Flower + Herb Meditative Mandala, for 2020
Looking for a fun project to get your creative ideas flowing for 2020?
Here's an idea to raise energy for beauty, wellness and ease, from Athena Perrakis's book, "The Book of Blessings and Rituals."
The project shown below, a flower and herb meditative mandala, was made with greenery I'd originally brought inside for the holidays. The daisies, pussywillow and eucalyptus were all leftover stems and flowers from smaller arrangements. The pine branches were from our Christmas tree. The rose quartz and oyster shell I had. You could use similar objects.
For tools, you'll need a pair of scissors.
Everything else you can find from your garden or from fallen leaves and branches at a local park. It's easy to create this mandala in a morning and also easy on the wallet which is nice after all that holiday spending.
This illustration, from Perrakis's book, shows one way to lay things out.
For my mandala's center - the generator - I started with a clean oyster shell. The colors were so simple and beautiful: opalescent whites, with shades of browns and grays.
Then I added pine branches.
Then the eucalyptus petals.
I finished up by making small cross shapes with the pussywillow buds, added details with smaller daisies and petals, placed a gerber pom-pom in the oyster and framed the edges with twigs.
The whole project took about an hour, including gathering supplies.
To make your own mandala, here are instructions from page 50 of Perrakis' book:
Gather: Palo santa, copal, or white sage for smudging
A quartz or aventurine generator for magnification and new growth
Flower petals and leaves
Tumbled gemstones or chip stones (optional)
Tree branches (optional)
Fruit or other edible offerings
Clarify your intention: What is your need or desire, and how might this mandala represent a gateway to a new level of awareness? Mandalas are creations of beauty and harmony but can also transport you to higher dimensions of consciousness, both through the intentional process of creating them and through the act of mediating up the energy they hold.
Smudge all your gathered offerings, and yourself, focusing on your hands. Place your generator at the center of your mandala space, and place four flowers or gemstones at the cardinal directions, anchoring them with gratitude or a prayer.
Work outward from the center, adding items that lend balance and texture, color and energy, such as tree branches and fruit. Then take a moment to fully appreciate its beauty and your own. Meditate, perhaps calling in wellness and ease for yourself and for our planet as well.
I hope this project helps guide you into the new year.
Here are two sources for supplies. Since I'm not a fan of using sage for smudging, I diffused with a cedarwood essential oil instead.
For quartz or aventurine stones:
Sacred Stone
https://sacredstonelegacy.com/
For essential oils from Young Living:
Jessica Morrison, on instagram
Here's an idea to raise energy for beauty, wellness and ease, from Athena Perrakis's book, "The Book of Blessings and Rituals."
The project shown below, a flower and herb meditative mandala, was made with greenery I'd originally brought inside for the holidays. The daisies, pussywillow and eucalyptus were all leftover stems and flowers from smaller arrangements. The pine branches were from our Christmas tree. The rose quartz and oyster shell I had. You could use similar objects.
For tools, you'll need a pair of scissors.
Everything else you can find from your garden or from fallen leaves and branches at a local park. It's easy to create this mandala in a morning and also easy on the wallet which is nice after all that holiday spending.
This illustration, from Perrakis's book, shows one way to lay things out.
 |
| Book Illustration, Andrea Henning |
For my mandala's center - the generator - I started with a clean oyster shell. The colors were so simple and beautiful: opalescent whites, with shades of browns and grays.
Then I added pine branches.
Then the eucalyptus petals.
I finished up by making small cross shapes with the pussywillow buds, added details with smaller daisies and petals, placed a gerber pom-pom in the oyster and framed the edges with twigs.
The whole project took about an hour, including gathering supplies.
To make your own mandala, here are instructions from page 50 of Perrakis' book:
Gather: Palo santa, copal, or white sage for smudging
A quartz or aventurine generator for magnification and new growth
Flower petals and leaves
Tumbled gemstones or chip stones (optional)
Tree branches (optional)
Fruit or other edible offerings
Clarify your intention: What is your need or desire, and how might this mandala represent a gateway to a new level of awareness? Mandalas are creations of beauty and harmony but can also transport you to higher dimensions of consciousness, both through the intentional process of creating them and through the act of mediating up the energy they hold.
Smudge all your gathered offerings, and yourself, focusing on your hands. Place your generator at the center of your mandala space, and place four flowers or gemstones at the cardinal directions, anchoring them with gratitude or a prayer.
Work outward from the center, adding items that lend balance and texture, color and energy, such as tree branches and fruit. Then take a moment to fully appreciate its beauty and your own. Meditate, perhaps calling in wellness and ease for yourself and for our planet as well.
I hope this project helps guide you into the new year.
Here are two sources for supplies. Since I'm not a fan of using sage for smudging, I diffused with a cedarwood essential oil instead.
For quartz or aventurine stones:
Sacred Stone
https://sacredstonelegacy.com/
For essential oils from Young Living:
Jessica Morrison, on instagram
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