The Mystical Yantra, Meditating With Color, Line, and Shape

Yesterday I began a new project which I’m pretty excited about. I’ll be making a yantra for a steam shower my client is building in her basement. Several years ago I began an earnest study of making yantras but it’s been far too long since I’ve stepped into this rich meditative practice and I’m heartened by this timely opportunity.

In preparation for this project I looked through some of the pieces I’ve made in the past and was reminded of the unique pleasure and power in this practice. Later I’ll post the new project as it develops but for now, here is a brief look at some of my previous journeys into the world of yantra making.

First, a little bit about the yantra. It is a type of mandala that is a diagram of an energetic signature and at its most basic level, it is used as a tool for meditation and the expansion of the spirit. The practice of making a yantra takes focus and intention and uses a very deliberate method and geometry that heals and empowers not only the maker but also all who look upon it.

My first Sri Yantra

Deep tradition and thousands of years of rich history surround the yantra practice and there are volumes written on the subject. As with many empowering practices, yantra making and instruction have historically been somewhat secretive.

Yantras can be 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional. They have a proportion, geometry and form that is believed within tantric traditions to have significant power and within this construct, the macro and micro levels of life mirror each other - as it is for the individual, so it is for the universe, as it is for the atom so it is for the cosmos.

My second Sri Yantra I chose to keep VERY simple

My favorite is the Sri Yantra, also known as Sri Chakra. During manifestation or creation, an energy, a light, an illumination occurs. The geometry of the Sri Chakra is a transcript of this profound energetic movement, this divine yet everyday act which occurs within each of us as well as on a universal level. The sound created by this transcript is OM.

When I learned this, I was blown away. It was so profound to imagine a transcript of such a thing and of course I had to try to make one. And of course my conscious understanding and awareness of the workings of my own creative process has expanded through this practice.

It is called the mother of all yantras because all other yantras derive from it. This is a powerful, precise and magnificent geometry that is believed to contain the entire universe. And any space that houses a Sri Yantra is blessed. It is a carrier of great health, happiness, prosperity, love and wellness and brings great auspiciousness to those who experience it.

I begin with drawing the geometry from outside in and in a very particular order. I have to refer to the instructions at each step and it is not a quick process.

Yantras are often thought of as Hindu but many originally came out of a Tantric tradition which predates the Hindu religion. This vein of Tantra has the rare and magnificent understanding of and reverence for female power and sees it as the seed of creation and life.

cutting the pieces in clay

Another way to describe the Sri Yantra is as the Goddess in the act of creation. It is basically an ode to, a celebration of inherent feminine power and specifically of the female genitals in all of their glory. The main focal point of a yantra is the Bindu - at the very center - and each of the other geometric elements guides the viewer’s eye toward it. The Bindu is the clitoris, the seed of creation or the field of pure potentiality. The entire universe, all of creation unfolds around this center of pleasure and power.

As you may imagine, this practice can ignite some powerful and potentially steamy sexual energy for men and women both. Not the kind of sexual energy that comes and goes but more like a fire is lit that you can keep burning strong if you choose.

A 3 dimensional Sri Yantra cast in brass:

Directly beneath the Bindu is a triange for which one point represents the male principle, another the female principle and the third is the potent combination of both.

There are all kinds of yantras that represent different powerful energies. They are most often archetypal energies like gods or goddesses or the power held and represented by each planet.

I was having a resurgence of creativity a few years ago and decided to try to make a Passion Yantra to help support me in bringing this energy forth in useful ways. The fiery Mars yantra is all about passion, self-confidence, sexuality, independence and the ability to achieve goals with passion, focus and conviction.

my first and imperfect attempt at a Mars Yantra was a glaze painting

The upward facing triangle represents the male energy of making things happen, bringing what is within the heart out in to manifest form with energy, focus and fire.

My second attempt at a Mars Yantra, this time as a mosaic

For support during an internal time, I made the most feminine of planetary yantras- the Moon Yantra. It supports the inner journey of consciousness, of restoring the self, rejuvenating the life force and creativity and inner illumination. Nourishment of the being on all levels - body, mind, emotions and spirit - is embodied in this one. It has a liquid quality and is peaceful, receptive and radiant. It was a perfect balancing practice to follow the more external Mars Yantra.

The geometry of the central upward facing triangle and overlapping downward facing triangle is a perfect balance of male and female energy.

Two dimensional Yantras are usually made as paintings but if you’ve been reading my posts thus far, you’ve seen that clay is my way. Thus I had to have my yantra experiences with clay.

More to come on yantras and mandalas, thanks for reading and stay tuned. As always, I love your comments so keep them coming!

A simple, small incense holder that feels like it could have been made 2000 years ago and recently dug up.

(many thanks to Madeline Huish and Amritananda for their lineage and teachings about the Sri Yantra and to Sarah Tomlinson and Harish Johari for their guidance for the planetary yantras)