Customer Reviews

The Mandala Healing Kit: Using Sacred Symbols for Spiritual and Emotional Healing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is so informative and amazing. Great depth of history and cultural background as well as teaching rituals for making mandalas. The stencils that come with it are sturdy and made to last. I put them right on my drawing tablet and design on my computer. Not just for healing, you can create mandalas that will help you find love, a better job, etc. An excellent book.

This kit is the most interesting I have seen to date. It not only contains pictures of mandalas, but includes everything you need to get started making your own mandalas: colored pencils, black pages at the back of the book and stencils, one round so that you do not need a compass. I have used the stencils and from there anything goes as far as colors you use or if you wish to add anything.

I can't think of a better gift than this.

I went overboard and bought her Mandala Journey to the center too :-)))

Wonderful set altogether.

I purchased this for my use, but passed it along to my retired Aunt who has started a Hand-Made Greeting Card Business, and is very Craft oriented. I think I have become too computer oriented, even though I have years of practical art training in the past and am actually only a few credits shy of a Fine Arts BA (ended up with a MS in Biochemistry, figure?). The CD I never listened to, but recall enjoying the quality and depth of the illustrated book.

However, I have purchased the "share-ware" "Mandala Painting" program and am considering an online purchase of the "Mandala Maker" software. I suggest one use a search engine to find these on the WEB.

However, this is really a great package, and maybe a fantastic gift, but if you already have a moderate understanding and experience with Mandalas you may want to check out software packages in addition to this program.

The kit is wonderful, but I was disappointed with the quality of the colored pencils. I also got Judith Cornell's 6 class teleconference, which includes so much more information on the mandala process. I do suggest getting your own colored pencils. I did one mandala and I was already half-way through the white pencil. Kind of irritating.. I'm now on a break from doing the mandalas because I have yet to go out and buy another set of colored pencils. If you buy this product, I suggest getting a good set of colored pencils first. This process is supposed to be about going within, and when something so material such as a pencil distracts you from that, well, it stinks!

Wow. I guess if you're gifting this to someone with no drawing skills and no prior experience with drawing materials and no prior experience drawing AT ALL AND they have NO IDEA how to explore mystic imagery - this kit MIGHT be a good idea. BUT if you have ANY experience with the above mentioned areas - you will be extremely disappointed.

The kit provides paper templates for tracing what the author has deemed as basic and necessary mandala-esque imagery. I found extremely disappointing (a parrot?). Unfortunately my fiancé has studied Tibetan Buddhism, we have several art books on Tibetan Mandala imagery.. very little if any of the template icons provided relate to the historical art of Mandalas.

But, putting that aside, let's say this is for a purely Western audience looking to explore their own Mandala imagery, I still found the templates oddly restrictive and distracting. An ankh, a Christian cross, a Jewish star, a Buddhist Ohm, a parrot, a palm tree... I felt like I had landed in someone's bad idea of a new age meditation center, the music seemed to echo this motif.

The 3 out of 5 CD tracks are delete-able, annoying and distracting. "New Age" to the extreme. If you have NO experience with relaxation techniques maybe you will appreciate all 5 tracks but .. but I could barely stomach the provided "ambiance". Like the templates the tracks seemed to cover the same heavy handed range of "mysticism" a Christian track, a Buddhist track, a Celtic track.. it was just trying too hard and not actually providing a substantial experience in any one realm. The ideal GOAL of a successful Mandala making experience would be a semi-trance like atmosphere where you can immerse yourself in cultural imagery, sounds and mysticism relevant to your exploration. This kit wanted to be something for everyone and ends up offering nothing to anyone.

The spiral bound book should have included a basic "How To" section but somehow the author forgot this, so for the absolute NEWBIE at everything (which this kit seems to be aimed at) you may feel at a loss where to begin, especially with such an array of cultural imagery and sounds. The authors selection of curated Mandala imagery created from her workshop is ... developed. The artists obviously spent sometime with their pieces. Perhaps the in-person workshops provides art material (and guidance) better suited to real exploration.

As other people have mentioned, the pencils are little better than something you might get from a McDonald's Happy Meal. I doubt there is enough lead in them to cover even one square black sheet of paper.

I don't know why anyone needs to buy this kit, it's a waste of production. Buy this book instead The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, get a Crayola Pencil kit, some drawing paper and you'll be MUCH better off.

A very nice kit. I bought it as a present and it made a lovely gift.