Soul Treasures
Discovering the depths of our precious inner beauty through SoulCollage®
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KaleidoSoul's Members-Only Weekly Newsletter
Issue #6- May 8, 2006
Quotation of the Week
Never apologize for grieving.
Remind yourself as often as needed that the very worst kind of loss
is always yours. Learn to acknowledge that your loss is worthy of grief.
--- Bob Deits, Life After Loss
Soul Wisdom
from Anne Marie Bennett
This past week has been an exceptionally difficult one for me. One of our cats has mysteriously disappeared and has been gone for 10 days. Scooter is 12 years old, a hunter (he brought us 4 rabbits as "gifts" the weekend before he left!), and his soul lives for the great outdoors. However, he also is a big baby who loves to sleep on our bed, roll and nap on the catnip blanket, and beg for tuna and other treats in the kitchen.
As some of you know, I'm a stepmother. When Jeff's children were younger, I had so much love inside of me to lavish on them, but they had problems of their own and most of the time wouldn't receive what I had to give. Enter: Sasha and Scooter and Minnie, our feline tribe. I was able to pour my love over them and they were more than happy to receive it. I have a special, unique bond with each of them, and so with Scooter now gone, there is an empty place that only he knew how to fill.
My husband (whose positive attitude sometimes makes me want to bite bullets) still remains optimistic that Scooter will return. And I know that's a possibility. All week I've been wavering back and forth between wondering if I should remain hopeful, or if I should begin grieving for him, as much as I don't want to.
Then I read the quotation above and I realized that I was already grieving. Even if Scooter does come back, I have a right to my grief right now, in this moment, for in this moment my heart is filled with sorrow at his absence.
And in this moment, I am doing my best to take care of myself, doing my best to allow the sadness and loss to be expressed: crying when the waves of grief flood me with pain, journaling the heartbreak and the hope together, taking a warm lemony bath when the sadness keeps me awake, sitting on the front porch when I seem to have no energy left, taking an early morning walk, asking for a hug from my husband, holding Sasha on my lap and allowing her kisses to comfort me, laughing as I "converse" with Minnie in high-pitched meows on the back deck before supper, listening to Josh Groban and Broadway musical soundtracks..... and SoulCollage.
At first I couldn't quite grasp how SoulCollage® could help me through this awful, painful time of grieving. At first I didn't think SoulCollage was actually big enough to hold this deep hollow ache inside of me. But now I am beginning to see.... SoulCollage most definitely IS wide and spacious enough to include even this.
I first became aware of this in the few daily readings I did last week. Two of the cards I randomly chose on those two days were powerful reminders of parts of me that could help me through this process of grief: my Mystical Child (see blog entry), and my Playful Child. The other two were even more powerful reminders of inner parts whose energy was getting in the way of the healing energy of those inner children: the Worrywart, and Mr. Negativity.
Today I have decided to do a "reverse reading" where I look at each of the cards in my deck and consciously (instead of randomly) draw out the ones who have special energy to help me through my wide, wide grief.
Here is my Angel of Sorrow card (Council), and I believe that she is the one who will lead this inner subcommittee.
 This is actually one of the first cards I made, a year ago, when there was nothing in particular to grieve. Now I am drawing much comfort and strength from her.
I am the one who grieves with you when you hear bad news or when you suffer in any way. I am the one who feels your losses as pain and grief. I am the one who honors your loss, who holds your loss, who allows you to grieve.
I am the one who sits with you in the shadows of your pain and vulnerability. I am the one who breathes new life into you when your grieving is done. I am the one who walks hand in hand with Sorrow. I am the one who helps you to bear the pain of your loss.
I give you acceptance and hope. I give you new directions, new life. I give you the knowledge that you are not alone, that you don't have to bear any of it alone.
I want you to feel the pain of your grieving. I want you to enter it fully, and to hold my hand when you are in that space. I want you to know that Sorrow has its own gifts, and you cannot receive them until you enter that particular darkness. I want to you know that the darkness of grief is safe when you invite me to join you in that darkness.
