Mandala making day!

Today Morgana and I are going to paint our own Mandalas 

The word "mandala" is from the classical Indian language of Sanskrit. Loosely translated to mean "circle," a mandala is far more than a simple shape. It represents wholeness, and can be seen as a model for the organizational structure of life itself--a cosmic diagram that reminds us of our relation to the infinite, the world that extends both beyond and within our bodies and minds. Describing both material and non-material realities, the mandala appears in all aspects of life: the celestial circles we call earth, sun, and moon, as well as conceptual circles of friends, family, and community. A mandala is... An integrated structure organized around a unifying center Longchenpa "The integrated view of the world represented by the mandala, while long embraced by some Eastern religions, has now begun to emerge in Western religious and secular cultures. Awareness of the mandala may have the potential of changing how we see ourselves, our planet, and perhaps even our own life purpose." We are going to Jo's ( Jo Mandala) house for an all day workshop! I have been browsing for patterns and colours/styles...there are so many! Will take photos of the process and the finished products of course! Meanwhile, the image above is just one I liked from google search... I met Jo only a month ago in Greenwich Market. She has her own stall there selling her Mandalas painting. The technique she uses apparently is a bit of a secret but I know that she can use resin sometimes...( is a bit toxic!) Of course, I fell in love with all the paintings, I actually bought one ( a smaller one!) It looks nice on my wall in the lounge, only, Morgana takes it down often and puts on the top of the shelves behind my candles and flowers, as she uses that wall to bounce her soft ball! I don't know where we are going to put our new Mandalas...I need to find a space on our wall! Somewhere in the house! I can then proudly say I made that! I might end up buying one more of Jo's as well! They make nice gifts, I suppose!

This one is one of Jo's, from her site:


http://mandalajo.webs.com/









I leave you to read about Jo, the artist while we get ready to travel to Herne Hill! Jo's husband is Japanese and apparently we are in for a treat- Japanese lunch!




You can find Jo's stall on Friday 20th at Greenwich Market, if not on her site look at the calender for future days!
xxx


Susannah




PS: more about Mandalas:

Mandalas - patterns

The mandala pattern is used in many religious traditions. Hildegard von Bingen, a Christian nun in the 12th century, created many beautiful mandalas to express her visions and beliefs.

In the Americas, Indians have created medicine wheels and sand mandalas. The circular Aztec calendar was both a timekeeping device and a religious expression of ancient Aztecs.

In Asia, the Taoist "yin-yang" symbol represents opposition as well as interdependence. Tibetan mandalas are often highly intricate illustrations of religious significance that are used for meditation.

Different cultures, similar expressions

Both Navajo Indians and Tibetan monks create sand mandalas to demonstrate the impermanence of life.

In ancient Tibet, as part of a spiritual practice, monks created intricate mandalas with colored sand made of crushed semiprecious stones. The tradition continues to this day as the monks travel to different cultures around the world to create sand mandalas and educate people about the culture of Tibet.

The creation of a sand mandala requires many hours and days to complete. Each mandala contains many symbols that must be perfectly reproduced each time the mandala is created. When finished, the monks gather in a colorful ceremony, chanting in deep tones as they sweep their mandala into a jar and empty it into a nearby body of water as a blessing. This action also symbolizes symbolizes the cycle of life.

A world away, the American Navajo people also create impermanent sand paintings which are used in spiritual rituals–in much the same way as as they are used by Tibetans. A Navajo sandpainting ritual may last from five to nine days and range in size from three to fifteen feet or more.

Learn more about Tibetan art and culture
Learn more about Navajo Sand Paintings

Mandalas in architecture

From Buddhist stupas to Muslim mosques and Christian cathedrals, the principle of a structure built around a center is a common theme in architecture.

Native American teepees are conical shapes built around a pole that represents the "axis mundi" or world axis.

Buckminster Fuller expanded on the dome design with his famous geodesic dome structures. The dome structure has the highest ratio of enclosed area to external surface area, and all structural members contribute equally to the whole--a great structural representation of a mandala!

Micro to macro

Representing the universe itself, a mandala is both the microcosm and the macrocosm, and we are all part of its intricate design. The mandala is more than an image seen with our eyes; it is an actual moment in time. It can be can be used as a vehicle to explore art, science, religion and life itself. The mandala contains an encyclopedia of the finite and a road map to infinity.

Carl Jung said that a mandala symbolizes "a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness." It is "a synthesis of distinctive elements in a unified scheme representing the basic nature of existence." Jung used the mandala for his own personal growth and wrote about his experiences.

It is said by Tibetan Buddhists that a mandala consists of five "excellencies":
The teacher • The message • The audience • The site • The time

An audience or "viewer" is necessary to create a mandala. Where there is no you, there is no mandala. (from: You Are the Eyes of the World, by Longchenpa, translated by Lipman and Peterson).

edited extracts from: http://www.mandalaproject.org/What/Index.html