“Oracle”
“Oracle” - created July 17th, 2021
THE MANDALA PROJECT - How it came to life
If you know someone whose day would be brightened by this Mandala, please pass it along! Even more magical, with a love note from you!
In memory of Wendy Palmer
The Mandala Project: #42
or·a·cle - (ˈȯr-ə-kəl)
a: a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements.
b: a divine communication or revelation.
c: any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.
This Mandala has been waiting patiently in the wings in draft state for some time now. A couple of weeks ago its name arrived.
“Oracle”. Just the name.
Then a few days later, on December 2nd, I received news of the passing of Wendy Palmer, a wonderful, wise elder who joined me for a conversation on the podcast earlier this year.
Wendy was a seventh degree black belt in the non-violent Japanese martial art of Aikido, and a mindfulness practitioner for over 40 years. She was the author of 4 books, including her most recent, “Dragons and Power”, which explores the elements of Leadership Embodiment, a practice she founded and taught to high level leaders for over 30 years.
A connection emerged. This mandala and Wendy are reflections of something essential: our lives are filled with opportunities to both reveal and become embodied oracles.
when we act with generosity or compassion or courage
when we parent children or gather in intimate friendship
when we dance or sing or ride or surf or ski (or throw someone twice our size over our shoulder with effortless grace)
when we put words on a page, brushstrokes on a canvas, strike chords on an instrument
when we do beautiful things that touch the hearts of others
Whenever we engage with the creativity that is alive in us and allow it to emerge through us, we’re participating in the Divine at play.
This Mandala gives voice to the why of mandala-making. There’s a transmission of mystery that emerges when natural elements come together in harmonious relationship with each other. When you are present and patient, these elements share secrets crafted precisely, and oh so seductively, to enchant the one in you who knows.
The same is true when hearing someone with deep presence and inner stillness speak. We’re being invited to pay attention with our whole heart.
When Wendy and I spoke in March she was thriving and in vibrant health, with workshops booked well into 2023 and no signs of slowing down. I first heard of her cancer late this September, and as she sent missives into the world sharing her journey, it was clear she was meeting her imminent death with her signature warmth, steadiness and considerable grace.
I am deeply grateful for our meeting and for the opportunity to share her truth with you. She was an oracle in this life, and it is a blessing that her teachings will continue to serve in this way even as she is no longer here in body.
In honour of her passing I’m rebroadcasting our interview. If you’ve not heard this conversation I trust you’ll find it compelling. If you have, I suspect it may land a level deeper on second listen, knowing that her words are now reaching us from the beyond the boundaries of this earthly realm.
Divine communication is always in the space and when we open to perceive it, we are gifted with the wisdom of shimmering things.
Tracking Yes Interview With Wendy Palmer
Dragons and Power Recast: Farewell to a Beloved Sensei - Leadership Embodiment with Wendy Palmer
December 9th, 2022 - Episode 38 (originally broadcast April 1st, 2022)
Episode Summary:
In this insightful conversation Wendy offers the wisdom she has spent a lifetime embodying.
She shares deceptively simple, fast and effective practices that support you to recover to center in stressful situations and respond creatively when life throws you off balance.
Wendy speaks to:
the essential Aikido practice of “letting the attack land in the space”
the 3 most essential qualities of leadership
what it means to be truly resilient
why boundaries don’t work and what actually does
the levels of challenge we move through when we are practicing mastery
She also addresses the 3 strategies of personality self:
head wants control
heart wants approval
gut wants security
And she teaches how we can access the powerful antidotes of perception, compassion and courage.
"Earth Elder" - The Mandala Project: #41
Grief is becoming intimate with the immovable truth that we’re not meant to hold on to or possess that which we love.