Stage 7: Squaring the Circle

Before starting stage 7 there are 3 important reflection questions:

1. What symbolically represents wholeness to you?
2. When was there a time in your life when you felt balanced and whole as you took action to align your core values with your way of life?
3. What can you do this month to bring more balance into your life? To align your life’s quest/journey more with your values & your soul’s calling?

‘Philosophically and spiritually, to square the circle means to see equally in four directions—up, down, in, and out—and to be whole, complete, and free.  Circles often represent the spiritual because they are infinite—they have no end. The square is often a symbol of the material because of the number of physical things that come in fours, such as four seasons, four directions, and the four physical elements—earth, air, fire, and water, according to ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles—not to mention its solid appearance.’

https://www.learnreligions.com/squaring-the-circle-96039

SQUARING THE CIRCLE is the peak of our Great Round of Mandala represented by the noon-day sun or full moon high positive energy.  This is the time to step into your full power and it is time for you to shine.

This stage indicates moving into early adulthood, actively clarifying your identity, power and autonomy and standing authentically within your core values. It can be the time you take the best qualities your parents gave you and metaphorically give your parents back to each other as you leave the nest.

Thinking, learning, personal goals, career and discovering your sexuality, even love relationships are all part of this stage. The ego self and the true self are closely aligned as you feel a sense of a clear mission towards self-realisation & wholeness. The ego self helps to plan and map out your true self’s intention.

Often in stage 7 we feel high energy, enthusiasm, confidence, focus, clarity and a sense of direction as we get ready to move into action and even to go on a quest to follow our soul’s calling. Stage 7 is a stage that is highly valued by our society so enjoy it when you are there, but it is only one of 12 stages and no more or less important than all of the other stages.  It’s possible to explore this stage and learn from it even if you don’t feel that it represents your life right now.

Stages 10-3 of the great round of mandala are based on the matriarchy, the feminine, often on your relationship to your mother, your beginnings and on the subconscious. Stages 4-9 focus on the patriarchy, the masculine, on consciousness, your ego and on skills, practicality & productivity. The first 6 stages (10-3) are more feminine, intuitive and the mandalas are curved flowing lines. The last 6 stages (4-9) are more masculine and require more planning, measuring and straight lines. Each of us will prefer either the more feminine or more masculine mandalas and it is great to relish those you are most comfortable with while also challenging yourself to dive deep into those mandalas you find more difficult.

The clash of true opposites (stage 6) is no longer a source of conflict in Squaring the Circle. Stage 7 mandalas are made up of curvy and straight lines and they represent a harmonious balance between masculine and feminine energy, often represented by a balance of circles and squares or curved and straight lines.  

Jung believed this stage represented wholeness and that often mandalas in this stage represent balance, stability and symmetry.   Jung believed that mandalas in this stage were often represented with the number 4 – as in the ancient symbol of the cross (see below) or a 4 pointed star or a 4 petaled flower or the 4 sides of a square. Jung paid great attention to these mandalas in people’s dreams.

The number 4 can symbolically represent:

• north, south, east, west
• dawn, noon, dusk and midnight
• thinking, feeling, sensing & intuition
• summer, autumn, winter spring
• child, teen, adult, elder
• maiden, mother, wise woman, crone

The cross is an ancient symbol of the spiritual / masculine (vertical axis) meeting the feminine/ earth (horizontal axis). The midpoint of the cross represents where heaven and earth meet and complement each other.  It can represent the harmonious union of opposing forces within nature (e.g. sun & moon) just as a square (material world) and a circle (spiritual world) can too.

Medicine wheels, tree mandalas and shield mandalas all represent this stage.

To read more about creating a Mandala Virtues Shield go here: https://100mandalas.com/2016/07/24/create-a-mandala-shield/

‘Live the fullest expression of your highest self & trust fully in the intelligence of Life to unfold through you.’

Julia Gibbons

Stage 7 can be a time of clarifying your core values and your personal vision/mission for your life and the world.  Here are Deepak Chopra’s 7 questions that can reveal your soul profile—a real understanding of who you are, not just what you do.  It can be great to reflect on these questions before you create your Squaring the Circle Mandala and include parts of your soul profile, your values, vision or mission either as words or symbols in your mandala.

1. Who am I? 

2. What do I want? 

3. What’s my purpose in this life? 

4. What sort of contribution do I want to make? 

5. What are my unique skills? 

6. Who are my heroes? 

7. What is a meaningful relationship—what do I expect from one, and what do I give? 

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/7-questions-to-lead-you-to-your-soul-profile-deepak-chopra#ixzz5uBY71Xsn

Personally I find this a challenging stage…stage 6 was sooo rich in exploring conflicting desires and so representative and forgiving of my life right now that it felt daunting to dive in to the ‘balance and wholeness’ of stage 7. Yet the Soul Profile questions were revealing of what I wanted more of in my life and also of my personal vision for myself and the world.  It can be so useful to identify what is out of balance and take steps to find the balance again as you make a Squaring the Circle mandala. It can also serve as a vision of your future with more balance and wholeness. It is vastly reassuring to remember that this is only one stage of 12 stages and each stage is valid. It is part of every hero’s journey/quest to fall in and out of this stage!

Information for this blog came from Susanne F. Fincher’s The Mandala Workbook and Julia Gibbon’s Mandala Magic Program in 2017.