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Samhain Mandala

Samhain Mandala

Mark the end of summer and the beginning of winter by seeing what messages Spirit wants to share about the months ahead. Capture the images you receive in a beautiful mandala you can refer back to all year long. Scroll down for a version of this art activity you can print and use.

I love the energy at the beginning of a new cycle. Samhain is what I like to think of as the witch’s New Year. Personally, I like to start contemplating my New Year intentions at Samhain and mull them over slowly in my heart and mind until January, at which time I like to revisit my intentions and consider if there are any intentions I’d like to change or fine tune.

Another helpful practice I do at this time is pull tarot and/or oracle cards for each month in the year ahead to see what Spirit might like me to consider. I’m a visual learner so I like to capture the messages I receive in images, colors and words that I can see so I refer back to them all year long. Last year, I hung my new year mandala in my office. It was filled with a lot of cheerleader messages from Spirit and I often referred back to it when I felt lost or discouraged. It also contained a few cautionary messages showing me things to watch out for or consider. This year though, the most helpful part of having the messages up on my office wall was the way the messages shifted from month to month. Some months were uplifting and celebratory. Some months were darker and more challenging. The images in my mandala reflected that and it reminded me that things shift and are in constant flux so my fear that I will forever stay stuck in a difficult moment is untrue. There is always something different around the corner.

My highly sensitive nervous system also appreciates this practice because being prepared for what might come eases my anxiety.

I’ve outlined the steps to completing your own Samhain mandala below. It’s the kind of activity you can do alone during your Samhain festivities or together with friends.

 

Directions for completing the Samhain Mandala

 

  1. Print the Samhain Mandala from the link below.
  2. Gather your art supplies and tarot and/or oracle cards. You can use more than one deck if you like. I tend to prefer pulling one tarot and one oracle card for each month so I use two decks but you might like mixing a variety of decks together in one pile and pulling from there or you might prefer to keep it simple and use just one deck.
  3. Light a candle and call in your spiritual team. Inform them of your desire to receive messages for each month of the year ahead. Request their help to choose the perfect card from each deck for each month.
  4. Cleanse each deck using your favorite method of spiritual or energetic cleanse such as Reiki, prayer, herbs, crystals, salt, etc.
  5. Pull a card for each month of the year.
  6. In a journal, write down the names of cards you pulled for each month and after looking up the description of the card in the accompanying guidebook, write down any words, ideas or phrases that seem relevant and important. Alternatively, you can forego reading about each card you pull and instead write the words and/or impressions the card you pulled inspire within you as you study it.
  7. Starting with the November section of your Samhain mandala, take the tarot card and the oracle card and your written summary of the messages you pulled for November and draw whatever would best represent the overall feelings and messages you received for the month of November.
  8. Repeat the process for the remaining eleven months on the mandala.
  9. End with a prayer of gratitude.

This art activity is also included in the October 2018 issue of Oriana’s Moonside Companion which is a hand-drawn moon journal with art activities that are thoughtfully designed to help healers and creative entrepreneurs live with magic and intention and nurture themselves, their business and their families. You can subscribe or learn more about it here.

Download Mandala Here

If you do complete this art activity publicly or share photos of the art activity or perform the activity with a group, please respect the work of this artist and creator by mentioning the source and/or providing a link back to this original post. Also, if you end up completing this activity, I’d love to see what you created. You can even post the finished piece on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #danasartrituals or email me at support@danadaponte.com and share with me how it went for you.

with love,

Dana da Ponte

 

 

 

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This is a space where art and spirit come together. On the blog, I share art rituals for working with the magic of the moon. I also work with the subconscious mind to lighten your emotional load and follow your creative dreams.

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