On a recent trip to Mt. Shasta I continued my quest to honor the delightful insect world by drawing a mandala based on the energy of this evocative creature, the Bumble Bee. The energy is definitely that of “where there is a will, there’s a way”.
Category Archives: Mandalas
Japanese Mandala
This mandala was done on a trip to the Hawaiian Islands while I stayed in the home of a wonderful Japanese woman. Without thinking much about it I naturally started to create a motif from my experience with Japanese patterns learned about when I lived in the Islands as an adolescent. It was a fun project and kept me busy for most of the trip. The inspiration of the simple, yet intricate motif inspired me to think about how much that culture permeated my consciousness when I was a teenager and how lovely and gracious I still consider this culture.
Sacred Heart Mandala
This mandala came to me as I was beginning to understand that I, along with many others, have had a hard time opening my heart fully. Childhood wounds last a long time and are imprinted indelibly on the young psyche. It takes a lot of discipline to start changing behaviors which can then reflect back to the soul that it is safe to come into the opening of intimacy. This can be a long journey and it is absolutely necessary for our planet that we at least try to be part of this movement toward the unbounded heart.
Star of David Mandala
For many years, I have worked with the Four Directions symbolically in both the Shamanic tradition as well as the rituals I have performed with my tribe of friends. After working with such a feminine energy in the Dragonfly piece, I wanted to try something more native to the land. This more masculine mandala soon arrived to meet my desire.
The square symbolizes the four directions, East, West, North and South and is superimposed with two Star of David motifs, which represent Unity and Balance of the spiritual and the material realms. The tiny triangles in the borders and colors of red, turquoise and green seemed to give this piece an indigenous quality and it felt like a grounded piece based on spiritual wisdom. This mandala was dedicated to David Glenn, Santa Cruz artist, on March 21st, the date of his transition to the Spirit world.
Spider Web Mandala
This mandala is a representation of the cosmic web of creation. As humans we are blessed to be a part of the radiant light the emanates from the central axis and allows us to feel a part of all the layers. It is important that there are mechanisms in place for each social and psychological collective unit to maintain unity and harmony is the microcosmic web as well as the macrocosmic. Weaving the web together periodically through group ritual recognizing initiations of birth, death, unions and the cycles of nature is an important function of maintaining the web.
Cosmic Dancer
This mandala was inspired by the work of an amazing physical trainer, Brad Bartenen, who trains dancers, circus performers and regular athletes as well. The training reaches to the depths of one’s being and encourages superior performance on all levels. The ballet dancer and the trapeze artist are such a metaphor for the potential of all human beings as they surpass all expectations of defying gravity which we all take for granted as a limitation.
The Message: This mandala is about transcending those limitations, emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally. It is dedicated to Brad as he trains those of us who need encouragement in freeing the natural body and bringing it to perfect performance. It also evokes the awesome relationship humans can experience through developing a relationship with the greater reality that is our cosmic birthplace.
Dragonfly mandala
RADIANT ELLIPSIS
This mandala was done as I become intrigued with the idea of creating a piece of art based on the shape of the ellipsis. My son Eli helped me with the engineer’s expertise of how to draw an ellipsis. It is a difficult image to create and he had the perfect solution using a string and pencil. Fun to make after learning how to do it… The energy of this drawing is very dynamic and the bottom part represents water falling into consecutive pools.
Streaming Mandala
This Mandala came to me during a return trip to the Eco-Retreat in Huelo, Maui in May of 2011. One year prior I had started my journey of drawing Mandalas from purely process-orientation and had not been able to really concentrate on them in a fulfilling way. Using only colored pencils, paper, a ruler and a compass, I was pleased to have time to really sink into a process of undistracted drawing. Since there was no plan for this mandala, I felt I was continually getting out of the way of how it wanted to come together. Prior to working on this, some body work set the stage for my continuing understanding of how we, as human beings, are connected to the energy streaming of nature in a powerful, but often forgotten way. My work in Bioenergetics, Reichian work and Somatic Process has served my well in understanding the powers that are latent in the body. This mandala is dedicated to Stanley Keleman founder of Formative Psychology for helping me, for 30 years, to remember the Source of everything is the body and its vitality as well as its changing shapes. For a print of this mandala, please go to the Offerings menu.
