Soul
Singing with Anne Marie |
Hi! I'm
Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a
SoulCollage® facilitator in Massachusetts. If you're just starting
to sing your song with SoulCollage®, this column is especially for
you.
Living Within My Harvest
It was one of those serendipitous moments which happened, strangely enough, in a discount department store (Marshall's). Marshall's was right next to the theatre I was going to and I had a little time before my movies started so I bopped in to have a look around. I don't usually browse these stores for clothing; I'm more apt to find something interesting for our house, or something seasonally decorative for an upcoming SoulCollage® retreat or workshop.
Several minutes of enjoyable cruising… and nothing. But then, bam! There it was, a framed piece of simple embroidery in the stark colors of autumn: brown, cream, black, tan, orange. A bare tree, scattered with crows and some leaves. Some leaves drifting lazily to the ground. And these words at the bottom: Live Within Your Harvest. Whoa! I was stunned by the simple power of the whole visual, and as often happens with imagery, it went straight to my heart and soul.
It was the only one there, and at first I was disappointed because my first response (I will admit) was to buy as many as I could to give away as gifts. But then I began to think of it like this:
maybe this is a gift, meant just for me today. So I purchased it, lovingly carried it home and propped it up on my Altar in my Quiet Room where I've been passing it by and touching it reverently ever since.
What exactly is your harvest? What does it mean to live within your harvest? How are you doing that right now? If you're not doing that right now, how can you begin?
What seeds did you plant several months ago that have grown rich and full? Which seeds did you plant that haven’t sprouted yet? Can you accept the fact that some seeds have sprouted, and some have not?
What do you need to gather into your spiritual barn this month in order to be more ready for the darkness of the long winter months?
What would a SoulCollage® card called "Living Within My Harvest" look like? If you want to make one, start gathering images now and create one when the time feels right.
Anne Marie Bennett is a writer, self-taught artist,
website goddess, cancer survivor, and SoulCollage® Facilitator /
Trainer who was mentored directly by Seena Frost. In 2005, she fell
in love with SoulCollage® and was inspired to use her professional
experience along with Internet technology as a means to serve the
world by putting SoulCollage® "out there" in a really big way with
KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie
lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, an
elderly cat and one youthful dog who keeps them all young. You can
read more about how SoulCollage® assisted her on her cancer journey
on her website SOS
Cancer Journeys.
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OUR NEXT
TELE-CLASS |
Exploring the Autumn
Archetype with SoulCollage®
60 minute SoulCollage® tele-class
with SoulCollage® Facilitator
Anne Marie Bennett in Massachusetts
Sunday October 12, 2014
4 pm Eastern
There are two main themes the season of autumn can teach us: harvesting, and letting go. Join us for a fun, experiential hour where we’ll explore these archetypal themes within the context of SoulCollage®.
Please Bring: Your journal and pen + all of your SoulCollage cards (or images that you’ve been gathering)
Easily
Accessible from Anywhere in the World!
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Guest Columnist: Catherine Anderson
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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.
Autumn : A Season of Letting Go
Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities. --Dalai Lama
I consider Autumn as the archetype of letting go. As the trees turn to gold, orange and red, I am reminded that I need to release the old in order to make space for the new. This is not always easy, as there is so often uncertainty associated with the new, and sometimes it is easier to hold on to what is known, even if it is not exactly where I want to be. I think I’m uncomfortable with the "empty" phase, that time when I feel like the tree which stands stripped bare of its covering after dropping its autumn color, not knowing what will come next. I need to develop the patience to sit quietly through this season of unknowing, having faith that something new is being birthed in the emptiness. I need to remember that hello and farewell are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other.
While looking through my deck of SoulCollage® cards, to see if any related to this idea of letting go, I was surprised to find that I have both a
Holding On card and a Letting Go card, and they are remarkably similar! Both involve holding onto rope, but in very different ways.
My Holding On card (left) says to me:
I am one who holds on for dear life. I am one who is determined that I will not let go. I am one who will show you that I can do it. I am one who is worried that I will hurt myself if I let go.
