An Adult Coloring Book Series

Mandalas are circular designs containing lines, patterns, and colors that have been used in personal devotions throughout history and often symbolize a desire to mark or set aside a special time or place. Coloring mandalas is a creative activity that can help us feel connected to ourselves and to the world.

In her latest collection of mandalas for coloring, Susanne Fincher focuses on using mandalas as a way to claim our own truths and to find our way in the world. The original designs she presents are associated with being and doing. The “being” mandalas represent a sense of balance, integration, and self-realization. They can be reminiscent of the designs of heraldic shields carried as the emblem of personal power. The “doing” mandalas represent action, energy, and functioning in the world. These mandalas are associated with creativity, ingenuity, teamwork, and productivity. Coloring the mandalas in this book allows you to interact with forms that evoke both steady, centered being, and active, skillful doing. Coloring Mandalas 4 provides a creative and insightful path toward self-knowledge.

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.

An introductory essay traces the stream of the sacred feminine from prehistoric sources through modern spiritual traditions and the work of contemporary scholars of psychology and religion. Mandalas for coloring include designs based on ancient European artifacts, traditional Hindu yantras, and contemporary art. Full-color illustrations provide inspiration, and instructions for drawing your own geometric mandalas add to the creative possibilities. Coloring Mandalas 3 will appeal particularly to individuals and groups who wish to explore spirituality as a pathway to deeper meaning and personal growth.

Coloring the circular designs known as mandalas is a creative activity that brings relaxation, healing, and self-understanding. Susanne Fincher’s first such coloring book, Coloring Mandalas, presented designs organized according to a scheme of twelve archetypal stages that represents a cycle of personal growth. This sequel focuses on a single one of these stages, "Crystallization," which is associated with the completion of a cycle of growth.

Imagine a fully opened rose in a sunny garden, releasing its fragrance as it gently bobs in a summer breeze. This is the feeling of the stage of Crystallization—a time of reaping rewards and benefits from the work we have performed; of realizing and appreciating our achievements; of resting in the pleasure of having fulfilled a personal creative inspiration. Crystallization is also a time of significant spiritual understanding, when our spiritual nature comes together in harmony with our physical nature.

The mandalas in this book aim to:

   •  Help us understand ourselves and our place in the scheme of things
   •  Evoke a sense of harmony, order, and fulfillment
   •  Provide relaxation and a soothing balance for hectic lifestyles
   •  Uncover meaning in the ongoing stream of human experience
   •  Deepen our meditation
   •  Enable us to experience the spiritual energy that inspired these sacred circles

Drawing the traditional circular designs known as mandalas is a meditative practice, a healing exercise in times of crisis, and a pleasurable act of creativity. As a symbol of the Self, the mandala provides a connection to our innermost being. The forty-eight drawings presented here for coloring include designs inspired by forms of nature, Native American and Tibetan sand paintings, Hindu yantras, Turkish mosaics, the illuminations of Hildegarde of Bingen, and the art of M.C. Escher. These mandalas are organized according to the Great Round of Mandala, a scheme of twelve archetypal stages that represents a complete cycle of personal growth. Thus, to do the coloring book from start to finish will carry the reader through a balanced experience of change, guided by the accompanying text.