Reflection questions/activity of the week: Pause for a moment right now and step back from your life, observing it as if you were a stranger. Is Grief knocking at the door of your soul today? Are you losing or have you recently lost someone dear to you? Are you experiencing a more subtle loss, a transition of some kind that involves letting go of the old to make room for the new? Is there a loss from your past that you pushed aside and never fully grieved?
Make a list of ways you can comfort and take care of yourself as you allow yourself the experience of this loss, however old or new it is.
Include SoulCollage in some way on your list. You could make a card, do a specific question-driven random reading, or go through your deck and do a reverse reading as I mentioned above. Or you might come up with something completely different. If you like, share your story and/or SoulCollage card(s) with us at the KaleidoSoul Community Group.
SoulCollage® Expressions
Idea of the Week
Take a field trip to your local warehouse discount store (in New England, we have Building 19, Costco, and BJ's). Wander through the book section and see what you can find along the lines of discounted remainder books. You can often get great deals on travel, nature, and photography books which will yield LOTS of great images for your cards! Note: Large chain bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble often have lots of remainder books up front near the cash registers.
We'd love to hear from you!
Question of the Week
I really don't like the idea of cutting and pasting papers to cover the backs of the cards in my deck. Is there something else I can do to differentiate the suits on my card backs?
Use painted or drawn symbols, or a different rubber stamp to tell which card is which suit from the backside. You could even use stickers, or different colors of mat board. This (like everything else in SoulCollage!) is only limited by the power of your imagination. If you have unique ways of marking the backs of your cards, please let us know!
Do you have a question about SoulCollage®
that you'd like answered?
Send your questions to members@KaleidoSoul.com.
We'll try to use your question
in an upcoming issue of Soul Treasures.
Soul Friends
The voice of a different Kindred Spirit each week!
Marge Duff- Joliet, Illinois
I've been doing SoulCollage for one and a half years. The way I found it was total synchonicity!
I do a special form of visual journaling, and I used a search engine to find out if there were any Yahoo Groups out there that were based on visual journaling. There weren't, but that's how I found the KaleidoSoul SoulCollage group and websites. As soon as I read about SoulCollage, it seemed right for me, so I ordered the book. I was so eager to get started, I think I made 15-20 cards in the first two weeks!
It's hard to say what I like best about SoulCollage because I love ALL aspects of it! I love finding images that call out to me. I love using intuition to find the images that were "meant" to be together. I love writing the "I am the one who" statements. And I love using the cards to guide me in all aspects of my life.
If I had to pick a favorite, it would be making the cards. It's like a sacred process for me: intuitively finding the images or parts of images that seem to want to be together. I might be totally unaware of what the card means until I do my interpretation. And occasionally, a card has taken months to "speak" to me!
SoulCollage helps me integrate all the aspects of who I am. At times I have felt that I'm pulled in so many different directions by all the roles in life of which I am a part. By honoring all the different facets of my SELF, I am better able to see the whole of my Self. And it has really helped me be less critical of mySelf-- more accepting of my so-called weaknesses, because I can literally see the balance and harmony of all my parts.
I hope that everyone will visit my
Purple Hat Artist Blog.
Here are 2 of my favorite SoulCollage® cards:
The Great Mother
Suit: Council
This card is very important to me. I am the mother of four (now grown) children, and grandmother of two (soon to be three). My own mother died of cancer when I was three years old, and I was adopted by my Great Aunt. I had many mother figures in my life, and I feel a strong connection to the sacredness of being feminine. This sacredness, as well as the grand Circle of Life, are all represented in this card.
I am the one who is the mother of all mothers. From my womb I bear all that is sacred about femininity. My energy is fierce and hot, providing for the constant birthing and rebirthing of women. Women bear children, but they also bear many other things, including the rebirth of their own spirits. I see all. I give all. In me, you may always seek comfort.
