Mandala Alchemy

The Mystical Arts of A T Mann

Ars Mystica is a term denoting a collection of the art, architecture, design, astrological, meditation and healing works of the American author, architect, painter, designer and astrologer A T Mann (1943–). The direction and goal of these diverse works is no less than integration and mystical union.

My more than 30-year opus of Mystical Arts ranges over many areas, yet the intrinsic content and intent can be easily seen and followed. My work is a graphic documentation of a process linking inner, spiritual, psychic mechanisms to the external world – the microcosm to the macrocosm. With Love, souls are raised to a divine furor; Art is the way by which the individual soul is joined to the soul of the world; Mathesis is their manifestation as magical figures embodying mathematical principles; the linkage between mundane and spiritual worlds is accomplished by Magic.

This book records a process of individual growth through images, symbols, colors and archetypal principles which pass one into the other, transforming and morphing in complex associative patterns, over many years. The images take the form of architecture, tarot cards, astrological diagrams and symbolism, paintings, healing devices, meditation diagrams, talismans, calendars, graphics, drawings and landscapes. A common factor connecting many of these is that most embody the form of the mandala, an Eastern term denoting a circular diagram intended to focus the mind during mediation.

The mandala is a mirror reflecting the evolution of inner processes as they manifest in the outer world. Some are purely instinctive or intuitive, while others are the result of intense and highly concentrated mental activity. Still others have clearly evolved over decades to their present form, which contains traces of their predecessors. The mandala communicates information through its nature as a memory image, by unconsciously organizing the psyche through the use of form, color, line, texture, symbol and orientation. This information can be received by anyone, at any level, without their meaning being consciously known. Whether one chooses to see them as a form of art, or as the expression of extremely complex and esoteric principles, is up to the viewer. Most images function on many levels simultaneously: as art, as movement in time, as spatial constructions, and temporal guideposts, or as scientific or mathematical models. The fact that they do operate on multiple levels brings a life and meaning which is often missing in mundane art.

The genesis and development of the processes that led to the creation of the images, how they were conceived and executed often had a profound bearing on their form and meaning. There are many line drawings showing the underlying geometric relationships of the images. These embody the history of such shapes, as indeed many are archetypal, in that they have been recreated again and again by generations of seekers.

Color is a primal quality that transmits particular information in addition to carrying emotional states and feelings. In magical talismans, tarot decks, astrological graphics, rose windows and other images, the colors are used according to known systems of symbolism as ancient as they are powerful. In the Mandala Astrological Tarot book (1987) there is a lengthy exposition of the King Scale of color that forms the foundation and link between images and an astrological cosmology. The relative values and scales of colors occupy a central position in my visionary view of the world.

Although any of the images may be seen purely as paintings or drawings, knowing their magical context and content enhances, deepens and strengthens their aesthetic value. Shapes, colors, figures, magical images and proportions all blend into perceptual images which link the magical world of the imagination with the soul of the world.

An example of these ideas are a series of mandala paintings I made in the mid-1970s.

Twelve Mandalas ©1975

The "Twelve Mandalas" were painted in 1975 in London. The paintings are mandalas based on major religious, philosophical or cosmological systems using the square and the circle. They are related to the astrological signs by their qualities, numerology and symbolism. The designs were published as a set of cards (240,000 in total) in 1976, have been displayed in London and Majorca, published in many books and in serialized in the Dutch esoteric journal BRES. The original paintings are 66 x 48 cm.

Aries — Stonehenge, Solunar Observatory

Stone circles built over a period of time, approximately 2400 BC. Attributed to the Atlanteans, Phoenicians, Druids, megalithic mound builders, Giants, Queen Boadicea or Merlin. Its geometry and orientation suggest its use as an astronomical observatory, ritual place and spiritual center of megalithic Britain.

