Renewal Mandala

Renewal Mandala

Signs of spring are regularly showing up now on my walks and field trips around the North Coast of California. I spotted this candytuft at a local nursery, and the vibrant magenta daisies were blooming proudly in a neighborhood garden. How can you not feel excited by that gorgeousness?

I love how well the two sources played together. Spring colors honoring Oester came through, pale and hot pinks, soft blue and electric aqua, hints of lavendar. The symmetry of 6 speaks of balance, harmony and compassion. Spring is a time of renewal, of course, after those winter months devoid of color. Inhale deeply and soak it in.

Mandala blessings,

Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

Flora Magia Mandala

 Flora Magia Mandala

source inspirations:

Flora Magia speaks to me of the power of magic and transformation. Hellebore, one of the flowers used as a source for this mandala, is used in witchcraft for banishing spells as well as for emotional healing. Since they bloom in late winter and early spring, it would follow that they do assist with making the winter doldrums disappear, don't you think? I am grateful to Ranunculus, who also added her pale pink love vibes to this magical mix.

Mandala blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Joy in the Morning Mandala

Joy in the Morning

I'm not sure how it got to be February already.  I've been busy with a 48 day creativity challenge on Facebook. I've also been having  some computer problems that prohibited me from posting. I'm glad to be back.

Over the weekend I went to one of our local garden centers for a photoshoot. I discovered these charming blue double primula. The color really lifted me up. I had found the yellow yarrow in bloom earlier, and I wondered how they would blend together for a new mandala.

I felt my mood lift as the mandala came through, and I hope it brings you joy as well. For those of you in the dreary grips of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, may it remind you that spring will soon be on the way.

Mandala blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Winter Magics Mandala

 Winter Magics Mandala

© Sue O'Kieffe 2014

Some plants come  decked out for the holidays. How could I resist this invitation to honor them in mandala form? Winter Magics Mandala is also imbued with reiki and Light Language, a language from the higher realms that some people are now remembering, and is also enhanced with the energies of Metatron's cube.

Happy Holidays. Doesn't it feel good to be heading back towards the Light again?

Mandala blessings,

Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

All Hallow's Harvest

All Hallow's Harvest Mandala © Sue O'Kieffe

source inspirations:

A couple of nights ago, while meditating, I saw what looked like a gathering of costumed trick or treaters. Then I wondered if maybe it wasn't a group who had already passed over, showing up in this seasonal garb, so I might recognize  how thin the veil is this time of year.

I've been wanting to create a mandala for a while using images of plants that were dried and past their prime. I can't help but mourn the passing of the vibrant dahlias and other summer flowers that have filled my eyes with such bright beauty, but these dried plants have their own subtle charm and even a little mystery. It just takes a willingness to look deeper.

(And if you look closely, you might even see clown faces, and fairies, and spirit dancers and other magical beings showering us with their love!)

But what do you see? And how do you feel looking within? I'd love to hear back from you.


Mandala blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas


(All of my mandala art is available for purchase. You can contact me via email for ordering details)

Tripping the Light Fandango Mandala

Tripping the Light Fandango

© Sue O'Kieffe 2014

 source inspiration:

I don't live in a place where maples are turning riotous shades of red and orange right now, so I turned to the bright beauty of Scottish heather for some wonderful eye candy in magenta and rose for the creation of this mandala.

When I asked for a name, I heard Tripping the Light Fandango.  Wikipedia tells me that the fandango was a couples dance accompanied with much hand clapping that originated in Iberia. 

Hmmm.

I see a dance of light and color with much merry movement capable of bringing out feelings of happiness and joy.

What do you see?

Mandala blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

This mandala, or any of the pieces I post on my blog, are available to purchase. Send me an email for ordering details. 

Passages Mandala

Passages Mandala - Circle of Being Series - Sue O'Kieffe © 2014

source inspirations:

I have been watching and enjoying my neighbor's garden from the time the bulbs she planted first appeared. Then the dahlias and crocosmia bloomed. Sometimes hummingbirds came to visit. Her little herb garden also flourished. I enjoyed some pesto she made from her basil, and a number of photographs were inspirations for different mandala creations. Today I looked at her garden with a different eye. Everything speaks of Autumn's big shift. Indian summer is over,  and I can feel the pull of inward - going hibernation in my soul. I wanted to take the time today to honor these passages with the last of her garden and to thank it for the joy it has brought me.

