Mandalas: Paintings that heal the psyche

 

In Tibet, monks have created mandalas from sand for centuries.  They go to great lengths to fill in complex patterns with colored sand only to wipe it away when finished.  A practice in non-attachment  and a statement on the impermanence of things.  In the process of creating the mandala they have participated in a meditation, maintaining absolute focus on the present moment (required for such detailed work).

The Tibetan monks know that making mandalas brings forth more than just artwork. . . a premise that some of the world's most famous psychologists also share.

 

                             

 

  ' Jung had a much more optimistic view of mankind than Freud, and of art in particular. {3} Not all was rooted in sexuality, or in personal experience and psychological difficulties. One type, psychological art, certainly drew on the assimilated experience of the psyche, creating work generally intelligible to the community. But there was also another type, visionary, which drew on the archetypes of the collective unconscious, creating work of a deeper and less individual nature. Appearing in dreams, mythology and art, these patterns took the form of images — self-originating, inventive, spontaneous and fulfilling images. In some respects archetypes could be viewed as metaphors which held worlds together and could not be adequately circumscribed'.

In his book 'Mandala Symbolism' Jung goes deeply into analysis of the symbolism of various people's/patient's mandalas.  They seem to serve as a sort of window into the deeper, hidden places of the mind.  He himself drew mandalas and felt that they created a container for healing and a place of wholeness.

 

My own experience with painting mandalas at first  felt like an opportunity to distill a subject into a visual rhythm.  It was also an interesting technical challenge, something like working a puzzle until the image comes together and makes sense.

I ended up creating a series of seasonal mandalas for a Seattle women's magazine 'Verve' on a monthly basis, many of them taking on a representational nature as we moved through the months and various seasons. A few times I decided to paint abstract mandala designs instead, and not only did I find myself enjoying the process more, I was excited by the outcome and its seemingly random symbols.

 

     

Paradigm Shift Mandala                                       Rising Tide Mandala

 

I will continue exploring mandalas and their potential for open creative expression and delving into the unconscious psyche in future blogs and in my own creative process!