Open 2 the Journey offers clinical training for therapists as well as facilitating personal wellness workshops and events for people seeking transformative self-discovery. As licensed professional counselors, Cara Marinucci and Erin Johnson facilitate events, retreats, and more through their work by using Integrative Imagery, Guided Imagery & Music, and the Mandala Assessment Research Instrument (MARI) and Drawn Mandalas. Their focus on helping others connect with their own inner guidance is deeply supported by the MARI and drawn mandala, which are rooted in spiritual traditions and continue to be developed and researched within Western medicine and psychology.
Mandala Origins in Buddhism and Hinduism
Mandalas are historically tied to Buddhism and Hinduism, with significant spiritual traditions and practices held by both religions. Often drawn as a spiritual guidance tool, it is this history that influenced Carl Jung bringing mandalas into therapeutic work as a way to connect with the subconscious. Today, mandalas are integrated into psychotherapy or spiritual practice as well as being created by artists.
In Hinduism, mandalas are called yantras and typically take the form of four squares with a circle at the center and four gates at the north, east, south, and west points of the outer circle. In practice, yantras are used as symbols of truth and instructional charts for guidance. How mandalas in Hinduism differ from that of Buddhism is the material — in Hinduism, rice, colored powders, and flowers are used. Whereas in Buddhism, mandalas are often constructed with sand.
It is believed that Buddha taught the sand mandala construction in India from the fifth century B.C.E forward. Beautifully, this art’s teachings and knowledge have been passed down from generation to generation for over 2,500 years, without the tradition being broken. Each intricate detail of a mandala has symbolic meaning in Tibetan Buddhism, and the creative process is believed to gather and distribute spiritual energy as an offering to the universe.
The Evolution of Mandalas
In Tibetan Buddhism, mandala painters — with a long family history of working this sacred occupation — focused their work around religion, even undergoing initiation rites to be able to paint mandalas. The thoughtful care put into the process of creating such mandalas has significantly influenced how modern-day artists approach mandala art.
Take for instance self-taught artist Jamie Locke. She is known for her hand-carved mandalas on materials like wood, metal, glass, and leather. “For me, the process of creating a mandala is always one of inspired revelation, elemental surprise, and pure bliss,” says Jamie. (Source)
And then there’s Tibetan mandala artist, Tenzing Rigdol. Tenzing is often commissioned by museums and others to paint mandalas with tantra principles of ignorance, nature of self, and human interdependence at the foundation of his work. Most recently, he painted an installation, “Biography of a Thought,” for the Mandalas: Mapping the Buddhist Art of Tibet exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
YouTube: Meet the Artist—Tenzing Rigdol Commission-Mandalas | Met Exhibitions
By observing how artists create mandalas, we gain insight into their subconscious minds. From surface preparation and sketch transfers to painting, shading, and final details, the process reveals why mandala-making is a deeply spiritual practice — for both the artist and those who experience it. Sand mandalas, too, embody this same spiritual depth, fostering meditation, focus, and reflection.
There are also free online resources for mandala coloring pages that can be downloaded and printed for use as a meditative or relaxing activity that promotes inner calm. At Open 2 the Journey, mandalas are used in therapy with clients to help them uncover unconscious issues and their personal strengths. We also bring in the MARI — which is the use of symbols and colors displayed on the Great Round to reveal a visual picture of a client’s psyche. MARI was influenced by the mandala drawing work of Carl Gustav Jung. Jung believed that drawn mandalas integrate psychological division, enhance psychological harmony, and preserve personality integrity.
What is MARI?
More deeply defined, MARI is a holistic assessment instrument that uses 39 symbol cards and 45 color cards. It was created by Joan Kellogg, an art therapist and researcher who wanted to gain more insights into her client’s psychological, career, relational, and physical issues. According to Joan, “The symbol cards are displayed first — in random order. The person is asked to choose six symbol cards they like or are most attracted to, one symbol card they are least attracted to and sometimes guidance cards for a particular issue. They are then asked to choose colors that ‘go with’ the symbols they picked. The choices of symbols and colors is intuitive.”(Source)
MARI and Drawn Mandala are actively used by mental health practitioners, life coaches, and art and music therapists, dating back to the 1970s. Kellogg developed MARI at the University of Maryland (UMD) when well-known therapists (Stanislav Grof, Helen Bonny, Walter Pahnke) were conducting pioneering consciousness research with psychedelics.
Working with Drawn Mandalas for 25+ years, Kellogg created a system that brought more objectivity to the interpretation of mandalas when used in art therapy. She recognized that the symbols and colors were associated with specific stages of life — beginnings, struggle, and full consciousness, in the human mind. Both Jung and Kellogg acknowledged that symbols have existed in our collective consciousness and unconscious psyches for millions of years. Today, the MARI offers both a Jungian and Transpersonal psychology approach that includes all four functions of consciousness — intuiting, thinking, feeling, and sensing.
The Four Functions in Mandala Drawing and MARI
According to Jung, the four functions of consciousness — intuition, thinking, feeling, and sensing — are deeply interwoven and rarely operate in isolation. Each becomes active in unique ways during the mandala drawing process, as seen in the MARI approach.
The intuitive function is central from the beginning. When a person engages with symbols, colors, and spontaneous creative choices, they tap into unconscious material that rises through inner images and impulses. The act of selecting colors, choosing a starting point, and moving within the circle opens a channel for intuition to guide the experience without rational interference.
The thinking function comes into play when the individual begins to reflect on their choices. As symbols and images emerge, meaning-making begins. This function seeks to analyze, categorize, and connect the symbolic content to life experiences or present issues. It helps bring structure and clarity to the material that surfaces.
The feeling function becomes engaged as the individual explores the emotional resonance of their mandala. Rather than analyzing, this function assesses value and emotional tone — what feels significant, heavy, joyful, or unsettling. The emotional responses to colors, shapes, and symbols provide vital insight into the person’s inner state.
The sensing function is activated through direct, sensory experience. The physical act of drawing, the texture of the pastels, the contrast of colors, and the visual impact of the finished mandala all ground the process in the present moment. This function provides access to embodied awareness and connects symbolic content to felt reality.
Together, these four functions allow for a holistic encounter with the unconscious. Through the MARI process, the mandala becomes not just an image, but a living reflection of the individual’s internal world — complex, layered, and deeply human.
Join Us & Become a MARI Practitioner
MARI is highly recommended for mental health professionals, including art therapists, music therapists, psychotherapists, and master-level wellness coaches.
Those interested can take a course through Open 2 the Journey.
In our 20-hour MARI training you will learn and experience how to use MARI to assess personal, career, relationship, health, and spiritual issues with your clients. The training covers the significance of symbols and images that are typically encountered in drawn mandalas, how as a practitioner, you practice providing effective, ethical, and strength-based assessments with your clients, and how to incorporate mandala work with individuals and groups.
In addition, we also dive deeper into:
- Clinical applications of the assessment tool
- Supervision of practice sessions
- Case studies
- Professional ethics
We are teachers through MARI Creative Resources and have successfully guided many in becoming official MARI Practitioners.
We also facilitate personal workshops and retreats that bring drawn mandalas into the process of self-discovery, expression, healing, and growth.
