Getting to Know You: Personal Mandalas

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Getting to Know You Personal Mandalas
By Mrs. Challenger English 2
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What is a Mandala?

• The term mandala is from the classical Indian
  language of Sanskrit and is loosely translated to
  mean "circle or complete. However,
• it is far more than
• a simple shape!
• A mandala is...an integrated structure
  organized around a unifying center.

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Where are Mandalas found?

• Architecture
• Art
• Holy Artifacts
• Nature
• Food

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Oculus of the Pantheon, Rome 31 BC
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Buddhist Borobudur Temple, Indonesia 800AD
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Catholic Church Rose Window, Sweden
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Sun
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Moon
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Orange
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Sunflower
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Human Eye
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Color Symbolism

• Something youll need to think about with
  mandalas is how colors are often used to
  represent emotions.
• What do you remember about color symbolism?
• In your group, brainstorm as many emotions,
  adjectives, themes, and/or ideas that you can
  think of for your assigned color.

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Personal Mandala

• A personal mandala
• is a tool used for self observation, growth, or
  goal making.
• combines elements of an individuals life, making
  a unique story based on the past, present and
  future.
• is made based on information regarding personal
  beliefs, relationship to nature, family, animals,
  and so on.
• is often created spontaneously and always unique
  to the individual - therefore no two are ever the
  same.
• can be used for individuals or groups - for
  particular themes and occasions- such as
  weddings, anniversaries, special birthdays and
  any celebration of new beginningsthe beginning
  of a new school year or semester.

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Examples of Personal Mandalas

• http//www.serpentmandalas.com/PersonalMandalas.ht
  ml

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Your Personal Mandala

• To celebrate a new school year, you are going
  to design your own personal mandala. Your
  personal mandala will represent you as a diverse
  and unique individual who is needed to create our
  class dynamic, and will be displayed among the
  other students mandala designs to symbolize you
  as an important part of our class, thus
  illustrating the concept of part of a whole.

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Brainstorm

• Reflect on yourself as a person-your past,
  present, and future, your goals, hopes, and
  dreams, things that are important or sacred to
  you, or anything that makes you who you are--a
  unique, diverse, and important individual.
• Who are you?
• Who or what is important to you?
• What are some of your goals in life?
• Who or what has had the most influence on you?
• What do you hope to achieve in your lifetime?
• What makes you unique?
• Do you have any special talents?
• What do you care about more than anything?

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Next step

• From your personal reflection of yourself,
  brainstorm 3-4 of your most unique qualities.
• Think about how you might illustrate your
  personal qualities that have shaped you on your
  personal mandala.
• Consider symbols, colors, and other ways to
  visually represent these qualities.

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How to design your personal mandala

• Draw some images that represent or symbolize your
  personal qualities.
• Choose simple images that are the right sizenot
  too big/not too small.
• You may choose to divide your mandala into 3 or 4
  separate segments to show each unique personal
  quality, or into repeated segments where all of
  your personal qualities are shown several times.
• Think about how your mandala will look when
  completed.
• Use scratch paper to make a blueprint of your
  mandala before you commit your symbols to the
  final template.

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How to design your personal mandala

• Add color to your personal mandala with markers
  or colored pencils.
• Be sure to check your symbols for clarity and
  meaningdiscuss with a partner.
• Make any necessary changes before you finalize
  your mandala.
• Write your first last name and class block on
  the BACK of your mandala with a pencil.