SoulFragments

Back to School!

2011-09-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I've posted here on this blog, but new (school) year, new leaf, so it seems a good time to update you a little on recent and upcoming happenings in my SoulCollage® world.

First up... The next workshop in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, will be held on Saturday, october 8th, 10.30a.m. to 4p.m., at Letterkenny Women's Centre and you are welcome along whether you've been before or are completely new to the process. There will be a brief introduction, an overview of the creation of a deck of SoulCollage® cards, but mainly, opportunity to play with images and create some cards of your own. As always, you are welcome to bring along a packed lunch, and tea/coffee will be available. Cost for the day's workshop is €30.

I thought I'd take a little time to share with you some of what's been happening for me this summer. I've had quite an exciting time - with my first-ever visit to Denmark, in July, where I shared SoulCollage® with participants at the Baha'i summer-school over the course of three relaxed afternoons. All except one of the participants were new to the process, and they found it fascinating. There were Danes, Norwegian, German and Welsh people there - including a few men, who contributed really interesting perspectives to the sharing.

The photo shows two participants appreciating one of their cards while enjoying a cup of tea - and it allows you a glimpse of the great location - right on the shore of a beautiful fiord, at Holboek, Denmark. I had a wonderful time there, and have the warmest memories of the people I encountered.

Back home, I completed a card that I'd begun during the summer-school - the first to include a specific image of Ireland. It relates to a feeling of inviting protection and shelter for my country.

I spent the first week of August at the Irish Baha'i Summer School in Kilkenny, and during that week, offered 5 evenings of workshops. These were open to all, and I had drop-in visits from children who asked eagerly "Can I make a card?" along with teens and adults. Some people came only once, and a few came on each of the five evenings, having "caught the bug" The hundred blank cards I began the week with were quickly decimated, and I came home with only 2 or 3! That's a lot of cards completed in a short time. As there were alternate programmes of workshops running concurrently, and people had a wonderful range of arts, health, spirituality song, dance and creative activities to choose from, I was delighted to see returnees on the second and subsequent evenings (and quite a few people who had attended when I ran workshops during the 2009 school also).

One busy participant's workspace!

And a final piece of SoulCollage® news from me. - I've just submitted my first guest-column for the monthly Soul Songs newsletter, which comes free to all subscribers from the wonderful Anne Marie Bennett at KaleidoSoul.com. It will be in the October issue, so if you'd like to subscribe, why not go ahead and do it now? You can sign up right there on the home-page - scroll down the right-hand column.

I'm planning to return to the practice of sharing my cards and readings occasionally here, so here's hoping we'll meet again soon!

Seena's Invitation to SoulCollage®

2010-10-29T02:50:00.000-07:00

Meet Seena B Frost, creator of SoulCollage®

Facilitator Training, Netherlands, 13-15th August, 2010

2010-04-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Announcing the first training of SoulCollage® Facilitators on mainland Europe, which will take place at Groesbeek, the Netherlands, Friday 13th August to Sunday 15th August, 2010

(Beginning with lunch on Friday, 12.30 pm, and finishing after lunch on Sunday, 2.30 p.m.)

A rich, diverse group of people, united in their will to deepen their practice of SoulCollage® and to learn how to share this soul-enriching process with others will gather for a weekend of intensive work, experiencing SoulCollage® in some new and some familiar ways.

The Venue

Our base for the weekend is Conference Centre DePoort, Groesbeek, near Nijmegen, a peaceful and spacious centre, set in 24 acres of forest.

Accommodation will be in single en-suite rooms, and all meals will be provided

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The Training.....

This training may be for you if:

you are interested in forming a new SoulCollage® group, or deepening the work of an existing group working with the SoulCollage® process.
want to introduce SoulCollage® in an already established group(such as a church group, woman's group, senior group, hospice network, educational class...etc.)
want to use this simple art technique in connection with other kinds of groups, classes, or workshops
are a counsellor, therapist or art therapist who is attracted to exploring ways to use SoulCollage® for healing, therapeutic purposes
are a minister/spiritual guide/active member of any faith who wants to facilitate SoulCollage® in your ministry and use it to build community
are a teacher, artist, administrator, workshop facilitator, mother-daughter team leader, social worker, Scout leader, nurse, dream group leader, or anyone interested in personal growth or the healing arts.

The training will cover areas such as: How to facilitate SoulCollage® card-making; ... Implementing a therapeutic structure; .... Adapting the process to individual issues and populations ; ..... Ceremonial use of SoulCollage® cards; ..... Support and use of the "SoulCollage® community" worldwide; ..... planning your work with SoulCollage® to fit your own passions, intentions and abilities; ...... ethics, pitfalls and challenges of the work.

We will make cards, share cards, and use our own processes as teaching examples for facilitator training. Participants bring all the SoulCollage® cards they have made so far to use in the group exercises.

You will find a full description of the training HERE on the SoulCollage.com website

NOTE: This training follows the same program and uses the same materials as the training offered in the USA, and the certificate provided on completion is given by SoulCollage LLC

Please also NOTE: This training will be offered in English

Preparation and pre-requisites

No degree or certification is required to take this training, but Seena Frost requests that participants prepare by reading her book, SoulCollage®, listening to her two talks about SoulCollage® on CD ,(Introduction here) and beginning to make SoulCollage® cards for their own decks in each suit, so that they can get experience with their own card-making before working with others who are learning to make cards. It is helpful if participants bring all their SoulCollage® cards when they come for the Training.

To receive a certificate of completion a participant must attend and complete all sessions of this Training. Please find out the beginning and ending times scheduled and make your travel plans accordingly.

Persons who complete the SoulCollage® training will receive a certificate of completion and may use the SoulCollage® trademark in doing individual or group work according to the Principles of SoulCollage®. Thus, SoulCollage® trains, rather than "certifies", facilitators.

The Trainer

Seena B. Frost, originator of the process appointed and is training a number of facilitator-trainers worldwide, to allow access to training in places other than the US west-coast.

Imelda Maguire has been working with the SoulCollage® process since 2003; she trained as a SoulCollage® facilitator in 2006, and in 2008 became the first European-based facilitator-trainer.

Imelda has led SoulCollage® workshops and groups in many parts of Ireland, and is really keen to see the process of SoulCollage® spread widely throughout Ireland, the U.K. and far beyond. In her workshops, in her own work as a counsellor, and in her personal practice, she has witnessed the transformative and healing potential of this marvellous process. She is an active member of the worldwide SoulCollage® community, participating at conferences and trainings, on internet groups, and in teleconference gatherings of facilitators and practitioners. In September, 2009, she trained a small group of facilitators, who found the experience enriching and powerful .

The training fee

The fee for this training is €475, and includes:

2 night's accommodation (single, en-suite room)
7 meals
tea, coffee, water, etc
all training sessions
All materials including lots of blank cards and an abundance of images
a year's membership in the SoulCollage® Facilitators' Circle
subscription to the SoulCollage® Facilitator monthly e-newsletter
an invitation to join the collaborative SoulCollage® Facilitator list serve (Yahoo group)
follow up support from Imelda

Contact me for booking information or with any queries. Email.... imeldacmaguire(at)gmail.com [insert @ for (at)]

..........Looking forward to meeting you!

Imelda

SoulCollage Facilitator Training, Oct 23-25 2009

2009-09-07T00:52:00.000-07:00

Announcing the first European training of SoulCollage® Facilitators, which will take place in Ramelton, Co. Donegal, in Ireland, Friday 23 October til Sunday 25th October, 2009.

The Venue

Our base for the weekend is Carn Lodge, Ramelton, a charming and comfortable country house on the shore of Lough Swilly, surrounded by tranquil, tree-filled grounds that call out for exploration.

Our hosts, Denise and Laurence Blake, provide every comfort for participants. Lunch and Dinner will be served on Friday and Saturday, and lunch on Sunday before departure.

