Soul Treasures Discovering the depths of our precious inner beauty through SoulCollage® |
KaleidoSoul's Members-Only Weekly Newsletter Issue #39 December 26, 2006
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Quotation of the Week
The fact that I can plant a seedand it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomesanother's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to mecontinual spiritual exercises. --- Leo Buscaglia
Inner Journeys
with Anne Marie Bennett
Integrating the Practice of SoulCollage® into Your Daily Life
ReGifting: ReVisited
 Okay, let's all just admit it right now. ReGifting is something we all do. I've done it, and you probably have too. Candles, potholders, certain books or cd's that just aren't "us." A box of chocolates when you're cutting down on sugar. We receive something we really don't like or want, and we put it in the closet (or the cupboard or the attic) and then when we need a gift for someone and don't know what to give them, voila! An entire shelf of goodies to choose from (except in my house, the candy wouldn't still be on that shelf!).
I didn't grow up with the ReGifting process... I've only come to find its value as an adult. The first time I tried it, I was nervous and worried that someone would discover what I'd done. A well-meaning friend had given me a stone statue of several cats standing (!) in a circle for my birthday. She knew I liked cats and I suppose she figured anything to do with cats would make me happy. Wrong!
So several months later, I carefully wrapped it back up and set it under the tree at our annual office party Yankee Swap. If you've never attended one of these, I'll tell you it's great fun, involving choosing gifts and then actually taking gifts away from other people (if you want to) as part of the game. To my happy surprise, one of my coworkers "stole" the cat statue from another person because he loved it so much.
So I'm comfortable now with the idea of ReGifting (as long as I don't mistakenly give it back to the person who gave it to me!). And I want to suggest yet another way to look at it, especially at this time of year when giving and gifts are in the air and everywhere:
What if we ReGift others with some of the inner gifts that others give to us?
For instance, I receive generosity and affection in abundance from my husband Jeff. I could pass that gift of generosity on to everyone who crosses my path. My friend David gifts me with a genuine passion and childlike excitement for Christmas. I can absorb that enthusiasm and then regift it to the clerk in the corner drugstore who looks like she's having a bad day. My brother John gifts me with a listening ear when I need to talk about a problem that's weighing heavy on my mind. I can accept his gift and at the same time pass it on the next time a friend comes to me with a heavy heart and a story to share.
So ReGifting doesn't always have to be about presents that we don't like. It can mean simply being aware of the gifts others give us (the unwrapped kind) and then consciously passing them on to others who also have need of them.
Reflection activities of the week: Make a list of some of your family members and friends (including pets, of course!) and the inner gifts that they give to you. This week as you go about your daily busy-ness, make a conscious effort to pass on at least two of these gifts to someone who crosses your path. Make a note of how this affects the creation of your SoulCollage Community Suit cards.
SoulCollage Expressions
Idea of the Week
If I were to create my deck of SoulCollage cards all over again I would begin with the Source card... or at least I would not glue other cards down until I had my Source card made. Then I would scan and copy my Source card, and I would make dozens of copies on thin paper, and cut them just the size of my cards-to-be. I would carefully and reverently glue these thin copies on to the surface of every blank card.. Then I would proceed, over time, to make all my SoulCollage cards on top of the Source! Most of my cards, Committee parts especially, would have none of the Source background showing... or maybe just a tiny edge around the outside. Or maybe one tiny hole where the Source could show through, like an opening through which Spirit can flow. Perhaps I alone would be able to see it. On other cards like a Community card for a special person lke Jesus, Buddha or the Dalai Lama or a beloved dog, more of the Source card would show as these are more transparent beings. So also on archetypal cards for a Being like Kuan Yin or the Lightbearer or Divine Child, would be a bit more of the Source background that would show through. In most of my cards, as in most of my life, that backdrop is hidden. Yet I would know that it is there, underneath, holding all of me together as One. --- from Seena Frost's recent article: The Transpersonal Cards of the SoulCollage Deck
We'd love to hear from you!
Question of the Week I found a quote by Seena Frost in her SoulCollage® book, and I like it but I don't know what it means. Can you please explain it to me?
"Each of us is a SoulCollage."
This means that each of us (including YOU!) is like a collage- made up of many different parts and pieces. Some pieces of us are dark and shadowy; other pieces are brighter and clearer. This "collage" containing all of the pieces of us is what we call our soul, our true deep essence.
Have a question about SoulCollage®
that you'd like answered?
Send your questions to members@KaleidoSoul.com.
We'll try to use your question
(along with an answer, of course!)
in an upcoming issue of Soul Treasures.
