Soul Treasures - Issue #152 - February 23, 2009

Soul Friends
The Voice of a Different Kindred Spirit Each Week

Ginette Valleres-D'Silva
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Hello SoulCollagers! What a great opportunity this is for me to share about my own SoulCollage journey. And what a journey it has been thus far. I'm relatively a newcomer to SoulCollage. I discovered, and fell in love with, SoulCollage in November of 2007. I can't recall what lead me to the SoulCollage website, but I remember looking at all the cards and getting more and more excited by the minute. I then decided to order Seena's SoulCollage book. Just as I was logging into Amazon to see if it was available, I remembered having purchased it a couple of years prior. Lo and behold, it was sitting on my book shelf, untouched and waiting silently for me. For some reason I had ordered it from Amazon and upon receiving it, proceeded to dismiss it. At the time, the art of collage was unknown to me and didn't attract me in the least. I guess the time wasn't quite right yet. But in November of 2007, I was ready and eager to embark on the journey.

I got so excited about SoulCollage that I invited a number of my friends to join me in a monthly SoulCollage card making and reading gathering. Seven of my friends decided to give it a try. Prior to our first gathering, I did two cards and it was divine. Over the next few months, my friends' interest dwindled to almost nothing. So I stopped the monthly gatherings. However my own interest never faltered.

I can't really tell what attracted me so much to SoulCollage at first. Perhaps my soul saw its own reflection in all the wonderful cards that I saw initially. One thing is sure is that it isn't something that I can explain intellectually. I fell in love and it is a love that is as strong as it was at the start.

Presently I have 44 wonderfully cherished cards. I love all of them. Each of these cards touched my soul in some way. Most of them were done intuitively. This is one of the things I absolutely love about the SoulCollage process. To let my intuition guide me is big for me as I have spent most of my life in my head.

I'm always amazed to see what takes shape when I sit down with my container filled with images of all sorts. I find the process of going through these images and letting my intuition guide me very meditative. I always light a candle, burn some incense and play some peaceful music when I sit to make some cards. I come out of each card making session uplifted and relaxed.

Sometimes I'll make one card, sometimes I'll make more. No matter how many I make, they are always filled with insight and acceptance. Only once did I make a card that I didn't like. Although I wanted to throw it away, I never did. I kept it in my deck. Then eventually I found out what this card meant and it made sense that I would reject it at first. However I have learned to acknowledge and accept that part of me since the day I made the card and I definitely owe this acceptance to the SoulCollage process.

For me, the golden rules that I choose to abide by when it comes to SoulCollage are as follow:

       1. Invite my Perfectionist to go for a very, very long trip.

       2. Turn off my mind as much as I can and follow my intuition.

       3. And most importantly ... Trust myself and the process!

... and this is what I would suggest to all those who are new and not so new to SoulCollage.

I would like to conclude my sharing with the following quote by Lazaris, spiritual teacher and author: Instead of trying to suppress our shadows we need to unconceal, and embrace the very things we are most afraid of facing. It is the shadow that holds the clues. The shadow also holds the secret of change, change that can affect you on a cellular level, change that can affect your very DNA. Our shadows hold the essence of who we are. They hold our most treasured gifts.... SoulCollage gives us the tool to unconceal and embrace all the parts of ourselves which in turn free us to be who we really are in our totality, a magnificent creation of the Universe.

Please look at my SoulCollage slide show.

Here are two of my favorite cards:

The Empress
Council Suit

I am the one who is poised and in control.
I am the one who holds my universe gently and lovingly in the palm of my hands.
I am the one who is at ease with the Universe beneath, above, and all around me.
I am the one who holds my head high and knows that no challenge is too big to conquer.

This card, as most of my cards, was done intuitively. It resonates deeply with me. I didn't know who this was at first but then I had to admit to myself that it was The Empress/The Queen. I couldn't admit to it at first because I could only see the shadow side of this strong archetype. As I read more about her, I learned to accept her into the fold. I love everything about this card.

Chris
Community Suit

I am the one who you give birth to.
I am the one who has grown and thrived under your love and care.
I am the one who is now 18 and has a life of adventures and challenges ahead.
I am the one who will always have a piece of your heart.
I am the one who is to be celebrated for just being.
I am the one who will always make your heart melt with unconditional love and pride.

The morning that my son Chris turned 18, I decided to make a card for him. It was my way to give voice to the emotions that were going through me at this time of transition. Although I had picked several photos of him, only two wanted to be part of this card. The fireworks behind him is my way of expressing that his life until then was a cause for celebration and a knowing that it always will be.