Soul Treasures
Discovering the depths of our precious inner beauty through SoulCollage®
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KaleidoSoul's Members-Only Weekly Newsletter
Issue #10- June 5, 2006
Quotation of the Week
What happens in your innermost being is worthy of your whole love. --- Rainer Maria Rilke
Inner Journeys
Integrating the Practice of SoulCollage® into Your Daily Life
Which Judge Is Active In You?
 I stumbled across the TV show American Idol this winter by accident, and then found myself addicted. Being a big fan of musical theatre, and music of all types, it was fascinating to listen to so many artists with awesome voices every week.
Now that all of the hoopla is over and the winner has been chosen, I am looking back at all those weeks of the competition with a strange kind of fondness. And my thoughts keep roaming back to the three judges, whose job it is to critique each performer and each performance.
If you're not familiar with the show, here's a brief introduction.
 Sitting from left to right in the photo here are: Randy Jackson, a musician and record producer, whose self-proclaimed job is to "keep it real" and who generally tempers the truth with kindness; Paula Abdul, pop star of the early 90's, who is the "softy" of the group and 99% of the time says something positive in her critique (and often while crying tears of joy); and Simon Cowell, a British record executive for Songy BMG, who tells the truth flat out, usually with no measure of kindness, and with his own brand of caustic carelessness.
Now, it seems that everything I have a passion for somehow or other reminds me of SoulCollage in some way.... so it's not totally surprising to realize that these Judges remind me of my own inner Judge, the one who sits on my Inner Committee and judges other people. (This is a totally different role from the Inner Critic, whose job it is to criticize me.)
And I'm also reminded that there are many ways that our inner Judges can...well, judge other people. And let's all just admit it- we do judge others, all the time.
Reflection/activity of the week: Get in touch with your Inner Judge. Listen to this voice inside of you as you go about your week. Whether it voices its criticisms out loud or not, what does it sound like? What does it look like? Is it kind and gentle like Paula, acerbic and unkind like Simon, or something in between like Randy? Try making a SoulCollage card for your inner judge (mine is posted on the Inner Surprises Blog). What does it look like? Do the I Am The One Who... with your judge, whether you've made a card for it or not. If you're familiar with the American Idol judges, choose your favorite one and do some I Am The One Who... statements from their voice. Perhaps you might notice, as I did, that my own Inner Judge is great at judging those judges too!
Anne Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, SoulCollage® facilitator, and self-taught artist who enjoys playing with all forms of color and words. She has a BS degree in Education from Southern Connecticut State University and has taught children, teens and adults throughout the East Coast. She is a breast cancer survivor and feels closest to her own soul when she is writing, creating art, teaching, and sharing the gift of SoulCollage with others. Anne Marie lives, writes, laughs, sings (and creates her own SoulCollage cards!) in Beverly, Massachusetts.
SoulCollage® Expressions
Idea of the Week
In her book, SoulCollage, Seena says "We're never too old for Show and Tell." Get a group of friends together and show them a few of your SoulCollage cards. Or if you have a regular SoulCollage group that meets, spend several minutes at the beginning of each session doing your own version of Show and Tell. If you're not near a group but you feel the urge to Show and Tell, please do so at the KaleidoSoul Community Group.
Question of the Week
How many cards do I need to have in my SoulCollage deck before I can do a reading?
You can do a reading with as few as two cards! Keep in mind that there are many different kinds of readings. If you want to do a daily reading, where you choose one card each day, then all you need are two cards to get started. In order to do a reading where you ask a question of your deck, then you might want to wait until you have 5 or 6 cards so that you have more options to choose from.
Do you have a unique idea to share with others who are practicing SoulCollage,
or a question about SoulCollage®
that you'd like answered?
Send your ideas and 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!
Suzie Wolfer, LCSW
Portland, Oregon
I discovered SoulCollage on the Internet back in November of 2003. However, I've always wondered if it discovered me! I ordered the book and when it arrived it felt like such a momentous occasion I couldn't unwrap it until I went to
Puerto Vallarta
in March! It was one of those lightning and thunderclap moments where it felt like I was meeting destiny.
Why? Because it united my three passions: art, spirituality and healing!
I savored my SoulCollage book on the beach at
Puerto Vallarta
and started to plan cards. Gotta say my left-brain sortof took over the planning, and those first cards are very different from the ones I make now . . . or should I say, cards that "make themselves"!
When I got back from vacation, I discovered the facilitators' training while exploring the SoulCollage web site (www.SoulCollage.com). I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It was the second training that Seena offered and I got one of the last available places in the June 2004 session. And it was a dream come true, as any of you know who have attended the training. Seena, Kylea and Varuna were a wonderful trio, leading our group of 30 at the Skyote Ranch.
Though I work mostly as a therapist now, I've had over 2000 hours training in metaphysics and have studied with a Lakota Medicine Woman. I used to teach a year-long clairvoyant training program and have been pondering how to integrate these skills and empower people to find their own answers without having to go to such lengths. SoulCollage is the answer. It gives people easy access to a Wisdom Circle more powerful than any psychic or Medicine Woman or therapist.
While exciting, the profound power of the cards can also be a little intimidating. Most people delight in making the cards. I find that readings can present a challenge. So I've developed gentle methods to help people dive in and use them for the mundane and the sacred. It can be a little earth shaking when we suddenly viscerally understand that the answers really are all in side us.
I notice people can struggle with the gestalt, the Figure/Ground of who is actually speaking. So I invite them to pretend that the card is a real person, someone they are just meeting for the first time. Perhaps a treasured friend or teacher whom we are curious about. And just start asking other questions once it feels like the initial "I am the One who. . . " comments are recorded.
