THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
 MANDALA MAKER<sup>®
Ann K Elliott, ©1987, 2002, 2003, 2006

A Creative Activity for All Ages
IT'S AS SIMPLE OR AS INTRICATE AS YOU MAKE IT

As an tool for
 INNER WORK PROCESSES
including
Self-Knowledge
Spiritual Direction
Psychological Counseling
Hospice Work
Art Therapy
Mandala/Journal Workshops

 IPMM CONTENTS PAGE</sup>
NEW!
 THE KIDS' MANDALA MAKER PAGE

^{PREFACE TO}

^{THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES}

^{This mandala is one of 823,543 color-combination possibilities.The arrangement of the three inner squares is one of eight possible arrangements, raising the design dynamics eight-fold to 6,588,344 color/design possibilities. And this is not allowing for individual innovative}

^{arrangements which expand the possibilities to a literal infinity. Through an alternating interchange of square and circle the union of spirit and matter and heaven and earth is implicit. When assembled in diminishing levels, the symbolism is also of ascent and transformation.}

THE INTERPLAY OF CREATIVE FORCES

^{"Color and line are forces, and in the play of these forces, in their balancing, lies the secret of creation."  Kandinsky}

^{"Composition is the art of arranging in a decorative manner the various elements at a painter's disposal for the expression of his feelings."  Matisse}

^{"I sketched every morning in a notebook a small circular drawing, a mandala, which seemed to correspond to my inner situation at the time. With the help of these drawings I could observe my psychic transformations from day to day. . . . Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is: 'Formation, Transformation, Eternal Mind's eternal recreation.' (Faust, II) . . . My mandalas were cryptograms . . . in which I saw the self--that is, my whole being--actively at work. To be sure, at first I could only dimly understand them; but they seemed to me highly significant, and I guarded them like precious pearls. I had the distinct feeling that they were something central, and in time I acquired through them a living conception of the self. The self, I thought, was like the monad which I am, and which is my world. The mandala represents this monad, and corresponds to the microcosmic nature of the psyche." Jung}

^{So what, exactly, is a Mandala?}
Most simply, a Mandala is a symbol of the I that I Am,
 or in another way of speaking, the Self.

On the outside we look like simple, individual human beings. But inside we are an entire universe of complex, interrelated and interdependent parts and selves who play multitudinous roles in our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual lives.

A Mandala reflects the many parts of our one, whole being.

This wholeness of being is known sometimes as the "I" or "I am" or as the Self--the inner self--or even the Christ Self, or, in the teachings of Jesus--the Child--the child who has an angel whose face is always turned towards God, and which child holds the key to the kingdom or the realm of spirit.

No wonder there is so much emphasis in psychology and spiritual direction on having a positive connection with this inner child. Inner healing or the mending of the heart is largely a matter of freeing this child from its imprisonment.

Moreover, the inner child is the creative self, and we nurture this inner, child-self when we break from our adult routines and do creative work and play.

Or with children creative activities are a way of providing nurture and expression for the spirit--the essential self--of the child.

In contact with this inner creative spirit the wellsprings of lives--young or old--are refreshed and restored. The parts are brought into balance and relationship with the whole.

This reconnection of the parts with the whole is what is happening on a feeling and intuitive level in the process of creating a Mandala.