Up: [[Mandalas]] Related: [[Great Round Stage 7 - Squaring the Circle]] Created: 2026-06-28 Updated: 2026-07-02 Course: Mandala Magic School with Julie Gibbons This mandala is an example of [[Great Round Stage 7 - Squaring the Circle]] ![[Mandala - Stage 7 June 2026.webp|400]] The prompt for making this mandala was *How do I, with all of my gifts, spend the precious time, energy and creativity available to me?* In the centre is [[The Self]], my Self. Throughout my life, I have always been predominantly sunlight — the reason and drive of the [[Masculine Principle]]. Now, in my late 60’s, I am embodying more of [[Hestia's Qualities]] that I know are within me. This is the calm, compassionate feeling and relatedness of the [[Feminine Principle]]. The moonlight also, to me, signifies [[Mystery]]. I have no desire to dispel the mystery as the masculine principle would do, but rather to be as comfortable living in moonlight as I have been in sunlight. Given my interests and stage of life, I’ve given the moonlight at the centre slightly more than half of the space. To the left of centre is my symbol for water. The prompt Julie provided was *What deserves your attention, love and energy in the years ahead?* This is my [[Calling]] now — to embrace the mystery; to live from a [[Symbolic Perspective]]. See [[What Does it Mean to Live a Symbolic Life?]] The wisdom that I bring from my years of living is that wholeness does not come from carving life up into a pie of areas like work, relationships, health, travel…, and attempting to balance time spent in each area. Wholeness comes from realizing that life is a [[Spiral]]. Even as we make the same mistakes over and over again, fall into the same complexes over and over again, we are engaged in a process of growth towards the centre, which is [[The Self]]. In my mandala the quadrant is purple, the colour of Spirit. The green of the [[Earth Element]] represents the promise I make to myself to live more fully aligned to the centre of the spiral, to my Self. The best way I know to honour my Self is to develop my voice by engaging in [[Life Writing]] in all of its myriad forms. The red of the [[Fire Element]] is for embodiment. The prompt was *What will help you bring your intentions into lived experience?* I’ve chosen circles inside of squares to represent a couple of things: the embodiment of complementary opposites of vision and action, spirit and matter, but also, for me, the creation of [[Expressive Art]] that accesses parts of me that words don’t reach. Finally, the corners are the allies — the powers, presences, or relationships that support my journey. There are a number of symbols I could have put here — my clan crest, silhouettes of people, tarot cards, Hermit’s lantern. But I chose to use my favourite of the [[Hestia Symbols]].