Summary
Carl Gustav Jung: Jung's Magical Circle: The Power of the Mandala
Editor-in-Chief: Nina Gugleta
The benefits are numerous and too numerous to list here. It is not at all necessary to be a skilled or experienced artist. Whether you approach this as meditation, observation, reflection, or just a fun activity, the act of using color and imagery to enhance your connection to the unconscious is an invitation to enrich your personal life. You can incorporate mandala coloring into your ritual; play your favorite music; to dance them; frame them - or simply use them as an immediate, portable portal into some other form of existence. The Sanskrit word mandala means "full circle" in the usual sense of the word. However, in the realm of deeper psychology, it refers to a sacred protective image, often a circle inscribed in a square or vice versa, which includes many delicate, intricate, symmetrical shapes. People from all areas and from all historical periods made mandalas. These are "cosmograms" - pictures of an individual's psychic reality, a brief representation of where a person is at this moment - how he relates to himself and the world around him. The famous Swiss psychiatrist K. G. Jung adored mandalas. After extensive research, he saw that mandalas are a traditional antidote to chaotic states of mind. That's why he encouraged his patients to draw, paint or dance mandalas when they were depressed or when they were obsessed with conflicting desires. In short, mandalas are images that help to heal a divided or troubled personality in the service of self-regulation of the psyche. Jung himself was an example of an opportunity for individuation, even in a stressful everyday world where authenticity is rare and compromise is common. How can we connect with the source of creativity that exists in each of us, to renew our energy and zest for life? For most of us, this is real work and the only work that can sustain us. For Jung, the important answer to this question was his daily work with the representations that spring from his psyche.
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