| Soul Singing with Anne Marie |
Hi!
I'm Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a SoulCollage®
facilitator in Massachusetts. If you're just starting to sing your
song with SoulCollage, this column is especially for you.
Diamond in the Darkness
Let me start off by saying that I don't have a SoulEssence card for my Deck yet. I actually was thinking last month that I
"should" make one, so I'd have something to write about in this column, but then I realized that that would defeat the whole purpose of SoulCollage!
I have decided to trust that, as with my Witness card, my SoulEssence card will be
"born" when the time is right, when the right images come together for me, and when it is ready to show itself to me.
In the meantime, I have a story to share about what SoulEssence means to me. Twenty years ago, in a 12 Step Meeting, a man named Steve told us something that has vividly remained with me all these years.
He believed that inside every one of us, at our deepest core center, lives a clear, pure, unsullied, bright jewel-of-a-thing, and that this jewel reflects us exactly as God intended when He/She created us. I loved that image so much that in my quiet-time meditations then (and since) I have been led to visualize a large, perfect diamond nestled in a tray of soft purple velvet, and presented on a crystal pedestal in a tiny room several floors beneath the surface in my own personal (imaginary) Inner Sanctuary. That diamond represents the real me, the true me, the most authentic core of my being. It is precious, valuable, and perfect exactly as it is.
Over the years, my Diamond became dirtied and seemingly flawed with the fears and insecurities that I inherited from my parents and from our media-influenced culture. I wasn't taught to value its worth to me, and to those around me, so I turned off the lights and locked it away in that small, dark room beneath the surface of my soul. I didn't even want to open the door and look at it because that room was so filled with emotional trash and garbage from my past: memories that had not healed, emotions that had never truly been felt.
As the years went by, however, my healing journey continued with the help of many more 12 Step Meetings, and my church community. Little by little, I was able to venture down into that special room, turn on the lights, and clear away some of the garbage, until I was able to recognize that Diamond again as my own true center.
When I heard Seena talking about the SoulEssence card a few years ago, I remembered this story about my own personal Diamond in the Darkness and realized that I knew exactly what she was saying!
Reflection Activity: I invite all of you, in this brand New Year, to spend some quiet time in the days ahead, investigating your own precious Diamond in the Darkness. Have you locked it away as I once did? Is it darkened with the dust of neglect and self-abuse? Can you clear away some garbage from the past in order to actually see it again? Or if your own inner Diamond is easily accessible because of the inner work you've been doing over the years, how can you help it to shine a little brighter? How can you
"light it up" a bit more this month, this year?
If you are interested in learning more about the SoulEssence card, and the other two transpersonal cards (Source and Witness), I highly recommend listening to the audio recording of Mariabruna Sirabella's tele-class from November 2008. It is available in the Members Only Audio Library and you can access it 24/7 by becoming a KaleidoSoul Kindred Spirit Member.
Anne
Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, self-taught artist, SoulCollage®
Facilitator and Facilitator Trainer who trained with Seena Frost. Her background
is elementary education, computer software training, writing, and mixed media
art. She lives, laughs, writes, and sings (and makes her own SoulCollage® cards!) in Beverly, MA.
More of Anne Marie's cards/interpretations are available on her blog,
Inner Surprises.
|
| Soul Symphonies with Karen |
My
name is Karen Mann and I'm a SoulCollage® facilitator from Melbourne,
Australia. This column is for those of you who have already made some cards
& are ready to discover the symphony of voices inside of you and around
you.
My SoulEssence Card and my Evolving SoulCollage Deck
My experience with making a card to represent my SoulEssence has taught me once again about the power of "trusting the process" and waiting for the right image to find me. When I began making my SoulCollage deck (in 2004) it was prior to the introduction of the SoulEssence card to the deck. Upon my learning about the SoulEssence card I came upon an existing un-named card in my deck which I began to use as my SoulEssence card. The black and white image of the hands holding a ball of light seemed to match Seena's definition of the SoulEssence representing a "unique spark of Source" or a "spark of divinity". The naked woman could represent the unadulterated potential within and the innocent child looking at the butterfly could also represent the potential within us all to
fulfill our destiny. On a logical level, this card which had previously not made much sense for me, now seemed to have a purpose and a name. I began to use this card as my SoulEssence card.
