I was feeling reluctant to move into stage 2 of the Great Round of Mandala…(a month in each stage feels about right, but this month we are doing stage 1 & 2 in our Wise Woman Within Sacred Women’s Circle)…I felt like I could rest in darkness for a lot longer…I guess it shows me a yearning for more deep rest in my life…and it definitely shows me a change from 2 years ago when I was really happy to exit the Void!
‘Trust that although the VOID (resting in darkness and empty space) is always there for us our nature is to AWAKEN and live out our destiny, just as spring always follows winter.’
Julie Gibbons
What I had forgotten is the FUN of stage 2…it really does echo BLISS as we finally get to play with colour but no need to conform or have forms in the mandala…it reminds me of the joy of finger painting at Kinder: where it is all about ENJOYING the paint, the mess, the feel on your fingers…and you LOVE how it looks no matter what! I truly feel at home in this stage and yet I realise I mostly don’t allow myself the time to play and experiment with curiosity without worrying about an outcome.
‘The soothing colours…seemed to nourish a starving place in her soul.’
Susanne F Fincher
Interesting how some of the stages are comfy/familiar compared to some stages that we find hard which represent where our ‘growing edges’ are. Some stages we visit frequently and some not enough… so much richness to explore in each stage…so many layers of meaning..
‘We emerge from the VOID into the close embrace of the sea…a fertile, watery space of infinite possibility while the sea offers all the support for awakening.’
Julie Gibbons
‘The voice of the sea is seductive. It speaks to the soul, sensuous, enfolding the body in a soft, close embrace.’
Kate Chopin
The sea is the soul’s home, it represents the depths of the unconscious. We emerged from the water and just like water we are ever-changing. The water of the sea is fertile, life-sustaining, good for purification and renewal, ever patient and persistent (words from Julie Gibbons).
BLISS is a watery stage with fluid mandalas representing when we were safe and blissfully floating in our Mother’s womb, tender and fragile like any new life. Consciousness is diffuse and dreamy as we float into the light with no ego boundaries, relaxing and enjoying what is here, we swim in the joy of feeling a part of nature…’ Fincher
BLISS can represent that predawn moment between sleep and waking when we are aware and don’t yet have to DO anything…it can be surrendering to a natural rhythm and being aware of that vast ocean of being that is nature.
This stage represents a spark of new life, a fresh consciousness…energy rising though it doesn’t yet have a clear direction or goal…we are buoyed up with optimism and hope as we realise anything is possible, in fact, there are INFINITE possibilities…Life is pregnant with possibility yet we don’t yet know where, when or how to express this new energy…
When we are in this stage we playfully follow our curiosity and intuition, in FLOW with life around us, experimenting with no goal in mind,openning ourselves to new ways of looking at things and new actions…
Keywords for this stage (Fincher) are:
Fluidity, openness, peacefulness, one with nature, receiving blessings, feeling loving and infinitely loved, optimism, curiosity, being and infinite possibilities…
Can’t wait to share Stage 2, BLISS: floating into the light with you! 🙂 x Sara
The Mandala Workbook by Fincher and Julie Gibbons Mandala Magic 2017 were key resources for this blog.
Deep Heart Wisdom 