The Dragon Mandala
Acrylic on canvas 120×120 cm/47,2×47,2
The Dragon Mandala combines two ancient symbols into one powerful image as a talisman amulet. The mandala is a geometric symbol of a complex structure, interpreted as a model of the universe. Its typical form is an outer circle inscribed with a square, which in turn is inscribed with an inner circle, often segmented or lotus-shaped. The outer circle is the universe, while the inner circle is the dimension of deities, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. The square in between is oriented to the sides of the world and has T-shaped exits on each side, like a gateway to the universe. The square is divided into four parts. The fifth part is the center, itself designed to emanate and represent divine harmony in contrast to the confusion and disorder of the material world around us. Carl Gustav Jung believed that the mandala was an archetypal symbol of the human longing for psychological interaction with others. Many researchers have also believed that it expresses a spiritual journey beyond the self.
Our world is dual, and the dragon personifies the duality of this world. The dragon is the most ancient symbol found in almost all mythologies. It symbolizes the mysteries of life, it intertwines good and evil, life and death, the eternal and the transient. Its symbolism is ambivalent: it can be solar and lunar, male and female, good and evil.
Combining the characteristics of various animals – bird’s wings, tiger’s paws, snake’s neck, deer’s horns – the dragon symbolizes the unity of the four elements. The symbolic meaning of the four elements is as follows: the dragon lives in the bowels of the earth or in the depths of the water, flies through the air, and breathes fire. But more often the dragon is depicted as a combination of bird and serpent, heavenly and earthly.
As the most ancient of the creatures that inhabit this world, dragons are the keepers of sacred knowledge. The Dragon is the Teacher, the Initiate, the Lord of the Earth, the Guardian of the Treasure. The gold he guards is the gold of wisdom, power, or knowledge. The hero’s struggle with the dragon in mythology is not so much a struggle against external evil as it is the liberation of the soul from inner darkness, limitation and ignorance, the understanding of the deep laws of existence and the attainment of inner light.
The victory over the dragon symbolizes the destruction of the destructive forces of evil, the victory over one’s own dark nature, the knowledge of the truth. Thanks to it, the hero becomes the guardian of the seeds of eternal life and attains immortality.
In general, the East Dragon personifies the elemental forces of the universe, both benign and destructive. It symbolizes chaos, the hidden, potential, unbridled nature and the life-giving power of water. The dragon also represents supernatural wisdom, hidden knowledge, power, infinity, the divine power of change and transformation, the rhythms of nature, the law of creation.
The dragon is often depicted next to the phoenix bird, with either the sun or the “pearl of heaven” – the moon – between them. In Taoism and Buddhism it is “the pearl that grants all wishes”, the pearl of perfection, wisdom, strength, the spiritual essence of the universe.
Dragons are excellent teachers of magic and bestowers of swords. In the “I Ching” (“Book of Changes”), a dragon usually means a sage. In addition, the dragon is the keeper of the elixir of immortality and the foreteller of the future.
