A Month For Mandalas – TRUTH – part 1
January 9th, 2017
WHAT IS A MONTH FOR MANDALAS
A Month For Mandalas is a time of creative inspiration and expression. A Month For Mandalas, does not mean creating one mandala a day for a month. It is an invitation to create whatever works best. That could be one-a-day or only one during the entire month. This is a month long creativity inspiration of Mandalas, Meditation & Journaling. The guiding word for this session is TRUTH. It is a month to delve deeply into our creativity, our creative spirits and let them guide us into the future.
The mandalas I created here were inspired by the prompt and meditation in this blog
Creativity is a way to bring us to our deepest self, our soul. Art heals is an expression often heard. It simply means expressing our true self, our truths. Art makes us whole, the root of the word heal. Mandalas are a form of art that begins with a sacred circle of wholeness that lets us make marks, write words and express who we really are. Everyone one can make marks and write words. Everyone can listen to words of a guided meditation that help us settle into our creative depths.
This four-week session has a new blog post once a week with creativity prompts, a guided meditation and shared mandalas. Many “Months for Mandalas” and “100 Days for Mandalas” sessions have been part of my blog posts. The explanation of how to start this session is in this post ( 100 Days for Mandalas Invitation). Please check it out before starting. Please share your mandala creations if you would like them to appear on this blog. How to do that is at the end of this blog.
TRUTH
Truth? What is it? What are my truths? In our present world of post-truth “truths,” it is often hard to make sense of what is going on around us and inside of us. Where do we find our own deepest truths, how do we know them, how do we make them stronger and go forward with them? Let your creativity be your guide.
BEGIN WITH GATHERING YOUR ART MATERIALS
Mandala means sacred circle. Create a circle on a piece of paper before beginning. Having a center mark inside the circle often helps in making marks, but is not necessary. Have whatever art materials you like to use, and maybe some new to you. Find a comfortable place to create, but before starting listen to the mediation.
GUIDED MEDITATION.
Knowing our truths is the inspiration for this month. Listening with open ears of heart, body and mind lets us delve deep into who we are and what guides us. Creating a mandala of simple marks, shapes with colors or black and white lets our soul speak in images. Your own words can enhance and are optional. They can be legible or illegible, what counts is letting them be expressed.
MANDALA MEDITATION – TRUTH. There is a place to pause the meditation for a quiet time of listening before finishing.
CREATIVITY PROMPT
This is a poem by one of my favorite poets, Naomi Shihab Nye. Let it inspire your creativity.
TRUTH SERUM
We made it from the ground-up corn in the old back pasture.
Pinched a scent of night jasmine billowing off the fence,
popped it right in.
That frog song wanting nothing but echo?
We used that.
Stirred it widely. Noticed the clouds while stirring.
Called upon our ancient great aunts and their long slow eyes
of summer. Dropped in their names.
Added a mint leaf now and then
to hearten the broth. Added a note of cheer and worry.
Orange butterfly between the claps of thunder?
Perfect. And once we had it,
had smelled and tasted the fragrant syrup,
placing the pan on a back burner for keeping,
the sorrow lifted in small ways.
We boiled down the lies in another pan till they disappeared.
We washed that pan.
Naomi Shihab Nye
These are mandalas that were inspired by my feelings what is happening in our world. There is darkness, a great deal of darkness, but also light. Where can I find my light? Where do I go from here? What are my truths and how can they guide me?
I saw a spider out my front door a few months ago. A large spider with a large web right at my front door. What should I be listening to? What is the spider is reminding me to listen to? What is nature telling me and what is its power?
The Truth Serum poem is about making a potion of truth. Using a pan to cook all the parts down into one truth serum. And another pan to boil all the lies until they disappear. I want to do that. I thought of the spider at my front door. I thought of the word “spider” my Grandmother used to call her cast iron frying pan. A spider pan is a kind of pan with three legs used in the past, although my Grandmother called her legless flat cast iron pans “spiders”. I would love to make a truth serum from the cast iron “spider” I have in my kitchen, boil down a potion for a daily dose of truth and boil down the lies till they disappear.
In my meditation I saw darkness being woven into a widely spaced threads of a cloth. But light shone through with the fires of truth and true hearts. In the first mandala shown at the top, I ranted about the darkness in white words written over and over each other, clearing me. In the last mandala I saw the darkness receding with stronger flames of truth. I saw spider pans creating their truth serums. I saw spiders spinning a web of life.
Let this blog inspire your creativity and help you find your truths.
PLEASE SHARE YOUR MANDALA CREATIVITY
Please share the mandalas and art journaling you create by sending an email with attachments of your art. Please use a high resolution – which can be a smart phone camera – with enough surroundings in the photo. I can easily crop the image. Please send to linda (at) creativityforthesoul.com. Please use the @ sign and no spaces.
ENJOY & CREATE
