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INTRODUCTION

Mandalas (thc namc comcs from thc Sanskrit word for “circle”) are symmetrical geometrie designs, usually encloscd within a cirdc, a square, or a rectangle, that serve as cosmograms and as focal points for meditation. Highly dcvclopcd by Hindus in India and known to have been used diere in intricatc forms during religious ccrcmonics by 1500 B.C., mandalas were constructed and fiirther elaborated by Tantric Buddhists in Tibct. The traditional Tibetan mandalas not only were painted on tankas (scroll paintings on fabric), they also were cre-ated as sand paintings, formed with mounds of colorcd rice, and realizcd in sculpturc and architecture, such as in the form of a pałace or an entire city. Mandalas also are drawn on paper or on thc ground. Their use spread to Korea and Japan via China; tlicy also arc important in thc traditional religious ceremonies of Nepal and Bhutan. The Celts, a pcoplc with Indo-Europcan anccs-try who grcatly influeneed the development of European culture from nortliern Italy to thc Baltic sca, and who wcrc at thc height of their expansion in tlie 4tli ccntury B.C.E., independendy dcvclopcd mandala-likc designs. Thcsc embodied the curvilinear and latticed lines found in much Celtic art.

Although the forms and funcuons of various kinds of mandalas differ, cvcn within the Hindu tradition, mandalas have in common several qualiues: a central point, thc geometrie naturę of thc design, the symmetry of the pattern, and the purpose of representing thc oneness of thc univcrsc formed of multiple, diverse, and somedmes seemingly chaodc clcmcnts. The Buddhist mandalas of Tibct, China, and Japan are of two main kinds: die “womb-world” designs, representing movcmcnt from thc one to the many, and die “diamond-world” or “thunderbolt-w^rorld” designs, cxprcssing movement from thc many to the one. The sand painrings of thc Navaho, Hopi, and other indigenous groups in North America share with mandalas die four-segment patterns and thc strong movcmcnt outward or inward, from or to the center.

Mandalas are used during religious inidauon ccrc-monies and as aids to meditation (both public and pri-vate, group and individual), to realize die prescncc of the chief incarnarion of Hindu divinity and, according to a hierarchie plan, a muldtude of other gods. In Tantric Buddliism, thc mandala similarly represents various manifestadons of the Buddha, and groups of bodhi-sattvas and other holy figures.

The eight-pctaled sacred lotus of Hinduism (Nelumbo nncifera, a form of w^ratcr lily widely cultivatcd in south Asia) is a common element in tradidonal mandalas. Four gatcw^fays (one for each Cardinal point of the compass) often arc found in ancicnt mandala designs that arc endosed within a square. Circles and squares usually are dividcd into quadrants within thc mandala design, wiiich may be reladvely simple or very intricate, witli hundreds of squarcs and scvcral lcvcls of superimposed patterns, which invite penetradon of layers of integradon and symbolism. It is important to notę that, beyond thc levcl of symbolism, die mandala is understood to actually becomc thc home or seat (literally, “pałace”) of the gods pertaining to thc cight or ninc scctors of thc design, during the ceremony or meditadon.

The sclccdon of 44 clcgantly simple but pow^crfully suggestive designs by Martha Bartfeld includes some within 5-sidcd (pcntagonal) and 6-sidcd (hcxagonal) borders, as well as many within the tradidonal circles and squarcs. The artist crcatcd thcsc designs in 1968, as part of a larger group of geometrie designs diat she published for thc use of students. At thc beginning of 1994, she showed die design manuał to a friend, who excitedly idenrified the designs as mandalas. As Martha Bartfeld was not familiar with die term, she cxplorcd die naturę and mcaning of mandalas. Latcr that year she movcd to Santa Fe, Ncw^r Mcxico, w^rhcrc she dccidcd to redraw die designs, elaborating them further in the process. Beginning in 1996, she twicc shared thc designs in sclf-published books. The first w'as called Sacred Langttagc of the Soul—Mandalas for Awakcning and Healing. Whcn many readers commented that they had colored die mandalas, she published the second adaprarion, Magie Mandala Coloring Book: 200 Original Designs.

Dover Publications presents Martha Bartfeld’s Mandala Designs as a dclightfi.il, intriguing collcction of rimeless art for the enjoyment and enlightenment of all pcoplc, from childrcn to elders. It has powcrful poten-tial to enable each person to take pleasure in universal patterns of linę and form w'hile creatively adding color, alleviate tension and boredom wiiilc cnhancing serenity and mcntal activity, and help in spiritual exploration of the unity of die universe and thc oneness of all lifc.