Sacred Circles

Circles are considered sacred in many religions and cultures. From labyrinths and Buddhist mandalas to the Taoist Yin Yang symbol and Native dreamcatchers, the circle invites us into deeper connection with our inner lives and the world. This month I’ve been exploring the meaning of circles through art and writing. I’ve been creating a series of small watercolor circles to represent places that have been especially meaningful to me. This project is giving me a renewed sense of belonging to places that have been important at various times in my life and that evoke a sense of home.

I’m also part of an Ekphrastic writing group. One of our art prompts this week was the circle-shaped piece “Three Elements” (it’s not in the public domain so you’ll need to click the link to see the artwork) by the British surrealist painter Ithell Colquhoun. The artwork helped me reflect on the process of creating my watercolor circles and to wonder about what it means to find and hold our center, to be centered, and what happens when we lose our connection to the center.

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung considered the appearance of circles and mandalas as a “profound re-balancing process underway in the psyche.” So perhaps there’s a special message for me in the circles showing up for me this month. I’m keeping a special eye out to see where else I encounter circles and what they evoke for me.

I hope you’ll take a little time this month to be on the lookout too for circles and mandalas and to learn more about their spiritual meaning. Maybe, like me, you’ll even decide to draw some circles or write about what you find in a poem.

Yours in spirit,

Sandra