Mandalas, Yoni, and the Portal of Becoming
There’s something about the circle—its quiet power, its sense of completeness—that keeps returning to me.
Again and again, it shows up in my creative work. Sometimes I notice it after the fact, as if it found its way in without asking. Its presence feels ancient, and yet very familiar.
Lately, I’ve been reading The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung, where he explores this exact form through the idea of the mandala—a circular, often symmetrical design that arises from the unconscious. The mandala appears across cultures and times, in dreams, myths, and art. It isn’t just decorative. It’s a meaningful symbol of the Self—the whole of who we are, including parts we usually hide or forget.
In Jung’s view, the mandala became a kind of internal map—a way to navigate the journey of becoming more whole. He called that journey individuation, a process of growing into one’s full self by integrating both light and shadow.
But the mandala is more than a symbol or tool.
To me, it feels like a portal—a space to pause and go inward.
Like a yoni, it’s a quiet, sacred container. A place to rest, reflect, and re-emerge.
Like a lotus rising slowly through murky water, it speaks of renewal—not by escaping, but by moving through.
The circular shape holds tension: beginnings and endings, creation and loss, growth and decay. And it holds them gently, without rushing to resolve them. That’s the gift of the circle—it doesn’t force progress in a straight line. It allows space to loop, return, deepen, and try again.
We see this in nature: Galaxies spiral. The moon waxes and wanes. Tides come and go.
Our lives, too, move in cycles. Moments of clarity are followed by confusion. Joy leads to grief, and then back to joy again.
Even our thoughts and feelings breathe—expanding, contracting, moving in waves.
Each time we return to something we thought we already knew, we often see it differently. A bit clearer. A bit closer to the core.
It reminds me of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey—not a straight climb to victory, but a circular path of leaving, descending, facing the unknown, and returning changed. Both the mandala and the myth point to the same truth: that becoming whole is a journey inward, then outward, then inward again.
To honour this rhythm is not to cling to it or mystify it—
but to trust it.
The mandala reminds us that we’re not broken—we’re becoming.
Not in one great leap, but in slow, spiraling steps.
Crosssection of Thought, drawing on paper, 57cm x 57cm
If you wish to purchase any of my work or sponsor me, please get in touch directly.
I’ll walk you through the next steps. And I’ll do it with gratitude—and fire.
📧 maria@maria-agni-art.com
📞 +44 (7)552 145 680
With love and ink-stained fingers,
Maria Agni
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