23.7. 1993 Vitoria-Gasteiz / Spain - World Federation of Music Therapy

The mandala for this session is entitled "The Eternal
Secret", and shows a typical "jaws of death" shape in the
centre of the circle - the centre of self. The jaws
themselves are green, depicting the growth of the new
forest from the seed. The black mass is in the
unconscious part of the circle, clearly representing
death.
After this session, Mary again travelled North to the sun,
and on her return was briefly hospitalised. She died 8
weeks after the last session.
Over the series of 5 sessions, Mary addressed a
number of issues relating to her life. She confronted the
shadow, which appeared twice in the shape of a cloud.
She met archetypal figures on her journeys - the wise
old man (whose face became a mask), the old hag (who
488
transformed into a snake), and tortoise (symbol of Earth
Mother). Although in the imagery she tried to do battle
with the cloud (disease), it was too late in the
progression of the disease to alter its course. One
wonders if this imagery had occurred in the very early
stages of the disease, whether the forces of healing
could have altered the outcome, or perhaps slowed
down the outcome of the disease. The fact that the
disease commenced just 6 months after her father died,
suggests a link between its appearance and the
unresolved grief and guilt she felt over her father's
death. Interesting, this issue did not come up directly in
the imagery, although indirectly there were several
images representative of him.
The process for Mary then, was her own journey, an
inner journey or preparation for the final act of
individuation - separation from the living world. That her
last G.I.M. session gave her a sense of fulfilment - of