My Letting Go card (below) says to me: I am one who glides easily through the air. I am one who has grown to know that life is always changing. I am one who trusts the unknown road ahead. I am one who sees beauty in the changes, and is content to flow with the changes.
It seems that I unconsciously created an "antidote" to my
Holding On card by creating a Letting Go card. In my deck, the scared little girl who is afraid to let go is supported by the adventurous young woman who trusts and goes with the flow.
These cards remind me that everything changes, nothing stays the same, and to fight against the natural state of things is futile. This was a lesson I learned when I immigrated to the United States from South Africa seventeen years ago. It was my first real experience of letting go in a big way. I felt particularly heartbroken at leaving my home of fourteen years. It was more than just a house. It had had been built by my grandparents, and my husband and I had bought it from my father shortly after my grandmother died. My grandparents were my caregivers when I was a small child and all my memories were in the walls of that house. It was my dream home with its uninterrupted view of the Indian Ocean. I had imagined living there for the rest of my life.
How could I let it go?
I had to make a choice to consciously let go so that I could start my new life in the States. I took myself off to a Buddhist Retreat Center in the KwaZulu-Natal hills, and spent most of the weekend in the small library, which is where I discovered the concept of non-attachment. I realized that my life was not about the things I possessed, and that everything would be easier if I let go with ease, rather than hanging on to the past and focusing on what I was losing. And by doing this I discovered that there was in fact an interesting new life waiting for me, one which could build on the rich soil of my previous life in Africa.
Catherine Anderson loves exploring her passions. She is author of
The Creative Photographer and Collage Imagery, is a SoulCollage® Facilitator Trainer, and an advanced Labyrinth Facilitator with Veriditas. Catherine teaches photography and creativity workshops and retreats in the USA, and in South Africa, Italy and France. Catherine's website is
www.catherineandersonstudio.com.
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Upcoming SoulCollage® Retreats
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PORTUGAL
FACILITATOR TRAINING Portugal October
9-12, 2014
Facilitators: Linda Woolfson
This Training will be in English with Portuguese translation if
needed.
Visit
this page for more information.
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NEW* ONLINE SOULCOLLAGE®
WORKSHOP with Anne Marie |
Write Now!
Journaling with Your SoulCollage® Cards
Facilitated by Anne Marie Bennett,
who has been journaling with her cards for 9 years.
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KaleidoSoul Creations |
As promised, we are featuring
SoulCollage® cards from our readers in each issue.
Each card below is a card that represents the Autumn Archetype from one
SoulCollager's Deck.
Autumn Leaves
Committee Suit
Karen
Ohio
I Am One Who has entered the autumn of my own life.
I Am One Who relishes the turning inward that is Autumn’s calling.
I Am One Who feeds dry, decaying leaves into the fire, a handful at a time, each leaf a letting go, a clearing away, simplifying life.
I Am One wistful about all that I have let go of over many autumns.
I Am One who drinks in the sharp, pungent smell of burning leaves, evoking memories of backyards past.
I look to the Moon Goddess for bright stars to light my path and gentle breezes to stoke my fire.
The Fires of Fall
Committee
Rene
Minnesota
I am one who collects the best of the past year to sustain me when the world grows dark. I cherish Life and hold it gently in my hands to keep it warm. I stand between the world of cold and the world of heat, burning away the emotions from the past year. I am strong and I am tender. I survive.
I give you the wisdom of the seasons and the strength to endure.
I want you to trust the rhythms of your life, and for you to feel joy in the tasks of each season.
Autumn
Council Suit
Natalie
Colorado
I am one who colors your world with gold leaf.
I am one who soothes the tired, dry heat of summer
with crisp blue skies and chilly nights under the comforter.
I offer up my brief brilliant beauty
and dance in the waning light
to accompany you into the autumn of your life.
Goddess of the Fall Equinox
Council Suit
Patty
New York
I am the one who stands in balance and with grace as everything transforms around
me. I am steadfast, centered and calm in facing the darker months to come.