The only thing is, it never really did feel exactly right. There was nothing I could really describe or explain. It just didn't feel like the exact right card to represent my own
personal spark of divine destiny. When it came time for me to write an article about my SoulEssence card last week, I was feeling a little uneasy. I wasn't sure what I was going to write, because I wasn't sure I was happy with my SoulEssence card.
As I went to my deck to get my SoulEssence card today I came across another card which I had made intuitively a number of months ago and had loved at the time, but until now I had not named or done any work with it. This card is beautiful. It makes my heart sing when I look at it. Today when I looked at it I just "knew" it was my SoulEssence card. I got a warm glowing feeling inside, and I too felt that "YES" feeling that Seena described when she remade her Source card (you can read the article on this page).
So today I found my SoulEssence card, and I wasn't even looking for it!
Karen Mann
is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle Coach, yoga and meditation teacher, and
SoulCollage® facilitator. Karen has been working with SoulCollage cards for more
than four years and facilitates a variety of SoulCollage Groups. Karen also runs
SoulCollage Facilitator Training weekends. Karen offers regular workshops in
Melbourne
and Geelong, Australia, and is also available to travel to other regions in Australia. For more
information, or to contact Karen, please visit her website,
Flying Colours Creativity.
| |
| KaleidoSoul Creations |
As promised, we are featuring SoulCollage® cards from our readers in each issue.
In keeping with this month's theme, each card below represents one SoulCollager's SoulEssence Card.
SoulEssence
Artist: Kate
Location: Florida
SoulEssence
Artist: Marti
Location: Illinois
SoulEssence
Artist: Sandie
SoulEssence
Artist: Sherry
Location: Florida
KaleidoSoul Notes
Noteworthy resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage
 Facilitator Trainings: Information about content and dates/locations of upcoming trainings of
SoulCollage Facilitators.
SoulCollage website -
Seena Frost created the process of SoulCollage, and this is her website.
KaleidoSoul -
Spinning the fragments of your world into wholeness and beauty through
SoulCollage.
Tele-Classes -
These are fun, interactive tele-classes that are easily accessed from anywhere
in the world.
January's tele-class is called:
Eckhart Tolle,
SoulCollage®, and The Source with Fran Cherlow, SoulCollage Facilitator in California. There are more details on this KaleidoSoul page.
Kindred
Spirits -
Join our fast-growing worldwide membership of people who put the "soul" in
SoulCollage! Receive a weekly newsletter all about SoulCollage, advance
notice of new SoulCollage materials, half- price discounts on all e-courses
and e-books in the KaleidoSoul Shop. And more!
Inspiring
Resourses
Books,
Music & Inspiration
All Books For Less -- Amazing website for any book lover. They have zillions of books (I'm not
kidding!) on any topic you can think of, all at greatly reduced prices.
It's not like Amazon or Half.com where you are buying from individual
sellers. This is a reputable dealer and most of the books are available
in quantity, which is great for book clubs as well as gift giving.
CDBaby
-- There's abundant music to inspire your soul on this great site for purchasing CD's. Their customer service is awesome; their shipping prices are less than Amazon's; you can listen to samples of the music before you buy it; they're a small company with a big sense of humor and an excellent attitude toward their customers. All you have to do is buy there once and you'll see what I mean! Their New Age music collection is very broad, and perfect for background music while you're making those beautiful SoulCollage cards!
Artella is a lively playground for writers, artists, and any kind of creator (That's YOU!). You will find a wealth of resources, ideas, and playful projects to delight your inner artist and/or your inner writer. Find thousands of creative products in The Artella Store! Check out their e-courses too! My favorites are: The Gratitude Garland, Accounting Your Blessings, The World of Pretend, and DeCluttering For Creatives. There's lots of fr*ee stuff to love at Artella too. | |
SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena B. Frost.
For more
information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage,
please visit her website.
SoulCollage®
cards are made either from one's own art or from images found in materials which
have been bought by or given to the SoulCollage card maker. These collaged cards
are used only for the cardmaker's own inner exploration. SoulCollage cards are
not sold, traded, bartered, or copied (except as a back-up for the cardmakers
own use) as is stated in the "
Principles of SoulCollage®." Where SoulCollage cards are
available to be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of demonstrating
the SoulCollage process or of sharing the cardmakers' inner process in the
context of community. SoulCollage® is grateful to the artists and
photographers who make this deep awakening process possible and in all ways
SoulCollage® seeks to be respectful of their rights.
All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted 2009,
by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen Mann.
Articles may be reprinted by permission only. | |
Soul Songs
