Soul Songs: Your SoulCollage NewsletterSoul Songs
Your SoulCollage® Newsletter

Enabling us to sing the songs
we were born to sing
through the practice
of SoulCollage®
Issue #114   December 2014 Theme:  Hermit Archetype
Welcome!

Greetings, and welcome to Soul Songs, the official KaleidoSoul Newsletter, and the only monthly newsletter that focuses exclusively on SoulCollage® ideas, resources and artists.

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Soul Singing with Anne Marie
Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com
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.


Hermits and Archetypes, Oh My!

Hermit is an archetype that has been with me since I was a little girl. When I first started SoulCollaging in 2005 and learned about archetypes, this is the first one that resonated most strongly with me.

But first… what is an archetype? There are several ways of looking at them:
  1. Seena Frost calls them the invisible guides, challengers, creators and destroyers, known across time and cultures by many names, yet being somehow universally in the collective unconscious of the human race.

  2. We can also think of archetypes as motifs, themes or patterns that occur throughout our lives.

  3. I like to think of archetypes in terms of capital letters. For example, Child with a capital C, as opposed to inner child. Warrior with a capital W: not the man next door who goes to fight for his country, but the theme or idea of Warrior which can be found in any culture, place, time, religion…etc.
When working with archetypes, I also like to remember that we don’t choose them, they choose us! These archetypal energies are part of our individual soulprints. They are innately a part of who we are. Archetypes also serve as guides on our life’s journey. Each one brings a lesson and a gift, as well as a liability (shadow).

For some excellent descriptions and examples of many archetypes, I recommend this website.  For now, let’s focus on the Hermit archetype.

Hermit energy is associated with solitude, silence, wisdom, introspection, creativity, connection to nature, self-knowledge, and guidance. This has played out in my life in a wide variety of ways since the time I was very small. I have always loved being alone and am much happier on a solitary retreat than a first-class, five-star vacation. I was always content with a good book while others were outside playing. In fact, my mother had to practically force me to join Girl Scouts when I was ten! I think she was wise enough to see that my Hermit-ness needed some balancing out with community.

For me, the gift Hermit brings is the gift of solitude and silence, the gift of inner listening from which I gratefully choose to take action. The lesson I receive from Hermit is that of balance. In my work as a teacher/facilitator, I am often in the world sharing what I have learned in my days of silence and solitude, and I have learned that I need to balance that teaching with the inner quiet so prevalent in Hermit energy.

And what about shadow? Yes, indeed! In SoulCollage®, we define shadow as an imbalance of an energy. So, for me, too much Hermit energy results in my becoming isolated and withdrawn. Too little Hermit energy in my life and I am immediately ungrounded, unwell, and yes, I’ll admit it, very very grumpy.

So now… what about you? Spend some time this week going within and asking yourself these questions:

✓ When was the last time (if ever) I spent a full day and night alone?

✓ If I’d like to do this and haven’t yet, why? What is holding me back?

✓ Where can I go or how can I give myself this solitude?

✓ What kind of healing does the Hermit offer me?

✓ How can I embrace Hermit energy in my life this month?

Here’s a helpful article on the Hermit archetype.


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 dog and two adolescent felines who keep them all young. You can read more about how SoulCollage® assisted her on her cancer journey on her website SOS Cancer Journeys.
 
OUR NEXT TELE-CLASS
THIS SUNDAY



Queen of Myself

60 minute SoulCollage® tele-class
with SoulCollage® Facilitator
Judith Knauss from New York

Sunday, December 7, 2014
7 pm Eastern

As women we have long been in the habit of putting the needs of others before our own, and we inadvertently give others permission to put us last too. This often means we end up feeling as if our needs and desires are not important, and our very sense of self can become dependent on who we are in relation to those we care for. When that happens, resentment and depression are sometimes close behind.

In order to operate from a place of strength and be fully present (not just for others, but for ourselves) we have to claim sovereignty over our own hearts. How do we do that? With the companionship of SoulCollage®, guided meditation and journaling questions, we will start the journey to Queendom together.

Please bring: all SoulCollage® cards from your Committee Suit, and a journal/pen. If you don’t have any Committee cards yet, just bring some images that you feel speak to you about your relationship with yourself. And, if you have a piece of rose quartz, bring that, too. If not, a photograph or memento from a time in your life when you felt happy with who you were will work just as well.
 
Easily Accessible from Anywhere in the World!

