Earth Mandalas at Knebel's Flower Farm

"A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation and trance induction. A mandala generally represents the spiritual journey, starting from outside to the inner core, through layers." — Wikipedia

About a month ago I saw a post by my friend Theresa Gates Kuhr that she was offering an Earth Mandala class at her sister's property, Knebel's Flower Farm.  The class would include learning about Ayurvedic philosophy and morning rituals, building earth mandalas with flowers, breakfast, and picking our own flower bouquets from the farm.  Everything about this was right up my alley, but my one hesitation was that we would have to meet EARLY on a Saturday morning.  As many of you know, I am not a morning person.  But it seemed silly not to do it for that reason...so I signed up.

On Saturday at 6 am I woke up with the thought, "I am one lucky girl."  It was a strange thought because I haven't felt very lucky lately.  As I got out of bed I noticed it was lightly raining, but the weather forecast said it should clear up.  When I headed out the door at 6:45 I saw my phone battery said 26% and I was so sad because I knew I would be wanting to take a ton of photos that day. I ran back in and got my phone charger, hoping to charge it once I arrived. 

It took me a little over half an hour to arrive at the road to the farm.  I turned onto the road and headed up and up and up.  The road was pretty rough and I thought I should have put the car in all wheel drive.  It reminded me of my old bear project days and I thought to myself, "This is going to be quite an adventure!"

When I finally got to the top of the road I was reassured I was in the right place when I was greeted by these signs.

As I got out of my car I was welcomed by Barb, the owner of the flower farm, holding an umbrella.  It is funny how in just a few words exchanged you know you like someone.. and that was how it was with Barb.  I asked it I could plug my phone in and she pointed to the plug next to the water heater for tea.  As I sat down to drink some tea, I was also surprised and happy to see my fellow printmaker and friend Nancy Turner show up for the class.  Nancy's presence is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.  

Once we were all assembled, we each got to choose a basket with a vintage tablecloth in it.

Below you can see Nancy and I happily holding our basket of fresh flowers. (Thank you for the photo Nancy!)

When everyone had their flowers, I grabbed my half-charged phone and we headed off to walk the property.

We headed around the flower fields and down a beautiful dirt road through the woods until we came to a clearing.  We then made a circle and spread our vintage tablecloths out to sit on.  Theresa gave a short talk and we went around the circle to introduce ourselves.  

There is something magical about women gathering in a circle.  Somehow, there is always laughter and tears and a sense of being held by the group.  And although our intros were brief, I couldn't help but find myself falling in love with each person.  I so enjoy hearing people's stories and find myself wanting to know more as the time is always too short in these situations.

After we left the circle we were instructed to wander the property while gathering any items we might want for our mandala and to look for the perfect spot.  As I wandered I felt extra happy to find five perfect osage oranges, plus goldenrod, berries, and several unidentified plants.
 

When I took the photo above, I could tell my phone was starting to act funny again.  It would turn off every time I took a photo.  At this point I knew I would be lucky to get any more photos...so I turned my attention to finding a spot for my mandala.

I wandered around the lake but found myself close to where we met in the circle.  I wanted to find a bright spot and I decided to make a little space for my mandala near the woodpile in the middle of the field.  The woodpile was surrounded by lots of tall snakeweed, but there was a spot where there was a natural break in the weeds.  Theresa had told us that it was easiest to make the mandalas on the dirt, but I thought maybe I could cut the vegetation down a bit to make it flat.  Plus I knew the osage oranges were pretty big and that I would have to make my mandala "thick" to accommodate them.  I also liked the idea of my mandala being nested into the arms of the bent-over snakeroot.

Theresa had instructed us to think about the purpose of our mandala.  Would it be symbolic?  Would it honor someone or something?  At first I thought about honoring a family member, or my family.  But in the end I decided to honor my self.  I decided to take this class at the end of a difficult month and as a way to do something for me.  So when I started building it I knew I wanted to make it more of a wreath...because you all know I am obsessed with donut shapes and shapes that having "nothing" in the middle.  Below you can see my final mandala nestled into the snakeroot.

Looking at it now as I write this blogpost, the mandala reminds me of a swirling hurricane with a still point in the center.  It made me think that we are all like human hurricanes walking around, not knowing our own power.  And not realizing that at our core we can always find peace.  We are both the swirling storm and the calm at the center. 

“The center of the Mandala is the Now-moment, where, through the quality of attention, we constantly create ourselves anew.” — Richard Moss

After finishing my mandala, I hurried back to meet the group.  At this point my phone died...so I missed photographing everyone with their mandala.  But I did enjoy walking to see everyone's mandala and listening to the descriptions of each one.  It truly was a lovely surprise to come upon each person's lovely mandala on the ground and to see how each one was different and the materials used.

When we finished our walk we headed back to the flower field where Barb and Theresa (and their husbands) had prepared quite a lunch for us.  I quickly plugged my phone in at the house and ran back to eat lunch.  Nancy let me use her photo of this incredible spread.

After lunch both me and my phone were recharged and I got to take a couple more photos of the day.

Below you can see each of us got an empty jar for our bouquets and how every little detail of this experience was delightful.

I can't tell you how much fun it was to walk the rows of this field cutting flowers for our arrangements.  And there is nothing more merry than a bunch of women arranging flowers.  And if you are interested, Barb offers "pick and pay" experiences for people or groups (check out her website!).

Barb truly is a master at what she does.  It was fascinating to listen to her tell us about growing flowers and what is involved.  And I learned so much from watching her make a bouquet.

As you can see below I had such a good time in this class.  The flowers, the people, the mandalas, the food, the scenery...the whole experience was such a joy.  I am so happy that I pushed myself to wake up early and try something new.  

“Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life.” — Pema Chödrön


After saying our goodbyes I wandered back to each mandala and took a photo.
Here they are in all their loveliness.

Theresa's mandala

Alicia's mandala

Sue's mandala

Janet's mandala

Nancy's mandala

Krista's mandala

Barb's mandala

The leaves of Barb's mandala had already started to crinkle by the time I made it to hers.  It reminded me of how these will fade and return to the earth over time.  I wish I could return to all of them in the coming days to see how they  might change.     
 

When I got home and was looking through the photos I remembered my first thought of the morning...that I was lucky.  It gave me pause when I considered the day.  My mind immediately searched for evidence to the contrary.  I had been so disappointed that my phone didn't work correctly.  One of my favorite things in the world is to take photos of an event like today and my phone chose today to freak out.  I sat with that for a while.  And then I also realized that my phone had worked just barely enough for me to document the day, even allowing me to walk back and take photos of each person's mandala.  It just barely had enough battery for me to finish the class.  So in that sense, I had been very lucky.  

"Luck is believing you're lucky." — Tennessee Williams

I don't really know how much we get to control in this life.  But I do know that we can sometimes control our responses to situations.  Or maybe it is better to say we can control how we view a situation.  I would not describe myself as someone who sees the glass half full or empty all the time.  But I know I have work to do in this area.  If there is any truth to the idea that we make our own luck, then I want to be there planting those seeds.  

A big thank you to Theresa and Barb for such a lovely day.

If you are interested in learning more about Ayurveda or taking a class, please visit Theresa's website, theresagateskuhr.com. 

And if you would like to pick yourself some flowers or have a group event, visit Barb's website, knebelsflowerfarm.com.