Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage Inspiration

By Anne Marie Bennett

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New Year Reading- Guides for 2008

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A few days ago, Imelda posted her New Year’s SoulCollage® Reading on her wonderful blog, SoulFragments, so I decided to do a similar reading.  I asked the question, Which energies in my deck have lessons to teach me and will be my Guides for the coming year?

Then I sorted my cards into 6 piles.  Four of the piles were the SoulCollage® Suits: Committee, Community, Companions, and Council.  One pile was of a suit I created just for my deck: Keys to Joy.  And the last pile was of the cards in my deck whose meanings are unknown to me.

I lit a candle and put on some soft music, placed my Source card in
the center of the desk, and then thoughtfully and quietly chose one
card from each of the piles, without looking at the fronts of the cards. I removed the remaining cards, and turned
over the cards I had chosen one at a time.  Below you will find the
results of my readings- the images of the SoulCollage® cards I
“randomly” drew, plus what each card had to say to me about how it
could be my guide this year.

Scicandoit
Committee Suit Card: I Can Do It Myself! I
am the one who struggles under the weight of too many projects.  I am
the one who doesn’t like/want to ask for help.  My message for you this
new year is this: I don’t want to keep doing everything myself… this
is taking its toll on my body, mind and spirit.  I’ve been really
strong in your life because I haven’t wanted to trust, to be vulnerable
which is what it takes to ask for help.  My lesson for you this year is
for you to notice when your fears are keeping you from asking for
help… and to let yourself free yourself from my tyrrany.

Scrita

Community Suit Card: My Friend Rita I
am the one who is warm and wise, who loves and supports you just as

you
are.  I am the one who is creative and colorful and not afraid to look
people in the eye.  My message for you this year is this: Believe in
yourself!  I am one of the ones you can ask for help. You know I will
be there for you no matter what. 

Scfather
Council Suit Card: Father Archetype I am the one who is male and strong but also unconditionally loving and nurturing.  I am the one who has drawn you to positive fatherly figures throughout your life: your Dad, Dr. Pond, Randy, Doug, Jeff…  My message for you this year is this: Spend some time in your meditation time with each of the men I mentioned above.  Allow their love and strength to nurture and support you even now.  They can still be your teachers, even though most of them are no longer “with” you… you are still connected to them.

Companions Suit Card: 4th Chakra Little Brown BirdScheart I am the one who builds a nest in your heart of love and forgiveness.  I am the one whose nest-building/heart-work is a work in continuous process.  I am the one who teaches you love, compassion, breath, and forgiveness.  My message for you in 2008 is this: It is safe now to open your heart!  The past is the past.  Now is all you have.  Love freely now, and more will be given to you.

Scbody
Keys to Joy Suit: Taking Care of My Body I am the one who loves to dance, swim, and move my body in healthy, energizing ways.  I am the one who eats healthy, nourishing foods.  I am the one who loves and takes care of my body.  My message for you this year is this: Keep on going to the Y and walking and exercising, and listening to your body for hunger/fullness signals.  It is good for your body, mind and spirit!

Unknown Cards: Treasure GirlSc43357712

I am the one who lies back in a bed of beads and collage embellishments and sparkly fun things.  I am the one with lace and pearls and buttons and glittery treasures all around me.  I am the one who isn’t afraid to roll around in the “good stuff.”  My message for you this year is this: Lean back and savor your life…ALL of it!  It is all yours, enjoy it!  Claim each treasure as your own!

NOTE: I am going to reduce the cards in size and place them into a small (4 x
6) photo album along with the writing I did on each one. I will carry
this album in my purse all year long and take it out to look at, to
remember, when I am stuck in traffic or waiting at the dentist’s
office…etc.

Wholeness- Council Suit

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Scwhole
I made this card several months ago but hadn’t worked with it at all until it showed up this week in one of my Daily Readings.  I thought at the time I made it that it had something to do with wholeness, and I was right!

Who are you? I am the one who is two halves contained in one.  I am the one who holds you as you give me the shape to be held.  I am the one who is held and who creates a shape for you to hold.  I am the one who is one, complete, whole, black AND white, light AND shadow, all the many blended into one entity. I am the one who loves and is loved, who rests and is the rock against which you rest.  I am the one of ages and eons past, of lunar AND solar energy.  I am the one who can truly rest and close my eyes in safety and peace because I know that I am whole and complete, just as I am.

What do you have to give me? I give you a sense of yourself as whole, complete, solid, joined,  integrated.  I give you union within yourself. What do you want from me? I want you to stop looking outside yourself for wholeness, for a sense of completeness and safety.  It already exists inside of you!

Gratitude- Committee Suit

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ScgratitudeI made this card about two years ago and today it finally showed up in my Daily Reading!  I can’t believe it took that long to turn up in one of my Daily Readings, and other cards show up time after time!

