A comment was left on my blog asking, besides a circle, what is a mandala? The circle itself is the essence of the mandala, because it is used as a device to bring attention inward, as in prayer or meditation. The circle is represented in nature in the sun, the moon, in the rings of a tree, the opening of a flower, and in a piece of fruit such as an orange or apple. The circle also represents the cycle of life, with no beginning or end. To me, the circle also represents continuity, that life flows in its own way, and that there is no right or wrong, just being. I use the mandala as a symbol that centers me.

In Beading for the Soul (ed. by Deborah Cannarella), Mary Tafoya has a design for a mandala, and an explanation of what they mean to her. I think that if you were to ask 10 different people, you would get 10 different explanations of what a mandala is, and that's one of the things that makes them so cool, that their meaning is personal to each individual.

One unexpected benefit that has happened since I beaded my first mandala for my June page is that I have started drawing them again. I drew them for years and then kind of stopped. It feels like being welcomed home to draw again.

Susan