LOCATION and ACCOMMODATION:

The village of Ramelton lies approximately 11 kilometres from Letterkenny, the largest town in Co. Donegal. Participants arriving in Letterkenny by public transport will be facilitated with lifts to the venue as far as possible. Accommodation is available at Bed & Breakfast homes in Ramelton. (Approximately €40-45/night)

The Training.....

The training will cover areas such as: How to facilitate SoulCollage card-making; ... Implementing a therapeutic structure; .... Adaptating the process to individual issues and populations ; ..... Ceremonial use of SoulCollage cards; ..... Support and use of the "SoulCollage community" worldwide; ..... planning your work with SoulCollage to fit your own passions, intentions and abilities; ...... ethics, pitfalls and challenges of the work.

A Blessing for the Unknown Self

2009-02-08T04:12:00.000-08:00

Below, a poem from John O'Donohue's Book of Blessings - Beannachtaí or Benedictus. I've been reading and re-reading it, and find it wonderful, especially the final four stanzas.

The Unknown Self

So much of what delights and troubles you
Happens on a surface
You take for ground,
Your mind thinks your life alone,
Your eyes consider air your nearest neighbour,
Yet it seems that a little below your heart
There houses in you an unknown self
Who prefers the patterns of the dark
And is not persuaded by the eye’s affection
Or caught by the flash of thought.

It is a self that enjoys contemplative patience
With all your unfolding expression,
Is never drawn to break into light
Though you entangle yourself in unworthiness
And misjudge what you do and who you are.

It presides within like an evening freedom
That will often see you enchanted by twilight
Without ever recognizing the falling night,

It resembles the under-earth of your visible life:
All you do, and say and think is fostered
Deep in its opaque and prevenient clay,

It dwells in a strange, yet rhythmic ease
That is not ruffled by disappointment,
It presides in a deeper current of time
Free from the force of cause and sequence
That otherwise shapes your life.

Were it to break forth into day,
Its dark light might quench your mind
For it knows how your primeval heart
Sisters every cell of your life
To all your known mind would avoid,

Thus it knows to dwell in you gently,
Offering you only discreet glimpses
Of how you construct your life.

At times it will lead you strangely,
Magnetized by some resonance
That ambushes your vigilance.

It works most resolutely at night
As the poet who draws your dreams,
Creating for you many secret doors,
Decorated with pictures of your hunger,

It has the dignity of the angelic
That knows you to your roots,
Always awaiting your deeper befriending
To take you beyond the threshold of want,
Where all your diverse strainings
Can come to wholesome ease.

[John O’Donohue, from Benedictus – A Book of Blessings, Bantam Press, 2007]

Spiritual Warrior

2009-01-21T02:17:00.000-08:00

The Spiritual Warrior sits in the middle of the fire. --- Pema Chodron

Who are you?
I am one who carries the wisdom of years
I am one who faces into the fire
I am one who knows the cleansing of the fire
I am one who has gathered the many-coloured threads and ribbons of my spiritual life and history about my staff
I am one who trusts
I am one who faces what is coming straight-on
I am one who speaks my truth quietly and with dignity
I am one who is ready to raise my standard aloft
I am one who knows that there is much I do not understand but that I can still be a spiritual warrior in that place

What do you have to give me?
I give you courage, assurance, faith. I give you the fire of your own spirit. I give you the standard you can carry, woven about with all your history, all you know. I give you the path for which you are destined.

What do you want from me?
Courage, willingness to lift your standard, and your voice. Faith abiding. Willingness to be a channel. Trust. Readiness to go into the fire.

---------------------------------

Note: This card was made some time ago, and I didn't know quite what to name it, so I called it "Fire-Carrier", but knew the figure isn't carrying the fire, and yet the fire isn't just background. Anne Marie recently asked about our Spiritual Warriors, and shared her Spiritual Warrior card, and the above quote from Pema Chodrom. That resonated for me. I realised that this is the card that represents my Spiritual Warrior. I hadn't quite known how to relate to it, thrown off in part by the presence of a cross as part of the standard or staff he carries, but I've sat with it, and taken the comments of some of the Kaleidosoul participants in, and now realise that this is a wider, older and more all-encompassing symbol than a mere cross, and I am happy with this as a symbol of my spiritual life.

Reflections and comments are welcome!

Grief... the Journey

2008-07-31T01:50:00.000-07:00

I have written a couple of posts on my main blog - GreenishLady - about the loss of my mother, who passed away on 9th July. Today, I posted a piece inspired by something I read of John O'Donohue's, in which he says:

"The soul is always wiser than the mind, even though we are dependent on the mind to read the soul for us."

This seems to me a very apt quote to illustrate what happens in SoulCollage®. The soul makes its presence felt in the selection of images and in the making of the cards; and then it makes itself felt when we draw cards in a reading.

If my mind had been asked which neters would support me in coming through the loss of Mam, I imagine I'd have gone for my Healer, Death, Prayer, Divine Mother (Council) cards; the community cards I've made for my mother, and my father and other family members; my heart chakra Lion card... Logic would dictate that these would all be meaningful and helpful in the grief journey.

With my sister, yesterday evening, I did a reading asking that question (Which neters will support me in coming through the loss of Mam?), and my wise soul selected four cards that my mind would have bypassed:

My Caring Gardener reminds me that: as I care for the earth, the earth cares for me, and keeps me in contact with the cycles of life.
..........
This is my Water-bearer card.
I am one who is nourished by the Waters of Life; who respects and cares for water. Water will remind me of my birth and connect me to Mam.
......
This is my Explorer Card.
I am one who takes comfort in nature; in exploring small spaces; in silence and in memories of childhood.

This is Kathryn.

I am one who values friendship. I am one who lives my own life. I am one who knows the importance of nurturing. I am one who will be there for you............

This combination of cards becomes a powerful support, with reminders of practical, tangible and spiritual forces on which I can call in this journey. So my mind just has the task of remembering and assisting me in bringing these neters into action in my life.

-------------------------

I joined in Roberta Rook's Kaleidosoul teleclass on Grief last night, and much of what was said was so in tune with this reading and with how I've been feeling that I feel all the more connected and supported within my own SoulCollage practice, and within the SoulCollage community. Thanks to all who took part, and especially thank you to Roberta and Anne Marie.

The Magical SoulCollage Slipper

2008-06-02T22:44:00.001-07:00

Do you have a Magical SoulCollage Slipper? No? Maybe you do, and you don't even realise it! Here's mine:

Do you see the central image? The slipper? That's been part of my stash of images practically since I first started making SoulCollage cards in December 2003. That's 4 years and more, this little piece of paper has been in one or other of the folders in which I'd pile up images I'd clipped but not yet used. At each card-making session, I'd pull out these bundles of images, and one or other of them would frequently become the beginning-point of my next card.

That pink oriental slipper has been in my hand many times as I sought out the complementary images which would make up my next card, but until this weekend, each time it went back into the folder unused.

This weekend, as I sat with a group of 7 women in my sister's house, once more that image emerged, but this time, I put it with a bundle of other images out there for anyone to use. I'd decided that at this stage, most of those images weren't going to be of any particular meaning for me, so I let them go. My sister-in-law handled it. "Are you going to use that?" I asked. "No... it's pretty... but no... Maybe Zoe would like it?" It got passed to Zoe. "Mmm. It is pretty..." She put it aside. I told them how it had been a long time hanging around. How it had been in my hand at the start of gathering images for many of my cards, but had never found its way into a card.

We went on with the day. Around me, women gathered pages from magazines, moved scraps of colour about on cards, trimmed and pasted, mused about whether this or that image "fit" there. I was working on three cards, but my mind kept wandering back to that pink slipper. And suddenly, the meaning of that image for me became clear.

..
It was the catalyst for so many cards. It was the magic slipper that allowed me to find the images for my cards. Once I put it on, I moved into the SoulCollage space. Having found the images, I could put it aside until the next time... and the next time.

This slipper wasn't an image that didn't belong on one of my cards. It is behind many of them. This slipper is the way into my SoulCollage cards. It says:

I am one who leads you to magic

I am one who helps you find your way in to your cards

I am one who leads you to the next neter

I am one who skips away lightly when you have reached your goal

I am one whose meaning stays hidden until the time is right

I remind you to trust the process

I remind you that there is magic in the work

I remind you to tread lightly

...

