kriya - a mandala

[greyl]

[k j]

1. Lovely

I have no idea what the energy is on this forum, ie, how to reply, but I wanted to let greyl know that I think this mandala is amazing. Love, love, love the gold... and how the lines (to me) suggest runes, pictographs and stonehendge, all at the same time.

Thanks. :-)

[greyl]

4. Thanks, k j. :)

"I have no idea what the energy is on this forum, ie, how to reply,"

I know what you mean. I wish I had the time to look at and reply to all of the posts here - I feel guilty when replying to one and not others sometimes.

"and how the lines (to me) suggest runes, pictographs and stonehendge, all at the same time."

Yes, that's the suggestion I was going for. :) On the rune tip, there's Daeg, Sigel, Eolh, Perdhro, and Wunjo. I used to "read" runes for a short time, and I had the idea to do readings for people and create mandalas like this based on the readings (and sell them for profit). I don't read runes anymore, but I still like the effect of this piece very much.

Thanks again k j, I'm happy that you like it. :)

[oxbow]

2. A very calming mood to this one

nice balance of earth and sky color, very simple but very pleasing design. What size/medium is the original, if I might ask?

[greyl]

3. Thank you, oxbow. :)

It's 13½ x 13½, not including the grey border.
I was hoping to avoid divulging my supersecret technique, but ahem the paper is tracing paper that I crumpled up tightly then flattened out again and painted with watercolor. The raised gold is made with a compound of 150 million year old fossilized amber from Brazil, seasalt, and 14k gold powder.
(not really, it's Elmer's glue painted with Testor's metallic gold model paint. ;))

[Ophelia Rising]

5. Ah...mandalas!

I can safely say that I am obsessed with mandalas...looking at them, creating them, researching them....it never ends! Thank you for sharing some of your amazing mandala energy with us! Have you heard about Joan Kellogg and all of her wonderful mandala resarch?

[greyl]

6. You're welcome. :)

I've heard of Kellogg, but not her mandala research. You inpired me to check it out, but I couldn't find anything pertaining to her research that resulted in the MARI card test. Have any norms been established with the test?

[Ophelia Rising]

7. Joan Kellogg Info

I am an art therapist trained in the Level I MARI Card Test. It is my understanding that the MARI test is based on the many years of information Joan gathered on color and the different shapes and themes represented in mandalas. She collected the information from a wide range of people in various situations, in-patient, out-patient, artists, well-functioning people, adults, adolescents, children, etc. Most of the information is closely gaurded so that only those trained in MARI know the information, to try and avoid it's exploitation I assume. The "norms" established are from years of information gathering and the reasearch I have read that includes the MARI is mostly qualitative and correlational. My trainer told me that they are "in the process of validating the MARI", but I'm not quite sure what it all entails. Regardless, it's a very interesting process and I have used it with my clients to help with personal exploration. As with all art assessments, I take the results and it's message as small part of the whole. The MARI readings I have done on myself are pretty right on and it has been very facinating in regards to helping me with my own personal journey. I am a fairly non-directive art therapist, but when people are stuck on what to do art-wise, I often suggest mandalas and it usually helps ease people into the artistic process in a gentle manner. In my experience, people rarely report having a negative experience while creating mandalas....it's usually very wonderful for them. Okay...I could go on and on and on about mandalas, so I'll quit while I'm ahead! I hope some of this information has been interesting or helpful for you! :)

[greyl]

8. The info is closely guarded?

That's disappointing and doesn't sound like scientifically valid research to me.

To clarify, are you saying that the closely guarded information has to bought?

[cleofus1]

9. hey

it's a bargain at any price!:evilgrin:

[Ophelia Rising]

10. Hmmmmm.....

I see how it could appear that the info has to be bought....if you want to look at it technically, yes, you do have to pay to recieve the training, but you also have to have qualifications to do a training (Degrees in counseling, art therapy, social work, psychology, etc.). From my understanding, the info is gaurded because they don't want non-practicioners exploiting the information or using it in a way that it is not intended. It would be like someone reading a self-help book and proclaiming that they are a therapist. Again, I say from my understanding, because I do not claim to be an expert on the MARI, just someone who is trained in it and has studied a lot about mandalas with supervison from others who are more experienced art therapists than myself.

The gaurded information I speak of encompasses the actual MARI assessment itself. If you have a lot of time to serach hard enough and have the resources (Art Therapy books and journals mostly) you can find a lot of information about Joan Kellogg's work and the 13 stages of the mandala. "Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association" has published a lot about Joan Kellogg and the research done on the MARI over the years.

As far as the research being scientifically valid, that is the limitation of art assessments and qualitative research. How do you put art or in this case, archetypal stages of images, into scientifc measure? It's not something that easily lends itself to research that is statistically reliable or results in generalizable results. It goes way deeper than being a simple clinical tool, thus the need for specific training and professional experience to give the assessment. And the reason why so many people find creating mandalas such an amazing experience.

I hope I have answered your questions.....although I find with topics such as this, more information sometimes raises more questions. Often I find myself getting all caught up in the clinical "fix-it" model and I have to take a step back and realize that the power of the mandala, or art for that matter, is in creating it, not in how it can be quantified or interpreted. That is what the heart of creating art and the field of art therapy is built on. At least, that's my opinion anyway. :)