Today I would like to introduce you to the sacred art of mandala spirituality. In Sanskrit, the word Mandala means sacred circle. For me the circle symbolizes God there is no beginning, there is no end and the center represents pure spiritual Light and unity.  Mandala is a universal symbol of integration harmony and transformation and as part of my spiritual path this sacred art form enables my expressions of love.

We can see mandalas in nature, in flowers, in stain glass windows, in the Celtic cross, labyrinths, Stonehenge. Carl Jung used mandalas as a healing modality. He drew mandalas for his own healing, and as a means for his patients to express themselves through this art medium on their journey of healing.

Mandalas often have cardinal points, for in life there are polarities or duality, for everything seems to have an opposite. For example, darkness and light, north and south, east and west, winter and summer, sun and moon, hope and despair, happy and sad. Yet at the Divine Center, there is no polarity, opposites come together in Oneness, in union  and wholeness. We are loved into being, formed by the Source of all life. We journey out and there are many different paths to take. Yet, at the end of our lives we journey back to our Creator, our true home and the center of our being, where there is pure spiritual light and unity.

I would like to share this beautiful insightful quote by Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man.

 “Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, is a nest of many nests, where the great spirit meant for us to hatch our children.” 

NAature has so much wisdom to draw from and we must protect our earth with the sacred trust we have inherited. We need to leave our children and future generations with a planet that is inhabitable with clean water and clean air to breathe and reverse the disruption of our ecosystems. Nature is counting on us to choose life over profits. Will we listen? Will we heed the call?

In this we pray

The Sheltering Tree

Hey! Learn to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.

With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed

Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.

It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!

Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

– Black Elk

Liz Sorensen Wessel
Hummingbirds- born in our avocado tree