What image in your stash keeps reappearing and acting as the catalyst for a card without ending up in the actual card? Is it an animal? A person? A tree?

What is your Magical SoulCollage Slipper?

Synchronicity: Facing Death

2008-04-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

I had another of my little "SoulCollage Soirees" yesterday, when three friends joined me at home to do a reading and to make some cards. It was wonderful. There was healing, joy, trust, love there. I felt very blessed to be among such great women. I took photos of each person's crop of cards, but forgot to check if they'd be ok with my publishing them here, so I'll hold off on that for a few days, but there is something I want to share with you.

Today, I encountered a quote from Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's "The Wheel of Life",

"When we have done all the work we were sent to Earth to do, we are allowed to shed our body, which imprisons our soul like a cocoon encloses the future butterfly. And when the time is right, we can let go of it and we will be free of pain, free of fears and worries-free as a very beautiful butterfly, returning home to God..."

-from a letter to a child with cancer.

Above is the card I made yesterday, which I named "Death/Rebirth transformation". I already have two death cards in my deck, and yet, I felt there was another to be made - one that really incorporates a sense of the rebirth that is right there at the moment of death. I was not thinking of that quote (although I have read the book, quite a few years ago), so imagine my surprise when I did read it today. The other death cards I've made are the two sides of the idea of death - one the "light" side, emphasising death as a "messenger of joy". The other is what I call the "shadow-side", the dark, fearful part of death. Others who have seen this card, however, have not felt that darkness to be threatening or scary. They have found it comforting too.

Perhaps the skeletal / mummified part of the new card is too stark an image to offer comfort. I don't know. I just know that it felt "right" to put these two together, that this card seems to be a synthesis of the feelings of the other two cards.

I made three other cards yesterday, but will share them another time. I'd be interested to have feedback on these cards. - Does the new card look like it would be comforting or reassuring to someone who is actually facing death?

[22/4/08 -- This post has been edited from its first version]

Where are the Men?

2008-03-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

I live in a world that is very female. My closest contacts are almost all with female friends, with my sisters. Most of the bloggers I connect with are female. In my writers group, we have only one male member. The SoulCollage community is almost totally female. (There are some male facilitators, but only a very few, relative to the number of women who are using SoulCollage in their lives). Yes, I have a son, a father, brothers, but still, sometime more than a year ago, I became aware of the absence of masculine creative energy in my SoulCollage. I realised I'd been gathering images of male artists - actors, musicians, writers, chefs - that I wanted to bring together to celebrate the men who inspire me, and their particular energy. Above is the card I made. I added the four older men in the bottom-left, not because they are artists (I don't know if they are!) but because of that companionship their pose portrays.

I was reminded to post this today by a post Lila made on her blog, Indigo Pears, in which she has done something similar in an altered book page.

I've felt a bit shy about this card. I do know that the energy I'm drawn to here is not attraction to the men per se, but it is to do with my own balance of animus/anima energies, and a will to bring the masculine more into play within myself.

More of Kathryn's cards

2008-03-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

Kathryn came by to share the cards she made during the few days after the card-making session she and I had shared with my sister a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't have a scanner, nor does she blog, but she wanted her own sister to be able to see these, so I'm posting them here. I'm really glad to get to see them, and to share them with you, too, because I love each of these cards. The first is "The Wisdom of Patience" This second card is "Masculine Tenderness"

This next card is "Grace"

...and she entitles this final card "Entering your True Nature"

When we gather together....

2008-02-19T09:30:00.001-08:00

On Sunday last, I had a chance to do something I haven't done in a long time - sit at my kitchen table with a couple of people to make SoulCollage cards. It happened because a workshop I'd had scheduled for Saturday fell through, and as my sister had travelled a long way to be here, and another friend had wanted to do the workshop, it seemed like a good opportunity to experience again the intimacy of a SoulCollage session at home. And something happens when we gather together to make art: the energy is more than the sum of the individuals. At the end of an afternoon which began with many sighs and mumbles of "I haven't got a theme..." "I don't think this is going to come together..." "nothing seems to fit..."..... ended with us 3 putting 13 cards on the table and cheering, delighted, grinning at the outcome for all of us.

You will want to see the cards up close, especially Kathryn's and Aileen's. Here are Kathryn's:

The first card is "Desire", the third, "Adventure", and the title of the 2nd one is yet to be revealed!

Aileen's cards follow:

Those cards have meanings something along the lines of: "Purification", "Enlightenment", "Brutalisation of the Innocent", "Masculine/Feminine balance" and.... (I'll have to check on that wonderful energetic final card!)

My cards are

They are "Mary", "Tribe", "The Magical Brain and "Hand of the Ancestor"

If you usually make cards alone, or only in workshop gatherings, why not try bringing one or two friends together, lighting some incense or a candle, playing some gentle music, and making cards, without any specific intention or theme, just to be witness for one another to whatever may happen?

New Year's Reading: Neters for 2008

2008-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Today, I did a reading to select the "neters" or energies that might guide me particularly during this year. Inspired by Noelle Remington, who speaks of these days, between the solstice and the New Year (I'm being loose in my dates, I know, but as here, we are still in the holidays, I feel I'm still in the transition between the old year and the new). Noelle says:

"If I pay attention, I can feel the sacred quiet and stillness as the universe takes in one last deep breath before it begins the cycle once again. It's during this gap between the old and the new that I love to do a SoulCollage® reading for the coming year. "

During the past week, I've been gifted with time on my own, to think, reflect, write; to catch up on reading blogs I'd barely skimmed over the past few months. I gave some thought to my intentions for the coming year, and have posted about them on my main blog HERE. Then, I came across This Article on Christine Kane's blog, where she suggests that instead of making resolutions, we select a word to guide us through the year, to act as a touchstone, a watchword. I have chosen Prayerfulness as my word. Whatever I do, I would like to approach it with an attitude of prayerfulness, to be aware of work as worship, to know that there is a prayer "that transcends the murmur of syllables and sound", and to allow that to fill my life.

With these thoughts in mind, I chose to do my reading today, selecting one card from each of the four suits in my deck, and the results, as usual, seemingly surprising at first in some ways, then became something that seems totally appropriate to where I am in my life right now. When I wrote in my SoulCollage journal, just a few lines from each card, their "rightness" became very clear. If I could choose any other neter now, I wouldn't change any of them. So here is the reading:

From the Committee Suit, Protecting the Children's Fire

I am one who carries the energy of protection, who goes into the dark places some children have to encounter, and who takes their hands to help guide them. I am one who brings light. I am one who is present to the child who is most in need. My fire is protected also.

The Community Card that emerges is Dr. Bach

[Dr. Bach discovered the remedies known as the
Bach Flower Remedies. I am a certified Bach Flower Remedy Practitioner]

I am one who dedicated my life to the work of healing. I am one who recognised the importance of Balance - that no trait is 'bad' - It is just unbalanced, it is in its shadow-nature. I remind you of the gift I have given you - a gift you can share with others. I remind you you can use this gift to support yourself during this year.

From the Council Suit, came La Loba.

[I wrote about the origin and importance to me of this card HERE. Seena's article about the archetype is HERE. ]

I am one who is patient in gathering the bones. I am one who seeks out the treasure. I am one who is not afraid to live alone in my cave. I am one whose solitude allows her to do the work. I am one who sings, who sings wild songs, who follows her wild intuition. I am one who welcomes the emergence of wolf. I am La Loba. Hear me Howl.

And from the Companions suit, came 6th Chakra, Owl.

I am one who is knowing and wise. I am one who awakens in darkness and knows. I am one whose intuition is strong. I am the owl of strength. I am the owl of silence. I am the owl who approaches as night falls. I am one who can stay silent, waiting for an answer. I am patient. I am one who answers to no-one, who chooses my flight-path by instinct. I am one who came to you last year as a gift. I am your brother.

