Moon Mandala — a Creative Way of Observing Emotions
An introduction to the art of making Moon Mandalas.
The beginning of 2021 was really hard for me. I needed to connect with a therapist, but due to many reasons that wasn't possible. My solution became to work on the contact with myself, to get to know myself better and to connect with nature - in a wide meaning of the word. Apart from reading phenomenal books such as Christian Northrups “Women’s bodies Women’wisdom”, I started to consciously observe my monthly bleeding cycle. Following Escuela Mandragora on Instagram, I started to fill out Moon Mandalas.
1. What is a Moon Mandala?
Moon mandala is a map that connects and contextualises the cycles of the moon and your personal menstruation periods 1.
Human and animal physiology are subject to seasonal, lunar, and circadian rhythms. Although the seasonal and circadian rhythms have been fairly well described, little is known about the effects of the lunar cycle on the behavior and physiology of humans and animals. The lunar cycle has an impact on human reproduction, in particular fertility, menstruation, and birth rate. Melatonin levels appear to correlate with the menstrual cycle .
Filling out moon mandalas is like having the opportunity to watch your life on a film (or through photos). Each day of a month you write down your feelings. It may be a word — but it can also be a long note. It may be a drawing or a special colour too. For example:
2. New moon & full moon
It’s important to mark the new moon and full moon days on the moon mandala. We associate new moon with shadow. This association is connected with the Myth of Demeter:
Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the earth. Hades, the brother of Zeus and god of the underworld, abducts the young goddess one day as she is gathering flowers by a stream. Demeter goes in search of her daughter, but is unable to find her. Demeter’s grief causes the earth to die — crops fail, and famine comes upon the land. (… ) Persephone can spend only six months out of the year with her mother; the other six months she is destined to spend in the realm of Hades. To the Greeks, the return of Persephone from the underworld symbolized the return of life in the spring. Each spring, as the earth returned to life, some Greeks observed a sacred ritual in which the story of Demeter and Persephone was enacted.
The Myth of Demeter symbolises the changing of seasons, the change from life to death, the change from summer to winter and the return of life in spring. We can easily associate this convertible process with the cycle of our life. We born, we live, we die. But if we focus on a short period of time, let’s say a month, we can observe the same cycle:
We are “born” at the new moon time, we live our life to the full at the full moon time and we figuratively “die” during the days just before a new moon.
What does “dying” mean? It means „going underground” to face difficult emotions and decisions, and observe how our past influences our present. It’s important to remember that each ending is a new beginning. After a new moon we grow stronger and flourish. It’s good to express this on the moon mandala. With colours or ornaments — depending on our thoughts and feelings.
3. Phenomenon of a cyclicality
Every woman has her own personal cycle. She can predict when she will menstruate. The word menstruation is derived from Greek and Latin words meaning month and moon. Interesting, isn’t it? For me, observing what happens before and after my bleeding days gives me important information about myself. I always write down on my mandala what I’m feeling. Am I afraid of something? Do I feel an urge to connect with other people or not? Why do some stories from the past attack me right now? How does my body feel?
By observing my mandalas after two months, then after three and four months, I’ve realised that I have regular behaviours that provoke a certain set of emotions. Some of them I’ve now successfully eliminated.
What’s more, I confirmed for myself that there is a connection between the four seasons of the year and my moods and feelings. It’s another kind of cyclicality. Even though autumn is definitely my favourite season, I know that it’s also a time where I become more melancholic, romantic and feel a bit tired. On the other hand, during spring time I have an explosion of ideas, power and a willingness to do my best.
4. Expressing ourselves
Sometimes we can’t name our feelings. I love painting, so it wasn’t a surprise to me to learn that colours connect with specific emotions. A long time ago I had a problem to interpret some part of a text. I didn’t think that connecting words with colours would help me, but then — a wise woman told me this.
I find moon mandalas to be a great way of expressing ourselves even though we have no idea of what to draw or what to write down. If we have no idea — that´s information for us too. Maybe our soul is trying to say: “I am afraid of showing myself in all my glory”. It’s okay. Don’t write down anything or…try to tame your feelings very slowly. Begin to filling out your mandala with:
- colour of your day
- pattern of your day (dots, stripes, grid)
- symbol of your day (it could be a litle smiling/sad face, heart, sun, cloud, tear, leaf/flower)
- key-word of your day
5. Art-therapy?
Even moon mandalas that aren’t being filled up with our thoughts can have a therapeutic role. There are many mandalas on the Internet which are just for colouring! They are not connected to the lunar-cycle. They are simply beautiful with fancy shapes, lines and swirls. Check them out here for example:
If you want to use Moon Mandalas to explore your moon cycle I recommend to visit Escuela Mandragora’s page, and download a mandala in pdf:
Are you intrigued? Grab your pen and let the moon be with you!
