“Beauty Calls”
“Beauty Calls” - created June 5th, 2021
The Mandala Project: #9
This is one of three mandalas I’ve built close to home, created under the boughs of a favourite tree in my yard.
The starting point was the Raven feather and a desire to showcase it.
The greenery, dandelions and twisted piece of wood formed the foundation and then the slate rocks just naturally seemed to want to fill the spaces in and around them. I kept adding another and another, surprised as it grew into this elaborate design. I was being led by beauty, and enchanted by the spell of its call.
The final note was the little heart on the bottom right. Boom.
Not long after, the wind picked up and blew half of it away.
the Romance Between Soul and Ego
There are challenges, rabbit holes and curious mysteries emerging in this mandala making adventure—and in ways they feel very aligned with a powerful teaching on soul and ego by author, wilderness soul guide and agent for cultural change, Bill Plotkin.
He believes there is a deep (and mostly unmet) longing in all of us for a romance between our ego and our soul, and that cultivating that relationship is how we connect with and embody our purpose in life.
Engaging with the natural world through this practice of making mandalas feels like a facet of that love affair emerging.
I share more of his philosophy and how it’s informing the journey on my current podcast episode:
THE MANDALA PROJECT
I’m posting one new Mandala every Monday with a few words about how it came to be, and the challenges that arose or insights that emerged in its creation.
Check back here to see the new ones, or subscribe below if you’d like to receive them directly.
< Mandalas 1, 2 and 3, and the story of how the project came to life