SoulCollage Inspiration

By Anne Marie Bennett

Mystery Card

scunknown 102014 3Here is what I call a “mystery card” that I made intuitively (oh, SO intuitively) a few months ago.  I define a Mystery Card as one that I have NO CLUE as to what it means, even though I absolutely am drawn to it in some way.

Some Mystery Cards remain Mystery Cards for a looooooong time.  Some reveal themselves right away. I have found that it’s best to be patient (not my strongest suit) when working with these.

In my experience, I’ve found that it’s sometimes difficult to dive right into the I Am the One Who… journaling exercise with it.  For me, when working with a card like this, I find it helpful to start with a DETAILED PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION of what is actually on the card.  First, I scan the card with my eyes slowly from left to right… and then right to left.  Then top to bottom… and bottom to top.  It’s a very left-brain kindof exercise, which can sometimes be helpful before jumping headfirst  into the intuitive.  Also, it’s helpful for me because I’m not so focused on discovering something deep and meaningful in the card!  For me, it affects a good balance of the left and right brain.

As I scan, I am asking my brain to register things like: colors, shapes, symbols, dark/light, objects, people, animals.  I am thinking of words like:

next to
beside
on top of
under
inside
outside
over
above
between

Here is my PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION of this Mystery Card:

There is a woman with feathers as wings and she is standing in a yoga balance pose.  All of her body except her head is inside of a glass jar that is glowing with light.  The jar rests on a large body of water.  On either side of the woman is a long row of lighted luminarias.

The water in front of the woman is lit from the glow of the setting sun. Or maybe it is the rising sun?  Her arms are lifted over her head and her hands are pointing upward in prayer/praise.  She is facing towards the setting/rising sun.

Usually, after writing a detailed description like that, I find it easier to get into the I Am the One Who…

Who are you?  I am the one who stands in the light.  I am the one at the beginning of a pathway of light.  I am the one with wings.  I am the one who lifts my arms in praise.  I am the one whose pathway is lined with light.  I am the one standing inside of a glass jar but I know I can lift up and away any time I choose because I am the one who has WINGS!!!

What do you have to give me?  I give you light.  I give you the gift of wings.  I give you the ability to fly free at anytime.  I gift you with balance!  I give you a moment of pause and stillness at the beginning of a journey.  I give you the knowing that your journeys are always infused with and surrounded by light.

What do you want from me? I want you to remember to lift your being in gratitude before you start any long journey.  I want you to remember that you are never fully trapped/encased, that you can fly free at any time.  I want you to PAUSE AND APPRECIATE THE LIGHT THAT IS ALL AROUND YOU.

 

NOW…. YOU TRY IT!

Take one of your own Mystery Cards and start by slowly scanning it and noticing everything on it.  Then write a detailed description of it. Set the timer for five minutes and go!  When you are done, launch right into asking the card “Who are you?” and then let the being or beings on the card tell you its story.

Rising from the Nautilus

scunknown12345I am the one who was covered up with my illness and now I am free from it. 

I am the one who is naked and free and open to life. 

I am the one who rises out of the Nautilus Shell and its many inner chambers.

I am the one in active movement, saying a joyous YES to life!

My message for you today is this- you are connected- head to toe- to divine inner Spirit. Rest easy in this knowledge and CLAIM YOUR JOYFUL LIFE.

 

 

Note from Anne Marie: You can see the SoulCollage® cards I made for my 2011-12 cancer journey on this page.

Life is Sacred

scwritingsoulThis image of the woman breathing in the flowers and the light came to me in a foreign magazine a few years ago. I think it was a French magazine and this might have been an ad for perfume!

This is one of those cards that I made because I loved it so much, and then put in my deck and forgot about it.  But I worked with her recently and here is what she said.

I am the one who is savoring the scent of the flowers.  I am the one who is breathing in the Light from the Divine, from the entire Universe.

I am the one who is in the present moment, this moment, right now. I have left behind the past and I do not even wonder about the future.

I am the one who holds the flowers in my hands and treasures their beauty, their presence.  I am the one who savors life, who holds life as sacred, part of the Mystery.

My message for you today is this- take some more time today to close your eyes and breathe in how precious your life is.

 

 

Mommy & Me

I am the one who knows how to mother myself.
I am the one who knows how to mother myself.

I grew up with a mother who was always there for me, but  because of her own lack of a nurturing mother growing up, she wasn’t one who nurtured me with unconditional love and kindness.  I missed out on having a real “Mommy.”

After practicing SoulCollage® for a few years, I realized that I could “mommy” myself and so I made several cards to depict this Mommy and Me relationship that I had missed out on as a child.  This is the one card of all my “Mommy and Me” cards that remains in my deck, as a vivid reminder that I can be nurturing and loving and unconditionally accepting towards myself.

Most of the time when I read from this card, it is the Mommy inside of me talking, but recently I drew it in a short reading and I noticed that the little girl was speaking this time:

I am the one who loves being held and cherished by Mommy.  I am the one who can completely relax when Mommy is holding me.  I am the one who feels safe in her arms.

My message for you today is this- even though you had an earth-mother who couldn’t and didn’t give you this, you have an inner mother just waiting for you to open your arms to her. Open up on the inside.  Let Mommy hold you when you need to be held.

If you have a card with two distinct Neters (energies) on it, like this one, try doing the I Am the One Who… exercise with EACH of the voices and see what you discover.

All Kinds of Seeing, All Kinds of Knowing

scvisionI have had this card in my deck for eons and I love that its meaning now has broadened and deepened since the first time I journaled with it.  It comes to me often in my every-other-daily readings and each time I feel reassured and reminded of my gift of inner and outer seeing.

I am the one with wide open eyes who sees clearly everything around me.  I am the one who has eyes closed and who still can see with an inward sight.

I am the one with clear inner and outer vision.

I am the one who is sometimes troubled by what I see yet I remain open to the seeing because I can use all of it in my inner work as well as my outer work/ministry in the world.

I am the one who chooses what to use, from what I see, and what to disregard.