the different color combinations (and believe me, with 108 different color pencils the possibilities are just endless..) was truly enjoyable. I did not like all the mandalas that I colored - when I looked at them the next day, I would go like - gee, what was I thinking yesterday. But while I was coloring the mandalas I was so engrossed in the exercise that this did not seem to matter. And my mind was really enjoying the break from all thoughts and worries. I still produced some mandalas that I liked though. Then, after some negotiating with my husband, we ended up hanging some of them around the house.

After my coloring period was kind of drawing to a close, I experimented with making a mandala from beads. I played a little and after a few tries, I produced a mandala that I was happy enough to hang on my car mirror. The mandala was predominantly purple, to match my car color:) I figured next time I get stuck in traffic, I might as well be looking at my mandala and thinking those deep thoughts instead of getting aggravated by the traffic situation. It does seem to work, plus the sparkle of those Swarovski crystals in the sun is really fascinating!

Since then, I've created a number of mandalas from beads but they all have the colors red and purple predominate in them. There was a reading I stumbled upon once that the colors one chooses to color their mandalas tells something about them, I have to dig this out:)

Here is my latest creation:

You can see all the pictures at my etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13549551