Sacred Circles: Working with Mandala Drawings

Sacred Circles: Working with Mandala Drawings
by Robert Turner, M.D.

Mandala drawings, or circle drawings, offer a powerful means of accessing and facilitating psychospiritual development. How is it that something so simple as a circle drawing can be so powerful? Why the circle instead of some other shape? And what do circle drawings mean? Can they actually be understood psychologically?

The word mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning "magic circle" or more literally "of (the) essence." Mandala drawings have been with humanity since the emergence of the circle in artistic expression, although they were not fully recognized for their psychological significance until the work of Carl Jung. His analytic psychology was more intuitively oriented, with an emphasis on the symbolic meaning of productions from the unconscious. After years of spontaneously creating his own mandala drawings, he came to understand through his work with dream symbolism that the circle was the foremost symbol of the Self-the organizing principle at the center of the psyche, bringing meaning and purpose to a person's life. In his writings on mandala symbolism, Jung articulated how mandala drawings express in non-verbal language the innate movement within the depths of the unconscious towards wholeness-what he referred to as the "individuation process" (C.G. Jung, Mandala Symbolism, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1959).

Some would argue, and rightfully so, that all forms of "expressive arts," such as dance, song, sculpture, and drawing of any kind, give expression to this movement of the unconscious towards wholeness. So why is the circle so special in this regard? First of all, the circle is a symbol of wholeness, a word that comes from the same root as healing and health. So expressing ourselves with a circle connects us with what many would say is the goal of our human journey. Secondly, when asked to express their inner life through drawing, many people are comforted by the circle; it brings a gentle boundary to an otherwise seemingly boundless space. Thirdly, the circle as a geometrical shape embraces the paradox so central to the human drama-that of unity with diversity. The circle is comprised of an infinite number of points on the periphery coming together to form a single line, all points of which are equidistant from a central "source." But most importantly, expressing our inner life in relation to a circle brings us into relationship with our true Self at the center of the psyche. As a result, what is expressed is informed by the Self, imparting a significance and sacredness to the message. And the act of expressing from that depth facilitates the natural unfoldment of a person's spiritual potential.

Value of Mandala Drawings
If circle drawings do indeed have such potential, in what situations would they be indicated? My first response would be all life situations from childhood up to old age. The almost unlimited applicability of a mandala drawing is decidedly one of its biggest appeals. The only contraindication that I have encountered has been the person in an excited, manic state who is already so overstimulated that drawings could possibly make things worse. Having said that, I would add that mandala drawings can be particularly helpful and therapeutic in situations of crisis. This would include such things as major losses, major life transitions, life-threatening illness, and spiritual emergencies. The intense affect that usually accompanies any major crisis may not receive adequate expression by-or be too much to process with-words alone. The opportunity to express non-verbally can free up a blocked grieving process, offer consolation during the "no man's land" of a transition, digest the myriad feelings that arise when faced with one's mortality, and give expression to intense feelings for which words cannot be found.

Mandala drawings are also helpful for grounding experience. The affect that characteristically accompanies most intense experience can pull us out of our bodies and the emotional/psychological framework within which we usually live. By expressing this affect non-verbally within a circle, we have a container to both hold and reflect back to us what may take much longer to fully digest and assimilate. This serves to begin the grounding process, orienting and anchoring us to our inner experience as it moves towards a new level of integration. For this reason, I often use mandala drawings as a closing ritual for any group experience, such as a weekend workshop. Similarly, in the practice of Holotropic Breathwork, mandala drawings are frequently used at the end of a breathwork session.

The other value of the drawings in any life situation is that they promote and strengthen the relationship between a person's outer conscious life and his/her inner unconscious life, which in turn promotes health and well-being. In this sense, states of illness and dis-ease can be understood as a misalignment or lack of relationship between a person's outer and inner life, and physical/psychological well-being can be seen as reflective of alignment and flowing rapport.


Psychological Meaning
A question that often arises, particularly if mandala drawings are done in a clinical setting, is "What do the drawings mean?" If we are to understand them as productions of the unconscious, similar in many ways to dreams, would they not be meaningful psychologically? I would maintain that indeed they are meaningful. And the challenge is to understand the language of the unconscious so these nonverbal productions can be translated into language that is both understandable and useful for the person who did the drawing.

Interestingly, such an approach contradicts many art therapists who insist that nonverbal productions of the unconscious are not to be interpreted in any way, but rather should be allowed to "speak for themselves" in their "native" language. I personally have a great deal of respect for such a viewpoint, in that it protects against the potential violations that can occur when anyone sets out to diagnose people from their drawing or to tell them what their drawing means. Such violations represent the shadow side of efforts to understand a drawing psychologically and must be taken into account. But if this shadow can be acknowledged and worked with rather than ignored or repressed, are we not denying ourselves the gifts that ideally this side holds-that is, the enormous healing potential that awaits someone if a psychological meaning can be gleaned from the drawing and translated back to the person without violating the sacredness of that drawing for him/her?

I reply with a wholehearted "Yes!" With all due respect to the potential shadow pitfalls, efforts to understand the symbolic language of the unconscious and translate it back to someone can be profoundly validating and healing. When this process is successful, people often report being seen and validated at a depth never before experienced. Moreover, the process can raise the inherent value of an expressive arts creation to a higher level, especially if the psychological understanding rings true enough to bring the person "full circle" back to the source of the unconscious message.

How to understand the language of the unconscious as expressed through mandala drawings goes beyond the scope of this article. For those interested, I would encourage you to stay away from the books on the market and begin doing your own mandala drawings. Get a feel for this process and how it unfolds for you, and put your drawings up where you can see them. They will "work" on and for you if you give them the chance-even without any understanding about what they might mean psychologically. Trust that your unconscious will rise to the occasion, as it does for any opportunity to express itself to someone interested and willing to listen. Perhaps in time you will discover some meaning for yourself as you allow your intuition to work. And don't forget that somewhere inside, you already know what each drawing means.

Sacred circles simultaneously remind us of the (unconscious) Home we once knew, awaken us to the potential of our conscious Return, and clarify where we are in that Sacred Journey.

[This paper originally appeared in the 1996 Conference Proceedings: Psychosynthesis for the Next Century. It is reprinted with the permission of Psychosynthesis International and Dr. Robert Turner. Copies of the complete proceedings may be purchased by contacting Psychosynthesis International, Box 279, Ojai, CA 93024-0279.]

Robert Turner, M.D., is a psychiatrist, teacher, transpersonal therapist and homeopath in private practice in San Francisco. He is currently incubating for his 1998 Mandala Drawing Series, and can be reached at 1719 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94123. Phone: 415-292-4404.


--- from AAP Newsletter Volume 2, Number 2
Spring 1997.


http://www.aap-psychosynthesis.org/articles/turner1.htm