The Final Project:
At the end of our last mandala class for the spring, The Delight of Watercolor Mandalas, some of the class met at the beach to create a beach mandala. We all brought flowers, leaves and natural objects to create an impermanent mandala which would be washed away by the tide.
The Flower Pattern
We drew the flower pattern in the sand with a make-shift compass of string and a stick. We positioned our drawing close enough to the beach break, where we knew the tide would come in soon after we had finished making the mandala.
Peace
It was amazing how quickly the mandala came together. We were all either climbing over the top of each other, or crawling underfoot on the sand and working quietly and contentedly like busy little bees! As we laid down the flowers and objects over the pattern, we held the thought of peace, first for ourselves and then for the world and planet.
Seeds
As has become our tradition in making nature mandalas, we laid our small painted mandalas on the top of the flowers. We call these little mandalas “seeds” for exchanging. After a brief closing ceremony in which we held hands, made a circle around the beach mandala, we blessed it and offered it and the beautiful energies to the universe, to go where it was needed. Ahead of the tide, we took our “seeds” and traded them with each other.
The Tide Came In
We did not have to wait long for the tide to come in, especially with the help of our many oohs and aahs. The tide, little by little, touched our offering and took it out to sea.
