Coloring Mandalas 3

Circles of the Sacred Feminine

By Susanne F. Fincher

About This Title

Coloring the circular designs known as mandalas is a relaxing, meditative activity enjoyed by adults and children alike. The mandalas in this book are specially designed to provide a creative encounter with the Divine as a feminine presence. The archetypal imagery of the circle—appearing in the form of organic shapes of nature, the curves of the female body, the womb and childbirth rituals, the circular turning of cosmic rhythms, or geometric designs conveying the primal energy of the Goddess—celebrates the full range of the sacred feminine, from gentle and motherly to fierce and challenging.

Here you will find full-color versions of the plate images from Coloring Mandalas 3.

Plate 1: Master Healer Mandala

At the center is the goddess Prajnaparamita. She personifies transcendent wisdom, the source of all enlightenment. Seated on a throne supported by lions and surrounded by an elaborate backrest, she sits in lotus posture with the right leg crossed over the left. Her four hands represent love, compassion, joy, and equanimity—qualities required of any healer. A circle of eight Medicine Buddhas surrounds the goddess. The Buddha Shakyamuni is in the upper left among rows of lineage teachers. (Collection of Shelley & Donald Rubin, item #902)

Plate 2: Inanna

Sumerian goddess of the morning and evening star. This mandala incorporates symbols of the qualities of the goddess. A lapis lazuli necklace of authority encircles her star. Three circles of rose petals frame the mandala, signifying Inanna’s three realms of sky, earth, and underworld, as well as the maiden, mature woman, and dark sister aspects of the goddess. The downward-pointing triangle alludes to Inanna’s sexuality as the source of Nature’s abundance. (Susanne F. Fincher)

Plate 3: Wheel of Life

Many hands touch to form a protective circle of support around creatures taking form. The Goddess is seen in the web of life and the mystic’s experience that the cosmos is held within an ineffable matrix of love. (© Lee Lawson)

Plate 4: Tara

Tara is a female buddha associated with practices that heal, protect, and extend life. Her left hand gestures, “Fear not,” while her right conveys, “I have what you need.” (Collection of Rubin Museum of Art, item #65257)

Plate 5: Radiant Woman

Mandalas mark nodal points, or chakras, where psychic energy is transformed as it flows upward along pathways near the spine. At each chakra, a marriage of feminine Shakti-Kundalini energy and masculine Shiva energy takes place. This creates synergy so that the process can continue in the next chakra. A man exploring his inner feminine nature through creative self-expression produced this painting. He came to understand that what appear to be the masculine-feminine opposites are really projections of an underlying unity. (From Mandala by José and Miriam Argüelles, © 1972. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc.)

Plate 6: Shri Devi

The circular diagram in the belly of the blue Glorious Goddess is in the form of a lotus, recalling the primordial Lotus Goddess, Shri. The design is a yantra with a black center, four red petals, and an outer ring edged with flames. The yantra is inscribed with verses, some for protection, others for the misfortune of enemies. This Tibetan painting was probably created to counter a perceived threat. (Collection of Rubin Museum of Art, item #65172)

Plate 7: “Primordial Goddess” Plate, from The Dinner Party

The artist Judy Chicago used the traditionally feminine arts of china painting and embroidery to create a symbolic dinner party that traces the history of women in Western civilization. Ms. Chicago represents the sacred feminine in an image of interior, centered space surrounded by folds or undulations, as in the structure of the vagina, and uses this iconography to state the truth and beauty of her own identity as a woman. After centuries of neglect, the Goddess takes an honored place at the table. (© Judy Chicago, 1979)

Plate 8: Death

The mystery of the sacred feminine as both womb and tomb means that death is seen as a central opening, a pathway of return to the welcoming darkness. (© Meinrad Craighead)

Plate 9: Shri Yantra Mandala

The Shri Yantra is considered the greatest of all yantras. It is also one of the oldest with an early version described in the Atharva Veda (c. 1200 B.C.E.). The interpenetrating triangles are associated with masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) energies. The Shri Yantra represents the reality that the cosmos is an everlasting unity encompassing the creative tension of opposites. Bronze, Nepal, 19th century. (Collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin, item #700053)

Plate 10: Nairatmya

The female buddha Nairatmya, “The Selfless One,” is the focus of meditation practices introduced by Virupa, an 11th century Indian adept. Tradition says that Virupa was initiated by Nairatmya herself in a series of disturbing dreams. The downward-pointing triangle represents her powerful feminine presence. Tibet, 17th century. (Collection of Rubin Museum of Art, item #643)

Plate 11: Ten Mahavidyas

These ten goddesses manifest Kali’s presence in all phases of existence, from delightful to horrific. Below each goddess is her yantra. This contemporary painting of traditional forms was created by a husband and wife team of tantric artists from Bihar in eastern India. Top row from left: Kali, Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshvari, and Bhairavi. Bottom row from left: Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi, and Kamala. (Poonam Devi and Basudev Jha, from the collection of Susanne F. Fincher)

These images accompany the book Coloring Mandalas 3, by Susanne F. Fincher, © 2006 by Susanne F. Fincher.

Related Titles