Stage 9: Reaping Rewards

We have arrived.

September is the ninth month of the year, and in the MARI method and the Great Round, we enter Stage 9: Reaping Rewards.

This is a stage of culmination. What has been developing, forming, becoming, and manifesting begins to show itself more clearly. There may be a desire to share what we have learned, to be seen for what we have accomplished, and to understand ourselves in relationship to the larger world around us.

For those who are new here, I am Mari Grande, an art and trauma therapist, intuitive coach, author, and long-time lover of the psyche’s language through image, symbol, and mandala.

Personally, I feel this stage alive in me right now. I am feeling ready to share more of my love and passion for mandalas, while continuing to explore the many facets of MARI’s Great Round.

During the ninth month, which aligns with Stage 9 of the MARI method, we symbolically complete the Manifesting quadrant of the system. At this stage, there is a sense of crystallization. We may feel more established in who we are, what we can offer, and how we belong within a group, community, family, profession, or society. We are not only asking, Who am I? We are also asking, How do I live among others? What do I contribute? What have I created that may continue beyond me?

At its best, Stage 9 brings a feeling of satisfaction, harmony, maturity, and fulfillment. The ego has stabilized enough that we are not as easily threatened by others. We know more about what we can do, what we cannot do, and where our true gifts may live. There can be a sense of social awareness, responsibility, and generosity. We may feel called to mentor, teach, guide, or give back in some way.

This is the stage where groups matter. A professional community, a spiritual circle, a family system, a recovery group, a creative collective, or a circle of peers can become an important mirror. We begin to see ourselves less as separate from the larger organism and more as part of it. There is a desire to participate, to belong, to be respected, and to leave some kind of meaningful mark.

In many ways, Stage 9 can be associated with adulthood, chronologically, psychologically, and symbolically. There is a sense of having reached a certain plateau. We may have built something. We may have achieved something. We may have gathered experience, wisdom, skill, or status. We may look around and say, This is what I have done. This is what I know. This is what I can offer.

And from a transpersonal lens, because the psyche is always honest, another awareness begins to enter.

At the height of achievement, we may also sense the inevitability of change. We begin to understand that nothing stays at the peak forever. There is a natural movement that comes after reaching the top of the mountain. This does not have to be frightening, although it can be humbling. Stage 9 asks us to enjoy what has been created without becoming overly attached to it.

This is where the shadow of Stage 9 can appear.

If we stay too long in the comfort of achievement, growth can become stagnant. What once felt stable may begin to feel shallow. We may cling to structure, rules, status, or identity because they make us feel secure. We may become resistant to change, threatened by new generations, new ideas, new technologies, or new ways of seeing the world.

There can also be a tendency to over-identify with the group. Instead of belonging to a community, we may become swallowed by it. We may seek approval through our affiliations, our roles, our achievements, or our usefulness. The need to be seen as generous, wise, helpful, or accomplished can quietly become its own trap.

I have to ask myself this too: Am I sharing MARI from the fullness of my passion, or am I trying to fit that passion into a shape that feels acceptable, polished, or safe?

The shadow side of Stage 9 may include legalism, fanaticism, cronyism, destructive group identity, or any “ism” that narrows the soul instead of expanding it. There may be paternalism, control, or the belief that we know what is best for others. We may become more invested in preserving the old structure than listening for the life trying to emerge.

This is not something to judge. It is something to notice.

Each stage of the Great Round offers both a gift and a task. The gift of Stage 9 is the capacity to participate in the larger world with maturity, wisdom, and social awareness. The task is to remain open.

Stage 9 asks us to become socially aware without losing ourselves. To check in with ourselves: What is me? What is outside of me? Where do I belong, and where might I be merging too much with the group?

It asks us to offer wisdom without becoming rigid. To mentor the next generation while also respecting that they will not do things exactly as we did. To enjoy success without clinging to it. To honor tradition while making room for new life.

There is a beautiful task in this stage: to become available to those who seek wisdom from our experience. We do this by standing with them, not above them. We can encourage new blood, new voices, new forms, and new expressions. We can share what we have learned while remembering that life continues to move.

Legacy is not only symbolic. It may include our work, our teachings, our relationships, our creative offerings, our responsibilities, our estate planning, our wills, and the structures that hold what we have built. These practical matters can be part of the soul’s work too. They ask us to consider what we are leaving behind and what we are making available for those who follow.

In mandalas connected to this stage, we may see intricate designs, balance, repetition, harmony, and more developed structure. There may be numbers, patterns, motifs, and colors that feel deeper or more subdued. The image may carry a sense of order, completion, culture, or refinement. As always, in the MARI method, we do not reduce the image to one fixed meaning. The mandala becomes a living reflection of the psyche’s movement.

Numerologically, the number 9 is also associated with completion, compassion, release, wisdom, and humanitarian concern. The strengths of 9 include generosity, artistic awareness, emotional depth, and the desire to serve. The shadow can include over-giving, blurred boundaries, martyrdom, and the difficulty of letting go.

This is where the MARI method and numerology seem to hum the same tune. Stage 9 and the number 9 both speak of completion, giving, wisdom, and release. They also warn us not to confuse service with self-abandonment, and not to confuse belonging with losing ourselves inside the group.

So as we move through September, we might ask:

• Where am I reaping the rewards of what I have lived, learned, and created?

• Where am I being called to share my wisdom?

• Where am I clinging to a role, structure, or identity that may be ready to change?

• Where can I support the next generation, the next voice, the next expression, without needing it to look exactly like mine?

And perhaps most tenderly:

Can I enjoy what has come to fruition without needing to hold onto it forever?

Stage 9 reminds us that fulfillment is not the end of the journey. It is a pause at the height of the mountain, where we can look around, gather the view, honor the climb, and begin to sense the next turning of the circle.

With warmth,

About the author

Mari Grande is a licensed Creative Arts Therapist, coach, and founder of Creative Healing Integration, Inc.
Through The Mandala Corner and her coaching programs, she helps people reconnect with creativity, clarity, and healing in everyday life.