The Seven Chakras by Phil Lewis – Liberty Puzzles – approx. 94 pieces/661

There was a bit of research done by me about chakras for these posts. There was SO MUCH information! So, rather than go into detail about chakras, what I decided was to just give basic info about each in general. What I learned was that while the animal representations are not always the same – the order, shapes, colors and names of each are consistent. This is the first chakra, Muladhara, the root chakra. It’s amazingly detailed, and beautiful! 🐘

I did not assemble them in the correct order of the chakras, this one was completed closer to the end than the beginning. But they were put together with a puzzler’s eye; and without any knowledge that there was an actual order to them. Brighter colors went first, and this was closer to the end because the red in this puzzle was close to the orange in another and I didn’t have them sorted as well as I thought. You know, you sometimes save the more difficult parts until the end. I don’t always, but that’s how it went for this one – the puzzle always leads me – even though I think I’m the one making decisions. 😉

Each of these small puzzles of approximately 100 pieces was much more difficult to assemble than they look, and most of them took me an hour or so. And that’s not including pulling the pieces and putting together the multipiece whimsy characters! You wouldn’t think it would be that demanding once you see it from the back, but it was – for me anyway. At times my poor, menopausal old lady brain felt very tired and inadequate (and I consider myself pretty good at jigsaw puzzles too).

You can see the symmetry in some of the pieces, and one that looks like the trunk and tusks of an elephant. There’s a puzzle within a puzzle, and it took me a while to figure it out. The symbol for each chakra is shown in the middle of each puzzle, and each also has one or more shapes of people in various yoga poses, although the two shown here seem to just be standing. Have any of you taken yoga classes? Is this a yoga pose? If not, these figures may be showing where the root chakra is located – at the base of the spine.

You can see by the elephant whimsy that most aren’t pieces you would pick out when sorting the puzzle. Once I realized that each small puzzle also had a multipiece representation of the animal (or flower) shown in the image; I was actively looking for pieces that might make up that animal/image. It wasn’t always easy, but for the most part you can see symmetrical pieces that stand out, and those are the ones I was always on the lookout for. I was able to find and assemble 6 out of the 7 images, one of them was too difficult for me – but I will get there eventually!

That’s one of the reasons I decided each puzzle would need it’s own post. There’s too much to see to just give each one a passing glance in the whole of the set. Yesterday’s picture is gorgeous and all, but you really need to see the detail in each of them, because the parts are just as impressive as the whole.

I will give you a little teaser by telling you that this is the LEAST impressive set of whimsy pieces. By far. Most of them have so much going on, and so many interesting shapes and figures, they’re amazing!

The Seven Chakras by Phil Lewis – Liberty Puzzles – 661 pieces

This is the puzzle my husband gave me for my birthday this year, and it’s bleeping amazing! When assembly started on the first of the seven puzzles my thought was that there would be just one post showing all of them together. Nope. There’s so much going on with each small puzzle that I decided right away that each puzzle needed it’s own post.

There are multipiece whimsies in each puzzle that are near impossible to pick out unless you see the puzzle assembled, and even then I wasn’t able to find and figure them all out. So, my usual routine of picking out all the whimsies and taking one big picture before assembly just wasn’t gonna cut it this time. It may need to be assembled more than once. (Such a hardship! 😎)

Seven small puzzles mixed together in one box – that’s all the description said about this puzzle. There is much, much more to say! So buckle up buckaroos, there are seven more posts about this puzzle, with plenty of details and amazing shapes to see. This post was just to give you background info on this puzzle; each chakra/puzzle will be getting it’s own post to show you the image close up, the elaborate whimsies, and the view from the back.

Also, all pictures are taken with my phone and try as I may the images do NOT do justice to the colors, they are bright and deep and overall just stunning. Genuinely stunning.