“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” ― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Some colours can almost be inhaled — their presense is so… well, present.  That’s how I experience the blue of this sodalite, the mineral featured in the mandala above.  It is intense but gentle, and although blue is supposedly a cool colour, I think sodalite vibes warm.

And speaking of sodalite vibrations, it is believed to have some special health-giving properties, that is, that it can bring order and calmness to the mind and restore emotional balance, calm panic attacks, encourage rational thought, objectivity, truth and intuition, and support the verbalisation of feelings.  Can we put it in the water supply?

I took the source image for this mandala at the Princess Sodalite Mine Rock Shop in Bancroft, Ontario.  The shop is on the site of a Victorian sodalite mine, named for the then Princess of Wales who ordered 130 tonnes of the rock to use to decorate Marlborough House.  I share that because I was initially mildly disappointed that the shop was not named for some eccentric character who liked to call herself “Princess” and wore mineral samples dangling from her wide-brimmed hat.  Alas, there is no such person there.  There is, however, a huge assortment of minerals from around the world and well-informed and professional staff who were kind enough to let me go crazy with my camera.

Sodalite Mandala – source image – click to enlarge

Sodalite Mandala – detail. Click to enlarge

PS – for local Windsor, Ontario people, this Saturday (June 23, 2012) is Demo Day at the Back Room Gallery, 4749 Wyandotte.  Several of the artist co-op members will be in all day demonstrating our various artistic skills. I’ll be there demonstrating how I make mandalas on my laptop computer.  Come on out.  10-6.