ABOUT MANDALA ASTRO-COUNSELLING
The Chinese have a word for that sense of crisis: wei chi – danger and opportunity.
A Mandala is simply a circle, a symbol of wholeness and a way of transcending duality. The word itself - Manda - la means literally container or circle and thus relates to the concept of wholeness, completion and natural cycles.
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But if we conceive of life - not in terms of a line but - rather - in terms of both a circle and a cycle, our relationship to our own lives can be radically transformed. The circle has always been viewed as a symbol of infinity, since it has no beginning and no end and promotes instead a sense of continuity and wholeness. Whether or not one believes in a Hindu or Buddhist cycle of life and death, rebirth, no one can deny the power of the natural cycle relating to growth, death and rebirth of the natural world, including the seasons. Everything is contained within the circle, which also forms a protective boundary around many different kinds of ritual.
The Mandala, originally a Hindu concept, used as a spiritual tool, actually applies also to the circles we are all familiar with such as earth, sun, moon and even the human eye! Beyond the familiar cosmic mandalas, lie the more esoteric ones, such as the Buddhist wheel of life and the circular journey made by the Major Arcana of the Tarot, which starts and ends with the ‘zero’ card, The Fool, who is simultaneously at the end of one journey and the start of another.
Similarly, the circular journey is reflected in the ancient mystical symbol of the serpent that devours its own tail, the ouroboros. It does so to sustain its life, engaging in constant self-renewal – as snakes are perceived as doing anyway, when they shed their own skins. The snake is often depicted coiled into a figure of 8, which – as it neither begins nor ends – is seen as representing infinity.
The sacred geometry of the astrological horoscope connects with both the cosmic mandala of the sun and the esoteric symbol familiar to Japan, Tibet and China in the following ways. Whereas a traditional Mandala often contains the image of a palace with four gates orientated to the four quarters of the world, the horoscope contains four quadrants - not only referencing the four directions - but also containing different areas of our experience.
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The form of a cross appears as the division into four quadrants is made, and that ancient sign effectively represents matter, and the conflict created by matter, within the perfect circle, which itself represents spirit. As Jung perceived it, the circle is the geometric archetype of the psyche, whereas the square – whether in the form of a cross or not – represents matter. A cross within a circle – then – represents a form of balance or unification of forces, with the circle (spirit) enclosing the cross (matter).
Whereas mandalas often contain a deity, placed at the very centre of the mandala, the horoscope contains the unique planetary aspect patterns, which make up the individual horoscope. The two planets referred to as ‘the lights’ on which human life depends for its life force, are the sun and the moon. The sun is represented astrologically by a circle with a dot in the centre. Whether we think of that dot as the divine spark of creation or as the life spark or force of life, it is that crucial, single dot which forms the centre of the sun-mandala, and symbolically replaces the deities at the centre of the traditional Eastern mandalas.
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Whereas the aim of the of a Buddhist might be to commune with the deity at the centre of the Mandala, through the process of meditation, the way in which an astrological horoscope imparts wisdom through the astrologer’s interpretation is, as astrotherapist, Greg Szanto, puts it,
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‘to enable the individual to perceive his unique pattern
so that he can experience it and be at one with himself.’
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In other words, how can we best communicate with and express that dot at the centre of our being and become more fully ourselves or realise our potential, as described by Jung in the self-development process known as individuation.
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'In Psychology and Orientalism'
A painting by one of Jung's patients
It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the centre. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation
C G JUNG
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To book a consultation or find out more information, please get in touch.
Email me on jane@mandala-astro-counselling.com or
call/text me on: 07789 245 230
Taster Session: £25.00 for half an hour