Fairyland Pentagram Mandala (Mandalas for Peace) ©Sue O'Kieffe 2009source image: false lily of the valley
Do you have a special place in nature where you feel connected to the earth? My special place reminds me of a fairyland when these false lily of the valley flowers are in bloom. I love their heart-shaped leaves. The first time I was ever in this place I felt a deep connection to the nature devas who reside there, and it's someplace I go for renewal both in person and in meditation.
I thought since the flowers have a magical connotation for me that I would use the pentagram as the formation for the mandala. If you aren't familiar with the associations with the pentagram, wikipedia has pretty good information. Fascinating stuff.
I would love to know more about where you feel the most connected to nature.
~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas
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10 comments:
This mandala feels like "Peace" to me! It is serenity!
This is so beautiful, Sue. It looks like nature's lace. I feel the most connected with nature when I am working in my garden and also when I am walking on the beach in the early morning. They're both very peaceful places to me.
Wow! I have had a little obsession with white in the last few days. That pure white is just what I needed. Wonderful. I've stopped walking just to look at the white petals on wild flowers. White is mind clearing. Great work!
The white with the green exudes freshness and serenity in that beautiful shape. Beautiful work.
Each mandala seems to be more beautiful than the last. I loved the lace effect, green is my favorite color. What really made this mandala for me were the small spots on the leaves that you caught, which look so much like hearts. So the elegant lacy white mandala wears "heart" accents at the rounded off points. I think that is another thing that brings peace to the pattern, the fact that all the lines are rounded instead of pointed and delineated.
I suddenly flashed on a philosophical train of thought I have followed many times as I sweep my floors. The borders between the "outside" and the "inside" are fluid. We think there is an edge at the threshold, but if you look closely you will see that that is really just a continuum. Similarly, as I look at your mandala, the edge between the white and the green turns out to be much less "edgy" and more fluid. It is soft, and so the whole image vibrates slowly and gently.
My favorite place to connect with nature is when I am swimming in living water. Prefereably I am naked, so I can feel the water all over my body. Lately I have a river to use for this. I float on my back and feel the water supporting me, and observing how I rise and bob up as I inhale, and slowly my legs sink as I breathe out and lose the buoyancy provided by the air in my lungs. As I rise, my ears come close to the surface and I can hear the birds singing momentarily, when they are deeper I hear the clicking of crawdad claws. I do this in a long pool, and after a while I open my eyes and look straight up, seeing the tracery of the trees against the sky. Your mandala reminds me of this floating experience.
I also feel very connected when I am weeding my gardens. I often use this as an energy meditation, sending my energy out along the roots of the weeds I am pulling, melding my energy with theirs, and when I feel a connection, pull them up. Sometimes I practice sending energy from my dominant hand into the earth or my weeding tool right next to the stubborn root, and then using my less dominant hand to receive that energy through the roots of the weed it is holding. When that starts working, weeds come out like they are jumping into my hands. Since I have begun this practice, my weeding feels less like a chore and my massage work has become deeper, and more powerful and effective.
I have to give you a little credit for this, because looking at and trying to absorb your mandalas has changed the way I interact with the world. So often as I am looking at something, I am trying to see the mandala that is hidden within it. That is ALL your fault!!
Blessed be, Sue.
Sue, Thanks for the Photoshop help on my blog
Sue, Thanks so much for the Photoshop help on my blog. Your mandalas are so incredible; I have to stop and breath in the beauty.
That must be an incredible spot - vigorous groth - I like the mandala also (white bread me) ....
This is a breathtakingly beautiful mandala and the spot that inspired it sound wonderful. I feel close to nature when I am walking near the ocean and see a seal. The Secret Of Roan Innish and Sealskin,Soulskin (Clarissa Pinkole Estes) are stories I relate to.
It is such a delight to see this mandala!
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