Crown of Heaven Mandala

Crown of Heaven Mandala (May Day Healing Series)© Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: ceanothus

Crown of Heaven is the next in my series of  mandalas for my May Day Healing Series. I wanted to create an image with the higher vibrational  blues, indigos and violets for the 5th, 6th and 7th chakras.

The day that I captured this photo of the ceanothus I used as the source image, I was struck by the energetic freshness of the bush, which I think had just recently been planted on the Arcata Plaza. It wow'd me.

I would love to hear your impressions of this mandala image. How does it feel in your body when you gaze on it? What messages does it offer to you? Many times I had a sense of this sphere tumbling and spinning through the Universe.

May we expand our healing to clear out the blocks that prevent us from speaking our truth and saying what we mean, may we open our eyes wide and  trust our intuition, may we allow the messages of the Universe to clearly flow through us. May it be so.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

House of Stars Mandala

House of Stars Mandala (May Day Healing Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011 

Source image: blackberry leaves

This is the second in a series of mandala images I've created since the events in Pakistan on May 1st. As time has moved on, I have found that I want to focus less on the events of that day, and instead respond to the intuitive responses I received from folks on Facebook who answered my original question: dear fb friends assist me in creating a mandala for today ~ i feel the need to do something ~ send me names of colors, numbers, symbols, whatever speaks to you in the moment! let's synergistically bring forth a healing pattern. leave it in my comments. i feel such a need to create art around this event.

Doreen requested green for the heart, for compassion; Kaia requested green for relaxation.  I love the texture and patterns of the blackberry leaves I chose for this mandala. May we find a way to remove the thorns that we feel we need to protect our hearts. 

Debi suggested adding the power of light, as in a star, and so I felt drawn to create a five pointed mandala. As the mandala began to take shape, I saw a star inside a house sitting in the center of the image. Aren't we all perfect stars of love and light, spiritual beings housed in our human bodies?

Our light continues to grow and expand ever outward.

My mandala art primarily focuses on individual growth. I am not so comfortable writing about world politics and will leave that for those who do it so much better than I do. My hope and dream is that we may all embrace our love and light and find ways to share it with the world, to be kind with each other. My star sees the reflection of you as a star when I look into your eyes.

Be love.

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Blossoming Heart Mandala

Blossoming Heart Mandala (May Day Healing series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: eriogonum

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

After the the death of Osama bin Laden, I felt a need deep inside to create some healing images around this event. I called on my Facebook friends here  to assist me .

I received 17 responses to my request, and this project has now taken on a life of its own, (which is how synergy works in my experience.) I received more than one response for the color pink, so that is where I started. Sage of Love, Spirit & Success suggested using the mystical number 7.

I will continue to work on this project because I still feel the calling to do so.

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It is my prayer that those who suffered loss after the tragic events of 911 can now find closure, and that we as a nation and a planet can continue to transform and blossom into beings of healing and light within ourselves. We are all One. We are all Connected. We are all Love and Light.

May it be so.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Opening with Love

Opening with Love (Circle of Love series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image  - currently unidentified

After a  lovely Facebook convo with the very wise Julie Bernstein Englemann, who suggested I ask the spirit of Mandala how it would like to be created, I tuned in and did just that. The response I felt was that she would like to be created with the more traditional four-points. I realized, once I began creating again,  that I have been craving the expansiveness of this configuration. I love the harkening to the four directions and the four guardians who sit at the corners of the central diamond. I see angels. I feel the burst of spring.  As of this writing, I do not know the name of the plant used for the source image, but I am sure it is related to Queen Anne's lace and cow parsnip. If anyone out there can identify it, I would be grateful to know.

The thing is, I have been feeling stuck, unworthy, constricted. I haven't felt like this for a long time, but I recognized the feeling. This was the feeling of giving up, and it scared me. A lot.

I have decided to share my heartspace with you all here, because I know we all have those feelings from time to time. But they sure aren't a stopping point. I wanted to work myself out of this funk I would much rather live in a place of excitement and joy. Joy trumps funk any old day. And as the entity known as Abraham points out  The best thing you could do for anyone that you love, is be happy! I'm pretty sure that translates to our art as well.

So  I have decided  to create a series of these four pointed mandalas, and then morph them into new iterations using the mehdi Photoshop plug-in as I described on this blog posting.

 

Opening with Love 5x5 (5x5 series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image - Opening with Love Mandala, Circle of Love series

The creation of art is a reflection of our inner landscape. My inner landscape was feeling a little ouchy and needed to be treated with kindness and love. I hope this is reflected in these mandalas as well.

I'm looking forward to this meditation on Love and the Four Directions.

Bright blessings!

~Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

5x5 Mandalas

 

All is Well © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

Fairy Ring © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

Revelry © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

Recently I began experimenting with other approaches to mandala making using a kaleidoscope filter plug-in from Mehdi. I call them 5x5's because that's the size of the file.

