Out of all the mandalas I did in the Mandala Magic journey in 2017, the VOID: resting in darkness, stage 1, was probably the most intimidating…and yet the insights have stayed strongly with me ever since.
The VOID is stage 1 of the Great Round of Mandala: A spiralling path of continuous, cyclical growth as we go through 12 recognised stages many times over in our life. The VOID is a stage of deep rest & growth, a time to lean in and surrender, trusting and having faith that there is a seed within, incubating and germinating, that will one day burst forth and reveal itself.
I didn’t realise though how indoctrinated we are to celebrate the light until I was introduced to the VOID and the thought of creating a dark mandala felt strange…was I inviting in the negative? This felt scary… It also felt strange to start with such a formless mandala….no nice colours or symbols just a dark circle…yet somehow, fairly quickly, making VOID mandalas felt restful, simple, pressure-free, very meditative and strangely freeing and reassuring….there was comfort to be had in the darkness and the simple circle. Almost like a nest for deep rest!
I realised that I LOVE the dark moon, a symbol for the void, I sleep better then and it is a great time for new beginnings. Even deep sleep feels like resting in the darkness. I realised I LOVE the complete darkness in a cave when the torches are switched off or the darkness with a lavender eye rest or hands over your eyes…and the cosiness you imagine when you see a little penguin burrow or a joey in her mother’s pouch….
What comes to your mind when you think of resting in the darkness?
I also realised how scared we are of all that we don’t know and of uncertainty, those moments in ‘the dark night of the soul’…yet often out of a time of uncertainty comes great growth and creativity….even if it doesn’t feel like it is happening at the time. It was insightful to look back at my life and the times of being in the VOID and what came out of that time of darkness…often it was as if I was hibernating, a little scared and uncertain…waiting for the right time to burst forth into the light.
In Joseph Campbell’s description of the Hero’s Journey, often represented in most narratives, there is always a time when the hero isn’t sure she can go on and has to rest deeply before the next part of the journey…
When have you been resting in VOID, surrendering to the uncertainty in your life only for the next step to slowly reveal itself? When have you found it hard to surrender to the VOID and fought it, only to find an answer reveal itself finally and often in surprising ways?
describes the VOID beautifully!
If we think about it we all began formless, in the dark, safe sanctuary of our mother’s womb, resting and growing all at the same time…and our own womb has been the source of creativity and growth in the dark …with pregnancy being one of our most creative phases… Out of the dark and the deep rest comes creativity and growth…
In the garden, we plant a seed in the dark soil, and when everything is uncertain, we water and nurture the ground that holds the seed, hoping that life will spring forth! It is only in the dark that the seed can undergo the most change, yet we cannot see it. Is this the same with all creative projects/growth?…The most change, the most creative growing is happening in the dark…as we sit, uncertain, and unknowing, there is all this unfolding going on? mmm, interesting…
Maybe it is in those times of deep rest, in our time of fallow or creative cocooning…that the seeds are planted for our next creative growth?
When do you need to rest in the darkness? Is this something you can relate to and would like to do more of in your life? When has the time of void been scary with the uncertainty being too overwhelming…?
There is just so much to reflect on within this stage… can’t wait to do the VOID meditations and mandalas with you in our Wise Woman Within Circle x Sara
All info in this blog post is inspired by:
Julie Gibbons Mandala Magic 2017 http://www.juliegibbons.com/ &
The Mandala Workbook: A creative guide for self-exploration, balance & well-being by Susanne F. Fincher
For a summary of the Great Round of Mandala click here
For more info on the psychology of the mandala go here: http://creatingmandalas.com/psychology-of-the-mandala
For the history of the mandala click here: http://creatingmandalas.com/mandala-history)
Deep Heart Wisdom 