The New Me
Suit: Council
I made this card as a result of one of Anne Marie's SoulCollage Challenges at the beginning of this year.
I am the one who is transformed. Through the growth of my Spirit, I begin to blossom. Words of love and compassion come out of my mouth as I strive to make my word impeccable. My mind seeks peace.
Would you like to share your SoulCollage story and cards with other KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits?
Send them to members@kaleidosoul.com.
We'd love to hear from YOU!
Kindred Spirits- Member News
Making the most of your KaleidoSoul Membership
Keep track of all of your member benefits on the
Kindred Spirits Home Page.
Have you listened to the FREE recording in the Members-Only Audio Library yet? It's called:
What's Intuition Got To Do With It? and it's all about how playing with the process of SoulCollage® can help to strengthen your intuition. Learn simple, valuable ways to deepen your own intuition, with a little help from the movie, Field of Dreams! This is a dynamic, creative presentation that is guaranteed to enrich your own practice of SoulCollage® . Click on the Audio Library link above to access this audio presentation.
The next Members-Only tele-class is on Thursday May 18 @ 7:30 pm (EST)- please join us for a one hour teleclass on Creating Community Cards for Your SoulCollage Deck. Put the date on your calendars now....and in the May 15 issue of Soul Treasures, we'll give you the phone number to call.
There are several e-books and one e-course in the Members-Only KaleidoSoul Shop. Take a look and see what's new! And remember, as a Kindred Spirit... they're yours for half price!
 Soul Nourishment
Books, music, movies & websites to support your inner work as you dive deeper into your soul....
Books:
Unattended Sorrow- by Stephen Levine. A meditation teacher and writer who is very in touch with the present moment, Levine offers a practical, helpful, rich book for anyone who has ever grieved any kind of a loss. He also talks about how unattended sorrow can accumulate over time and add to our stress while mucking up our emotions and daily life.
A Grief Observed- by C.S. Lewis. I read and reread this book 13 years ago when my dad died, and then again 2 years ago when mom joined him. Comforting and real. Uses his own experience of the death of his wife as the base of his story, so you know he is coming from a place of compassion and understanding.
The Year of Pleasures- by Elizabeth Berg. This novel by one of my most-loved authors is about a year in the life of 55 year old widow Betta Nolan. She embarks on her "year of pleasures" as a result of a friend's challenge as she struggles to cope with the loss of her husband.
Music to SoulCollage with:
Click on the links here and you'll be guided to a page where you can hear a sample of the music!
When It's Time For Letting Go- various artists. Soothing, rich and easy to listen to. Excellent for moments of grieving, and moments of gratitude as well.
Promise- by Pat Clemence. I love this one for the ethereal vocals and angelic-sounding voices.
Movies:
The Hours- starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris, Julianne Moore. On the surface, this film is about death, dying, and grief. But if you can sit with all the emotion it stirs up, you'll see that it's really about the living of a full, real life, and about how precious each hour truly is.
Websites:
Another Girl At Play- 25 stories of all kinds of women artists- musicians, writers, artist...etc) plus lots of links and resources
Journey of Hearts- valuable help and support for anyone dealing with loss or grief of any kind, including a life change or transition.
E-Courses on Grief:
Click on the pictures to access more information.
 Lessons delivered to your email box, simple and easy. An excellent support system for anyone who is grieving.
Are You Facing The Loss Of A Beloved Pet?
Explore both the myths and the realities surrounding the experience of pet loss, including why it hurts so much and how it differs from other losses in this Self-Healing Expressions email course. |
Would you like to share your favorite books, music,
movies and websites
with other KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirits?
Send them to members@kaleidosoul.com.
We'd love to hear from YOU!
Spinning the fragments of your world
into wholeness and beauty
through SoulCollage®
Published by KaleidoSoul.com and Anne Marie Bennett.
Please do not reproduce or forward this newsletter in any way.
Soul Wisdom from Anne Marie Bennett - copyright 2006.
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