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MD01BC Mandala
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MD01NC Mandala
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MD03BC Rose Window
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MD03NC Rose Window
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AN01BC Angel
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AN01NC Angel
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AR02BC Chalice Well
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AR02NC Chalice Well
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SS07BC Water Symbol |
SS07NC Water Symbol |
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Sacred Symbols
Symbols are universal. They speak to everyone on some level stirring common memories. Symbols go beyond the rational conscious mind into the realm of the unconscious, where soul memories reside. Most cultures throughout history have used symbols as a tool to unlock these universal memories. Meditation on such archetypal images gives one a feeling of oneness with the universe and unlocks the door to higher understanding. The world's major religions and philosophies have long recognized specific symbols that speak to man's collective understanding of the principles of "Divine Truth". Revered for millennia, certain sacred symbols somehow unlock a basic understanding of the essence of the universe and the meaning of our place in it.
Mandalas
Mandalas (from the Sanskrit word for center) are often used as sacred symbols. It is a circular form revolving around a center, a diagram of the symmetry and diversity of creation. Used for prayer and meditation, the design draws one's attention inward toward that place within each of us beyond time and space, that quiet place of higher consciousness and inner peace and unconditional love from whence all creation springs. The energy of the center radiates outward from a point which is at once the Source and the Ultimate Goal. The circularity of the mandala expresses the eternal return of the seasons and the continual turning of the Wheel of Life. Our physical world is replete with natural examples of these wondrous designs from flowers to tree rings, from snowflakes to solar systems. Mankind, through his Art, has sought to remind himself of this sacred pattern of creation. And thus Mandalas are found in all wisdom traditions including Gothic cathedral rose windows, sacred Tibetan prayer wheels, Indian medicine shields and sand paintings, Celtic knots and Druidic stone circles, Islamic mosaics, Kabalistic and Hermetic diagrams, Aztec stone calendars, and the Taoist T'ai Chi symbol.
