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Highlights of this issue:
 Quotation of the Week Anytime you
run into a wall or a closed door,
the first place to try to open it is in your own mind. -- Source unknown Soul Friends The Voice of a Different Kindred Spirit Each Week  Heather
SmedingOntario, Canada Hi........my name is Heather Smeding, and I live in an old century home on the main street of Elmvale, a small rural town in southern Ontario, Canada. As I write this, I can't help but smile because I'm sitting in my new attic Studio, a (very) long and dearly held wish that SoulCollage has helped manifest in my life. I am surrounded by possibility. I read always and everything, but only occasionally do I find a book that I know is going to be important to me. When I stumbled across Seena Frost's 'SoulCollage' on the internet six years ago, I recognized it immediately as one of those rare and wonderful books. 'Know Thyself' has always been one of my guiding mantras, and SoulCollage is an extraordinary tool for unearthing and honouring those bits and parts of my Self that I might have kept hidden even from myself. I call my process 'personal archaeology' and its insights have made me, well.........just better! A better wife and mother, a better daughter and sibling, a better friend, a better artist. I make my cards quite intuitively, often starting with just a simple curiosity to explore a feeling or memory or incident. Holding that intention, I sort quickly through my collection of images and pull out six or eight or a dozen of them without questioning my choices or insisting they make any logical sense. My only rule is 'if it makes me pause, it might belong' and I almost never go in search of a specific image. Paring down my initial choices and then choosing a background (a very significant part of my process) is almost totally a 'feeling' thing for me. Having an artistic soul, I love all the tactile and visual aspects of SoulCollage, but I especially love the quiet anticipation of sitting with a finished card and listening for 'I Am The One Who......' Often, its whispered message feels like a small, treasured gift. I love so many things about SoulCollage. The fact that such a powerful tool is so flexible and adaptable; that even if you and I use it differently, it works for both of us. That it's inexpensive, and therefore accessible to anyone with an old magazine and a glue stick. I love its 'AHA!' moments, and its capacity for making friends with the dark side. I love that my deck of 100(+/-) cards, when shared with friends or family, is a visual representation of my authentic Self. And, being endlessly intrigued with women's (her)story, I love the legacy it will be for my children and their children and their children.............. SOME FAVOURITE CARDS: In 2003, reading Caroline Myss ('Sacred Contracts') prompted me to make Council cards for the twelve primary archetypes at work in my life. It was quite a challenge; she already names four of the twelve that are common to everyone (Child, Saboteur, Prostitute & Victim), which left me to identify only eight more from a potential pool of literally dozens and dozens. Since then, I've made several more Council cards but it is those twelve that pop up over and over again in my life with both their positive and their shadow sides and when they do, I greet them as old friends and always learn from their presence. 'The Seeker' is one of my Council of Twelve............  'THE SEEKER' (COUNCIL) - May 2003 I AM THE ONE WHO always looks beneath the surface to find out why, but sometimes I am so busy examining the details that I miss the big picture.  'I WONDER' (COMMITTEE) - March 2006 I AM THE ONE WHO wonders. I wonder why and when and what it was like and how it was done. Because I wonder, I see the interesting in the ordinary and the ordinary in the magical. Wondering connects me to the past, and grounds me in my present.
