Sandpainting is the art of painting ritual paintings for religious or healing ceremonies. It is also referred to as drypainting.

Sandpainting is practiced by Native Americans in the Southwestern United States, by Tibetan monks, by Australian Aborigines, and some are known to be made by Latin Americans on certain Christian holy days. An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, pinyin: Xīzàng or 藏区 Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Australian Aborigines are the main indigenous people of Australia. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life, teachings, and actions of Jesus, the Christ, as recounted in the New Testament. ...

Native American Sandpainting

Navajo sandpainting

In the sandpainting of southwestern Native Americans (the most famous of which are the Navajo), the Medicine Man (or Singer) paints loosely upon the ground, or on some occasions, on a buckskin or cloth tarp, by letting the colored sands flow through his fingers with control and skill. Download high resolution version (1024x645, 135 KB) Navajo sandpainting American Memory from the Library of Congress Alhkidokihi - Navaho (The North American Indian; v. ... Download high resolution version (1024x645, 135 KB) Navajo sandpainting American Memory from the Library of Congress Alhkidokihi - Navaho (The North American Indian; v. ... Navajo blanket Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Dineé) is the name of a sovereign Native American nation established by the Diné. The Navajo Indian Reservation covers about 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometres) of land, occupying all of northeastern Arizona, and extending into Utah and New Mexico, and is... Medicine man is an English term used to describe Native American religious figures; such individuals are analogous to shamans. ...

The colors for the painting are usually made with naturally colored sand, crushed gypsum (white), yellow ochre, red sandstone, charcoal, and a mixture of charcoal and gypsum (blue). Brown can be made by mixing red and black; red and white make pink. Other coloring agents include corn meal, flower pollen, or powdered roots and bark. Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. // Chemical structure Gypsum from New South Wales, Australia Heating gypsum above approximately 150°C (302°F) partially dehydrates the mineral by driving off exactly 75% of the water contained in its chemical structure. ... Ochre or Ocher (pronounced OAK-ur, from the Greek ochros, yellow) is a color, usually described as golden-yellow or light yellow brown. ... Sandstone near Stadtroda, Germany Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents of animal and vegetable substances. ... SEM image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory (Ipomea purpurea), hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis). ...

The paintings are usually associated with a ceremony.

Because of the sacred nature of the ceremonies, the sandpaintings are begun, finished, used, and destroyed within a twelve hour period.

Navajo sandpainting

The ritual of sandpainting is usually done in a sequence which is termed a chant, lasting from five to nine days, but never less than three days, and for which a different and new sandpainting was made for each day. Navajo sand painting American Memory from the Library of Congress Navajo sand painting Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley) CREATED/PUBLISHED [between 1890 and 1908]. SUMMARY Close-up view of a Native American (Navajo) sand painting. ... Navajo sand painting American Memory from the Library of Congress Navajo sand painting Poley, H. S. (Horace Swartley) CREATED/PUBLISHED [between 1890 and 1908]. SUMMARY Close-up view of a Native American (Navajo) sand painting. ...

Many Sandpaintings include yéi figures, which are Navajo spiritual beings. The healing ceremonies involve medicine men chanting particular songs and simultaneously creating a sandpainting on the ground. The medicine man asks for the yéis to come into the painting and help to heal the patient by restoring balance and harmony.

The sandpaintings one sees in shops and on the Internet are commercially produced and contain important errors, as the real sandpaintings are considered sacred.

Tibetan Sand Painting

Tibetan monks making a temporary "Sand-Mandala" in the City-Hall of Kitzbühel in Austria in 2002

Details of Sand-Mandala

Tibetan Buddhist sand paintings are usually made of mandalas. In Tibetan, it is called dul-tson-kyil-khor ("mandala of colored powders"). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 634 KB) Motive-description: Tibetan monks making a temporary Sand-Mandala in the City-Hall of Kitzbuehel in Austria Scan/photo by: User:Henryart Date: July 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Mandala Sandpainting Wikiportal:Art... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 634 KB) Motive-description: Tibetan monks making a temporary Sand-Mandala in the City-Hall of Kitzbuehel in Austria Scan/photo by: User:Henryart Date: July 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Mandala Sandpainting Wikiportal:Art... Kitzbühel is a medieval city in Tyrol, Austria, situated along the river Kitzbühler Ache. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1530x1196, 756 KB) Motive-description: Tibetan monks making a temporary Sand-Mandala in the City-Hall of Kitzbuehel in Austria Scan/photo by: User:Henryart Date: July 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Mandala Sandpainting ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1530x1196, 756 KB) Motive-description: Tibetan monks making a temporary Sand-Mandala in the City-Hall of Kitzbuehel in Austria Scan/photo by: User:Henryart Date: July 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Mandala Sandpainting ... Tibetan Buddhism — formerly also called Lamaism, after their religious gurus known as lamas — is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and the Himalayan region. ... Mandala (Sanskrit circle) is of Hindu origin, but is also used in Buddhist context, to refer to various tangible objects. ...

The sand is carefully placed on a large, flat table. The construction process takes several days, and the mandala is destroyed shortly after its completion. This is done as a metaphor for the impermanence of life.

The mandala sand painting process begins with an opening ceremony, during which the lamas, or Tibetan priests, consecrate the site and call forth the forces of goodness. This is done by means of chanting, music, and mantra recitation. Lama can refer to: the Tibetan word for religious teacher (like the Sanskrit term guru) see Tibetan Buddhism. ...

On the first day, the lamas begin by drawing an outline of the mandala to be painted on a wooden platform. The following days see the laying of the colored sands, which is effected by pouring the sand from traditional metal funnels called chak-pur. Each monk holds a chak-pur in one hand, while running a metal rod on its serrated surface; the vibration causes the sands to flow like liquid.

Formed of a traditional prescribed iconography that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols, the sand-painted mandala is used as a tool for re-consecrating the earth and its inhabitants.

Other Sandpainting

References

Villasenor, David. Tapestries in Sand: The Spirit of Indian Sandpainting. California, Naturegraph Company, Inc. 1966.