In this moment of equilibrium,
I revel in the beautiful colors dancing all around me.
Preparing for Darkness
Council Suit
Patty
New York
I am the one who is reaping the harvest in preparation for nourishment
throughout the dark winter months. My totem, the monarch butterfly,
my symbol of change and rebirth accompanies me in my fall rituals.
Wearing my headdress of fall flowers, I carry the light of summer to
sustain me through the dark times ahead.
Abundant Harvest
Committee Suit
Dot
Pennsylvania
I am the One who is blessed with abundance overflowing;
More than I can hold;
More than I need;
"Filling up and spilling over like an endless waterfall!" (Chris Williamson)
I am the One who is grateful for such abundance and am eager to share with those in need.
I am the One who loves Fall as a season of abundance and gives thanks for Fall's many blessings.
Please feel free to submit one of your cards for a
future issue by sending a reply email to this
newsletter.
Future themes include:
November: Committee
Suit
December: Wizard/Alchemist (Archetypes)
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KaleidoSoul Notes
Noteworthy
resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage®
Facilitator
Trainings: Information about content and
dates/locations of upcoming trainings of SoulCollage®
Facilitators.
SoulCollage
website - Seena Frost created the process of
SoulCollage®, and this is her website.
KaleidoSoul -
Spinning the fragments of your world into wholeness and beauty
through SoulCollage®.
Kindred
Spirits Join our fast-growing worldwide
membership of people who put the "soul" in SoulCollage®!
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New Archetypes E-Book Only $16
This Month |
Archetypes
Emerging:
A workbook to access the wisdom of archetypes
through intuitive multi-sensory exploration
by Lisa Clark, SoulCollage® Facilitator in Ohio
Are you a bit stymied by this whole idea of archetypes? Would you like to add
some archetypal energies/cards to your Council Suit but aren’t sure how to go
about it?
Is there a yearning, a whisper, or a loud and obvious prod from the Universe to
unlock your own amazing body wisdom?
Feeling adventurous enough to combine archetypal exploration with movement and
body wisdom?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you’re in for a treat! Lisa
Clark, my sister SoulCollage® Facilitator in Ohio has written an amazing and
in-depth 161 page workbook that is chock full of with multi-sensory exploration
activities including journaling prompts, guided meditation audio files, simple
art processes, pampering breaks, gentle invitations to become more comfortable
with movement and body image, wild card challenges if you need to shake things
up a bit, video files, quick start pages for when your time is limited,
organization tips, and movement and dance activities.
This workbook will support your intuitive, self-paced journey into the
exploration of archetypes. The activities included may also inspire and generate
ideas for those who facilitate archetype and body image workshops.
161 pages. E-book is sent to you as a PDF file.
Full price: $22
October Sale Price for KaleidoSoul readers: $16.00
Order yours soon! The price is going up to $22 on November 1.
Visit this page
for more information.
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CONTACT US |
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Soul Songs
Back Issues - Read back issues of Soul Songs on this
KaleidoSoul page.
Just look for whatever SoulCollage® topic you are interested
in,
and read to your heart's content!
SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena B.
Frost.
For more information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage®,
please visit her
website
SoulCollage® cards are made either from one's own art or
from images found in materials which have been bought by or given
to the SoulCollage® card maker. These collaged cards are used only
for the cardmaker's own inner exploration. SoulCollage® cards are
not sold, traded, bartered, or copied (except as a back-up for the
cardmakers own use) as is stated in the "Principles
of SoulCollage®." Where SoulCollage® cards are available to
be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of demonstrating
the SoulCollage® process or of sharing the cardmakers' inner
process in the context of community. SoulCollage® is grateful to
the artists and photographers who make this deep awakening process
possible and in all ways SoulCollage® seeks to be respectful of
their rights.
All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted
2014,
by Anne Marie Bennett and
Cat Caracelo, Imelda Maguire,
Kat Kirby, or Catherine Anderson.
Articles may be reprinted by permission
only.
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