Infinite Compassion
This mandala arrived quite spontaneously on a retreat to Maui to process the loss of my sister, Nancy. The retreat location supported my goals in turning inward to gain more awareness of the meaning of our relationship. This descent was a powerful one and during my retreat there I met a woman, Isabela, with whom I discussed the necessity of expanding one’s heart to contain the pain and sorrow of loss – any kind of loss. This expansion often transforms pain into compassion and takes an incredible amount of patience and self-compassion to sustain. It becomes a practice if one has the devotion and commitment to the process.
We agreed that the capacity to take this path can provide a paradigm for healing – self, society and planet. We dedicated ourselves to this process at a sacred heiau on Maui and vowed to follow this path. My sister Nancy practiced unconditional love for most of her interesting life and was a true model of maintaining this stance through very challenging life situations. I showed this mandala to Lama Gyaltsen at the Maui Dharma Center and he asked me to name it, dedicate and show it to as many people as I could as a vehicle for healing. The mandala is dedicated to my sister Nancy.
Mt. Shasta Mandala
This mandala was the second one I did on Maui. It was to honor the Sacred Mountain that I have such a connection with. I had been making a necklace that was inspired by a conversation I had with an angel I met at Castle Lake in the Shasta area. The necklace was inspired by my understanding that the radiance of the heart needed to be protected in healers who often have open hearts in a culture that does not “see” this. I started to make a breastplate out of one thousand crystal beads, planning to include the shape of a pink heart fashioned by pink crystals in the center of it. This necklace is represented in this mandala by the inner circle of white dots. The snakes encircling the inner circle symbolize transformation and the red feather represents the passionate commitment of the activated heart.
The whole mandala is set on a background of cosmic stars and the central star represents radiance and light, the most healing energy of the cosmos and a key element in our current healing crisis. The necklace can be seen in the near future on our sacred jewelry section of this website. The mandala is dedicated to the Angel whose name I do not know.
The Butterfly Mandala
After creating primarily geometric shapes in the mandalas I was doing, I began to feel the need for more organic, living symbols. Having worked with animal medicine for years, I decided to start with the butterfly, an ancient symbol of transformation as well as transmutation. Changing shapes is a powerful and important skill in the shamanic world and the butterfly can be an important reminder of this capacity in all of us.
In creating this mandala, the butterfly started to take shape and led to a wonderful process of spontaneously developing the shapes surrounding her. The wave shapes in the Circle were hand drawn and represent light waves in motion interspersed with jewels of light. Later, the diamond shapes presented themselves and lastly the Circle and the Star of David. This mandala was dedicated to my friend Isabela whose friendship inspired this artistic opening for me.
The Dragonfly Mandala
After completing the Butterfly mandala, it was a natural progression to do a piece inspired by the delicate dragonfly. The dragonfly represents the refined energy of heightened perception and sensitivity to the full spectrum of light represented by the rainbow. Intuition and psychic abilities are also associated with this precious insect. This mandala features the lotus petals as well as the subtle radiance of the sun. The delicate colors, the lace-like detail and the extensive use of white make this mandala an expression of the highest realms of the Divine Feminine experience. After returning from my trip to Maui, I dedicated this mandala to my friend, Ellen who also possesses the heightened sensitivities of the dragonfly.
RADIANT ELLIPSIS
This mandala was done as I become intrigued with the idea of creating a piece of art based on the shape of the ellipsis. My son Eli helped me with the engineer’s expertise of how to draw an ellipsis. It is a difficult image to create and he had the perfect solution using a string and pencil. Fun to make after learning how to do it… The energy of this drawing is very dynamic and the bottom part represents water falling into consecutive pools.
Streaming Mandala
This Mandala came to me during a return trip to the Eco-Retreat in Huelo, Maui in May of 2011. One year prior I had started my journey of drawing Mandalas from purely process-orientation and had not been able to really concentrate on them in a fulfilling way. Using only colored pencils, paper, a ruler and a compass, I was pleased to have time to really sink into a process of undistracted drawing. Since there was no plan for this mandala, I felt I was continually getting out of the way of how it wanted to come together. Prior to working on this, some body work set the stage for my continuing understanding of how we, as human beings, are connected to the energy streaming of nature in a powerful, but often forgotten way. My work in Bioenergetics, Reichian work and Somatic Process has served my well in understanding the powers that are latent in the body. This mandala is dedicated to Stanley Keleman founder of Formative Psychology for helping me, for 30 years, to remember the Source of everything is the body and its vitality as well as its changing shapes. For a print of this mandala, please go to the Offerings menu.