Visit this page for more info now.
 
Guest Columnist: Cat Caracelo

I am Cat Caracelo,M.A., a SoulCollage® facilitator, life coach and transformative artist from Petaluma, California, offering my work individually and in global teaching forums. This column is for all of you who are exploring your creativity and are ready to discover more depth in your SoulCollage® journey.


Honoring the Hermit

I am a hermit though and through. A long time fence sitter between introvert and extrovert, I love being alone. I also enjoy companionship and connection. Indeed I have many deep, delightful and fulfilling relationships. As a teacher I am artfully engaged in guiding and working with individuals a lot of my time. Like most hermits, the external engagements are balanced with a great deal of time alone. The time alone is my inner sanctum, my comfort, allowing me to crawl inside of my life and dwell.

I first recognized the power of the Hermit archetype in a year of dismantling, undoing the tethers of my life and reconnecting in ways that were unknown to me. I called it my silent year and I spent many moons in near silence. Most of my time was focused on listening and asking unspoken questions for which there were no answers. I was deeply introspective and sensitive, attuned to the sounds of nature and needing creature comforts: my dogs, a blanket, my journal, paint and time. I mostly did nothing. I returned in that year to a more ancient self as I peeled back my layers. Skinned and raw, I was recognizing my true nature and became strengthened through my silent wandering; I was indeed claiming the innate power of the Hermit.

Angeles Arrien became a teacher and mentor at the time I was going through this. Through her book The Tarot Handbook I discovered that my life sign is a 9, The Hermit. That particular year was, as described for me through her teachings, a triple Hermit year. Unique to “life sign” Hermits, this year for me was archetypally charged with the deep and profound silence that I was experiencing. Internally, in a personal wintertime, I was held in stasis.

I began to realize that I was tapping into a deeper collective wisdom. I recognized that I had taken myself deep inside to an inner realm, a deep cavern within a vast wilderness that became my inner sanctuary. I was depleted by too many years of external expression, with no reasonable source of balance and lack of understanding of how to do my authentic work in the world.

In my silent year, I was learning how to balance the internal and external energies by recognizing and claiming the true self, the Hermit. As understanding illuminated my life, the healing light of the Hermit’s flame started to transform my experience of this inner winter. I found that I was not lonely or alone. I was emerging and renewing my energy, relishing my time and space while actively limiting my exchanges with others so that I could find my way, my path and my voice.

The Hermit is a seeker, archetypally seen holding a lantern, glowing globe, star, flame or golden scepter, staff or arrow. The Hermit as an archetypal energy is neither masculine nor feminine but rather holds both energies in balance.

Always a Wisdom Keeper, the Hermit is a wayfinder, and over time may show others the way through sharing wisdom. The Hermit is one who keeps his or her own company much of the time, is deeply interested in learning and seeking sources of meaningful study, often through spirit and nature. Rather than being ego driven, the Hermit seems to seek healing and wholeness.

When conscious of the strengths held within, the Hermit is often more interested in the universal and collective outcomes of his or her solitary endeavors. The Hermit seeks balance, often traveling between realms to bridge discord, seek shadow, activate healing and create calm.

The archetypal energy of the balanced Hermit is seen in various mythic representations such as Merlin, Hecate and Artemis. The contemplative nature of Quan Yin has an overlay of Hermit energy, as does the introspective Mystic, Shaman, Pilgrim, Crone, Healer, Sage and Traveler.

Harnessing the archetypal energy of the Hermit is a powerful ally in one’s life. Hermit energy offers the ability to hold one’s own light and illuminate the path, to listen for the secret things, find the way of the journey, become one’s true self.

May you find time to listen in this coming season.

In light of this, I invite you to join the FR*EE Twelve Nights of Solstice, a contemplative creative mini-journey with nightly guided meditations, poems and images to inspire your season of listening. Starts December 9. More info here.


Cat Caracelo, M.A. is a Depth Coach, SoulCollage® Facilitator and transformative artist guiding individuals and groups internationally. Cat is the author of Gathering Wholeness: The Art of Identifying and Exploring Parts of Self and the originator of JourneyCircles™ Creative Mapping process. Cat has been facilitating and working with SoulCollage® since 2007. Her dynamic Mythos Journey and Quest offerings combine thematic journeywork, and art-as-process to explore personal myth and conscious life design. Please visit Cat's website to find articles and information about coaching, classes and retreats.
 

