Creativity,
Art Therapy and Holy Mandalas |
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Creating personal illuminated symbols for
Healing and Inner Peace
An article by Robert and Shauna Kendall
Mandala Gallery Images
The Sacred Art of Mandalas
"Drawing or creating a Mandala (a sanskrit word
meaning sacred circle) is a meditative art which reflect our conscioiusness
through symbolic patterns - making our inner spiritual essence visible.
In religious and pyschotherapeutic traditions worldwide, mandalas are
created to help the process of wholeness, healing and spiritual transformation'
(Dr.Judith Cornell).
For five years, my wife Shauna and I lived and worked
in the wonderful and chaotic centre of transformation called the Findhorn
Foundation (a spiritual and educational trust in northern Scotland).
During our time at Findhorn we had become more and more
interested in art therapy, to such a degree that we now make the creative
process and the drawing of mandalas an important part of our lives and
spiritual practise.
The Findhorn community was full of talented creatives
- artists, actors, writers and potters, it has its own pottery, dance
and art studios. While we where there we had all the facilities to indulge
our creative selves.
We learnt how important it was for our peace of mind to
take the time to feel the joy that comes from creating beauty with paints
and paper. We began to understand, that to practise creating, was to
connect ourselves to the Great Creator.
We both felt that the Divine
wanted us to bring more beauty, love, healing and peace onto the planet,
and for us that meant art and creativity. Playing with paints and paper
fulfilled our inner child's need for expression, play and having fun
.
It was at Findhorn that Shauna and I first met Dr. Judith
Cornell. Judith was on her first European lecture tour. Shauna with
her customary intuitive widsom decided to participate in Judith's week
long course at the community in 1993.
Each night she kept returning
with wonderful mandala drawings and glowing reports of how much light
she could feel in her body and that her heart felt full of love.
Other
participants who I talked to also acknowledged that something deep and
transformational was happening as they were creating these sacred mandalas.
The vibe coming from the workshop room became an attraction
in itself. People were drawn to the door to peep in, not really knowing
what they were coming to see.
The news travelled around the whole community
and by the end of the week when Judith offered a 1-day introductory
workshop, over 50 people turned up.
Dr.Cornell explained that sacred art has been with us
since ancient man/woman first scratched a pattern into the sand.
Through
all of humanity's history, art has expressed our search for God and
the Goddess. Before we handed our power over to priests and religion
it was up to individuals to create their own devotional tools, their
own sacred symbols.
Even now among Indigenous Tribal cultures, individuals are
empowered by elders to learn how to use their own divine creativity
to produce sacred symbols for worship, healing, birth and death ceremonies,
in order to bring about inner and outer transformations.
Judith was a professor of art and operated in the commercial,
competitive art world. At the stage, she, like so many others considered
creativity to belong only to the talented few.
It was only after a tough
period in her life and a growing frustration with her own creativity
that she took the time to open to other possibilites.
During meditation, she saw luminous human bodies without
detail - a transparency of light which some have called the astral or
energy body.
"Each stage of human evolution flashed before me
as an upward spiral of spiritual development into divine realisation.
I saw human beings transferred into more and more refined and transparent
bodies of light, gifted with the divine power to structure atomic energys
into any form imaginable. This quantum leap in consciousness transformed
my understanding of art as a separate discipline to one that was integrally
connected with science and ancient wisdom,".
From this deep experience Dr. Cornell began to develop
a programme that combines art, ancient wisdom, modern physics theory,
brain research, psychology and spiritual philosphies.
She has developed
techniques that with practice will strengthen prople's inner connection
to the love and light of their own soul, their true inner self.
For over 15 years now, Shauna and I have practised Judith's
techniques of meditation coupled with drawing the mandalas and I have
become aware of the subtle changes within myself.
I feel more peaceful,
more aligned to my true self and have a deeper feeling of trust. My
intuition is stronger, my heart has opened to more love and I have felt
a greater and deeper spiritual presence in my life.
Recently I had the
experience of seeing rainbow colours in white light and of watching
atoms vibrate in solid objects.
Drawing the Mandala-
Page 2
Mandala Gallery Images
Our Next Sacred Mandala Retreat
Shauna & Robert Kendall @
HeavenEarth Natural Therapies Clinic
Phone (07) 5522 0411
1/12 Classic Way, Burleigh Waters
Art Therapy
Art therapy uses the creation or viewing of art to help
people discover and express their feelings.
Unlike art for art's sake, which focuses on the finished
piece, art therapy focuses on the process of creation itself.
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Moreover, the activity is undertaken primarily for its
healing benefits rather than for the creative end result; in fact, the
piece of artwork may never be shown to anyone outside the therapy session.
The act of making a piece of art triggers internal activity
that contributes to physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Art therapy can be incorporated with psychology (in which
art is used to uncover hidden emotions) and physical therapy (which
uses art to help build self-confidence and aid rehabilitation).
Child psychologists and family therapists often use art
therapy because children have a hard time putting feelings into words.
Art therapy helps healing in various ways
.
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The aesthetic quality of the work produced can
lift a person's mood, boost self-awareness, and improve self-esteem.
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Research shows that physiological functions, such
as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, slow when people
are deeply involved in an activity they enjoy. (This is the alpha
state of the brain wave pattern)
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In addition, making art also provides an opportunity
for someone to exercise their eyes and hands, improve eye-hand coordination,
and stimulate neurological pathways from the brain to the hands.
The creation of art helps people get in touch with thoughts
and feelings that are often hidden from the conscious mind. It is often
easier to express yourself through a visual medium, instead of speaking
out loud.
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