These are my guides for 2008. I've printed out a copy of each card, to make a little accordion-book I can keep out on my altar or desk, to remind me throughout the year. That will be tomorrow's project. If any of you have done a reading for the New Year, I'd love to hear about it. [ updated: there are pictures of the accordion-book at the end of THIS POST on my main blog]

Blessings to all in 2008.

Protector / Filter. The Shadow

2007-09-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's been 2 months since I posted anything here, and it is a month since I left Skyote, near Santa Cruz, California, having attended the first annual SoulCollage facilitators' conference, which had been preceded by a 2-day "pre-conference" on the theme of "The Shadow in the World".

I would find it really difficult to try to reproduce what was said on the Shadow. I had arrived thinking I would be looking at my personal shadow (or shadows) - the neters that have gone to an unhealthy or unhelpful extreme, and found instead (or also) that we were considering the idea of shadow-energies in the world-at-large. How do I experience the "3-headed monster" of hatred, greed, war in the world around me? What protects me from those energies, or, as Seena asked, what archetype acts as a filter for me against the external shadow?

We selected some images, and added two randomly-chosen cards from our decks.

The two cards I drew were my Death card and my Anger card.

Death says:

I am one who allows you to experience the shadow in its deepest form. I am your friend. I filter energies and experiences by allowing you to experience NOW, not the future, or the past. I remind you that each moment is a death.

Anger says:

I am one who allows you to express the range of anger as you meet it. I am one who knows there is a time for irritation, annoyance... righteous fury. The shadow-energy of the outside world requires a response. Sometimes the response is anger.

----

The new image I had chosen was of a group of trees. I had just come from Yosemite, where the wonderful energy of the Redwoods had touched me deeply, and I felt drawn to images of trees. When I came to make a card, however, I found that the images I had selected just wouldn't form the card I wanted to make. Frustrated, I began to leaf through other piles of images, and there was this wonderful tree. There is more to it than just a tree. It called to me to be the image to represent the Filter/Protector in my world.

It says:

I am one who helps you engage the shadow. I hold you safely, I remind you how to stay centred and rooted. I remind you of the many directions in which you can move in that centredness. I offer protection and openness. I remind you of the need to constantly renew your life. Accept change. Expect renewal.

------------------

I think I am only beginning to process the entire experience - my travels, my encounters with wildlife (last year, coyote: This year foxes and the great horned owl!), and the conference itself. It was so rich with ideas and experiences, touching so much inner knowing that will take time to surface in cards, in words. I just gathered images and made no other cards there. Today, my kitchen table is strewn with those images, and I begin again to feel the energy of those days. I had thought when I was coming home that I would post an entire conference report, but I think its effects will just filter through here over the coming months, and as I begin to take up workshops again.

I chose to post this here today, to begin to bring myself into that space, of re-experiencing, of attempting to articulate, and share just a little of the experience.

Out of the Chrysalis

2007-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

My most recent card began like this. In fact, for a while I thought this was the card - almost complete. I thought "there is one other little thing I need to find that will tell me what the card is really about". The feeling of the card was something along the lines of "The Universe Within".

My search for that one thing more led to something else entirely. I added a series of images of a woman/butterfly unfolding from a chrysalis, and transformed the card into my Desiderata card. Do you know Desiderata? I am a child of the universe, and just as the universe is unfolding as it should, so am I.
As I went to create this post, I noticed a couple of similarities with Ann's card in my previous post. - The cosmic background, and the butterfly motif. Interesting.

The Power of Woman

2007-07-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

This card is not one of mine, but I have permission to share it here. At the first workshop I gave in Limerick, my home-town, one friend made this card. The power of the image, and the wonderful spirit of survival and feminine strength with which she spoke when she did a brief "I am one who" made me ask Ann if she would email me the card later on. Before she did, I discovered this card on Cheryl's blog, using the same image of that woman, that powerful woman. Seeing this, and telling Cheryl of the synchronicity makes me all the more sure the card is meant to be shared. I asked Ann if she was ok with sharing her card and a few lines, and here is what she sent:

I'm the one who seeks strength from within. Who appreciates that I am only here for a short time on this planet. Regardless of any problems I think I may have I have to remember there is much worse out there. I now appreciate life and no longer take it for granted.

I am the one who dreams...and wish upon that falling star to maintain my free spirit which is often drained and forced from us as we get older. Gazing into the distance of future and past to help improve myself and whilst moving forward in life not to regret any of my past but use as a learning process for my future.

I am the one who wants to be proud of myself and reach deep inside and find every inch of strength as the woman in my card does to stand tall and look both beautiful from the inside and out. I want to believe in myself, trust my own instincts from which my character and confidence can grow.

I am the one who wishes to fly like that butterfly, albeit a short life .....embrace! Look beautiful, think beautiful and always will be beautiful! If that's all I can take from this life then it'll have been worth it.

------------------------------------------

I am awestruck at the card and the words Ann has produced! She tells me she has been bringing the card with her to work every day. I'm not surprised. It gives me chills to witness the immediate impact of SoulCollage, and it humbles me to be able to share this with you.

Race Memory : Hunger

2007-06-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

..............Who are You?

I am one who holds the memory of hunger in my bones

I am one who carries my ancestors' hunger in my blood

I am one who cannot bear the thought of not having food for my child

I am one whose ancestors somehow stayed and survived

I am one who has cried the tears of the hungry

I am one who has known the fear of the workhouse

.................What do you have to give me?

I give you the knowledge that you have come from a nation of survivors

I give you appreciation of all the bounty in your life now

I give you a sense of the history you carry in your blood and bones

I give you the capacity for empathy with the poor and dispossessed of the world

.....................How Will I remember?

I will remember when I see a hungry child

I will remember when I am tempted by gluttony

I will remember. I will just remember.

-------------------------------------------------------------

This card was made at my most recent workshop. I had begun to wonder recently whether there were particular themes that would become evident in SoulCollage work with Irish people. I hadn't realised that this would be one of the themes to become present for me. The first few images presented themselves very spontaneously, and although they are not all Irish in their origin, they have the feel of the whole thing.

When the bones take flesh

2007-04-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

During this past week, I've been confined to home with a head-cold - the type that makes thinking, reading, anything involving left-brain concentration difficult. I've spent much of the time in a floaty-dreamy, not-quite-here state of consciousness, and the results have been interesting. It's been in some ways like a retreat. I wouldn't have chosen to spend days on end alone, or to avoid reading and other activities with which I normally fill my days. What I found I did want to do was to spend time with my SoulCollage cards, browsing Seena's articles on the website, listening to a couple of the audiofiles on the Kindred Spirits site, and at some stage during the week, I made a new card: My "La Loba" or "Singer over the Bones" card. This card is inspired by the story toldy by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in her marvellous book "Women Who Run With The Wolves", which is retold by Seena in the introduction to "SoulCollage"

Having made the card, I found myself writing about it in my Morning Pages the next day, and still in a dream-like state, I mused which, of the cards I'd made recently, had permitted me to finally make this card, and began to see a 'chain' of cards going back to the first cards I'd made. Yesterday, still musing on this - the way that La Loba represents the bringing together of the many disparate pieces of myself, I wondered if I laid out my deck, would I be able to see this flow from one card to another... and so I planned a ritual or ceremony of viewing my entire deck.
There was a problem, however: The missing cards. Should I leave them out? Should I print them out and create new versions of these cards? Should I create one composite card showing the four that "gave themselves" to my 31st March workshop? I wasn't sure. But before I came to making that decision, I had a few bits of correspondence to see to prior to my ceremony, and at my desk, searching through a folder I'd last had in my hand on 26th February, there I found my four missing cards! So, now my deck would be complete: All 90 cards would be present.

