Pareidolia MANDALAS -...

PareidoliaPareidoliaMANDALASMANDALAS

© Copyright 2009 Lois EilerA Production of ThoughtFlower LLC and MandalaColors.com

http://www.mandalacolors.com/

Table of Contents

Content Page

Terms and About 3

Introduction: What Is Pareidolia? 4 About These Mandalas 6

The Mandalas: Pareidolia Mandalas 7-36

MandalaColors.com © Copyright 2009 Lois Eiler


Terms and Usage

Reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information presented in this book is accurate.

However, the reader should understand that the information provided does not constitute legal,

medical or professional advice of any kind. This product is supplied “as is” and without warranties.

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This product is protected by US Copyright and is intended for personal use only. It may not be

reprinted or sold without the author's written permission.

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About the Author

Lois Eiler is the driving force behind ThoughtFlower LLC, a business that produces and markets

information products focused on personal empowerment. She is an accomplished professional

photographer and digital artist, as well as a martial arts instructor.

Ms. Eiler studied Social Work during her undergraduate education, and later completed a two year

program in Advertising Photography. She has been an avid student of New Thought and World

Religions for over 20 years. She became interested in mandalas after three profound experiences

photographing Tibetan Monks in the process of creating sand mandalas.

Ms. Eiler lives in Roswell, GA with her husband, son and two cats.



Introduction: What is Pareidolia?

Pareidolia is the psychological experience of perceiving patterns or meaning in seemingly random

stimuli. Examples are when we see faces or animals in clouds, or think we hear someone calling us

while we are in the shower. Most often we hear of religious pareidolia, like seeing Mother Teresa's

face in a sweet roll or hearing “hidden” messages on a song played backward.

Our brains are hardwired to produce this phenomenon. Developed as a survival mechanism, our

minds thrive on pattern recognition, looking for significant connections between various ideas,

memories, or images. Because we are also very visual creatures, we are particularly good at finding

visual patterns. From when we are first able to see, we learn to seek the familiar pattern of our mother's

face because its appearance means that whatever we might need, be it food or other comfort, is nearby.

The quicker we are able to discern the tiger's face amongst the jungle leaves, the more likely we are to

survive.

Psychologists have long used pareidolia to gain insight into the personality and emotional life of their

patients. The most widely known technique is the Rorschach test, where the psychologist records a

patient's response to a series of ink blots and then makes an interpretation. Hermann Rorschach, the

Swiss psychiatrist who first developed the test, came up with the idea from an art form he played with

as a child called Klecksography-- dribbling ink onto a page, folding it and then revealing the patterns

that emerge.

I would argue that any artistic endeavor could not exist is if it were not for pareidolia. Our seeking of

familiar patterns is intrinsically linked to our desire for newness, beauty and meaning. Whether

one is creating a painting or a song, creative expression requires an interplay between our imaginations

and our perception of the world around us. Creativity is essentially the ability to transcend familiar

ideas and patterns and reform them into something new.



Whether we call it pareidolia or creativity, we can use this ability to see bunnies in the clouds or

monsters in the shadows. And as Hermann Rorschach theorized, when we make an attempt to look

objectively at our own unique perceptions of what we see, we might gain a deeper understanding of

ourselves.

It was another famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung who first explored, for the western world anyway,

the psychological insight that can be gained from working with mandalas.* The word “mandala”

comes from the ancient language of Sanskrit, and translates literally as “circle.” However it

carries a deeper traditional meaning in many religions as a sacred circular symbol or design. For

thousands of years Tibetan Buddhists have used sand mandala art to contemplate and express

compassion, comprehend the impermanence of reality, and promote the social/cosmic healing of the

planet. Navajo sand painters used similar circular designs in their healing rites. Mandalas can be found

in the spiritual designs of many cultures throughout history.

Gaining in popularity over recent years, Mandala Art uses a circular frame for drawing, sketching or

painting symbols and designs, and has become a vehicle of self-exploration and spiritual

transformation. Coloring mandala designs has also become a preferred method of meditation and

relaxation among those of us who find the process of adding color to a geometric design soothing.

*In fact, in what I find to be an interesting circle, Jung and Rorschach both studied under psychiatrist

Eugen Bleuler, who gave us the term “schizophrenia”, which is a mental disorder characterized by

distorted perceptions of sensory stimulus.



About These MandalasThese mandalas are created by a variety of means, largely using the computer to create interesting

digital “patterns” of pixels within the symmetrical circle theme. I often begin with a photograph, and

use many filters in PhotoShop to get the final desired effect. Most of them do not resemble the

original image in any way.

I have left the mandalas purposefully varied in tone- -they include black, white and all levels of gray

within them. They are intentionally ambiguous and abstract. Look for the shapes, images, symbols

and ideas you might see in them and work from there. It is a place to ask questions – what do you see,

can you tell a story with the shapes and colors that you choose for your mandala? And then it is for you

to explore what that all means for you – each mandala is an individual journey for each person.

My best effort has been made to use image sizes that will print well without making such a huge file

that it would be difficult to download. Printing results will vary according to the quality of printer and

type of paper used. I would recommend using a printer that is capable of printing photographs, in

order to get the full spectrum of grays available. Textured paper may give you a better surface for

coloring, but probably less detail. It's all about play! Try different things.

When working in gray or black areas, remember that any color layered on top of it will darken the

color you are using. How much this does so depends on what coloring medium you are using – colored

pencils will give a different effect from markers, etc. Print each image out a few times in order to

experiment.

A word to the wise: I am not a therapist or mental health professional, so of course I must make it clear

that I make no claims for healing or special insight. For this reason I purposefully do not offer thoughts

on how to interpret any meaning you may project onto a mandala or inkblot-- it's strictly “swim at your

own risk.” These mandalas are intended for reflective enjoyment and relaxation only, and are not

to be interpreted as therapy or a means for diagnosis. I offer them as an artist who found a fun new

way to play in the world of mandalas, shapes and symbols, and to share them with other mandala

enthusiasts.



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