I encourage people to get to know the members of their "Board of Directors:" their strengths, interests, limitations, biases, whatever. And then ask them for insight or advice on a personal situation that could use another point of view. It works every time.
One of the most powerful experiences with my cards happened after the 2004 election. I felt stirred to action. Never working on a campaign before, I took an active role. I felt sure that Kerry would win. When the election results proved otherwise, I felt like I had been sucker-punched, and sunk into a depression. It verged on despair. So after a few days of this deadened state, I pulled out 3 cards randomly from my deck and asked their help to find my way through the darkness that I feared might take months to shed. I spent about an hour writing - actually transcribing what the images told me. And to my great surprise, the depression lifted! It was the last thing I expected. I found my insight, compassion and vision connecting me again to possibility.
I also like to use the cards to do what Julia Cameron calls Morning Pages. I pull a card at random and write down what ever it has to say. Sometimes it's profound, sometimes it's light-hearted. And it always gets my day aligned with compassion and empathy.
Here are a couple of my favorite cards who have become wonderful advisors. Sometimes I just set them on my desk to keep me company. They warm my heart. Here's what they have to say:
The Crone
Suit: Council
The Crone - Council Suit
Made December 2004
I am the One who laughs in the face of catastrophe. I enjoy the wild ride of life and all its ups and downs. I travel in many vehicles, but most of all in spirit. I rise above obstacles. I've left behind effort and find the easy way through any apparent setback, with amusement. My boat is tied to the dock for the times when I might need it. I'm a practical Crone. The rosy pink tourmaline fills my heart with love. But don't be offended if I laugh. I don't take anything seriously! If you need to cross a river, and it seems impossible, call on me. We'll always find another way.
Permission to use the Crone sculpture image "Wind" was kindly granted by Shelley Buonaiuto http://www.alittlecompany.net/sculpt.htm
Death
Suit: Council
I am the One who travels the
river
of
Time
. I look inward with closed eyes to see the beginning and the end. I know all things are made new. I let go and I flow like water through the desert, ever moving toward the light. I vision something and make it so. I see that all things are possible, and only by letting go, does desire manifest and become real.
I know about endings and beginnings. It takes an ending to create a new beginning. The river of life always leads back to the ocean of death. That much is certain. I look both inward and outward. I look into the world with confidence since I do not fear death. I know all endings lead to new beginnings. I have shed my hair, letting go of my history to be fully present in the moment of both death and letting go. I also live fully alive in the present at the origin, the new beginning - the Golden Egg. Breathe, relax, be present. Look both inside and outside with confidence.
Suzie's Bio
I work as a psychotherapist (LCSW) both in private practice and at a local
Portland
hospital. My background ranges from traditional graduate school social work and psychodynamic training to working with a Lakota medicine woman, 7 years of study and work in Christian metaphysics as well as training with Gay and Katherine Hendricks in body centered therapy. I've been teaching calligraphy and doing graphic arts since 1979. Some of my artwork has been published in Somerset Studio. I'm also the founder of Earth School Institute where I lead group therapy, classes in Emotional Intelligence and Intuition Training and now... SoulCollage!
You can contact me, and see more of my cards at my website.
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.
If you're having trouble viewing the Home Page in the above link, try this Text-Only Kindred Spirits Home Page.
The next Members-Only, No-Cost-To-You Tele-Class is Tuesday June 13 at 6:30 (EST). This month the topic is: Freeing Your Imagination With SoulCollage. We'll be exploring and experiencing how the use of guided imagery can help us go deeper into the SoulCollage process. Directions for participating will be given in next week's edition of Soul Treasures.
 Soul Nourishment
Books, music, movies & websites to support your inner work as you dive deeper into your soul....
Books:
Crafty Chica's Art de la Soul, by Kathy Cano Murillo. A book of brilliant crafts that is also a soulful exploration of the crafty lifestyle. Projects include: Fantasy Paper Lights, Corazon Candles, Hardback Book Purse, Conversation Canvases, Family Tree in a Box, Fabric Prayer Book. Lots of great illustrations and easy to follow directions.
Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung? by Ajahn Brahm. Inspiring stories for welcoming life's difficulties. A monk for 30 years, Mr. Brahm beautifully combines masterful storytelling with effective Dharma teaching. The stories are funny, touching, and speak straight to real-life situations. Stories are grouped into categories: perfection and guilt, love and commitment, fear and pain, anger and forgiveness, creating happiness, critical problems and compassionate solutions, wisdom and inner silence, suffering and letting go... to name a few.
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!
Water's Edge- by Tim Janis. My acupuncturist plays Tim Janis often while I am receiving my treatments. I find it beautiful, uplifting, full of heart.
Moonlore- by Llewellyn. I find that all of Llewellyn's music seems to tell a story. It's excellent for guided imagery journeys within!
Movies:
The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick. I rented this film because I admire these two actors' work immensely. I found it both fascinating, involving and powerful. It is the story of a sex offender who is on parole, and how he fits (or doesn't fit) back into society. Kevin Bacon plays the sex offender, and Kyra Sedgewick (his real-life wife) plays the only person in his new life who doesn't judge him.
Websites:
Ecards for Women Who Matter- No-cost e-cards designed to built self-esteem and self-confidence in women. Who could you send one to?
The Sage Within- no-cost audio guided meditations (look for the red YES's), great for stretching your imagination in order to open to SoulCollage work. Also excellent for building a daily meditation practice. My favorite is Finding Your Inner Voice.... you can use this many times to access many inner voices. Which one is wanting to speak today?
The Center for Touch Drawing- home of Soul Cards (not to ever be confused with SoulCollage cards, of course!). Abundant images to inspire your SoulCollage work!
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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