Namast'e.

Mandala blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

All of the mandalas on my blog are available for purchase. Does one of the images particularly resonate with you? You can contact me via email (link in the right side-bar) for ordering information.

Deeper Mandala - A Fall Equinox Offering

Deeper Mandala - © Sue O'Kieffe 2014 - Circle of Being series

 source inspirations:

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better ~ Albert Einstein

Thank you for being here. Deeper Mandala is my offering to you for this first day of autumn (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere). 

During my morning meditation, I imagined myself walking into the depths of this mandala. I walked straight to the center, a representation of the Self. This was the self meeting the Self meeting the self, as it were. And then I walked deep into darkness where the mystery of All Life Is. I felt very secure and safe in this place and stayed for a long while before returning to ordinary reality. 

If you feel moved. you might meditate on this mandala in this way yourself. Light a candle, burn some incense, call on  spirit to be with you. 

May this meditation be meaningful and fill you with the abundance of life, which is this harvest season.

In Love.

Mandala blessings,

Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

Change Mandala

 Change Mandala - Circles of Being Series -  © Sue O'Kieffe 2014 

Change is in the air. Can you feel it? This morning, when I awoke at 6:00 am, it was dark outside. Seems like a couple of days ago it wasn't. But the wheel keeps on turning. Do you embrace change, or are you resistant? The more I am able to soften to the prospect of change, the more peaceful I feel. How about you?

source inspirations:

This is my offering to you today. With love.

Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

Vernal Equinox Mandala

Vernal Equinox Mandala (Circles of Being) Sue O'Kieffe © 2013

source images: forsythia, white plum blossoms, tabular crystal

bloom,
as spring seeds emerge-
through earth,
poking through-
green reaching towards,
the suns warm rays against blue.
bloom,
that word that brings-
growing,
bringing life-
rebirthing.
bloom,
coming to me,
I see my fields turning-
I see my sky aching,
to push through in bloom.
waking in this moment to see,
my bloom and changes that-
bring me,
to my opening.

© Maureen Kwiat Meshenberg

https://www.facebook.com/Heartcalling

(I've turned off the comments on my blog. I'd love to read your responses on my Facebook page or profile)

Flower of Now Mandala

Flower of Now © Sue O'Kieffe 2012

source images: cotoneaster berries and leaves, desert rose selenite

And now let us believe in the new year that is given us-- new, untouched, full of things that have never been ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Fierce Transformation Mandala

Fierce Transformation Mandala (Mandala Messages) © Sue O'Kieffe 2012

source images: butterfly, red shouldered hawk feather, danburite crystal

I sat down, took a few deep breaths, and asked What most wants to come through right now? And then I waited.

Celestite rested on one knee; danburite rested on the other. And black tourmaline hung out on the chair cushion, between my legs. These are my crystal trinity. I waited some more.

And then  Butterfly floated into my vision.

What? Oh great, I muttered. Where am I gonna find butterflies? I mean, it’s winter here. And raining.
And then....

Oh wait. Yes. I did capture some photos of a butterfly a while back, didn’t I?

I felt something nod and smile at me.

And then Hawk swooped and soared. I heard Hawk's cry as he headed straight for my third eye. Yikes!

Could I use a feather for this? I wondered. Show me.

And a red shouldered hawk feather appeared in my inner eye. And I felt an incredible feeling of fierceness wanting to be expressed.

More deep breaths. More waiting. I’m starting to feel fidgety and impatient. My mind wants answers. NOW, darnit.

And then I saw soft, soft pink surrounding it all.

Rose quartz? I wondered.

No. Danburite. This friend in my hand had something she wanted  to share.

More listening.  And I’m feeling the danburite is sharing the energy of the Divine Feminine. This is a high vibrational love coming through. The message I’m getting is

Love, No Matter What.

So here we are at the beginning of December. Twenty some days before the world is supposed to come to an end.

I don't believe that for a moment. Do you? I think the world is about to begin, that we are transforming bravely with a great strength and fierce courage to a world where love is all there is. I'm not sure how easy this will be for many of us, but I do think it's worth it.

