Aspen Moon – Page 20 – Aspen Moon Art

Hi Art Fans!

This blog is an update on what’s been going on…

I finally have my new studio set up and productive again, but I had nearly two months off. The Gallery Reopening I had on March 21 was a great success! Thanks to all those who came by and showed interest in what I’m creating. My studio is now open by appointment and all available originals are available for viewing.

I’ve recently hit some really cool milestones in my art career development. I’ve just finished my first 1,000 business cards. What a awesome compliment to realize that I’ve had so much interest in the art. Time to order more cards. In addition, the Sri Yantra and Shamanic Supernova magnets are almost gone—down to just three or four left. Again, it’s great to know there’s interest and enjoyment in what I’m creating.

I’m still taking pre-orders for Anahata Limited Digital Prints through April 15, 2014. Anahata digital prints will be very much like the limited Faery Star and Metatron’s Journey digital prints recently released. If you’re interested in getting the new print for $25 as a pre-order, contact me soon! When the prints are released in May, prices will start at $33 for these signed and numbered, limited edition prints. I’m excited to have Anahata nearly finished—it has taken me over 4 months to complete.

During the Month of March I did three Paper Folding Workshops at my studio and worked with over a dozen people to create hundreds of origami animals as part of a performance art project I’m doing for a fundraiser. I’ve literally made hundreds—snakes, cranes, swans, scorpions, frogs, koi fish, bats, pigs, butterflies, crows, penguins, mice, rabbits, whales, giraffes…you get the idea. The intention is to use them, as well as nearly a thousand paper flowers I’ve made, to create a giant, 3-D offering mandala made out of colored paper. The performance will be to assemble the mandala in offering and then destroy it (got a match?) as a sacrifice. Event is May 3, 2014 and I’ll post on how it turned out for sure!

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I’m the featured artist on a Mind, Body, and Spirit wellness and healing product website called Mystic Mix. My feature profile and gallery can be viewed at http://www.mysticmix.com/aspen-moon/.

And you can count on the fact that there’s more art to come.

Thanks for your interest in hand crafted artwork. -am.

Tibetan Buddhism has an esoteric practice of the Trikaya Mandala Offering, which is a practice used to gain merit, positive benefits, or independence by offering the entire universe in a petition to specific deities or forces. Almost invariably offering mandalas, which are expressed through the commonly known sand paintings as well as ritualistic arranging of sacred rings filled with polished stones, represent the cosmos. Then, the mandala is structured after scriptural descriptions of the universe, with the sacred Mount Meru in the center and the continents, waters, mountains, deserts, seven emblems of royalty, etc., radiating outward. This representation imbues the most earnest and sincerest of sacrifice because everything is sacrificed.

[quote cite=”12th Kenting Tai Situpa, at Palpung Sherabling, December 2004″]And it is true because the whole universe belong to us, because it is our karmic manifestation. And therefore we sincerely offer the whole solar system, if we are sincere, if our devotion is sincere, if our compassion is sincere, if we have the lineage of the practice, we practice sincerely, exactly, same as truly offering of the whole solar system. [/quote]

Southwestern Native American cultures have a similar practice of making prayer offerings in the form of intricate sand paintings, which are generally symmetrical and often in the form of mandalas. While there isn’t an exact correlation between Navajo and Tibetan symbols, there are similarities. Particularly are references to nature, the cardinal directions, and using element symbols to represent all things. The prevalence of Gods and Power Forces in both cultures cannot be overlooked. A major difference is in how the intention is channeled through the creation of the mandala. In Navajo art, the purpose is to focus energy, strength, and power specifically toward healing, rather than to make a petition rooted in offering.

Throughout the world, sacred sand painting is inherently tied to the idea of impermanence. Ritual mandala offerings universally end with the ritual destruction of the artwork. Often the names and symbols of the deities have special means of destruction or unwinding. Sand is swept up together and often returned to nature in a conscious manner, representing the circular continuity and impermanence of all things.

It also implies that the value of the mandala isn’t necessarily in its being, but rather in its full process of creation, and one’s journey through the mandala. In other words, it is in working through the mandala that one offers the prayer… And all prayers have openings and closings.

Mandalas are also seen in Christian Worship. The most prevalent example of Christian mandala is in the rose window, which is a circular window over the West entrance of a cathedral or church. Generally the practice and dedication of the rose window was focused on Mary, as an offering to the softer dispositions of Christianity as Mary gradually took on the role of intercessor between humans and the pantocrator, or judgement-focused God. Though not overt, the rose window became to symbolize the grace of the Virgin which overlooked the Western entrance. One inherently and unwittingly offers prayer simply by entering the divine realm of the inner church, through the grace of the feminine.

17th Century Rosicrucian Representation of Heaven, Earth, and Hell

As one delves into the mystery sects of Christianity, mandala imagery and use becomes even more common. Mandalas were used to guide learning, practice meditation, and encode esoteric knowledge. Christian Alchemy, Christian Hermeticism, and Rosicrucianism all demonstrate deeper understanding of geometry through their use of symmetrical and geometric mandala figures.

Again, the process is insinuated here. It is through the mandala that one offers prayer.

-am. Mar 2014

Read other Blogs in my What is a Mandala Series

Author: Aspen Moon

Happenings Update

Mandala as a Prayer