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Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage Inspiration

By Anne Marie Bennett

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Bubble Woman- Committee Suit

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Scbubblewoman
I made this card intentionally, hoping to express a part of me from the recent past.Ā  I’ve been working for a year now with Laurel Mellin’s The Solution Method, (also known as Emotional Brain Training) and the biggest gift I’ve received from this deep inner work is the ability to really feel what I’m feeling and when I’m feeling it!

So I thought of making a card that showed the part of me who refuses to feel anything, is afraid to really feel the messy emotions of life.Ā  Actually, I was never TAUGHT to feel them, and I never felt SAFE feeling them.

Now I do, and I am so grateful.. but I wanted to honor this part of me anyway, because she really is an integral part of my life and she isn’t going to go away.

I am the one who is encased in this glass bubble- safe, protected.Ā  I am the one who is safe from the fire, safe and protected from the bubbling rabble of pieces and parts of you that have strong feelings. I am cool and calm and collected, safe in my womb.Ā  No one and nothing can reach me here.Ā  I am turned away from these angry, sad, fearful, joyful, anguished parts of you.Ā  I don’t want anything to do with them.Ā  They are messy, dirty, bloody, frightening, and I want them to go away. I am the one who wants to stay in this Numb Bubble and not feel anything.Ā  Ever.Ā  I don’t like feeligns.Ā  They are messy and complicated and time-consuming.Ā  I like this bubble I’ve found that keeps me safe from my feelings. I give you protection and safety from the heat of emotions.Ā  I give you numbness to protect you.Ā  My world is not colorful but it is safe. What do I want from you?Ā  I want you to NOT FEEL anything!Ā  I want you to keep me away from those ragged feelings of yours.

Slim Girl/Heavy Shadows- Committee Suit

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I made this card (rather… this card made itself!) last fall during a workshop I was leading at my home.  I don’t usually create cards when I facilitate because I usually choose to focus on the participants and their experience instead. 

BUT… that afternoon, these images grabbed hold of me and would not let go!

I am the one who is standing strong and powerful and happy.  I am the one who is in the foreground of your life right now. I am the one who is confident that the heavy shadows are behind me.  They are a part of me, but they are behind me now.  My message to you today is this: Lighten up!  In food, in body, mind and in spirit.  I am telling you… all is WELL!  These heavy parts of us are still here, and will always be here with us.  But now, they are only shadows.  I am foreground in your life now.  You have chosen me and here I will stay.

Spiritual Warrior- Council Suit

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I read somewhere several months ago about the archetype of “Spiritual Warrior” and I instantly KNEW in my soul that I have one of those!  And almost as soon as I recognized this truth, I found these two seemingly unrelated images.

And then… if that weren’t enough, I read this quotation from Pema Chodron:

The Spiritual Warrior sits in the middle of the fire.  — Pema Chodron

Well, there are truly no coincidences!  This card was simply meant to be!

I am the one who stands guard at the Tree of your Life.  I am the one who throws poisoned daggers at anyone or anything who gets in the way of the beautiful Light pouring down from Spirit. I am the one who protects you and yours with a circle of flames which has special power to burn in water.  The waters are your life story.  My flames form a circle of protection for you. You are safe at all times. I am always on guard, always on the lookout, and I am ruthless towards anything which stands between you and Spirits’ Light.

Destroyer- Council Suit

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I made this card completely intuitively this summer while working with
some friends who were new to the SoulCollageĀ® process.  I was mainly
drawn to this fierce golden dragon.  I don’t know if you can see it,
but his scaled and jeweled back turns into a paved brick road which
leads to a castle, and that fascinated me.

It wasn’t until I started letting him speak with the I Am The One
Who… exercise that it became clear to me that he is my Destroyer
Archetype.

I am the one who has burst out of a narrow doorway.  I am the one
with fierce gnashing teeth.  I am the one with jeweled scales on my
back.

I am the one whose tail turns into a castle.  I am the one who is the
keeper of your Journey.  I am the one who destroys anything that gets
in your way. 

I am the one who leaves the old black and white world behind.  I am the one who comes away from that old, stale, shadowy world.

I am the one who fires up your life.  I am the Destroyer.  I cut away
anything that doesn’t belong to your true authentic self.  I am
dangerous to anything on the pathway of your Journey that doesn’t
belong to you. 

You used to hide me in the shadows, in the misty dark, behind a narrow
opening… but my energy is growing now.  I am getting stronger and
more powerful because you can now see me as an ally instead of a
danger.  I AM HERE!!!  And I am here for YOU.

Now is the time to access my Energy, Fierceness, Power, and Strength… and make it work for you. 

My message for you today is this:  I can help you with the remainder of
your food issues.  Tap into my Energy.  I know that extra food is not
welcome on your Journey.  I can help you to destroy those cravings. 
Tap into my fierce ability to destroy EVERYTHING that isn’t necessary
for your Journey.

Wake Up- ??? Suit

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Scwakeup This is the newest card I’ve made, sometime in September at a SoulCollageĀ® Workshop I was leading at my home.  It’s interesting because I’m not usually drawn to images like the model in the foreground, but I was drawn to her that day and still am now.

I held her up against many background images before settling on this one, which also seemed equally powerful to me.

When I started to do the interpretation, I couldn’t decide which “voice” on the card was the loudest for me, so I did some I Am The One Who‘s from BOTH of them!  And then I did a short dialogue that was really an eye-opener for me.  Here goes:

#1- Woman with the flower: I am the one who is strutting my stuff. I am the one who is whipping around this fragile flower and not even worried that it might break.  I am the one who is immensely confident.  I am the one who does what I want, whatever the HELL I want and everyone else be damned.

#2- Woman in background:  I am the one who is laying back. My eyes are half open. I am the one whose face is half scratched off. I am the one who has a glowing flower over my head, in my crown chakra.  I am the one who is almost asleep, or almost awake… and I don’t know which. #1- Hey you… girlfriend!  WAKE UP ALREADY!!! It’s time to rise and shine and smell the flowers.  Wake up to the Divine, do you hear me girl??? #2- Oh, I don’t know.  I’m kindof wanting to go back to sleep.  Do I HAVE to wake up?  This is very restful like this. #1- YES, Damnit!  Wake up.  WAKE UP.  You have to wake up now.  You’ve had a nice long rest.  Now open your eyes. #2- Do you mean metaphorically or in real time and space? #1- Oh for God’s sakes… stop being in your head all the time… just WAKE UP!!!