My name is Catherine Anderson and I'm a SoulCollage® Facilitator and Trainer from Charlotte, NC. I am delighted to be adding my voice to Soul Songs and hope that my words inspire you to look more deeply into your deck of SoulCollage® cards.


Season of Awakening & Growth

Spring is a time of re-emergence into the world after a time of inner reflection and incubation during the winter days. It is a time when new life and fresh color appears in our gardens, when the earth becomes warm again and the hours of light begin to outnumber the hours of darkness. Spring is a time of sowing new seeds, of expansion and of letting go of the layers that we have needed to keep us warm during the winter season. It is, in essence, a time of Awakening and a time of bringing in fresh energy and vitality.

This is a good time to ask your SoulCollage® cards "What is awakening within me?" or "What can I do to bloom and blossom into my authentic life?" Is there a particular dream that you have for this season of your life? Is there a new practice you want to bring into your life? Spring feels like a perfect time for starting something fresh and new, aligning with the new growth sprouting up from the earth.

My personal awakening as the days grow longer is that I want to be kind to myself. I want to treat myself as I would a dear friend, I want to be an anam cara (soul friend) to myself. I want to make ways and introduce practices in my life that will allow me to bud and blossom.

According to Evelyn Underhill, Awakening is the first stage on the mystical path, and occurs when we begin to have an absolute knowing of our connection to the Divine.

My "Awakening" card (above) says this to me: I am one who is open to the beauty of everything around me. I am one who is ready to be cracked open. I am one who is held safely in the ancient hands of Divine Love. I am one who has wings to make the journey.

It takes courage to break free of our usual patterns and habits, to be able to see ourselves and the world around us in a deeper way. We need to grow wings to do this.

As the garden outside my studio has awakened and transformed in the past weeks from brown to green, I’ve also been taking in the energy of the color green and thinking about how this color makes me feel. I associate the color green with fresh new growth. The mystic and Benedictine abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, used the term viriditas which translates as greenness to describe the life force within all creation. According to Christine Valters Painter: "Viriditas is the life energy that brings fullness to human beings in our quest to become more truly our authentic selves. It indicates vigor, fertility, and health".

My SoulCollage® card "Joyful Growth" (left) has a similar message for me: I am one who delights in the freshness of new growth. I am one who is enlivened by movement towards the light. I am one who is energized by the abundance of growing things in my garden. My gift to you is the reminder that things start small, but when the timing is right they spread and grow easily and without effort. I want you to remember that there is a right time for everything, and become more aware of the cycles of life so you can align more fully with them.

What awakening is growing in you right now?



Catherine Anderson is the author of the book The Creative Photographer.  In addition to SoulCollage® workshops, Catherine teaches photography, visual art journaling, creativity and bookmaking workshops from her studio in Charlotte, NC and leads Photography Retreats in the US, South Africa and Italy. You can visit Catherine at her website.