Keep your eye on the Light no matter how much darkness there may appear to be around you. Draw nearer and nearer to the Light until you are completely immersed in it and there is no longer any darkness, for the darkness cannot withstand the Light.
                                        guidance received by Eileen Caddy

Co-Creative Mandalas have a vibration that
anchors, activates specific qualities, and
represents something about ourselves,
the natural world, and the energy in the Universe
at a particular time. This year the mandalas support Choosing Love’s Presence within,
with the rhythms in nature,
and with the Great Mandala.

The mandala archetype for this month is Optimism.

It's been fun, illuminating, and surprising to explore Optimism and all the ways it supports
Choosing Love’s Presence.

Love’s Presence within mind, body, and spirit is seen, felt, and experienced by listening to
your inner guidance
and finding joy, peace, and wonder.

How is Optimism calling you to embrace
Choosing Love’s Presence?

This Sacred Mandala--Optimism--is from a photograph of tulips (symbolize hope) is associated with the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, and crown chakras. Are you being called to step into your power today? This mandala is a reminder of the energy and influence you carry within you. You're far more powerful than you may realize. You are a force. You have the ability to change situations, shift outcomes, and move things forward in a way that truly honors who you are. This isn’t about pushing or forcing—it’s about recognizing your inner strength and choosing to use it. When you align with your own power, the world responds. Every day offers another chance to choose the Light over darkness...knowing closing your heart is unimaginable.

Happy Earth Day, Kindred Spirit:
Earth Day wasn’t a celebration when it started. It began as an uprising.

In 1970, 20 million students and workers walked out of their classrooms and work spaces to demand an end to the ravaging of the planet by the country’s biggest polluters. They organized teach-ins at hundreds of universities, shut down streets and highways, and protested every corporation that had gotten rich by poisoning our air and water.   

This was not a symbolic protest. It was militant and confrontational, and the pressure forced politicians to act. It was centered in Optimism. Within a few years (under a Republican president), the government created the EPA and passed bills like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act into law.

Fast forward to 2026. Under another Republican president, things look much different. This administration has gutted the EPA, overturned both the Clear Air Act and the Clean Water Act. It is rewarding—with big tax breaks—big corporations that are responsible for polluting our air and water.

Even so…

Every triumph, every tear, every birthday cake, every disappointment, every skinned knee, every dust off, every draped flag, every first dance, every missed flight, every shift change, every twirl hug, every wave goodbye, every love note, every human. Us. You. All we have
                           Astronaut Kristina Koch wrote on Instagram

It’s a time to begin again with new energy,  investing in what comes next. Every day is a new day. Every day is another chance to be close to Optimism. Every day is as if the day before never happened (even though we know it did).

I’m feeling it, how about you?

I’m talking about coming back to center, reclaiming your power, and aligning with your deepest wisdom.

For many of us, life is heavy right now and we feel its weight on our hearts and souls.

Underneath the weight, I also feel hope.

That’s because I’ve been witnessing beautiful moments of kindness, love, and generosity in my communities and circles.

People, neighbors, strangers, friends giving each other a hand up, volunteering for causes that speak to them, helping each other, offering support.

The recent Artemis II launch and exploration on the far side of the moon brought together people from diverse backgrounds and beliefs. For a few moments, during a few days, we were reminded that we’re all in this together, on this amazing planet, our home.

That’s Optimism grounded in love—and it’s still all around us—and within us.

When I was given the inspiration to co-create Sacred Mandalas: Aligning with Inner, Nature, and Universal Wisdom oracle card deck there’s no way I could’ve known where that vision would take me.

But I DO believe this with my whole heart…

That now is NOT the time to dim your own light or pull back from love and light all around you.  

Because, my friends, we all deserve:
•  inspiration that lights you up
• conversations that nourish your truth
• connection with individuals who get you
• experiences that remind you who you are
• the spark that leads to your next chapter
• respite from the heaviness of life

There always seems to be some new reason to feel uncertain, pessimistic.

Just when one thing settles down, something else shows up.

That’s been happening a lot lately. With rising costs, economic uncertainty, and serious situations around the world that are deeply difficult for the people living through them, it’s understandable that many people feel uneasy, hopeless, and powerless.