Love is our first priority.

This is the message that most wanted to come forth.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas


I am so happy to be offering these mandala messages to share with all of you. If this message resonates for you, remember, that we are all one. Are you interested in commissioning me to create a mandala message based on this process for yourself? Please send me an email for further details. I am happy to ship your art anywhere in the world.

Bright Friday Mandala

Bright Friday Mandala © Sue O'Kieffe 2012

source images : sunflower, swan feather, local black river stone

This is the message I received from Spirit and my prayer for the days ahead:

May we become an embodiment of joy and abundant light, may we  open up and allow grace to flow through us. If we become frustrated, may we remember to ground and offer our negativity to the Earth.  She gratefully receives our anger and transmutes it to positive energy. And may we remember to offer Love and Light to those in need, including ourselves! May it be so. Amen

*Many thanks to Janice Masters of Everyday Joy for inspiring me with the title for this post and mandala. 

WIN AN INTUITIVE MANDALA

This is the really fun part for me (and I hope for you too!)

Open Heart Mandala

Yesterday I announced news on how to order my 2013 calendar Circles of Serendipity. Here is the rest of the news! This excites me so much that I will  have the honor of gifting one of you with a personal, intuitive mandala. Here's how:


Everyone who purchases a 2013 Circles of Serendipity calendar directly from me will be entered into a random drawing to receive a free 7.5"x 7.5" Intuitive Mandala. (For those who are interested, my normal fee for an intuitive mandala  is $75.)   

In meditation I ask what most wants to come forth and deliver the received message to you in mandala form. Open Heart Mandala  is one example of an intuitive mandala I created for my friend Ame. You can see others on my Facebook page. It would be an honor to create one of these mandalas especially for you (or you could easily gift the mandala as well). 

I will select the winner from the names of those who ordered one or more of my 2013 calendars on December 1st and email the winner that day.

Circles of Serendipity would make a wonderful gift for anyone on your holiday gifting list, and I know many who have made doing so an annual tradition.

Bright Blessings
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Art as a Community Event - Mystic Message Mandala

Mystic Message Mandala (Crystal Vibration series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2012

source image: Auralite crystal 

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see ~ Edgar Degas

My focus and intent as an artist is to listen to the messages of  the natural world and to translate them into mandala form.

I have been finding it increasingly difficult to find the words for what comes through, and I'm not sure that it is even appropriate for me to do so.

Your translations are what matters.

Art is a community event. Spirit speaks through all of us.

And so I asked my Facebook community for their impressions.

Karen: I  automatically associate the color purple with peace and serenity, so I feel those upon gazing at this beautiful mandala. I also feel a sense of excitement for the future. It seems to me that there are six "faces" looking "inward."...Gazing upon the image, I'm drawn inward, yet leading outward, with a sense of positive anticipation

Tricia:I saw a 'counsel' too - thought of 'oh they're helping someone'

Linda: Buddha surrounded by guardians of peace. And the more I look at it the more vibration I am getting... Into the sacred light we go

Janice:  I see expansion within a 'safe field', a kind of 'holding' of the energy so that expansion occurs in a way that can be integrated

Lynne (who purchased this mandala and the auralite ):other than the beauty was the lion like faces then I saw " peacocks" (facing dead on ) forming a "ring of protection around the outside. Sue, I've just had one of those "angelic moments".... AJ filled my mind .... AJ is my soulmate and was my fiance when he passed a couple of years ago. So I was sitting there trying to work out what the connection was, I was drawn to the faces first and there was something but then I was drawn to the " peacocks" ..... There is a big connection between AJ and peacocks, there was the "connection "

All of these words fill me with such gratitude. 

I would love for you to continue in this spirit of community sharing if you feel moved to do so by leaving your comments and impressions below.


Many blessings,

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

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Interested in purchasing my original digital mandala art inspired by nature and created through Spirit? Feel free to contact me via the email link in my side bar, visit my Etsy shop, or come join me on Facebook. I look forward to our conversation.

