Mandalas

Mandalas are much more than just patterns in a colouring book. The motifs are arranged in circular patterns that end up as colourful works of art.

 

There are many different types of mandalas, ranging from simple patterns with just a few elements to highly intricate designs. A mandala can be produced in a variety of different ways. Some are constructed on the ground using sand or coloured grains of rice. Others are engraved in metal, painted as decorative frescoes on the walls of temples or monasteries, or drawn on paper and coloured. A mandala is typified by its lovely colours, and by the artistry and diligence that are often evident in its appearance.

 

The word mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit. A mandala is configured as a circle with a centre – a universal shape symbolizing wholeness. Mandalas are all around us: in flowers, fruit, trees, spiders and their webs, the human eye, the shape of the earth. Concentric circles can be seen everywhere, from the tiniest cell in our bodies to the largest galaxies.

 

The mandala is one of the oldest symbols in the history of human civilization. The cities of the Incan empire were built in a circular pattern, radiating outwards from the centre; a pattern that is also visible in the urban planning of the French kings. And certain Native American tribes in North America have inscribed their entire cosmology in a mandalistic sunwheel.

 

In the Islamic world the mandala has found widespread use as a decorative element, forming a part of countless patterns.

 

In Christianity, one place the mandala can be seen is in the magnificent rosettes found in cathedral windows. From the early Middle Ages there are numerous Christian mandalas that feature Christ as the central figure and one of the four evangelists, or his symbol, on each of the four sides.

 

Colouring mandalas has a positive influence on children and adults alike. Everyone can share the experience of calm and relaxation. Be spontaneous. Choose precisely those colours that seem right at a given moment. Choose the Mandala you find most attractive, or most inspiring. Creating or colouring a Mandala is meditation in motion. Perhaps that is why, once we have discovered the mandala, we can hardly resist its fascination.

 

Mandalalinks

• What does mandala mean?
  www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala
  
• Jung and the mandala
  www.carl-jung.net
  www.netreach.net/~nhojem/jung.htm
  – see, in particular, the Mandala Gallery and
  Mandala Quotes
• Mandala school
  www.nordlys.dk

 

 

Mandala from Årstidernes Gang med Mandalas, vol. II