In my own life, when things feel uncertain, my mind wants answers right away. I want to figure out what’s going to happen and how it’s all going to play out. I want to control what isn’t mine to control.

Like so many sincere seekers, beginners and seasoned, I’m feeling both hopeful and deeply challenged by the current state of world and cultural affairs. Individually and collectively we are at a threshold, a liminal space, in which we may find ourselves disillusioned with looking outside ourselves for answers to our deepest questions.

I’ve meditated about what I can offer the world at this transformational time. I began my inquiry with asking powerful questions:

What if we are the ones we’ve been waiting for?

What if we are the oracle?

What I discovered is this: In moments like these, we need steady ground. We need down to earth, “practical spirituality” that is grounded, not abstract. That is deeply spiritual and deeply human. That is supportive of the seeker’s journey without dismissing it. That honors the human experience without bypassing it or forcing positivity. This is the time for inner safety that allows clarity, creativity, and wisdom to naturally emerge. We need tools that support our sovereignty.

We need Optimism. Not the blind kind, but the Optimism that comes from wisdom. That doesn’t mean tuning out and pretending everything is fine. It means shifting focus when something isn't in my control.

For an optimist, it makes no sense to lose hope. We can always do better, limit the damage, find an alternative solution, rebuild what has been destroyed, take the current situation as a starting point, and use every present moment to advance, appreciate, act, and cultivate inner peace.
                                                   Matthieu Ricard on "Wise Optimism"

My goal now is to learn how to stay grounded even when life isn’t.

So now, when things feel uncertain, I come back to what’s right in front of me that brings me hope. Even small things. How I show up each day. The choices I make. The way I treat the people around me.

That’s when I turn to the beauty and mystery of mandalas—healing circles in Sanskrit. For the past four decades I’ve been researching and using mandalas in my daily practices. Mandalas have the power to bring us to the heart of healing—as Jung said, remember our Wholeness. I love bringing these ancient, cosmic symbols into modern, down to earth, spiritual practices. They are tools that have supported me in co-creating the connection between my human experience, nature, and Universal wisdom.

This is also the time when I turn to oracle cards for guidance, clarity, and self-care. At the same time I discovered mandalas, I began using oracle cards for insight and inspiration. I’ve witnessed and experienced the life-changing power of oracle cards. My decades of experience with using oracle cards led me to co-create this deck. Sacred Mandalas gently supports an expansive, peaceful, and wise journey toward coming home to our own authority.

Oracle cards aren’t a prediction of the future. They’re a daily practice.

For me, that means focusing on what I can do, rather than getting stuck on everything I can’t. And asking, before I pull a card, “What do I need to know today that supports moving forward toward choosing Love’s Presence?”

It doesn’t happen all at once. It comes from small, steady choices over time. Today, I want to leave you with a simple practice. Take a piece of paper and make three short lists:

What I can’t control.
What I can influence.
What I can do today.

That third list is where your power lives.

Maybe today it’s stepping away from the news for just a bit. Maybe it’s going for a walk. Maybe it’s planting a garden. Maybe it’s pulling an oracle card and reflecting on its message. Or repeating an affirmation instead of replaying a fear. Maybe it’s helping someone else who is having a hard time.

We may not get to choose the times we live in (although there are many people who say we do choose). But we can still take things one day at a time, we can choose Optimism.

Optimism lives in the next step, not the perfect outcome.

Blessings of light, love, and hope, 

Sacred Mandalas: Mandala Messages for Aligning with Inner, Nature, and Universal Wisdom have a vibration that anchors, activates specific qualities, and represents something about ourselves, the natural world, and the energy with the Great Mandala at a particular time.

This year each monthly mandala supports Choosing Love’s Presence, our intention for 2026.

The February mandala archetype is Optimism.

Optimism is not just a passive wish. It's a dynamic force, a force of truth.
                                      Pema Chödrön in "The Places That Scare You"

Hello, Kindred Spirit:

Spring is fully here, and with it comes that lovely feeling of renewal, new ideas, and a little bit of magic in the air. I always feel that April carries a very special energy - the sense that something new is beginning, even if we can’t quite see it. Yet...

This month, we’ll begin by working with the energy of Optimism and really look at what’s ready to grow in life (and what might need a little more care and attention).

