Mega-Mandalas

Hello everyone, I hope this New Moon has been a good day for you.

This week in my studio Rob and I have been on a roll making Mandalas and Yantras. We've never made so many in such a short time, and it's as if we're riding a wave. I thought I'd show you a few of them in their early stages of drawing and cut clay. These are currently drying out for their bisque firing. The lights and darks in the clay show the different levels of wet-dry of each piece of tile.

It will be amazing to see the transformation once they have color, but for now it's just the gray palette of clay.

Mandalas and Yantras are tools for contemplation and are made up of profound geometries that are designed to bring the viewer to the center of the piece as well as deep within themselves. The geometries of Yantras contain all of the universe and are ancient. For more in depth information and to learn about the difference between a mandala and a yantra, see my previous post.

One additional note about the difference with these forms is that Yantras are ancient "maps" of energy and making them requires a very specific practice and protocol. Mantra is used to imbue the maker and the piece and each shape is made using an indirect system of lines. While I take a lot of creative liberties with color and form, there are limits and boundaries and all actions must be within the spirit of the ancient Yantra. Mandalas on the other hand leave room for all kinds of personal creativity. They need to primarily circular in form and follow precepts of nature and meditation, but the boundaries are much wider and broader with this form.

The top row is Rob's Moon Mandala, a tribute to the cycles of nature, rhythms of our lives and of course the cycles of the moon. It is a reminder of how we as humans are inextricably connected to our natural world.

The bottom row is a Chinnamasta Yantra. Chinnamasta is the Tantric Goddess of Intuition. Chinnamasta cuts off the extraneous chatter of the mind and senses. It's said that she cuts off your head - metaphorically speaking - opening up silence and space for intuition. Here the all-seeing third eye harnesses its full power as the gates of higher consciousness are opened.

Next we have a Durga Yantra. Durga is the Tantric Goddess of Protection. She is the ultimate Mother and wards off danger with her multitude of weapons, protecting us as only a mother could. Durga offers a path to channel your compassionate warrior self.

And last but not at all least, a Kali Yantra. Kali is the Tantric Goddess of Transformation bringing the courage to overcome all fears. Transforming the ignorance of fear into the light of truth, Kali destroys that which is not true for you, allowing your new reality to reveal itself to you.

Kali is usually thought of as an the goddess of death and destruction and is often depicted with chilling images of heads rolling, necklaces of skulls, her eyes in a powerful gaze with her tongue hanging out and blood everywhere. My experience of engaging with this energy of transformation has definitely been no nonsense and strong but also notably sweet and very effective. I really wanted to make this Yantra and had some specific areas of my life that I wanted to shift. I was not disappointed in any way! Not only did "things" shift, but with grace and clarity.

Our idea is to put together a sort of collection of different kinds of Mandalas. Here you can see the beginnings of this where we try out every idea we have and we have many more ideas to make into pieces before we decide which ones will be in the collection.

Stay tuned for the fired pieces in a week or less. As always, many thanks for reading, upvoting, commenting and following!