The details of how I laid out the cards went like this: I began with thinking "that belongs with that...", but soon found myself moving about the room, placing cards in a fairly random, intuitive fashion, and finally, they were all arrayed in a "sunburst" radiating out from a central grouping of my Source, Soul-Essence, La Loba, and a new card I was calling "Going Into the Dark Places", but which I think I'll be calling "The Hero's Journey" now. When the last card had been placed on the floor, I sat back, and contemplated the picture arrayed before me. The bones were gathered. And there was life in them. There IS life in them. Some cards, like ligaments and tendons, support other cards. Some fall togther in natural groupings, like ribs or vertebrae. I found my journal and pen in my hand and I wrote:

..... And the time came, when the woman saw - these are the pieces I have been gathering, and each piece has its place, and each piece holds another piece in its place.

And the woman saw that there was no 'wrong' or no 'late' or no 'slow' in her path. The time it took to gather the pieces was the time it took.

When she came to the place where she was ready to sing life into her bones, she was ready, because she had learnt to sing, learnt to breathe and to weep. She was ready to go down into the dark places and emerge again, because she had been able to see her own heart, because she had become ready to take away her mask, because she had taken the time to witness, because she had known the death of love, the loss of love, because she had learnt to love.

.....And so she came to the place of life, and she saw that her doubts and her pain were sisters to her joy and her dance. She saw that the gifts of the universe come in prayer, in fun, in ancient wisdom, in the guardianship of an angel, in sisterhood. She saw that she was held in the palm of God's hand. She saw that she was held by the love of many, by the gifts of musicians and artists; she saw that the Children's Fire is protected by the fire-carrier and the mystical child. She saw that all time is Now. There is this present moment. She saw that she has been blessed. And she was grateful. And she wept.
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When I had spent a long, long time sitting with my cards, the music I'd had gently playing in the background turned to something very rhythmic and I just had to get up and dance. So I danced my cards. I danced la Loba. I danced the bones together, and sang them, and it was good.

I have been three-and-a-half years gathering these bones. They are not all of the bones of me, but they are of a piece. I was glad to see that each card has a resonance, each one has an energy I can identify in myself. I was glad the time came to do this. I was glad of my enforced retreat. I found myself so thankful for the mysterious process that is at work when we embrace SoulCollage.

The Evolution of a SoulCollage deck

2007-04-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, I mentioned at the end of my post on my missing cards (still no sign) that I felt my deck was getting ready for an evolutionary shift. That sounds rather dramatic, and in fact what I mean is that I'm only now beginning to consider removing cards from 'active' deck, or changing cards, and I've been prompted to make a few changes over the last week or two that really do demonstrate movement and growth within my deck. Before my 31st March workshop, I felt a strong urge to remove this card:

and replace it with this:

When I first made my 'Lillith' card, modesty made me represent her masked - I wasn't sure whether she was putting on the mask, or removing it. But now, it's clear she was removing it. I had made a scan before I'd added the mask, so it was easy to retrieve the 'unmasked' Lillith, and now this is the image that will be included in my deck.

Another card I made early in my acquaintance with SoulCollage was my Divine Mother card, and I've been aware that, while I love the images I included in the card, it would have been better to select a background for this card, rather than simply pasting them onto the black side of the matboard. So, a few days ago, I found the background, and here is the amended card:

It has really surprised me to see what a change this has made. The energy of the card is really now Divine Mother to me.

I was also really interested to read what Seena says about how her deck has evolved, especially about what was originally her Source card evolving into her Death card. I recall being surprised when I first saw Seena's Source card that there was a human image included, and thinking it had the 'going into the light' feeling of a death card to me. Now her Source card is without human images.

My first-ever card has always presented me with the question as to what it is exactly. I knew it wasn't my Source card, but also knew it was special in some way - and described it as my Creator card (while knowing it's not exactly that), and could say it has to do with duality. Reading Seen's description of the three transpersonal cards, I have a strong sense now that my Soul Essence card has been with me all along, and that is what I met in these images:

The final change involves one of my community cards. My community suit doesn't contain cards for everyone who's important in my life, but it does include cards for my son, my parents, some friends, and a few artists/writers/musicians, along with a couple of groups who are important parts of my community. I included photographs when I had them, and the one card which I felt has pictures of the person, but doesn't capture her spirit was the card I had made for my mother, using some photos, and some images from cards she had received during her first years in a nursing-home, where she still resides. Somehow, her spirit doesn't seem to be present in this card - almost like the reality of being with her now, when much of the time, she isn't 'present'; I wanted to honour my mother with a community card, but this card doesn't satisfy. Then, some images presented themselves during the past couple of weeks that called out to become my "real mother" card. - The card that captures the spirit of my mother. I am really happy that this card should replace the 'official' Mother card:

Now that I have become open to amending and/or replacing cards within my deck, it seems the refinements that are ready to be made are presenting themselves in a natural way. Does anyone else find they are making changes of this nature?

A strange thing happened on the way to the workshop....

2007-04-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend just past was a special weekend for me, in that I held my first public SoulCollage workshop on Saturday. Any others I've facilitated to date, I had been invited to come to a writers' group, a women's group, or a youth class to intoduce SoulCollage, but in this instance, I planned and advertised the day. 16 women came, including the wonderful Caroline, who travelled from England to participate and support, and it was a very special experience for me. It was an honour to witness the process at work in people who had just encountered it, and to see the beautiful cards produced intuitively and gracefully by these women. Feedback was very good, and I hope this was the first of many such days.

And a funny thing happened! (Well, synchronicities abounded, in fact, throughout the weekend). On Saturday evening, chilling and relaxing after the day's intense activity, Caroline and I were sharing one another's decks of cards, and she mentioned her Dalai Lama card. Well... when I went to find mine, it wasn't there, and I realised also that my Time card wasn't there. I didn't really become very concerned, assuming they were misplaced (and also, safe in the knowledge that I have copies scanned in my computer). Yesterday, a thorough search of all possible places they might have been turned up nothing. They're really missing. Ok.

Last night, I began to wonder - Are they the only cards missing? Are there others I haven't noticed that are also gone? So, I printed out a list of all my cards, and ran through the deck, ticking off the cards. Lo and behold! Two others were also gone - My autumn self, and Shyness. Hmm.

I think they've all given themselves to the weekend. If they never turn up again, they have gone to the place of that workshop, saying:

Dalai Lama:

Don't forget that this work has a spiritual element, but that you can also have fun. Take the spiritual aspects lightly. Nothing needs to be heavy. Be happy. Be joyful!

My Autumn Self

Remember to celebrate this weekend's

workshop as one of the fruits of the work

you have been doing in your life over the

past years.

Shyness:

You don't have to be held back by your natural reserve. You can be in groups of people, lead a group, and still be yourself.

Time - Past, Present & Future:

When you are working with Soul, time is not relevant. Soul knows past, present and future at once. Be prepared for time to lose its meaning.

How strange. It's Tuesday now, and the cards still haven't turned up. But the search for them has turned up some surprising and very useful ideas and images. I think my entire deck was getting ready for an evolutionary shift, and this has been part of the review. More on that tomorrow!

The Grass Angel

2007-03-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

This week, Anne Marie's challenge at Inner Surprises is to create a SoulCollage card from a favourite quote, and when I read it, I knew immediately which quote I would like to base my card on.

Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow."
...................................- The Talmud

I came across that quote 9 years ago, when I first encountered and began the adventure that is The Artist's Way. I think this was the first book I'd seen that was sprinkled with quotes in the margins, and if Julia Cameron left me with nothing else, it was a store of marvellous inspirational quotes, including that one. (By the way, she did leave me with a whole lot more than that!)

This quotation stays with me, and comforts me. It reminds me that there is invisible support all around, and that I only have to trust and rely on that support.

The angels that appear here came from a Christmas card that came from my Aunt Nell in 2001. I've saved it, and the angels were over my bed for the past few years, waiting for me to decide where they really belonged. Well, they belong here, on this card, honouring the quote, honouring Aunt Nell, and echoing the prayer for children which I love:

"I am, O my God, but a tiny seed which Thou hast sown in the soil of Thy love, and caused to spring forth by the hand of Thy bounty. This seed craveth, therefore, in its inmost being, for the waters of Thy mercy and the living fountain of Thy grace."
........................................... (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 177)

I think the angels represent that grace, and I am glad now to have this visual reminder for myself.

