Art Therapist Joan Kellogg’s Great Round of Mandala, Stage Four, is called Beginning.
We’ll be exploring this theme in our March Equinox Magic. Gathering in circle to create in real time is one of the best ways we can bring mandala practice into the light and into our shared realities.
For our investigation into the Great Round Stage Four, I wanted to share with you some thoughts I had about this stage back in the 2010’s and update it with some current thoughts.
The beginning is the most important part of the work. ~ Plato
Joan Kellogg calls Stage Four on the Great Round, Beginning. It seems particularly fitting that it coincides with the arrival of the Astrological New Year, when both Sun and Moon are in Aries.
“Within you there remains an enchanted place where the colors are more luminous and the air more fragrant than ever; a place where marvels never cease; miracles and magic abound; and where fascination and enthusiasm breed creation. This place is called Aries.” Andrew Smith, Cosmic Intelligence Agency
Aries is a place that is familiar to all children, and it is the innocence and excitement of the inquisitive toddler which embodies many of the qualities of Stage Four.
Back in the 2010’s, I was an ‘awakening woman’ with forays into cosmic intelligence by the bucketload. Astrology doesn’t feature in my world now, and instead, I turn to what I’ve studied (communications and the geomythography of Scotland) for inspiration.
The astrological metaphor still stands (and if you are astrologically-minded, allow yourself to explore this aspect of the Great Round), but this next thought from the 2010’s is more in keeping with how I’d describe this stage in 2026. (I score highly, after all, for the sensing and feeling functions in personality psychology.)
The attitude is not limited to the experience of the human child: think of the wee spring lambs. They always tug on my heartstrings and I feel the pull of something deeply maternal when I see them out in the fields, tiny bundles of the purest white. My ovaries sing and my desire to rock a warm, soft body close to my chest is awakened.
But they are not to be mollycoddled, those wee bundles of spring incarnate. Like human toddlers, they enjoy wandering out from beneath their stoic mothers, leaping and bounding imaginary obstacles, finding their feet and enjoying the first rays of warm spring sunshine—never wandering too far and always returning for some maternal reassurance.
Lambs are the embodiment of Stage Four. Evoking the seasonal aspect (spring), the archetypal energies (the mother) and the developmental stage (inquisitive toddler).
Spring tends to burst forth in a riot of growth and welcome colour. Even when we are still engulfed in grey skies and icy winds, we have learned to apply faith and trust in the natural cycle, knowing that the buds will soon burst into blossom, the skies will turn more blue and the winds will become warmer.
Oh, how we will open our arms ready for a full-on loving embrace!
Beginning is an action-oriented phase of our Great Round journey, and for some of us, this brings with it a great deal of excitement—an eagerness to progress, like the newborn lambs.
What has become obvious as I review this text in 2026 (and watch the unfolding slow-motion climate crisis) is that the seasons are not to be relied upon. The plum cherry blossom might have burst forth against a blue sky, but there is much darkness to cloud our view, both literally and metaphorically.
It’s hard to feel the excitement of a spring lamb, but the archetypal lessons still stand. There is still much wisdom to impart on our everyday experience.
For our Equinox Magic Circle in the Mandala Magic School, this is where we’ll begin. I can’t wait to see your shining face on my screen as we explore Stage Four of the Great Round of Mandala, Beginning, together 💛