Family Full Moon Calamandala

In association with my family monthly tradition of family full moon fun, each year I also draw a full moon “calamandala.” Calamandala is a word I believe I coined that refers to a calendar in mandala form. I am not particularly skilled in drawing, but have found that the color combination of white colored pencils on black paper produces a striking result with limited skill! In 2012, along with the dates of each full moon and goddesses representing the elements, seasons, and new/waning moons, I included theme words around the edges of the calamandala to serve as reminders of our goals for our family’s life:

In 2013, I once again included the dates, as well as symbols for new and waning moons as well. This calamandala also included a variety of “womanrune” symbols to pictorially explore what our family wanted to bring into our lives during each quarter of the year.  The four goddess images again represent the seasons and the four quarters of the year. Within each quarter are that quarter’s moons and the womanrunes symbols I chose to indicate family hopes, dreams, or plans for that part of the year. (I completed 2013’s calendar with the aid of my littlest child! 🙂 )

For the current year, I decided to randomly choose Womanrunes for each quarter as a sort of family divination experience. I then included the randomly chosen symbols on my calamandala, one for each full moon of the year as one as an additional one for each of the four seasonal quarters.

In the classes I teach, sometimes I encourage my students to think in circles rather than in lines. To me, this is what the Family Full Moon Calamandala represents as well. Here, we see the year as a cycle, a circle, another turn around the sun, rather than as a series of linear boxes as a graph, implying a distinct beginning and ending.

circle round
circle round and celebrate
circle round and sing
circle round and share stories
circle round and reach out a hand
circle
no beginning
no end…

(poem excerpted from my new Ritual Recipe Kit available for free from http://brigidsgrove.com)