This filter works with Photoshop, ( I am unclear if it works with Photoshop Elements) Jasc PaintShopPro and Corel Photo Paint, and is  only compatible with Windows O/S. This is another easy way to create mandalas ( and I will attest that it's fun and a bit addictive.)

I'm not sure yet what how I might use these images, but for now I'm just having fun with them. I debuted one  first  on Saturday's post (Karutetto - scroll to the bottom), and I'm sure I will be adding more in the future.

If you decide to add the filter to your image software program, I hope you have lots of fun.

~Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

We Are Opening/Karutetto

We Are Opening (Circle of Healing 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: plum blossoms

I felt the call of creation  while listening to this chant:

We are opening up in sweet surrender
To the luminous lovelight of the One.
We are opening up in sweet surrender
To the luminous lovelight of the One.

We are opening
We are opening
We are opening
We are opening

Then, as I have been doing lately, I took the mandala through a second iteration.

 

Karutetto (5x5 series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: We Are Opening Mandala

I felt an immediate connection to Japan when this image appeared before my eyes and titled it Karutetto (which Google Translate tells me means 'Quartet' in Japanese.)

It is another way to send light and love out to that part of the world and to honor their evolution at this challenging time.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Starlight Mandala

Starlight Mandala (Circles of Light 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: pieris japonica -  captured on the North Coast of California

We are the vessels

Holding our starlight

Together we bring  light

Out to the world.

Let us all shine

Let us all shine

Let us all shine

Out in the world.

Cups overflowing

With starlight beaming

All of us shining

Out in the world.

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Royal Light Mandala

Regal Light Mandala (Circles of Light 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: German Ivy flowers

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power  ~ Alan Cohen

It takes courage to be who we are, to live from the love that resides in our hearts and to act from the strength that resides at our core. Every moment presents us with an opportunity to love and accept ourselves just as we are.

I created this mandala more than two weeks ago. When I realized the message it contained was about courage, I admit that I froze and could not write. Last night I received another prompting from my guidance telling me that it was time to finish writing this blog post and to let the mandala be seen.

So here it is.

I am offering up this mandala with its golden circle of tiny flowers for all of us today. Imagine, if you will, that all the stories that may have served us in the past are what is contained in the background of the circle, now  fading away.

Be lion-hearted. Be strong. Be of great courage!

~Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Crystal Blossoms Mandala

Crystal Blossoms Mandala (Circles of Winter 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011
source image: hail frozen on car

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event ~Anonymous

Living on the North Coast of California, sometimes I get smug in winter. I try not to scoff when the east and mid west are buried in snow, and we are enjoying first sightings of plum and magnolia blossoms. And really, I do enjoy posting photos of our first signs of spring to offer hope to you bundled up like the Michelin man, shovel in hand, wishing your eye glasses would defog and your nose would stop running, just for a minute or two. Well, just like the rest of the U.S., we had our come uppance the past couple of days and were blasted with cold winds, rain, and what?...is that really snow?Yes, it was, and hail and sleet, and all manners of other cold  frozen particles falling from the sky.
I woke up to stuff frozen on my car this morning, ran out and took a quick close up of it all. And then I went searching for the beauty and this is what was revealed to me!

Spread Your Wings Mandala

 

Spread Your Wings Mandala (Power Shield Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: turkey feather

 

And the voice said,

Step into the circle. 

Breathe into your heart space.

Feel your Love.

Always Love.

You are Love.

Rejoice!

Hold hands.

Look each other in the eye.

Feel your Love.

Always Love.

You are Love.

Rejoice!

Spread your wings.

Feel the power of the wind

Supporting you.

Be uplifted. You are One.

Feel your Love

Always Love.

You are Love!

Rejoice!

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Wordless Wednesday: Angel Wings Mandala

Angel Wings Mandala (Circles of Healing 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011
source image: white hydrangeas

Spring Prophecy Mandala

 

Spring Prophecy Mandala (Circles of Spring Series 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: blooming plum tree

Every January I wait for the appearance of the first pink buds. They are, for me, the indication that the wheel has made a few more rotations and the seasonal shift has begun.  The sighting of that initial first tight pink blush of a bud against a gray winter sky lifts my spirits like nothing else. Right now, almost a month after the first blossoms began to tease and entice, the plum trees are lining city streets with their delicate pinkness. I'm afraid the predicted rain that is coming our way will probably knock the petals onto the ground, and we will be blanketed with charming pink snow.

When I created this mandala, it reminded me of the Mayan calendar. It is a portal, a gateway. We are moving from something we have  known into a time of something new. Numerologically, the seven points suggest an introspective and mystical energy. I am reminded of something I read about gateways. Before we move through, it is a time to do nothing but pause and reflect on what came before and what we are moving toward. Are you ready for this?  The plum trees are here to remind us to open our arms wide, breathe in the heart love of their sweet pink blossoms, stay grounded and firm, and rejoice, not only for what was but what will be. When you are ready, you will know.