Celebrating Seena

2007-03-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

When I first encountered SoulCollage, I felt an immediate connection - a Gimme! feeling. I know this is not unusual. Many of the people who turn up at the KaleidoSoul Yahoo group are obviously gripped by the same excitement, the same urgency about getting into this process.

So, at first, at the beginning, I didn't pay a lot of attention to where this had come from. Yes, there was a book, and of course I ordered it straight away, but it was the content, not the author that interested me at that time.

Then, in reading the book, in working with the cards I'd begun to make, and reflecting on what she said in the book about our engagement with the cards and neters, I began to get a sense of this person whose wisdom I was drawing on. - A sense of a gentle, knowing, accepting person, who was offering such a wonderful tool to us.

Within a few weeks, I was totally smitten with SoulCollage. One night, in a dream, a voice - a woman's voice - told me that I should Come! Come where? I wondered. Hmmm... And then, the audio-tapes I had ordered arrived, and I heard Seena's voice. Ah! That's the voice from my dream. Come? Come to the States? You have to be joking. Not possible! was my first response. But the seed was sown. The call had been heard. And 3 years later I did go. I went to California for facilitator training with Seena. What an experience!

Seena is, to me, one of those rare and wonderful souls who knows what she is here on earth to do, and she is doing it. Helping people to discover the many parts of themselves through the medium of SoulCollage. Her gentle spirit is a delight to encounter.

When her 75th birthday was approaching in February, and SoulCollage facilitators were invited to create a card to share with Seena as a celebration, this was the card I made, and these were the words I added:

.........I am one who brings light, who sheds light on dark places.
.........I am one who understands the One and the Many.
.........I am one whose call you heard and answered.
.........I am one who gives with open hands and welcomes with

..............open arms, who listens with full attention, who speaks

..............with great care.
.........I am one who offers tremendous gifts to the world.
.........I am a being of light.

It feels right to share it here now. If you have not read the book, go to the SoulCollage site and check out some of the articles Seena has written. You will not be sorry you have encountered this wonderful woman!

3-Card Reading

2006-12-09T02:56:00.000-08:00

This week, Anne Marie's challenge offered to SoulCollagers on her Inner Surprises blog was to do a 3-card reading. She suggests that we ask a question and then select three cards to see what they might say to that question. I wrote my question into my SoulCollage notebook: "What might remedy the anxiety I'm feeling recently?" I selected the three cards last night, but waited until this morning to sit and journal with them. The process was very interesting, because my rational mind would not have selected any of these 3 cards as most relevant to that problem, and yet the three cards selected each have offered me something that I feel is really helpful. Here they are:

The Imprisoned, Longing for Freedom.

After writing some "I am one who..."s, this card suggests to me that I imprison myself within my own thinking, that no-one else is creating the limits which cause me fear and anxiety. It says "You can free your own mind" (and it reminds me of This Quote I read last night too)

The second card I drew was my Letting My Child Go card. This card reminded me that, now that I have released my son into the world as a caring, responsible, adult, it is ok to let him know what I am feeling. I can let him know about my anxieties or worries without making him feel responsible for them.

The third card in the reading is my Autumn Self card, and what this card reminds me of is the store of resources I have already built up, the harvest I have already made in my life. It tells me I can trust that what I have gathered in my life will sustain me in times to come.

Overall, the effect of the three cards in combination is to remind me that I can control my thoughts, that I can draw on support without making others responsible for me, and I already have many inner resources that will carry me through.

The Seven Chakras

2006-12-07T01:33:00.000-08:00

Now that I have identified my 3rd Chakra animal - Elephant - and created a card to honour Elephant-spirit, I wanted to post all seven cards here.

I listened to Seena's recorded guided meditation on the Chakras a couple of days ago, and lo-and-behold, there was Elephant. I found myself sitting against a great tree in a forest, and up came Elephant, offering strength, certainty, solidity. I felt very safe with Elephant, and as Elephant. It was a lovely experience, and a relief to finally find the last of my animal-guides (though now I'm hearing about people finding that they change, and I don't want to feel I'm searching again any time soon).

One interesting thing I heard recently about Chakras and animal guides - Some friends who have done shamanic journeying were speaking about their animal guides, and it seems it is usual for the lower chakras to have reptile guides, the middle chakras to have mammalian guides and the upper chakras to have bird guides. I was intrigued, and really surprised to find that my SoulCollage cards have fitted this pattern. Has anyone else noticed the same progression? (I'm thinking of that very insistent alligator we heard about recently).

Butterflies

2006-09-12T04:34:00.000-07:00

I think there are few people who don't find butterflies attractive. I've always been fascinated by them, and find that the sight of a butterfly lifts my heart. If I get an opportunity to visit a butterfly house, I take it. (Those opportunities don't come too often, but when they have, I've loved being among all that fluttering beauty). Anne Marie posted her 3rd Chakra card, which is a beautiful representation of butterfly energy, and their strength is in their transformative quality, as she points out. I have yet to identify my 3rd chakra animal (it's the last one for me, too). I know I thought it might be Frog for a while, I wondered if it was Coyote. I'm still not sure what my 3rd Chakra companion is, and maybe I've allowed it to become too much of a quandary. Maybe I should stop looking and let my companion come find me. (I've been trying to do that). But in the meantime, I know there are animals whose spirit is special to me, even if I can't identify them as associated with a particular chakra for me, and this is what Butterfly says to me.

WHO ARE YOU?
I am one who brings beauty and elegance into the world
I am one who does not worry about tomorrow, but lives for the present.
I am one who offers my beauty for all to enjoy
I am one who takes what I need without doing any damage to the world
I am one who has grown and become transformed through my cocooning stage
I am one who is the emblem of transformation
I am one who appears in many unique patterns and colours.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME?
I give you the spirit of transformation
I give you the patience to be within your cocoon
I give you trust that you will emerge in the right time
I give you willingness to move as the spirit moves you.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
I want you to trust your intuition. I want you to believe you don't need to have a reason to "know" what you know. Trust.

The Challenge of Discovering meaning

2006-08-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Anne Marie's challenge this past weekend was to take a card which hasn't really made its meaning clear, and to spend ten minutes writing "I am one who"s from it. The card I've chosen to use is one I made during the facilitator's training back in May. It feels very powerful. It feels beyond words to me, though I have attempted to work with it. I can't even name it beyond "The Be True In Heart" card, and can't say whether its suit is committee or council (though it feels very committee, really)

Here's the product of my ten minutes:

I am one who warns Be True In Heart
I am one who has been betrayed
I am one who is worn down, dirtied and wearied
I am one who calls down lightning
I am one who comes out of a wild place
I am one who wishes true lovers well
I am one who watches
I am one who has cast away her gold
I am one who holds to promises
I am one who regrets broken promises
I am one who regrets broken promises
I am one who is cared for by no-one
I am one who is alone
I am one who bears witness
I am one who wants to have her pain witnessed
I am one who is past weeping
I am one who cries in my heart Be True In Heart
I am one who lives between storm and desert
I am one who has no care for appearance
I am one who knows the way
I am the watcher
I am one who warns the groom Be True in Love
I am one who knows the urge to vengeance
I am one who rises above the urge to vengeance
I am one who sees love as heavenly in origin
I am one whi is alone and feared
i am one on the cusp of cronedom
I am one who carries pain within
I am one who fears for others - that they will feel pain also.

Having completed the exercise, it is clear that this card holds the pain of my marriage's end. This is the abandoned, betrayed, hurt wife card. I knew that, really. I just couldn't name it.

The Caring Gardener

2006-08-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Over on the Kaleidosoul group, a theme of cards depicting gardeners has emerged. The other cards mentioned are a Mystical Gardener and a Cosmic Gardener.

This is my Caring Gardener card, and I've posted it to just celebrate the joy I get from my garden. My garden has its share of weeds, my lawn is more moss than grass, and no-one would give it any prizes, but I love my garden, get immense pleasure from it, and delight in the wildlife that it attracts.