Soul Friends
The voice of a different Kindred Spirit each week!
Edith O Nuallain
Co. Wicklow, Ireland
My name is Edith O Nuallain and I live in Co. Wicklow, Ireland . I first came across SoulCollage some time ago on the internet and was immediately captured by the seemingly limitless opportunities for spiritual growth and development. It is the combination of both words and images which together create a powerful entry point into the deeper layers of our unconscious.
Contemporary embroidery has long been a favourite pastime of mine (alongside many other crafts, e.g. spinning, dyeing, knitting and now added to these is collage).
Another almost obsessive interest has been all things pertaining to female/feminist spirituality. It has long been my belief that only when we women reclaim the Divine back in our own image that we will truly learn to live in peace. Until then we will be ensnared in a vision that is no more than a blinker to our eyes for it has no roots in our imaginations, and it is through the imaginative sphere that we may first gain access to the Divine Feminine, whether we believe that She is nothing more that our deepest inner selves or whether we hope that She exists both within and beyond. Ultimately it is of no matter what we believe since it is enough that She Is.
It was this aspect of the SoulCollage process that most called to me at first, insofar as it offered a hands-on approach to actually helping Her image to materialize in the real world here and now, if only I gave Her the time to find Her through collaging.
However, in the process of searching for images of the Divine Feminine and juxtaposing these images with others which beckoned from a strong intuitive sense of yes, this image here, another major element of SoulCollage became evident. Not only was SoulCollage a method for discovering Her and giving Her a face and even names, but it was also a process for discovering who I am.
Thus in seeking Her, I found that I was in fact finding myself. Of course since then I have learnt through reading Seena Frost's book, that indeed the whole point of SoulCollage is to identify and learn to recognize and accept all the different aspects of our personalities and inner beings. It is just that I hit it back to front as it were, and the fact that the SoulCollage process allowed for this illustrates even more to me the power of the activity.
Since beginning SoulCollage my life has been altered way beyond its former contours and limits. Having been a stay-at-home mother for over 16 years, I am now back in the work force acting as a substitute teacher in my children's school, something I would not have dreamed possible only a few months ago. SoulCollage has helped me dig deep and find wells of strength and power that I thought were too long buried beneath the rubble of dailiness to ever be capable of shining again.
Essentially SoulCollage enabled me to find myself, and to discover that my inner being is no more and no less than anyone else's. With this newly found confidence I am now able to walk in front of a class and teach, and enter a staff room and sit and chat. I am not the only one surprised by these recent developments!
At this point I would like to add that there was another major influence that helped to create the conditions for change and growth. This is the cyber writing site known as Soul Food Café which to my mind works beautifully in tandem with SoulCollage.
My best advice is this: just follow your intuition and keep creating cards whenever you can. I have nighttime sessions when I just sit with a pile of magazines and a pair of scissors flicking through the pages. After a cutting-out session I tidy the pictures away into groups, which I must add are constantly changing and evolving! What seems to belong to one section may change its aspect the next time I look at it.
There are no shoulds or oughts in SoulCollage. Rather it is like a symphony from our souls that sings to us through images rather than sounds. Ultimately it is a spiral path that takes us deeper and deeper into the furthest recesses of our inner beings.
Note: We didn't receive Edith's photo in time to make this publication, but next week it will be available in your Soul Treasures archives.
Here are 2 of my favorite SoulCollage® cards:
 Death & Rebirth
Suit- Council
I Am One who offers you the kiss of death so that you may be embraced by the kiss of life and be rebirthed anew on the altar of the Goddess of Divine Light. I give you the courage to die to your false self, along with the gift of grace to hope and believe that your Spirit Guides are waiting to kiss you back to new life and new beginnings.
I want you to open yourself to the mysteries of the dark days, and learn to experience these phases of diminishing light as times for retreat, healing and renewal, for it is only by dying that you can be reborn.
Whenever a black creature of the air hovers nearby, know that it is the Presence of the One who brings Her gifts of new beginnings, hope, beauty, grace and love in Her wake. Each time you light a candle feel Her luminous spaciousness within. Every time you kiss or are kissed by another, feel Her brush your lips with Her love.
Source Card
(As you know this card doesn't "speak" in our decks. It simply holds the space for all the other parts and pieces of our soul.
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 ever forget your Member's Password, just email annemarie@kaleidosoul.com.
And remember, as a Kindred Spirit... everything in the
Kindred Spirits Shop is 50% off!
Other Things You Need to Know:
Special Deal for Members-Only This Month
(only 6 days left!)