Sue O'Kieffe

Sacred Circle Mandalas

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Voice of Spring's Return

 

Voice of Spring's Return  (Circles of Spring 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: hebe

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Dancing the Dream Mandala

Dancing the Dream Mandala (Power Shield Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011
source image: guinea fowl feather

Dream, the voice whispered, and cautiously they opened their hearts, a little at a time. The drumbeats started, and soon they were one with the healing  the drumbeats offered.

Dance, the voice encouraged. The drumbeats carried them, and their hearts opened wider while their feet stomped and caressed the earth.

Feel, the voice offered, and Love burst forth as bright as the stars and deep as the seas. And they knew they were safe to feel everything their hearts desired.

And they danced all night to the sound of the drums and the stars and the ocean waves, and they  remembered forever who they were.

Bright blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandala

Dancing the Dream Mandala is available for purchase now in my Etsy shop

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Essence of Spring Mandala

 

Essence of Spring Mandala (Circles of Spring 2011) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: plum tree flower buds

Love is My Guiding Star Mandala

Love is My Guiding Star Mandala (Power Shield Series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011
source image: pigeon feather

 

Pigeons are closely connected to doves, and both have strong associations with Love. From a shamanic perspective, pigeons represent a return to the love and security of home.Pigeons have a strong homing sense and they know how to find their way back, no matter how far away they have gone. Pigeons show us how to find our  way.

When this mandala was finished, my first thought was that this was like a Northern Star, always guiding us with Love. Whether it guides us back to a physical locality or that place inside that is our spiritual home, Love in the symbolic form of  pigeon energy shows us the way, gently, peacefully and with great Light.

How do you find your way back home? What does that mean to you, to return home? Won't you share a little with me here, if you feel inspired?

Bright blessings,
Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

Love is My Guiding Star is available for purchase now in my Etsy shop!

In Praise of All That Is Mandala

In Praise of All That Is (Earth Mystery Mandala series) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image: oak leaves

In Praise of All That Is Mandala was created in honor of all the ancient cultures who brought to us reverence for nature and life and for the turning of the wheel. Can you imagine these celebrations -- drumming and dancing with invocations to great spirit?  The creation of this mandala is a thank you to those who came before, the ancestors, and those who continue on with these traditions all over the world.

Oak trees have a long history in the Druidic tradition, during the Solstice and Equinox celebrations, and are referenced in many other cultures as well. From the book A Tree in Your Pocket by Jacqueline Memory Paterson I learned that the oak tree's qualities are courage, strength, solid protection, and that these trees are considered doors to the mystery.

I felt a deepening inside as I created this mandala and more so when it was completed. I listened to and experienced many different stories during its creation. This is one of those mandalas where I am having difficulty summoning up language to accompany the image. Your stories and feedback would be most welcome for the circle who gathers here.

Are you willing to be in the mystery?

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Blessing the New Year

 

 Blessing the New Year (Circles of Healing) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011 

source image: eucalyptus flower

Prosperity Mandala and Words for the Year

 

Prosperity Mandala (Circles of Prosperity) © Sue O'Kieffe 2011

source image-red camelia

I woke up on New Year's Eve day remembering a dream. I was approaching a round red door. It was huge. I was hearing the words Prosper. Power.Passion. I saw the circular door as a portal. I felt in awe of the power in the red before me.

I've been thinking about this dream for the past couple of days and knew that I wanted to create a mandala to commemorate and celebrate the feeling from  the dream. I don't know a lot about feng shui, but I do know that in the East, red represents prosperity and in the West it represents love and passion. This is all simplified, I know. Maybe some of you know about these concepts and can fill me in a bit.

So here we are at the end of the old year/beginning of the new year reflection part of the program:

I'm proud of what I accomplished in 2010. I lost 30 pounds (now 40 pounds in total), got my art out in the world, (etsy. three art shows. 7 local greeting card vendors. 3 calendars) and really began to focus on what prosperity means to me. I spent an awesome 90 days in a Prosperity Consciousness Raising class with Sage Taylor Kingsley-Goddard. (By the way, she is having free TelAttunements teleseminars tomorrow January 4th and January 18th.Here's the details. I am sharing this with you as a recommendation. I am not an affiliate of her program right now). And what I have I learned from this program?  Love myself first. Everything else follows.

For the past three years I have chosen a word of the year instead of making resolutions that don't work. I don't know if these words work either, but they do give me some focus. I taped them on my computer monitor so I won't forget. I don't remember last year's word. It appears I never wrote about it. But this year I choose to Love and Prosper.Active, powerful verbs, filled with lots of juicy red, methinks.

Happy New Year, everyone. May it be filled with your heart's desires!

Sue O'Kieffe
Sacred Circle Mandalas

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Life is for Growing

Life is for Growing (Circles of Healing) © Sue O'Kieffe 2010 

source image: yarrow leaf