Also, FYI- Seena is now suggesting that everyone have a “Gratitude Card” for their deck.  So start thinking about how to add a little gratitude to your deck!

Who are you? I am the one who says thank you.  I am the one who closes my eyes and hears the language of my heart, where true gratitude lies.  I am the one who expresses thanksgiving for all the love and beauty and growth that is in my life.  I am the one who knows that ALL GOOD THINGS spring forth from even the tiniest acts of gratitude.

What do you want from me? I want you to say thank you, no matter what your internal/external weather is.  When the trees of your life are barren and dark and cold, I want you to recognize the love that still surrounds you.  I want you to say thank you to the people in your life who lift you up and support you.

What do you have to give me? I give you the ability and desire to say “thank you” to Spirit, to God, and to the people in your life who have given you: love, time, prayer, grace, attention, money, pleasure, joy.

All Shall Be Well- Council Suit

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ScallshallbewellI made this card over a year ago and was stunned with it when it was finished.  As I’ve continued to draw this card in daily readings, more and more layers of its message to me has been revealed.

This card is a perfect example of “waiting and seeing” and allowing the meaning of the SoulCollage® to come to you a little bit at a time.

Who are you? I am the veiled one, standing on the threshold of something ancient yet something new, for it is new to me.  I am the one standing on the threshold of a new adventure.  The universe awaits me and I seek it out in its fullest capacity to hold, embrace, sustain me.  I am the one who is ready to step into the magnificent universe.  I am the one who sees the unknown as a kind, exciting place, a place of mutual trust.  I am the one who trusts that the next step will be safe, will not harm me in any way.  I am the one who steps forward into mystery with intention and grace, who trusts the unfolding of the journey, who isn’t afraid to venture forth into unknown territory.

What do you have to give me? I give you fearlessness.  I give you freedom from worry and anxiety. I give you new adventures. I give you faith and trust that all shall be well.

What do you want from me? I want you to trust that all will be well, no matter what.  I want you to remember that in mystery, all is not chaos and darkness, that there is also order and beauty and bright bursts of color, and new beginnings.

January 2006- I drew this card in a reading where I asked for help and support during the next three weeks when I had to wait for the results of a suspicious uterine biopsy.  I want you to hold onto this saying and this card for I hold the deepest inner truth… that all SHALL be well.  No matter what.  I want you to step into and embrace the faith that grounds this quotation’s reality.  I want you to claim the faith that activates the reality of what happens when you truly believe that all shall be well.  I want you to know that the road ahead is not necessarily chaos and darkness and grief.  I want you to look ahead and see the beauty, the order, the bright bursts of color, and claim them for your own.

July, 2006-  I drew this card in a Daily Reading.  I am here today to remind you that all shall be well.  Today is full of appointments, and you have been resisting two of them for a while, but I tell you to step into that unknown place and know that it is all for a deeper, broader reason.  Trust.  Trust, Dear One.  You can trust that Spirit is with you, even in the minute and mundane daily things.

September, 2007- I drew this card in a Daily Reading. I am the one who faces the mystery of the Universe, both inside and out.  I am the one who trusts that the Universe is a safe and friendly place.  I am the one who trusts Spirits and my Spirit Guides to guide/help/assist me on my journey towards wholeness and adventure.  My message for you today is about Travel, Exploration, and Adventure.  You are about to embark (next month) on several journeys- some near and some far (Baltimore, Cape Cod, Spain, Morocco) and I sense your trepidation and fear of the unknown, Dear One.  My message for you today is to honor this ancient call within you to journey throughout the world, and to honor your inner transformative adventures as well.

Awakening- Committee Suit

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Sc144487Well, I made this card in the spring, but just drew it today in a Daily Reading, and found it had MUCH to say to me!  I was a little surprised, because it’s not exactly what I thought it was about!

Who are you? I am the one who is waking up from a long winter in my cocoon.  I am the one who is discovering my wings.  I am the one who is learning to fly. I am the one who is green, greening against the black shattering of my past.  I am the one who is becoming.  I am the one who didn’t know I am a beautiful butterfly because I’ve been so busy sleeping in my cocoon, aware of nothing but my own inner breath.  I am the one who is leaving behind what WAS, and is stepping out of in-between-ness into my true, gloriously beautiful self.

What do you have to give me? I give you the energy of “becoming” who you really are.  I give you the gift of waking up.  Each time you meditate, you receive and embrace this gift a little more fully.

What do you want from me? I want you to relax and allow yourself to become who you are.  Stop trying so hard. Look at me.  I am just allowing it to happen. It’s not force that is making my wings unfurl, see?  Be still and it will all just happen on its own.