Opening to Infinite Joy Mandala

Opening to Infinite Joy (Crystal Vibrations series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2012
source image: agate

Lately,  have been focusing on what makes me happy and when I feel happy to say so outloud. Or write it down. Being critical, feeling critical, surrounding yourself with critical people saps the soul. Happy is intoxicating and liberating. I'm telling my cranky, bitchy, critical self that it is really ok to feel blissfully wonderful. I totally recommend this practice.

This mandala makes me happy. I love the joy that radiates from it and the piece of agate that I've known for over thirty years which provided the inspiration. I've always loved agates, since I was a little girl. I love the patterns in agates. What an amazing work of art nature provides for us.

I'd love to know what makes you happy. 

Aham Brahmasmi Mandala

Aham Brahmasmi Mandala ( Crystal Vibration Circles) © Sue O'Kieffe 2012 

source image: red tip auralite crystal

Our true self is expressed in the ancient Sanskrit sutra aham brahmasmi, which means "I am the universe." When we can accept that we are the universe, we can transcend any limiting belief and any emotional turbulence. ~Deepak Chopra

There is a whisper, but it’s louder than the wind.It calls to us, "Come Home. The story is over, the pages are worn thin. Come home."  It’s like a chant, a sacred OM underlying all else. 

...It requires no doing anything, or going anywhere or becoming anything.

If only we see that we are this whispering sound, all else will dissolve into peace.

-- Rafael Stoneman

First Chakra Mandala - I BELONG

      First Chakra Mandala (Chakra Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

      source image: hypericum berries

     Affirmations for this chakra:

I belong

I am here

I am enough

Sue O'Kieffe

~Sacred Circle Mandalas

                          

OCEAN SERIES #5 - Ocean Weaver Mandala

Ocean Weaver Mandala (Ocean Story Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2010
source image: driftwood

As I was creating this mandala I was thinking about all the stories this piece of wood could share from the moment it was first washed up onto the shore. It is worn by wind and waves, smoothed by time and full of marvelous patterns. I wonder where the tree was originally rooted and how long it has been on this beach. It is curious to me how this wood arrives at the coastline, especially after one of our magnificent rain storms - the power of nature never ceases to amaze.

I have been experimenting with a new Photoshop kaleidoscope plug in that I downloaded from mehdiplugins.com. It's been fun to play with for additional textures and patterns, and I like the way all the subtle colors of the source image as well as the foamy ocean spray all play out in this image.

Sand and sea, ocean and river, wind and water ... all these elements weave together in power and majesty. Can't you feel it, smell it, taste it, touch it? These are the stories that nature shares with us.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

STRUTTING YOUR STUFF

Strutting Your Stuff Mandala (Mandalas for Peace series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2009
source image - peacock feather

I have been looking for peacock feathers for almost three years. I wanted feathers straight from the bird instead of ones that had been handled and processed and had who-knows-what-done to them. I love the story of how the feathers I used for this mandala flew into my life.

I was recently introduced to pediatric physical therapist Jackie Mast, who is joining with Icelandic physiotherapist Anna Katrin Ottesen to put on an international conference Called Healing the Healers in October '09 in Reykjavik, Iceland. I have decided to enter one of my mandalas in their silent art auction that helps raise funds for the healers to come to the conference. During our correspondence Jackie and I shared our mutual love for feathers; Jackie shared with me she had collected peacock feathers when she lived in central California. A few days later I got an email from Jackie asking if she could mail some feathers to me, and voila! here we are.

There is so much I loved about creating this piece. I have been learning how to make Photoshop brushes, a technique that takes a little bit of practice. Veerle has a great tutorial explaining the process. I created all of the brushes I used in this mandala piece for adding the extra texture around the image, and I must say I'm mighty proud of what I have accomplished. When I researched information about peacock medicine, this is what I found:

The peacock reminds us to see the beauty in all aspects of life. Its eerie call sounds similar to a laughing screech and reminds us to laugh with life and not take things so seriously. As it presents itself with confidence and awes us with its beauty it teaches us how to keep the ego under control and to set all vanity aside...By observing the peacock we can learn to strut our stuff with dignity and grace. ~Sayahda

Going further, I learned that the number 5, ruled by Mercury, is a dynamic number that signifies change. Lots of that change stuff going on here as well. In the next few days I will tell you more. It's all good.

~Sue O'Kieffe




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