"In practice, mandala has become a generic term for any plan, chart, or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, a microcosm of the universe from the human perspective. In various spiritual traditions, mandala may be employed for focusing attention of aspirants and adepts, a spiritual teaching tool, for establishing a sacred space as an aid to meditation and trance induction. Its symbolic nature can help one to access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the mediator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold form arises. The psychoanalyst Carl Jung saw the mandala as a representation of the unconscious self and believed his paintings of mandalas enabled him to identify emotional disorders and work toward wholeness in personality."
I decided to create a mandala for a number of reasons, all of which happened in a short period of time and led me wanting to learn more about them. I designed my mandala to symbolize a rebirth - I've been toying with the idea of rebirth lately as well, and the two ideas just fit. I began gathering images that symbolize an aspect of rebirth, and as it happened most of them are photographs of nature. To me, nature perfectly represents the cycle of life and physical rebirth. While in this stage of gathering images, I started sketching daily mandalas to brainstorm design ideas, as well as to practice what I was learning about Carl Jung's daily mandala studies. I originally wanted to make the mandala mixed media so that I could have something tangible, but in the end I decided the best way to keep it clear and still intricate was to stick to creating the image digitally. Overall, creating this mandala was a very rewarding experience - I feel I successfully presented the idea of rebirth, and I was able to really explore and learn along the way.
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