Who are You? I am the Caring Gardener, the one who puts energy into looking after the plants in your garden, and is willing to spend time seeing to pests in environmentally friendly ways, to protect the birds and friendly insects. I am one who delights in the appearance of each shoot and bud.

What do You Have to Give Me? I give you the knowledge that in caring in little ways for your little piece of the earth, you are looking after earth in a larger way. I give you pleasure and health, and the companionship of birds and insects. I give you the delight of finding frog and hedgehog have come to live in your space.

What do You Want from Me? I want you to continue to look after your garden, with intention; with each act as an act of love for Mother Earth; with the knowledge that the care you offer here is felt by the planet as an act of care for all. I want you not to diminish the small acts, but to value them, and to recognise that in the practical work of the garden, much of what you do symbolises the laws and ways of the universe and of the soul. I want you to learn what you can from your garden. Continue to bless it.

Great Mother

2006-08-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

Anne-Marie asked about any Divine Mother cards we may have, and this is the card with which I associate that neter, so I thought I would post it. Perhaps it's not purely the archetype of the Divine mother. I feel it contains connections to me-as-mother, so perhaps it is 90% Council, 10% Committee, or maybe it is purely Council, and it is acknowledging the human-in-the-divine along with the divine-in-the-human?

On a technical point - I think I made this card fairly early in my journey with SoulCollage, and I know, when I look at it, that a different background, rather than the plain surface of the card, would have added another dimension, but that's not what I did, so the card is like this. I have a few cards done without a "background" and they look strange to me now, when I select them.

Who are You?

I am one who nurtures, holds, cherishes. I am giver of life, protector. I am one who takes delight in the growth of my young. I am one whose body is dedicated to the nourishment of the young, to the care of all my children. I give. I give.

What do You Have to give me?

I offer you unconditional love, constant care and nourishment. I give the knowledge that you are never alone. You are always in my care.

What do you want from me?

I want you to accept my constant presence, rely on it and acknowledge that you are always in the arms of the Great Mother. As your trust and faith in my presence grows, you will begin to embody my spirit, and as you do, I want you to share my caring and nurturing with others. My presence is felt in the world through the Mothering of humans. Trust and Love.

Does anyone else have a Great Mother / Divine Mother card to share?

A two-card reading

2006-07-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

This week, Anne Marie's challenge is to select two cards from our deck, and to sit with the cards to see what message(s) they might hold for our present life situation. She says:

Sit quietly with them for several minutes. Ask each voice what it is saying to you right now in your particular life circumstances. Listen carefully.

These are the two images that I chose. The first is in fact the first SoulCollage card I ever made. As such, I have a particular fondness for this card. It opened a new stage in my life, offering me limitless opportunities for discovery, and this seems to be what the card is reminding me. I have had difficulty finding a title for this card, but I sometimes call it my Creator/Duality card. It reminds me that life is big and small, that it is ephemeral and eternal, but that in every way, it is special, and that I am a part of this wonderful creation, and connected into it. In my present life circumstances, when I am entering into a new stage of creating a pattern of work which is to support me in the coming years, this brings me back to the fundamental knowing that "You are a child of the Universe (anyone remember the Desiderata?), no less than the trees and the stars, you have the right to be here, and whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

The other card I chose is one I made originally for a friend, during a time when her life circumstances left her feeling very alone and facing into a difficult phase. I can see this card in this light for myself too, so it is very comforting to me to select this card, which I feel depicts that aloneness, and the presence of a loving, caring observer who will see that no harm befalls the "little one". The presence is maternal, protective and yet detached. This card says to me:

You may feel alone, and step into the world feeling unprotected, but I am always there to look out for you, to see that no harm will befall you. You can step confidently into the world, even into its cold and barren places, and you will have what you need.

This is an interesting exercise, and a good one to focus me, as I am about to spend a week away, and when I return will be "stepping out" in terms of developing my work-life. Has anyone else been reading their cards (or done a reading at the SoulCollage website? Want to share the process?)

Animal Companions

2006-07-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Ann Marie's challenge this week invites us to consciously bring one of our animal companions with us through our weekend. Synchronicity is at play here. I've been pondering for some time what is my 3rd chakra animal. All the others have been identified and honoured with a card. I felt when I went to the practitioner training that it would become clear, but I didn't feel it had. Then, when I was travelling in California afterwards, I met a coyote and thought Is it you? Are you my 3rd Chakra? It was a very powerful and meaningful encounter, but somehow, it didn't have that feeling. I came face to face with deer, close enough to capture an osprey in a photograph, but still, didn't feel that was it. So, I decided to just let it alone for a while, as you might with any wild creature, and said It will come to me in its own good time.

Sometimes, what you're looking for is right under your nose, waiting for you to see it? I made this card back in May, before I set off to the practitioner training, during a session with my counselling colleagues. I called it Transformation.

And today, writing a post on my main blog, telling the story of my connection with frogs, this is part of that post:

And here's my If You Build It, They Will Come story. I like frogs. They make me happy. I always thought if I ever owned a coffee-shop, I would call it the Green Frog Cafe (with a nod to Guy Clark, of course). Well, although I don't have a pond, stream or fountain in my garden (the only water is an outside tap, and buckets that collect rainwater, and get left to develop their own ecosystem - unintenionally) during the past few years, every once in a while, a frog might show up in my garden at night, and I would be delighted, but it would then disappear and not turn up for months again. So, because I like the idea of them, I put in a little frog statue (I have a hedgehog statue (with a baby) for a similar reason). I like the frog statue. It sits outside my kitchen window, on a raised area, where I've planted a few alpines and put gravel around it. Well, wouldn't you know it? The frog has returned. She's bigger and happier looking, and is living in a cool bucket with some well-softened peat briquettes and comes out at night to help with my slug problem. Yesterday, she came out in daylight, and here's where she turned up:

And after a few hops, she found herself right beside the statue I'd put in. (can you see her? Just to the left?) I just was tickled to see this manifestation in reality. I wanted frog energy (transformation, I believe) in my garden (and in my life). Well, it seems I have it a-plenty!

And it seems frog is trying to tell me something. Maybe she is my 3rd chakra animal? I think all I can do is try it on, and see how it fits. But, like I said, it makes me happy!

Surrender to Grace

2006-07-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

This Friday's Kaleidosoul Challenge offered by Anne Marie is to create a card with a horizontal orientation. I realise that many of my cards are created that way. I think I even tend to place the blank card down that way when I begin to arrange images, and perhaps turn it vertically if they do not seem to be fitting horizontally. I'll have to observe what I'm doing next time I start to make some cards. If we get into too much of a habit of using cards one way or the other, perhaps we would dismiss an image as "not a good fit", when with a shift in perspective, we could find a way to use the images in our cards.

This card is one in which I felt it was important to use actual pictures of myself as well as found images. I wanted to place myself in the flow of grace in this card.

Surrender to Grace

Who are You?

I am one who opens myself to the flow of grace

I am one who is willing to receive the grace that is pouring on me.

I am one who finds joy in the many graces and blessings I receive.

I am one who recognises that I need to stand naked in the flow of grace.

What do You Have to Give Me?

I give you true freedom

I give you faith in the abundance of grace available to you

I give you healing and joy

What do you want from me?

I want you to believe, trust, be open to the ever-flowing grace in your life. Be joyful and happy. Make yourself "naked" to receive grace by divesting yourself of the superficial trappings of life.

Accepting the Shadow Side

2006-07-02T04:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. I'm not sure why that is. I'd intended to post a random card fairly regularly and comment on it, but perhaps re-activating the blog now is the first step. One thing that has been interesting me, and of which I've been reminded again and again recently, is the importance of accepting the shadow-side of each neter represented in the cards. When A nne-Marie posted her beautiful Patience card this week, one of the readings she did suggested she create a card for her Impatience too.