Taurus — Great Pyramid, Astronomical Temple

Stone monument supposedly built approximately 2170 BC., although it could be thousands of years earlier. Served as a burial chamber for the Pharaoh Cheops and also functioned as an initiation temple, astronomical observatory, calendar, and standard of measurement canon for and ancient Egyptian surveying, weights and measures. The square and circle, and astronomical considerations determine its form, location and position of interior passageways and chambers.

Gemini — Memory Theatre, Vitruvius, Palladio, Dee, Fludd

The classical Greek amphitheater described by Vitruvius was an image of the world. the four equilateral triangles inscribed within a circle also reflect the zodiac structure. Palladio's 1567 reconstruction is here adapted to the magical memory theatre ideas of Dr John Dee and Robert Fludd, as presented by Dr. Frances Yates. The memory art produced a specific correlation between the audience, actors and sets which was probably used in the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare.

Cancer — Jampudvipa World Diagram, Jain Cosmos

Western Indian Jain diagram from the 17th century. This schematic representation of the universe shows the regions through which the individual soul passes in approaching liberation at Mount Meru at the center. The concentric rings are layers of space, time and matter which determine our fates and indicate the proper actions necessary for spiritual release.

Leo — Figura Intellectus, Magicosmic Mnemomandala

Corresponding with a diagram by Giordano Bruno from the 16th century. This meditation figure synchronizes the operations and structure of the mind with the divine astrological order of the cosmos. The image provides a matrix for information that indicates their magical correspondences and permutations. This diagram is also a solar/lunar calendar rotating with the seasons.

Virgo — Sri Yantra, Hindu Tantric Yantra

Hindu mandala of the 17th century. The divine powers and their relationships are shown as linked triangles surrounding the mysterious matrix bindu point in the centre. The lack of images allows the initiate to distil and concentrate being and consciousness in preparation for unification with the Godhead.

Libra — I Ching, Squared and Encircled

Ancient Chinese oracle and book of wisdom from the Second Millennium B.C. The I Ching Book of Changes is a divinatory system based upon the permutations of yin and yang energies in nature and humanity. The sixty-four hexagrams are transitional states that are shown around a circle and within a square.

Scorpio — Mahakala Gonpo-Magpo Chakra, Tibetan Buddhist Mandala

Tibetan Buddhist Tantric mandala of Mahakala, the Great God of Time, dancing with his female consort within the sacred precinct of the four elements. This eternal dance symbolizes the recurrent creation and destruction of the Universe by the powers of Time.

Sagittarius — Aztec Calendar Wheel, Precious Fire Serpents

Stone carving 13 feet in diameter from 15th century Mexico. The Sun Disk is both a calendar and historical-mythological record of the Aztecs. The sun in the centre and is surrounded by four seasons and eras, twenty day names, penetrating rays and two great fire serpents, representing the cosmic energies and the recurrent mechanism of time.

Capricorn — Kabbalistic Tree of Life

Medieval Hebrew mystical diagram. The Kabbalah is the mystical alphabet/language of the Hebrews, and the Tree of Life organizes its correspondences. The ten spheres are pure numbers and the twenty-two paths connecting them are letters of the aleph-beth, the whole leading the initiate from the ignorance of Malkuth at the bottom to the Crown of Kether.

Aquarius — Astrology, Cosmic Geometry

Astrology is the most ancient science and mantic art based upon the correspondences of the Cosmos and Humanity. Astrology integrates astronomy, medicine, mathematics, geometry and psychology and lies within most mystical traditions and religions. The structure of Astrology is the relationship between the circular movements of the planetary bodies and the squares and triangles which relate them.

Pisces — North Rose Window, Chartres Cathedral

Leaded stained glass window in Chartres Cathedral built in 1145 AD. This rose window displays the principles of Christianity through images of the Virgin held by her Mother, surrounded by Doves of Spirit, Kings of Israel and Twelve Prophets. The images, colors and geometrical transmit the mysteries of the Church relationships to both the simple and the wise.