Women’s Circle Newsletter

awomenscircle@yahoo.com

P.O. Box 110998  Aurora, CO. 80042
720-530-2834
Reaching out each month in joy and
sisterhood to keep us connected as we circle together as women

Andrea Lord
President, Alpha Institute
Women’s Circle Facilitator
Reiki Practitioner

Rachel Lord RN, CMT, MH
Women’s Circle Facilitator
Master Herbalist

SEPTEMBER 2010

We Continue our Symbol Series…

The Symbol of Mandalas

A Mandala is a circle with an intricate symmetrical pattern within it. It has been used for mediation and going within. They are as beautiful as they are useful.

A CONVERSATION ON MANDALAS

• Mandala is the Sanskrit word for “circle”.  In Hindu it means “concentric energy circle.”
• Most Common:  Hindu and Buddhist mandalas are a circle containing a square with four gates leading to a center point.
• The Four Gates or doors can signify qualities such as kindness, compassion, forgiveness, understanding.
• The Four Gates lead from the physical to the metaphysical.
• Movement is key.  A journey between the two allow us to go within and without, back and forth.  The center of a Mandala leads us to the Universe.
• Mediums for the soul:  Mandalas help us discover our real center and creativity. By merging the metaphysical and the physical we attain focus and peace.
• The word has become synonymous with “Sacred Space”.
• Pre-Historically:  In India they were a term for a collection of mantras or verse hymns chanted in sacred ceremony.  Genetic patterns are contained within these sounds giving shape and form, thus creating Mandalas
• Today you will find many Mandala variations, but all are colorful, beautiful meditative tools.
  
  
  

  THERAPY FOR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL BALANCING. 

  • Carl Jung saw Mandalas as a representation of the unconscious self.
  • Brain Balance: Using them in therapy can help unify the left side of  the brain (the analytical) with  the  right side of the brain (the intuitive). This brings integration and wholeness.
  • Balancing can help anybody- but was found to be therapeutic for schizophrenia and other emotional disorders. 

  

  MEDITATING ON A MANDALA
  Using its colors, shapes, symbology

   

  • Monks meditated for years, before they found their personal Mandala. This process was a spiritual tool to divinity.
  • There are many ways to use this tool to go on a  mental journey to your center.
  • Meditate on a drawn Mandala to clear the mind, travel within and without.
  • Design and draw your own mandala. (Monks meditated for years, before they found theirs.)
  • Color or Paint a Mandala
  • Use in your work: For instance, when doing body work one can focus on  a Mandala to clear the mind and intuit the treatment. You could gaze at a Mandala while doing Yoga or while sweeping the floor.

  
  

  EVOLUTION OF MANDALAS-CROSS CULTURALLY
  “Right Brain-Left Brain”
  
  

  • Celtic Knot: One continuous path, unbroken. A form of mandala. Symmetrical and meditative. 
  • Native Americans: A shield of good luck, wealth and happiness.
  • Plains Indians:  Used them as a shield.
    
    
    
    
    

  KALEIDOSCOPES
  A Meditative Tool

  
  

  • Do you remember Kaleidoscopes when you were a kid?
  • Here’s how they work: It’s the principle of multiple reflection. Several mirrors are attached together at various angles. 
  • A two-mirror model yields a pattern or patterns isolated against a solid black background, while a three-mirror (closed triangle) model yields a pattern that fills the entire field.
  • As the tube is rotated, the tumbling of colored objects presents the viewer with varying colors and symmetrical patterns because of the reflections in the mirrors.
  • These patterns are very Mandala-like and can be used for enjoyment and meditation.

  MANDALA ACTIVITIES

  

   

  • Download, print and color a mandala. Or get a coloring book.  As you create your masterpiece, meditate on the process.
  • Meditate on a Picture of a Mandala.
  • Get a Mandala Calendar and use it for meditation. Hang it in a prominent spot
  • Trace a Mandala in the sand.
  • Create a collage mandala from your own pictures.
    
    The Following sites have mandalas that you can download and color or see how one is constructed:

  http://www.free-mandala.com/en/start.html
  http://www.coloringcastle.com/mandala_coloring_pages.html
  http://www.earthmandalas.com/

   

  Some of our References:
  http://www.crystalinks.com/labyrinths.html
  http://en.wikipedia.org/

  Image Resources:
  http://www.inkpots.net
  http://image.shutterstock.com
  http://www.wisdomrun.net
  http://www.ireland-fun-facts.com
  http://picses.eu/
  

EVENTS CALENDAR:

Sunday October 24, 2010
1 pm - 4:30 pm $20

Connect With Other Wise Women

Join In Ceremony with Drums and Rattles!

• STORY TELLING The oral tradition has been a way of passing on wisdom and history since the beginning.
• THE GIVEAWAY was the first recycling program - a way of sharing  and passing along something of value that no longer serves.
• WE WILL COMBINE THE TWO: We will gift our sisters with an object that symbolizes something we treasure, a lesson learned or something useful we might have outgrown. We will then share its story.
• The circle has been a natural way for women to gather since the beginning.
• BRING: A wrapped gift that helps tell your story; a drum or rattle for sacred ceremony.  (We have extra instruments.)

Presenters:

Andrea Lord, Women’s Circle Facilitator, Reiki Practitioner
Rachel Lord, RN, CMT, Master Herbalist

Held At:
Old Hampden Holistic Center
3501 S. Corona St., #1
Englewood, CO 80113

To Sign Up:
Phone:  
A Women’s Circle at 720-530-2834
Email:
awomenscircle@yahoo.com
www.awomenscircle.net

There will be Women’s Activities and Circles throughout the year.  Stay posted.
If you have stories, information and would like to share bits of your journey with us, we want to hear from you. If you get an idea send it out to awomenscircle@yahoo.com