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Our Next Tele-Class SoulCollage® and the Art of Sacred Listening, withLaura Hegfield, SoulCollage® Facilitator in New Hampshire  Consider
allowing silence to be the container that holds your SoulCollage®
practice. Laura believes that silence can open us to a more intimate
listening experience, ultimately allowing us to drink a more satisfying
cup of the sweet wisdom our cards have to offer. During this tele-class,
Laura will offer some practical tips for incorporating more silence into
your life and your SoulCollage® practice (alone, with friends or as a
facilitator in workshops). Laura Hegfield is a SoulCollage® Facilitator, Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, Yoga & Jewish Spirituality Teacher, Artist, Blogger, Wife and Mom practicing the sacred art of "life" in Southern New Hampshire. Date: Sunday July 19, 2009 This class is this coming Sunday. Phone number to call: 1-218-936-4700 Access code: 876456 Time: 7:00 pm Eastern, 6:00 pm Central, 5:00 pm Mountain, 4:00 pm Pacific, 1 pm Hawaiian, 12 midnight in London, 1 a.m. in Rome, Monday 9 a.m. in Melbourne Australia and Monday 11 a.m. in New Zealand Upcoming Tele-Classes and Presenters: August 16, 2009 (Sunday, 4 pm Eastern) - Power Animals, with Michele Lessirard, shamanic teacher/practitioner and SoulCollage® Facilitator in Florida. Last evening, just before dusk, I (Michele) looked out our family room window to see two great horned owls dancing on the ground by our palm tree. Owls rarely come down out of the trees to such a vulnerable place. What does the Owl dance mean? How would you work with the Owl's message? There are two main types of helping allies that shamans consult and work with in their journeys: power animals, also known as guardian spirits, and teachers in human form. In this teleclass we'll explore SoulCollage® and the relationship of power animals beyond the body chakras. In building relationship with our helping allies we come to know our true essence; from this place of power we feel more connected and grounded, better able to move out into the world in service to our family and community. During the teleclass we'll explore Nature, power animals and the SoulCollage® process. Michele will talk about power loss, power animals and the soul retrieval process using your SoulCollage® cards. September, 2009 - Movement and SoulCollage®: Blossoming Your Inner Dancer, with Lisa Thornbury-Clark, SoulCollage® Facilitator in Ohio. Your body is a powerful vessel of your wisdom, your life journey and your own unique expression of the Divine. Add movement and dance to your SoulCollage® practice, and you'll create a multi-sensory journey which will deepen your experience. Join us as we explore playful and sacred ways to connect your inner-dancer to your card-maker self. This tele-class will include experiential movement activities as well as discussion. That's right, we'll be moving instead of just sitting and listening! You'll learn creative ways to add movement and dance prior to card making as well as ideas and suggestions for conducting solo and group movement and dance "readings" with your SoulCollage® deck. Please attend this call in a room where you have some space to move freely and safely, and use a phone with speaker-phone capability if possible. It would be helpful to have a yoga mat or blanket for the session as well as your SoulCollage® cards nearby. No previous movement or dance experience necessary. Invite your inner-dancer to come out and play! Date and time to be announced, please stay tuned. October, 2009 A lively teaching on the chakras, and how they relate to SoulCollage® within the context of the Companions Suit. Facilitated by Jenni Holloway, SoulCollage® Facilitator in San Diego. In Jenni's SoulCollage® workshops, she combines the principles of developmental psychology, yoga philosophy & Chakra Energy Healing. A fascinating topic for one and all. Date and time to be announced, please stay tuned. New England SoulCollage® Facilitator Training October 9-11, 2009 in Chester, Connecticut  If
you've been longing to take your SoulCollage® practice out into the
world by becoming an "official" Facilitator, then please join us for a
beautiful fall weekend at The
Guest House (so named forRumi's famous
poem). Training participants make cards, share cards, and use their own processes as teaching examples for the group in learning how to facilitate SoulCollage® work. You'll learn how to facilitate "readings" which use our own intuition to deepen self-knowledge. You'll learn creative applications and how to adapt the SoulCollage® process to different populations. We'll work towards constructing a plan that fits each participant's intended uses of the technique. No degree or other credentialing is needed to register for this course. Enthusiasm for the process and its use in one's own life are the chief criteria for participation in the training To make this Training more accessible and affordable, we've added an option for you to pay in three smaller payments. There's more informationon this KaleidoSoul page. | ||||||||
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SoulCollage®
Expressions
, by Anugama. Very meditative music. My massage therapist recommended this one to me. Soft and soothing. Recommended by Kindred Spirit Kat in California
