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Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage®

By Anne Marie Bennett

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SoulCollage®

Card for a Friend Who Has Passed

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Lis Gordon

I made this card for my good friend, Lis Gordon, who died July 2, 2011 after 18 months of pas de deux with a rare form of cancer.Ā  She had been doing really well, for several months, and then wham! She was gone.

That’s her in the center of the card in her white Lay Eucharistic Minister robe of the Episcopal Church. Lis was a wonderful friend and our journey together started at St. Peter’s in Beverly MA when I moved there in 1992.Ā  She was in my EFM class (as a 4th year when I was just starting) and she was my stepdaughter Amanda’s sponsor for confirmation in 1993 (or thereabouts).

She was a writer herself and was very good at reading rough drafts of my work- nonfiction and fiction both, and gave me excellent feedback and good criticisms that always made my work much better.

When I became a SoulCollage Facilitator in 2005, Lis was the first one to sign up for my beginning workshops. She took to SoulCollage like the proverbial duck taking to water!Ā  She attended many of my workshops, participated in our monthly Soul Sisters card making group, and her enthusiasm for this process and for my KaleidoSoul work kept me going on even the most discouraging days.

Today, I drew Lis’s card from my deck in my every–other-daily reading. Here is what she had to say to me. I must say, it fills me with a deep sadness and at the same time, a deep joy, to know that she is not here physically but “sitting” right next to me on this sofa in spirit!

I am the one who is celebrating new life even tho I am no longer there with you. I am the one who is in the midst of divine transformation and new growth on many levels, I canā€™t wait to see you again to tell you all about it.

Time is immaterial here and you will love it here.

I am all things at once here- happy child, laughing crone, white sacred buffalo woman.Ā 

I am here and I am there, and you will understand this if you close your eyes and listen inside.

My message for you today is this- I am sorry we didnā€™t get to say good-bye when it was time for me to leave my physical body. But I donā€™t feel like we have left each other. I am with you in spirit, as close as when our bodies enjoyed lunch together across my kitchen table, or as close as when we made SoulCollage cards together at your dining room table.

 

Queen of the Paint Tubes-
My Artist’s Muse

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Artist Muse

I made this card years ago and after looking into the woman’s challenging eyes, I claimed her as my Muse, not just of all things creative, but specifically my urges towards and passion for creating art.

Who are you?

I am the one who is staring at you expectantly.Ā  I am the one who opens new windows of possibility for you and to you.Ā  I am the one who is Queen of the Paint Tubes.Ā 

I challenge you to JUST DO IT- just add art back into your life, a little bit at a time, and see/notice/feel how much pleasure it gives you.Ā 

The orange flower blooms behind me- all things grow and come into full blossom, full growth, and then turn back to seed and die.Ā  As will you.Ā  Someday.Ā  Not now.Ā 

Now is the time for open windows with sunlight pouring in.Ā  Now is the time to dig in to the rainbow possibilities of all the artist tools that you have in front of you.

 

Breaking Through

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Breaking Through

I made this card well over a year ago, more like two years.Ā  And it has just now shown up in a daily reading!Ā  I’ve been away from this blog for several months as I put aside several tasks in order to let my body and mind rest from the cancer treatments and surgeries.

So it’s especially poignant to me, that THIS is the card that showed up the week I decided to start sharing my cards in this blog again!

If you click on the card, you can see a larger version of it. You’ll see words on both sides of the image- negative, destructive, fearful words on the left side in black and white, and brighter, more positive words on the right, more colorful side.

I am the one who is finally breaking through a wall that previously I’ve been unable to get through.Ā  I am the one who now finds this wall transparent and fluid- and easy to break through.

I am the one who is calm and serene as I break away from the old black and white fears and angers and insecurities and into this bright new world of strength and divinity and the deep inner wisdom of my body.

My message for you today is this- this is not something that you have to do again and again and again.Ā  You have broken through the wall and there is no going back.Ā  Your body is reflecting this new movement forward.Ā  Smile!Ā  Rejoice!Ā  Be grateful.Ā  You are now lighter and stronger than ever before!

Balancing Light and Dark

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I love it when a card comes together like this… a balance of one energy with another. I really had no idea what it was while I was making it…. and it’s taken me several months to actually sit down with it and see what it has to say.

In a card like this one, I found it helpful to do “I Am The One Who…” from the points of view of all three of the beings on this card.

I am the one who is looking forward and up, who is reflecting light back. I am the one who is outlined in light. I am the one who is opening my arms as if to embrace whatever it is that I am seeing. I am the one who is emerging into the light from a white wrapped and tied package. I have been covered, wrapped and tied and hidden away and now I am escaping into the open.

I am also the one who is walking into a new open door, going from the bright light into the darkness.

And I am the one (lower left corner) who offers this to you as a gift: it is a lovely balance, this work that you are doing- going from darkness into the light and from the light into the darkness. It is all necessary and it is all good. And the light is with you in all places.

Lately, I have been identifying more and more with the archetype of Persephone, and because of this I am more comfortable now with the concept of going into those darker places.Ā  It’s all a matter of balance!

Hestia- Goddess of the Hearth

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I madeĀ  this card years ago and always thought of it as my “sacred space” card, but then I listened to Kathryn Antyr’s KaleidoSoul tele-class this month and learned quite a bit about the many Goddess archetypes.

I took the Goddess Quiz on the site that she recommended, and discovered that my own top three personal goddess archetypes, expressing themselves in my life right now are: Persephone, Artemis, and Hestia.

After reading more about Hestia on the recommended site, I suddenly realized that I already have a SoulCollageĀ® card for her, and this is it!

I am thinking that I MIGHT have one for Artemis as well, but I have to sit with that a while longer before sharing because I’m not entirely sure.

NOTE: If you are a Kindred Spirit Member, you can listen to Kathryn’s tele-class in the Members Only Audio Library.Ā  If you’re not a Member yet, what are you waiting for? Visit this page for more info.