When hearing a door creak, the optimist thinks it’s opening and the pessimist thinks it’s closing.
                                                            Matthieu Ricard on "Wise Optimism"

Not everything needs to be figured out right now. Sometimes it’s about noticing what’s quietly asking for attention...and being willing to meet it there.

This month’s Sacred Mandalas: Aligning with Inner, Nature, and Universal Wisdom oracle card reading for the collective supports choosing Love’s Presence and noticing Optimism in our lives and relationships. It’s about the field where we co-create with the Universe... 

It’s about building a container strong, steady, and loving enough that we can become still, centered, and clear…

…so that we can love the truth of who we really are and see that truth in others.

So that you remember your Wholeness.

Even though life includes suffering, it is also deeply optimistic, because it teaches that suffering can be eased through  practical capacities we can cultivate, day by day--compassion, wisdom, and mindfulness--so we meet life with greater steadiness and freedom.

So that your life can evolve as you come into deeper relationship with your own wisdom and your soul-guided purpose.

We invite you to use this month’s Sacred Mandalas Oracle Reading for the collective to help you move gently toward choosing grounded optimism in all aspects of your life.

Sacred Mandalas can be your companion through this powerful season of activating Optimism. We invite you to find ways to flourish!

This month’s oracle card reading focuses on starting with self-acceptance and learning to trust ourselves and the people around us.

The first step is to honor our fears, the ones that express as negative internal voices, that often distract us from grounded optimism. 

We have the power to lovingly silence those fears, those voices that prevent us from choosing Love’s Presence.

We have the power to imagine and manifest a more loving world.

The reading can help you do that.

The reading doesn't predict your future. It can illuminate your deepest truths and shift your perspective.

When I sit down to do these readings, I ask the Universe and Archangel Ariel to show me/us where there is Optimism in our life and to reveal a map that helps us navigate our lives with hope, clarity, and intention as we choose Love’s Presence and move toward living our soul-guided purpose.

When I pull the oracle cards and I sit with them and intentionally see the colors, the essence, and absorb the mandala meaning, something shifts within. Everything settles. The noise in my head becomes quiet, followed by clarity. I can see truths I may have been too overwhelmed to notice before.

This card reading supports Choosing Love’s Presence, receiving guidance as you grow into your next chapter, and discovering new ways to bring the magic, mystery and power of Optimism into your life.

Come back to this reading whenever you’re feeling stuck, seeking clarity, or when you're ready to Choose Love’s Presence—and experience Optimism within, in nature, and with the Universe.

This is a three-card reading. Before I pulled the cards I asked:

How does Optimism support moving forward toward choosing Love’s Presence—today, throughout April, and the year ahead?

The first card, the Focus Card, is selected from the Chakra Suite—Inner Wisdom—and reveals what we are called to cultivate and expand.

What do we/you/I need to cultivate that supports Optimism and moving toward  Choosing Love’s Presence in April and beyond?

The 2nd card supports the Focus Card, the allies and helpers who guide use and is selected from the Archangel Suite—Universal Wisdom—cards. 

What guidance are we/you/I ready to receive that supports expanding Optimism as we/you/I move forward toward Choosing Love’s Presence?

The 3rd card supports our next steps toward moving forward toward Choosing Love’s Presence and is selected from the Seasons Suite—Nature Wisdom—cards. 

What do we need to know that supports a possible future?

This April, and beyond, I invite you to strengthen  optimism. It widens the horizon beyond a single moment  and frames spiritual growth as a long journey.  There are future opportunities to learn, to practice, and to move closer to Choosing Love's Presence. That perspective can replace fear with patience, purpose, and hope.

Take three slow breaths. On the inhale, silently say, “Inhale hope.” On the exhale, silently say, “Exhale optimism.”

I suggest this mantra because it gives your mind a steady rhythm when life feels busy or uncertain. “Inhale hope” makes room for possibility. “Exhale optimism” helps relieve tension and fosters a constructive outlook. After the third breath, ask: What is one wise action available to me in this moment? If you’d like the story behind the phrases, read “Inhale hope. Exhale optimism” - Sound advice from Carole King."

So, as you move through the day, and each day ahead, remember:

A little optimism goes a long way.

Make today meaningful...for yourself, others, and the world.

I’d love to hear what love-as-a-verb looks like in your life.

Blessings of love and light,