Mandala Magic for Focused Rituals

The word “mandala” loosely translates to “circle”, from the Sanskrit.  The circle represents wholeness, unity and completion, and is a very potent symbol for pagans and witches.  The wheel of the year, the cycle of the moon–we live within the spells cast by so many kinds of circles! Mandalas have long been used as a tool to focus attention and energy, especially during meditation. I hope you’ll try incorporating mandala magic into your solitary or group pagan rituals. Our mandala was part of a spell we worked for social justice.

Mandalas, mandalas, everywhere

Madalas exist in many cultures from Buddhism and Hinduism to Native American cultures, Celtic to Christian.  Labyrinths, another type of mandala, have been employed by many cultures and religions as a place to focus one’s mind and energy.  (For more on labyrinths in ritual, check out this post. ) The Yin-Yang symbol is yet another example.

One only has to look at the natural world to see how often the organizational structure of life is manifested as a circle:  the moon, sun, and planets; the arrangement of flower petals; seashells;  spiderwebs, pine cones; even the cells of our bodies.

The act of constructing a mandala is in itself a sacred and meditational act.  They may be drawn or painted, or made of sand, seeds, flowers or other materials.  They may be constructed for healing, focusing inward, or raising energy.  They may be made by an individual or by a group. Try this lovely and whimsical mandala coloring book from Etsy, or one of the many others they offer. So many ways to create mandala magic!

A Mandala for justice

The Crow Women chose to create a mandala for our Litha ritual last year. We focused the energy towards social justice and fair treatment for all of humanity, especially here in the United States where there is currently so much upheaval.  We adapted our ritual from a beautiful book called “Celebrating, Honoring, Healing: A Collection of Earth-Based Rituals” by Suzanne Reitz and Sandy Hoyt. 

In their words; “This ritual is performed as an act of healing for the world and for ourselves, with our intention being a prayer for peace.” We read significant and meaningful verses and prayers, as each woman added her contribution to the mandala.  And of course, because we love to sing, we raised our voices with “If I had a Hammer”, a song for social justice, fairness, and freedom.

Creating a group mandala is a unifying experience.  Each person’s individual expression and unique sense of creativity is unified in the whole when it is complete.  Each person’s energy and prayers go into the energy of the completed mandala. In the ritual we did, that energy was focused on increasing justice in our community, country and world. Ours was a peace mandala. We charged it with the magical force of our hunger for justice. Your mandala magic may be part of a focused ritual for another goal. Mandalas are so very flexible–no wonder they have been used in so many ways in so many spiritual paths.

Create the mandala, then let it go

One important aspect of the creation of a mandala is the idea of impermanence. It is destroyed after serving its purpose, and its energy released.  We made our mandala from beans, seeds, flowers and stones, scattering it back into nature upon completion of our ritual.  We found it more practical to build our mandala on a large piece of cardboard (with a quartered circle pre-drawn on it). That way, it could be moved after the ritual to a wooded area where we took turns tossing handfuls out into the trees.

Of course, as musicians, we know that mandalas are not limited to the visual and physical realms. They can be expressed in many ways, including dance, poetry and song. I’ll end by sharing a beautiful track by the band Music for the Goddess. Consider playing it while doing your own mandala magic spellwork. It’s the title track of their album Goddess Mandala. Enjoy!