This paper provides a cross-cultural review of mandalas, which are circular figures used in psycho-spiritual practices like mediation or imagination. The mandala bridges is both an archetype of the self and a fundamental object in constructive geometry, which may bridge the objective and subjective phases of consciousness.
Both Western and Eastern use of the mandala are associated with angelic, archetypal, daemonic, or otherwise non-human intelligences. The mandala is the domain of the entity encounter. The encounter often occurs in association with dreams, such as dream analysis in the West or dream yoga in the East.