Spend $30 in the Kindred Spirits Members Only Shop and/or the KaleidoSoul Shop December 1-31, and receive a complimentary
2007 KaleidoSoul Soul Colors Desk Calendar!
Other Things You Need to Know:
KaleidoSoul 2007 Desk Calendars- These beauties are compact (as big as a CD), lightweight, and will look just perfect anywhere you put them. Not only do they remind you of the date, they keep your soul focused on what's important. You can get them for 20% off because you're a Kindred Spirit! (Or get one free when you spend $30 in your members-only shop anytime this month.)
Your Members Only Audio Library is a special archive of all our monthly tele-playshops on things like intuition, guided imagery, the four suits, and more. Have a listen!
Upcoming Tele-Playshops
January:
Creating A "Future Me" Card
with special guest Karen Mann, SoulCollage Facilitator in Melbourne, Australia
Start your new year off right with this fun exercise that helps you to visualize your "future self". This tele-playshop will explore the power of using affirmations and visually depicting what you really want. It will include a guided visualisation where you will meet your "future self."
Date: Monday January 15, 2007
Time: 6 pm EST
February:
Extra! Extra! Write All About It
Join us as we talk about (and experience!) using creative writing as a tool to go deeper into your SoulCollage cards/deck. I'll have lots of ideas to share, and we'll actually try doing a few of them during this tele-playshop. Even if you don't consider yourself a "writer," this session will get you excited about writing with your cards for the purpose of your own self-discovery.
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time: 7 pm EST
Save the dates now. We'll send you the phone number to call in upcoming issues of Soul Treasures.
And remember, don't worry if you can't attend... we'll be recording them and you can listen to them anytime in your Member's Only Audio Library.
 2007 SoulCollage Retreat-
Creating Inner Sanctuary with SoulCollage
May 4-6, 2007 in beautiful Essex, MA
Join us for three days of creativity, community, and renewal as we explore the depths of SoulCollage at this beautiful retreat center located in the lush forest of Essex County, near the ocean. There will be lots of time for card making, sharing our cards and stories, and readings with our decks.
There are only 5 spaces left out of 15. Does one of them have YOUR name on it? Give yourself a holiday gift that you'll never forget.
Details about the Retreat, the Essex Conference Retreat Center, and registration.
 Soul Nourishment Books, movies, music, & websites to support your inner work as you dive deeper into your soul....
Books:
Animals as Guides for the Soul, by Susan Chernak McElroy. I picked this book up at the library because it had the words animals and soul in the title, hoping it would lend wisdom and story to my own understanding of the Companions Suit of my SoulCollage deck. I was not disappointed. This little book is full of powerful stories of the connections between humans and animals, and was written by a woman with a deep love and understanding of animals. And the 43 page chapter Messengers, Dreams & Visions will truly inform your work with your Companion Animals. I am ordering my own copy for my reference shelf and an ordering some of the author's other books as well.
Music:
Earth Songs, Narada Collection. This is a powerful collection of music, all beautiful and all inspiring. Excellent for background music while making SoulCollage cards.
Christopher Parkening Plays Vivaldi. Classical guitar concertos by one of the best. Sit back and let this passionate music wash over you as you make cards or clean the house or better yet... just sit still and listen...
 Don't forget to check out CDBaby.com, a great new place to buy cd's. Their New Age section is a must for all serious SoulCollagers! Their customer service is unsurpassed and they stock cd's from over 158,000 artists. Great selections, great prices, friendly people, and a good deal on shipping. What more could you want?
Movies:
A Season for Miracles, starring Carla Gugino, Patty Duke, Laura Dern, David Conrad, Lynn Redgrave. A friend gave me this movie last year (a few days after Christmas) with the words "This is my favorite holiday movie of all time." Hmm... I thought, that's odd. How could it possibly be better than Miracle on 34th Street, or It's A Wonderful Life? Well, I finally watched it last week and now I understand what he meant! It now ranks in my top 3 of favorite holiday movies... go ahead- rent it and see. It's got everything a perfect Christmas movie needs: a little romance, children without a family who get one, a small town where everyone knows everyone.... and, oh yes, an Angel!
Websites:
Women's Creativity- Exactly what it says it is! Has a visual arts gallery, a series of good articles on women and creativity, recommended books on this topic and more. The Creativity Creed alone is worth the visit to this site.
Sage- just keep clicking! Lots of journaling prompts for you, plus maybe one or two inspirations for SoulCollage cards.
Spinning the fragments of your world
into wholeness and beauty
through SoulCollage® Published by KaleidoSoul.com
and Anne Marie Bennett.
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Inner Journeys, copyright 2006,
Anne Marie Bennett
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