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In creating your personal mandala you can get some ideas from browsing the Web. Search on key words: Mandala spiritual

http://mandalaproject.org - a complete lesson on mandalas. Of special interest are the pages "What is a Mandala?" and "Links and Resources". "The Mandalas" page shows many examples of mandalas created by others.

http://www.abgoodwin.com/mandala/ - learn all about Mandalas and how to make them, including a computer graphics application you can order to make your own mandalas

http://newage.about.com/cs/mandalainstruct/index.htm - (sorry, this site seems to be inactive but there are many other sites on Mandalas available at About.com) Mandala drawing and instruction - a "how to" page with some useful links. The first one ("From Your New Age Guide") gives you some simple step-by-step directions. The "Build Your Own Mandala" link gives you a step by step process to lay out the basic geometric framework of a typical mandala. Once you've done that, you can fill it in with various symbolic images and colors uniquely important to you.

Mandalas: Spiritual Circles for Harmony and Fulfilment by Laura J. Watts is a good, brief introduction as well as a "how to" book on the creation and use of mandalas.

Mandala by Jose and Miriam Arguelles offers an interesting, comprehensive look at mandalas

Feel free to be as creative as you care to. Don't feel obligated to stick with the kind of mandalas you find in your websearch (or those shown in class). These are just intended to give you a background on mandalas and some ideas and inspiration to get started. The most basic framework you should work with is something within a circle and/or other such basic geometric pattern (or combination of patterns). This framework represents you. Most mandalas are built on a pattern that expands in all directions from the center with no clear top and bottom. Whatever you choose to put within this framework might represent various aspects of your life past, present and future. It can be as complex or as simple as you like. Many mandalas combine symbols within the symbol of the mandala itself (as you see on the Tibetan mandala). The very center of your mandala may represent the core of your being - an image that represents what has been most important to you over the longest span of your life. This is the axis around which your life and your being revolves. From there, you can build outward to include symbols of other persons, places, things, ideas and events that are or have been a part of your life.

The symbols you can use might be abstract or iconic representations of things in the world (animals are always popular). I was looking for a website which might list the meanings of different animals, plants and colors you might choose to incorporate in your mandala. The Wiccans have an abundance of "correspondences" and Native Americans identify various animals with different personality traits. If you find a good site, let me know.

If you are not much of an artist, don’t fret. The geometric framework can be done with tools (ruler and compass). Feel free to use cut out pictures or stickers. You can even do the entire mandala with a computer graphics application. Your mandala may not be finished within one week. You may just get the basic concept down and spend years fine tuning it.

Most of all have fun and learn something about yourself in the process! So get out your paper, rulers, compasses (or plates and lids to trace), pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils, paints, etc., etc. and let your spirit speak to you!

When you are finished, on a separate piece of paper explain the symbolism in your mandala.