There was a time when I wasn't too keen on those shadow-side cards, and didn't understand why we should make them (though, of course many of them just presented to me, and I made them anyway, reluctant as I was), and certainly didn't welcome them if they presented in a reading, or when I drew a card to be my neter for the day. But I gained a new perspective on this a few months ago, and recently found the email I'd sent to Anne-Marie describing how it happened, so thought I'd share the story (in brief) here:

I'd been going through a difficult and protracted series of visits to my solicitor to complete the process of legal separation after my 20-year marriage ended. Each visit to the solicitor saw me leaving the office in tears. Often, one of my sisters or a friend would be available to support me, but in September last year I was facing one of the most difficult visits, and for whatever reason, I was going alone, and telling myself to be a grown-up about it, but I was still very anxious about it, and about my future. The night before the meeting, I drew four cards. They were

Fun and Laughter.... Yes, I thought, this card reminded me that even when I'm doing something serious and important, if I can employ my sense of humour, things will feel better. This card gave me comfort

My Protected Inner Child Yes, I knew that my inner child is protected and looked after, no matter what happens, and this card gave me comfort.

The Abundant Universe card. Yes, I know that the Universe / God gives and gives, and that there is always plenty, and that what I need will be available to me, if I trust. This card gave me comfort and support.

And then.... A card that until that time, I had never been able to quite name properly, but the image is of a vulnerable woman, uncomfortable and half-naked witha huge rampaging bull charging right at her, and I thought "Oh, no, that's just what I don't need, to feel like that...

Why did I get that card?..." and so on, and then I said, well, I'll just sit with a while, and gradually, as I sat, I realised that the card didn't make me feel like that. I already felt like that to some extent (who am I kidding? ... To a large extent!), and the card was saying I could admit to myself that I felt like that, and that the other cards would support me in feeling like that... so then it felt ok to see this card.

Accepting this, realising the value of seeing and acknowledging one of my Shadow selves was so important. Instead of pretending to be strong, bolstered with my Warrior-self or my Brave and Fearless self, here I was admitting to feeling vulnerable, and I slept soundly that night, prepared calmly for the meeting when I woke. I had my four cards laid out on the table, and all four supported me... and then the really wonderful thing happened. A friend sent a text message, and I replied asking her to send me good thoughts. She sent back "tons and tons", and I straight away felt stronger like the energy she was sending literally strengthened me. So I wrote a brief message requesting good strong thoughts at the time of my meeting and sent it off to sisters, cousins, and friends of the heart 18 or 20 women, and they all got the message, and they all were with me when I went to that meeting, and for the first time, I sat in that office, calm, self-possessed, mentally functioning, able to follow what was said, ask intelligent questions. I was strong, I was not sentimental, and within 30 minutes, the meeting was completed. I had been through a very difficult situation and came out SMILING!

---------------

Yes, it is a long story, and convoluted, but it meant so much to me to realise that accepting the shadow-side represented in that card - the fearful, overwhelmed, vulnerable part of me - was what enabled me to reach out and ask for the help that so many people were just waiting to send me. If I'd only welcomed the "positive cards" I would have been saying "I'm fine. I don't need to ask for help".

So now, I find I can be more accepting of the "negative" sides, realising they aren't Bad, or something to try to get rid of, but to acknowledge, accept and allow to take their place within the great, complex mixture of pieces that make up the Being that is Me. Allowing them their place makes for balance, and since they are there anyway, naming and acknowledging them just stops them from becoming some huge unspoken presence in my life.

If, in a reading, you find yourself rejecting the card that presents as negative, maybe it will help to say Ok, if that was the way I felt, what would I need to do? and do it.

2006-05-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

Dance of Freedom

2006-04-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

I am one who dances freely, who relishes open spaces and solitude

I am one who flies free like a bird

I am one who gives no thought to appearance or artifice, but is natural in my freedom

I am one who values my freedom greatly

Explorer

2006-04-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

I am one who is drawn to salt, to rockpools, to places where tiny treasures lay hidden waiting to be discovered.

I am one who goes into silence, who watches patiently for the movement of a tiny fish or crab.

I am one who appreciates the jewel-like colours that emerge as I watch the surface of a pool settle and begin to see beneath.

I am explorer, adventurer, diviner.

Spirit of Sisterhood

2006-04-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am one who is connected with you - blood, bone, body, heart and soul

I am one who understands in the marrow of my bone what is in your heart

I am one who has been with you throughout your life and will continue on the journey with you

I am one for whom there are no necessary explanations, who accepts you as you are

I am one who delights in your delight, and sorrows over your sorrow.

I am your sister.

Second Death Card

2006-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Death - The Shadow-Side

I am one who lies in darkness, waiting. I am your fears. I am what is in the places you fear to go. I am one who gathers even the unwilling. I am of night. I am what all your fears are. I am death. I am inexorable. I will come.

First Death Card

2006-04-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

Council Suit - Death.

I am one who comes to you as a Messenger of Joy.

I am one who offers you peace and eternal life

I am one who ends suffering and brings you home to your rightful place.

Submission to me is true happiness.

Spirit of Prayer

2006-04-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

I am one whose soul seeks to connect with the Divine, in ecstasy, in awe, in thanks, in praise, in supplication.

In silence, in stillness, in song, in dance, in moments of despair, in moments of gladness, I am one who is filled with the need to pray.

Mine is the wordless prayer, mine is the prayer carried by day, by night.

I am one who holds her hands in pleading, in offering, in acceptance, in preparedness. In prayer.

Second Chakra - Leopard

2006-04-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

I am one who is wild and beautiful, strong and lithe. I appear in unexpected ways, and can stay hidden and silent for long times, although my influence is still felt. I have a deep body-wisdom and instinctive understanding of my needs.

Interestingly, when I chose this image (or this image chose me!) to represent the second chakra, and incorporated the flowers around, I wasn't focused or thinking about the colour-associations of the chakras. Of course, I realised later that the colour associated with the second chakra is ORANGE. This is the second feline image in my companion suit. My heart-chakra card is an image of lions.

Chorus of Doubters

2006-03-31T09:10:00.000-08:00

I am one whose path is blocked by a chorus of doubters

I am one who fears that she will not find a way to persuede them to move aside

I am one who is overwhelmed by the number of whispering doubters blocking my path

I am one who is confused by the doubts voiced by my chorus of doubters.

Mother encouraging independence

2006-03-30T07:25:00.000-08:00

This card was created when my son left to return to college for his second year. It gave me great comfort to put together images that reflect these feelings.

I am one who is willing to step aside and allow my child to seek and follow his own path

I am one who values signs of independence and freedom of action in my child

I am one who holds memories of his childhood as I watch from a safe distance

I am one who will always watch with a loving eye.

Magical World

2006-03-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am one who exists in a place of magic and mystery. I am one who travels and transports you in a beautiful vessel to a place of light and welcome. I am one who swims in crystal waters. I am a nature-spirit, found in hidden places. I delight your heart and remind you of your childlike fairy-loving self.

My 2006 Intention card

2006-03-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

The New Year Card made as an intention-focus for this year.

- I am one who relishes my freedom and strides confidently into the world

- I am one who travels joyfully, expectantly, in a spirit of adventure, and is willing to take the risk of going to high places

- I am one who rests her body and mind and exercises her body and mind.

- I am one who is willing to take her poetry out into the world and share it with others.

- I am one who meets the world with no veils or trappings as barrier. I am open to experience and receiving grace .

Beginning

2006-03-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

I have chosen to start a blog in which I can post SoulCollage® cards as I am moved to share them, and especially to motivate myself to write a little about each card. I have a tendency to make the cards and leave them sit a long while before I write.

What is SoulCollage®? A full explanation is available at either Seena Frost's SoulCollage ® site, (originator of the process) or at Anne Marie Bennet's Kaleidosoul site. I will be providing links in the sidebar to other blogs and sites which feature SoulCollage® cards as time goes on.

The short description of the process: SoulCollage® is a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards - each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the collage cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between:

-- your personality parts
-- you and your family/community/world
-- you and dreams, symbols, and Spirit

(Extracted from SoulCollage® Site)

2006-01-11T03:41:00.000-08:00