Butterfly Mandala

Another day and moment by moment I am feeling better, day by day.

So the butterfly has become the focus of my newest mandala.  It is the perfect symbol for the healing journey that I am on now, as I heal from major surgery.  This is the begining of the mandala, done with white prismacolor pencil, using the scale of light on black paper.

                                   

      The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

Overwhelmingly, cultural myth and lore honor the butterfly as a symbol of transformation because of its impressive process of metamorphosis.

In process, the original drawing begins to change and it seems as if the antenna are forming arrows, but that doesn't feel right, creating to static a pattern.

                           If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies.  ~Author Unknown

Imagine the whole of your life changing to such an extreme you are unrecognizable at the end of the transformation. Mind you, this change takes place in a short span of about a month too (that’s how long the butterfly life cycle is).

                This mandala feels more about spiraling into expansion for me so I changed that part of the mandala.

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

The butterfly unquestioningly embraces the chances of her environment and her body.  This unwavering acceptance of her metamorphosis is also symbolic of faith. Here the butterfly beckons us to keep our faith as we undergo transitions in our lives. 

This point in the drawing process starts to become fun, when I enhance the each image with the scale of light.  It is drawing the light around and within the images, bringing the light of energy and direction into the mandala.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. 

~Maya Angelou

So it is our responsibility to make our way in faith, accept the change that comes, 

and emerge from our transitions as brilliantly as the butterfly.

The essential core of the mandala is complete now

The fluttering of a butterfly's wings can effect climate changes on the other side of the planet.  ~Paul Erlich

Here it is for now, the next step is the leap into adding color.

At first when I began with the orange butterflies I was disappointed.  It is always a big risk to add color to the black and white image.  It is like diving into the unknown, with the part of myself who wants safety, and to be close to shore, resists, diving into the deep of risk and transformation.  Once, I begin, though, there is no turning back and I am forced to move forward until it comes together.  

The blue green into purple in the negative space around the mandala changed everything, and I am now in love with what is happening.  Who knows what will happen next.  I will keep posting this ongoing mandala journery as it emerges.  Until next time...

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.  ~Chuang Tzu