Haiku Ellipses...Invitation...Response...

BUTTERFLY complementary colors align in circles center butterfly butterflies are transformative creatures...starting on the ground as earthbound caterpillars...sealing themselves in cocoons where they dissolve into a goo with some special message in their genetic code that allows them to transform into a winged creature that is no longer earthbound--AMAZING! Many butterflies have a complementary winged pattern, often with circles as in the image. can we find the circular patterns in our lives that serve as transformative codes, transforming our earthbound caterpillic goo into a winged angelic creature that flies through the heavens...that is the challenge of this mandala.

STARS 4 stars at center triangles and squares surround circle connectors like a mandala, the star, triangle, and square connections are readily apparent...mesmerizing to gaze upon, the lines drawing the eye to multiple connectors. how do the different stars (dreams), triangles (three forces that triangulate around an issue related to the dream that, depending on the position of the triangle, may be solid/stable or dynamic, ready to tip/move/change), and squares (solid, stable forces/energies) manifest in your life? can you feel the connectors/connections between them? where are the levers that might activate positive change? how might you facilitate the movement of one of these levers?

GROUNDED feet sink into earth tendrils from the sun and moon current flows...grounded Melinda Connor writes in her book, Accessing Truth , about grounding the energy from the sun and moon through the body and into the earth...two tendrils from the arms reach up to the silver moon and yellow sun energies, taking them both into the body through the crown of the head, down into the heart, and further down through the legs and into a ball of energy at the center of the earth...the energy moves back up through the body and out the head in a cascade waterfall, enlivening the aura and energies around the body. Find a special time of month when you can see both the sun and the moon in the sky...let yourself be barefoot on the earth, raise your hands towards the heavens and imagine the sun and moon energies coming into your body through your arms and the top of your head, making their way into your heart and then down through your feet to the center of the earth...stay there awhile, breathe, fe...

PASSION FLOWER looking into the  colors, lines, and the designs passion flower speaks mandala-like in its symmetry, she lures me inside the multi-layered colors, lines, and designs...i hear her voice...willingly, i follow... when looking for passion in life, are you mesmerized, lured, brought into a rich multi-layered set of desires, motivations, and needs that call you to follow...give voice to this experience in whatever form it needs to take--journal, poem, song, dance, art, spoken word, conversation, meditation...

SEIZA SUNSET sitting in seiza sunset...waves crash...wind blowing consciousness expands at First Landing State Park on the Chesapeake Bay beach off the main boardwalk, to the right, past the dunes, looking at the pelicans perched on the posts that go out to sea...here is where i sit in seiza facing the sunset each day during our one week family vacation...i see colors, feel the vibration of the sun setting, hear waves crashing, the sucking, pulling sound of dissipated waves returning to the ocean, wind blows over my naked arms and back, tosseling my hair out of place across my eyes, feeling sand beneath my legs and buttocks grounds me to earth...senses on fire but not ablaze...consciousness EXPANDS, i become these things, merge, becoming each other...the feeling-state comes and goes...i don't know that i'd want it to be a permanent state as it would be hard to function in everyday life. sit yourself comfortably on the ground (or in a chair) with your bare feet touching the eart...

GREEN HEADS little greenish heads undulating up and down pools of vibration the rhythmic up and down movement feels like a roller coaster or perhaps a musical note traveling through time, returning in the semi-circular journey back to the refrain...the green heads symbolize newness, a change of pace, a different and creative way of doing things. take any part of the insights and turn it into a practice for yourself! for instance, the green newness can transform an old habit...this can be as simple as lifting the container to fill the coffee pot 6 inches higher and slowly pouring the water into the pot...observe the spiraling waterfall effect of the water...it's so beautiful, undulating, moving musically, listen to the sound...the water will soon be brewed into a dark colored coffee, and this liquid will enliven you from the inside, eventually the remains that you don't need will excrete from your body and return to the earth (if you compost your urine for the plants like i do.....

PEACE TREE outside of my home there is a place i go to i call it peace tree in the backyard of our modest home is a trailer that i've converted into a place where i can sit and pray/meditate, a place surrounded by all the books i've read over my lifetime of 63 years, a place that holds quiet, solitude, privacy, a place of peace where i can untether myself and just BE with the Divine... i wanted to create/find a symbol of this place, and after several sketches of designs, i came up with the top three...a heart with spirals encompassing the word peace, two beings nose to nose that are intertwined in a heart with peace at the center, and a tree rooted in the ground of peace with three branches lifted toward the heavens... i chose the peace tree as my symbol and painted it on the door to the trailer...each day tracing the word peace and the lines of the tree with my fingers, reminding myself, the key to entering this place is peace. do you have a place of quiet and solitude where y...

HAND SPIRALS from the silver point a hand spirals out in search  spheric golden orb sometimes it feels like we move round and round in a search for some thing...the silver hand metaphorically spiraling round, searching, trying to connect with some thing, and after many loops, the silver hand finds the golden orb, grasping it, what will happen next? what has you feeling like you've been going in circles...what are you searching for...how will you know when you've found it? will you grasp and attempt to control? will you hold it gently in your palm, contemplating that which you've found? will you bob it up and down playfully? what magic does the golden orb hold for you?  

SHAPELY BUDDHAS quadra blue u-shapes interwoven at the tips look: shapely Buddhas the four quadrants can represent the four directions and the four elements, the blue Buddhas adding mindful clarity for creative/imaginative wisdom...Buddhas are all interconnected...the directions and elements are in relationship, in harmony. stand in the center of a power spot in nature, a place you have visited many times (a power spot is simply a place where you feel an experiential give and take of energy from nature within your body). Ground yourself into the earth (feel the earth with bare feet), and imagine the energy from the sky and sun filling you with light and love, from the top of your head into and through the body, and out the feet into the ground...Look to the north and let your eyes lightly scan for each of the elements in turn (earth, air, fire, or water)...you may not find all of them...that's okay...connecting with even one element is a cause for rejoicing...turning clockwise, fac...

OWL WISDOM 4 owl creatures stare into your eyes with a glare receive the wisdom the owl is a symbol of wisdom in many children's fables and adult myths...here, there are not 1 but 4 owl creatures (they don't quite look like owls but rather owl-like in appearance), the 4th owl on the right edge is only partly visible, indicating that even owl wisdom has its limits, that we can't completely see into the future, that some wisdom rests in the sea of possibility, dependent on our free will choices. The 4 owls can also symbolize 4 types of wisdom...perhaps earth, air, fire, and water wisdom...of the body, mind, spirit, and emotions...each has something to teach us if we are ready and willing to learn. find a photo, image, painting, drawing, and/or figurine of an owl(s) that appeals to you...there are many types of owls, from the familiar barn owl to the white snow owl to the elf owl that makes it home in a cactus)...create a place for the owl where you will frequently notice it (...