The Archetypal Foundations of Kellogg’s Great Round of Mandala: Integrating Jungian Psychology and Art Therapy

Abstract

This study examined art therapist Joan Kellogg’s theory of the Archetypal Stages of the Great Round of Mandala (Great Round) in relation to Jungian psychology. Using a hermeneutic comparative methodology, Kellogg’s writings and her clinical application of creating mandalas through art were analyzed alongside Carl Jung’s works regarding his model of the psyche with particular attention to mandalas, archetypes, and the process of individuation. Placing the Great Round in the context of Jungian psychology clarified its conceptual foundations, theoretical coherence, and clinical significance.

The findings showed that interrelated components of Kellogg’s Great Round— stages, forms, and color—function archetypally to convey symbolic meaning through mandalas. The archetypal stages and forms map an ongoing cyclical process of psychological development that parallels Jungian models of ego-Self differentiation and integration along the path of individuation. Both theories showed that mandalas mediate between the unconscious and consciousness, functioning simultaneously as symbols of the Self and as visual representations of the psyche in motion toward wholeness. From these observations, four psychological functions of mandalas emerged, including: containment, communication, orientation, and transformation.

Overarchingly, the analysis found that the Great Round gains theoretical significance when viewed through a Jungian lens. It comprises an archetypally based framework for navigating psychological transformation in which nonverbal unconscious dynamics become visually accessible and psychologically meaningful through mandalas. Subsequently, the Great Round extends Jungian theory by offering a developmental, visual model for working with mandalas, through which the process of individuation can be readily observed, engaged, and facilitated in clinical practice.