KaleidoSoul Creations
As promised, we are featuring SoulCollage® cards from our readers in each issue.

Each card below is a card that represents the Hermit Archetype from one SoulCollager's Deck.




Jewel of Solitude
Council Suit
Dawn
New York

I am the one who is washing away the cares of the World. I am the one who is laid bare, but safe, in her own space, getting back into her own skin. It is in this safe place I find the Jewel of my Being. I give you awareness and insight. I ask that you give me time in peace and quiet. My Shadow comes when you are away from the World too long and hiding your shining jewel.




The Hermit
Council Suit
Melisa
Ontario, Canada

I am the one who goes within, searching my soul for enlightenment. I am the one who is gaining wisdom through experience, and this wisdom is allowing me to see many things that I would not normally be able to perceive.




The Futurist
Council Suit
Kas
Pennsylvania

I am the one who spends my time in quiet time . I am the one who finds that in quiet time, I am able to create and see my future. Both near and far. I am the one who enjoys being alone yet, I am never alone. Many guides, spirits and ancestors assist me with vigor and grace when I call to them. I enjoy my solitary time.




Carrier of the Light
Council Suit
Madeline
Michigan

I am the one who is a carrier of the light, who shines forth and brings illumination to the path of seekers, who holds a space of light in the world.
 
 


Please feel free to submit one of your cards for a future issue by sending a reply email to this newsletter.

Future themes include:

January: The One & The Many
February: Council Suit/Archetypes

 

I am too alone in this world, and not alone enough to make every moment holy.

I am too tiny in this world, and not tiny enough, just to lie before you like a thing, shrewd and secretive.

I want my own will, and I want simply to be with my will as it goes towards action.

And in the silent, sometimes hardly moving times when something is coming near,

I want to be with those who know secret things, or else alone.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke
 

KaleidoSoul Notes
KaleidoSoul Notes

Noteworthy resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage®

Facilitator TrainingsFacilitator Trainings: Information about content and dates/locations of upcoming trainings of SoulCollage® Facilitators.


SoulCollage websiteSoulCollage 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®!

SOULCOLLAGER DREAM PACKAGES



We've bundled up some
of our fabulous KaleidoSoul offerings into some nifty little packages designed specifically to save you money!


Visit this page for more info now. Available for a limited time only
 

ONLINE CLASS WITH ANNE MARIE



Starts January 11, 2015

Deepen Your
SoulCollage® Work
4 90-minute tele-classes
All Classes Recorded
Discover many news ways to do readings with your Deck!

Visit this page for more info now.
 

ONLINE CLASS WITH JUDITH GOLDBERG

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Upcoming SoulCollage® Retreats
MASSACHUSETTS

Mirrors & Windows: Using SoulCollage® to Explore Relationships

Westfield, MA
May 2-3, 2015
Facilitators: Brother/Sister Team:
Anne Marie Bennett & John Pacheco, LICSW

This retreat will be helpful for you if:
  • you want to give yourself some calming time and space to get away
  • you are longing to connect with others of like mind and spirit
  • you want to learn how to strengthen relationships with yourself, others, and Spirit
Early Bird Pricing & Easy Pay Plan Available

Visit this page for more information. 


CALIFORNIA

SummerQuest Mythos Journey Retreat

Sonoma, CA
July 7-10, 2015
Facilitator: Cat Caracelo

This all inclusive creative retreat is offered in a lush Sonoma Retreat space nestled in the oaks, surrounded by gardens, water, trees and sacred space where you can travel into the dance of life as you explore the many faces of your creative wild. Seek archetypal energies of your muse and find the language of your soul's path through SoulCollage®, mixed media and assemblage. Find enchantment and delight as you gather your gypsy stories and connect to your mythic self in the Valley of the Moon. Pay in four smaller payments if you like.

Visit this page for more information. 
 

CALIFORNIA

SoulCollage® in the Caribbean!

Vieques, Puerto Rico
December 5-12, 2015
Facilitator: Kat Kirby

Spend your mornings making SoulCollage® cards, doing readings, journaling, sharing and deepening your relationship with your deck. Then… spend the afternoons exploring various unspoiled beaches, nature preserves, markets, restaurants, and more. Join Kat on the island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico, for a week of SoulCollage®. We will stay at a small compound of cottages surrounding a swimming pool, and will have the place to ourselves for a whole week! Please contact me for more information.

Please email Kat Kirby for more information. 
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.