Create Your Own Sand Mandala is actually a kit, with a 96-page instruction booklet, sand in five different colors, templates, a funnel and a brush. The book leads you step by step into creating your Sand Mandala while also telling the history and uses of mandalas. Examples of meditations and blessings are given for your use in preparation, as well.
I decided to do this project with my 17-year old daughter. We chose a Healing Mandala to create and we used one of the blank templates. Creating the Mandala itself and doing the meditations together made the whole project a really special time for us. The instructions advise you to practice using the funnel before you actually begin your Mandala and it is wise advice. Neither my daughter nor I found using the funnel easy. It was difficult to get the sand to pour smoothly from the funnel. At one point, we turned the funnel around and used that end to pour the sand and my daughter even poured directly from the sand bags. Both of which worked well.
There are enough materials to create more than one Mandala. I think that whether you choose to do them alone or with a partner, the experience is well worth the time.
~review by Jae
Authors: Eileen M. Rose and Abby Rose Dalto
Godsfield Press, 2003
pp. 96
