Creating Mandalas

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 192 pages
• Published by: Shambhala
• Edition: 1st Edition October 1, 1991
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0877736464
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0877736462
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 11.2 ounces

Product Review
"Every once in a while a book appears which, right away, becomes a 'classic' in its field. Until it gets into print, we don't realize how much it has been needed, because there has been nothing available to remind us that there is a gap in the existing literature. Such a book is Susanne F. Fincher's Creating Mandalas."—Journal of the American Art Therapy Association

"A wonderful fusion of ancient and contemporary observations and wisdom."—Peter London, author of No More Secondhand Art

"Susanne Fincher's practical guide gathers European, African, Eastern, Native American, and other mythological perspectives and blends them with Jungian theory and her personal experience. This anatomy of the mandala will be useful to artists, therapists, and others who enter the magic circle."—Shaun McNiff, Professor of Expressive Therapy, Lesley College, and author of Art As Medicine

Product Description
     The traditional designs known as mandalas were recognized by C. G. Jung as symbolic representations of the Self. This book is a practical guide to mandala drawing for personal growth, stress reduction, and creative expression. Fincher introduces the history and ritual use of mandalas in cultures all over the world; offers guidance in choosing art materials, techniques, and colors for the creation of personal mandalas; and discusses the symbolism of shapes, colors, numbers, and motifs, such as birds and flowers, that may appear in mandalas. She also presents several illustrated case histories of people who successfully use her techniques.

Reader Reviews
I met Suzanne Fincher at a conference sponsored by Journey into Wholeness some fifteen years ago. I did not know it but I was in the first round of a fight for life: midlife crisis. My old life was crumbling before my eyes, and I went to Suzanne's workshop on making mandalas. We drew a circle and used crayons to just let things happen. Somehow, again without my knowing it until later, all the floating pieces of my life found a place within this circle called a mandala. It gave me a profound sense of peace, AND as I learned from Suzanne's teaching and this book, about how to work with my mandalas, they have provided me - throughout the years - a powerful vision for what is happening within me. I have shared this book with small groups and classes and people seeking wholeness and healing for many years with great blessing to each person who worked with it, and I continue to recommend it as the best single resource for mandalas, and a pivotal resource for sensing the moves of the Spirit within us. Suzanne's other book, Coloring Mandalas, is a delightful coloring book that offers many diverse models of mandalas representing places on the great round of the mandala. One of the encouraging dimensions of regular creation of mandalas is the opportunity to see "progress" or movement within our lives when we are going through changes. I remember encouraging a friend to draw mandalas one time when they felt very alone and lost. After a couple of weeks when she thought she was going nowhere and learning nothing we sat down and compared her creations with the great round of the mandala and she and I could see her movement around the cycle, charting in a most beautiful way the progress/growth/movement within her life that she could not otherwise see, It provided a deep sense of peace and encouragement on her path. Through the years innumerable folks have found a similar vision of their inner life through mandalas. May Suzanne's book help you start on that path! A small candle, some peaceful music, some crayons or colored pencils, and a piece or paper are all you need to begin.