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Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage®

By Anne Marie Bennett

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SoulCollage®

Inner Queen

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Inner Queen
Inner Queen

I made this SoulCollage card to honor an inner committee part of myself.Ā  I’d been doing a lot of reading on the qualities of a queen and I realized that I have an inner queen who offers strong yet kind authority among my inner parts.

 

Who are you?

I am the one who is Queen of my inner castle.Ā  I am the one who is confident, happy.Ā  I am proud to be Queen!Ā  I am the one who wears a royal crown and jewels and the royal sash.Ā  I am the one who is a kind and fair ruler.Ā  I own my power.Ā  I am not afraid of being powerful.Ā  I am the one who is respected by my people, not feared.

What do you give me?

I give you the power to make things be the way you want them to be. I give you grace to let go of what cannot be changed.Ā  I give you self-respect and deep trust in your leadership abilities.

What do you want from me?

I want you to OWN YOUR INNER POWER!Ā  I want you to not put up with any “funny business” from your inner nay-sayers.

When did you first appear in my life?

When you started doing SoulCollage, you started becoming aware of your inner authority.Ā  This is when I was born.Ā  At first I was just a thought, an idea, but the more inner work you do, the more you are embracing my Queen energy.

What makes you angry?

Unfairness and injustice makes me angry. I hate it when people or animals are treated cruelly or inhumanely.Ā  I have had to learn how to express my anger without doing further damage.Ā  The Inner Voices/Inner Ones/Inner Tribe who get in my way also make me angry and I need to remember to treat them kindly too.

What about you? Do you have an inner queen as well?Ā  Maybe it’s time to seek out some images and create a card to honor this powerful, authoritative yet fair and compassionate inner ruler.

Sacred Texts

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scsacredtextsWho are you?

I am the one who is reading sacred, ancient texts.Ā  I am the one who is male and female, old and young.Ā  I am the one who is absorbed in the written text, the pages.Ā  I am the one who holds the sacred script in my hands.Ā  I am the one who reads to quench my hunger, my thirst, my need for spiritual knowledge and truths.

I am the one who reads against a backdrop of the nautilus- a powerful symbol of self-growth.Ā 

My message for you today is this- continue to feed upon the wisdom that has been passed down to you in sacred books.Ā  You have been veering away from this practice but do not stay away too long.Ā  Daily reading of this kind will make a huge difference in your life and you will find your joy increasing as well.

 

Bristlecone Pines

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bristlecone 2Have you heard about these amazing bristlecone pine trees* that grow only in isolated groves in the western U.S.?Ā  They are more than 5,000 years old and are thought to be the oldest living organisms known to humankind.Ā  They grow extremely slowly because of cold temperatures, rocky soil, and high winds.

Because of the high winds and rocky ground in their environment, it is impossible for rain to penetrate into their root system to offer nourishment and sustenance for growth.

But here’s the thing.Ā  Insects dig into the earth and feed off of the roots of the bristlecone pines. This breaks off the tough skin of the trees’ roots so that water from the rain can actually get through. Thus these amazing trees are nourished through their wounds.

And here’s another thing. The bristlecone pines’ trunks and branches are scarred by the rough winds. Then dirt comes into the grooves/scars, which makes them look beautifully tattooed. They allow themselves to be written upon.

What I take from this beautiful gift from Nature is that even in a difficult environment, even when chaos is blowing all around me and I am laid low to the cold, cold ground, I am still growing. I am still being nourished. There is always a way to open to nourishment, even if that means allowing my wounds to be the vessels for new growth and sustenance.

*I give thanks to Clarissa Pinkola Estes for telling the story of these trees in The Joyous Body, an online class I took with her in the spring of 2011, which is now available in CD format.

scbristleconepinesI made this card for my deck to honor the lesson of the Bristlecone Pines:

We are the ones who grow amidst rocky soil and difficult conditions.Ā  We are the ones who only receive water because insects chew holes in our roots.Ā  We are the onews who are etched upon by the wind.

Our message for you today is this: our energy is part of your energy.Ā  You have survived and grown strong in spite of bad “weather” and nutrient-poor “soil.”Ā  Stand tall and proud and with grace.Ā  Embrace your own story.

Painting/Breathing Rainbows

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scunknown 102014 09Who are you?

I am the one who paints rainbows over the clouds.Ā  I am the one who puts color into boring black and white situations.Ā  I am the one who opens the door to rainbows in the distance.Ā  I am the one who breathes rainbows in and out.Ā  I am the one who puts rainbows into the world intentionally.

 

What wisdom do you have for me today?

My wisdom for you today is in the form of a question:

Where can you paint a rainbow today?

I’m talking metaphorically, of course. Pause before you move into your day.Ā  What area of your life has gone gray and dull and could use the uplifting brightness of a rainbow?Ā  How can you add some color and beauty to this part of your life?

Pointing Towards the Light

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scunknown 102014 2I made this card intuitively, combining images that I loved, not quite knowing the reason, but just knowing that they tugged at my heart and spirit in some way.Ā  There areĀ  two central beings on this card and when I started working with it, the woman on the right was the one who was speaking to me:

I am the one who faces the light.Ā  I am the one who is outlined in light.Ā  I am the one who lifts my arms to the light, who points the way to the brightness outside the window.Ā  I am the one who is standing in darkness but who is illuminated anyway.

My message for you today is this- I see you there, hunched over in dejection but I see what you cannot see- you are wearing a crown of LIGHT!Ā  The light shines from you, you are wreathed in a crown of bright light.Ā 

Come, raise your head, look toward the light, look toward the brightness that awaits you.Ā  All is not dark.Ā  You are wearing the light!

You are sitting in darkness, yes, but I am the one who points the way to the light that always overcomes the darkness.