Circle of Unity and Spiritual Diversity

      Each spoke in the circle was designed by either a student or myself, with symbols and colors representing her or his spiritual perspective.  The center of the circle, where all the spokes meet in a common point, often includes terms agreed upon by the whole class as reflecting spiritually sensitive social work practice, such as: knowledge, reverence, acceptance, harmony, understanding, compassion, diversity, and empathy.  The circumference of the circle encompasses each of our spiritual perspectives—signifying the mutual respect and synergy among us within the group as a whole.
 

This "circle" is the result of an exercise I developed for the MSW diversity selective course: Spiritual Aspects of Social Work Practice.  The exercise concept is inspired by Christian church rose pattern windows, Hindu and Buddhist mandalas, and Indigenous medicine wheels.  The original circle patterns are from Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book, volumes 1-3, by Monique Mandali, 1994, and 1997, Mandali Publishing, Billings, Montana. It is also possible to design your own mandalas using mandala drawing software.

 

Quilt of Unity and Spiritual Diversity

      I adapted the circle or mandala idea to the custom of quilt making. In these paper quilts, each participant designs a piece of paper to represent her or his spiritual perspective. These are arranged around the connection point in the center. This design technique can easily be adapted according to the number of participants. 

                                                                                                                                                

 

Thanks to my students for these circle and quilt designs.

 

 

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