SoulCollage - SoulCollage® 28

Interview with Seena Frost

July 22, 2020November 8, 2010 by Anne Marie Bennett

Anne Marie: Welcome to KaleidoSoul, Seena! I’m delighted that you’ve stopped by my blog on your journey ’round the world with your new book, SoulCollage® Evolving.

Seena: Thanks, Anne Marie!

Anne Marie: Why don’t we start at the beginning. Please tell us the story of the origin of SoulCollage®.

Seena: Many roots in my past eventually joined and grew into the blossoming and above-ground ‘plant’ we now call SoulCollage. These are too numerous to identify here, but in 1989, there came a moment at the end of a three year program with Jean Houston, when an integration occurred and I made my very first cards. I called them Neter cards and these were all cards that now would be in my Community suit because they were all for people. Over years and with input from others, this first project eventually evolved into people creating cards in the four suits, symbolizing the Manyness of our Souls, and one card, the Source card, as a symbol for the Oneness of all created forms.

At first I used these cards as a therapeutic tool in clinical support groups; then, because everyone loved creating them and found much inner wisdom through them, I introduced the process into other kinds of community groups. It can still be used as a therapeutic tool but it also can be used individually as a spiritual practice and in groups as a transformational ritual.

Anne Marie: Why do you think that people find the SoulCollage® process so useful?

Seena: It seems to me that creating and speaking from images is too much fun to be called useful! Perhaps valuable, or transformative or healing or surprising. Hardly useful, except perhaps as a ‘tool’ in therapy.

Anne Marie: How many Facilitators are there now and in what countries?

Seena: This changes by the month so I won’t try to answer that! [Editor’s note: Having looked on SoulCollage.com, it says that there are (as of November 2010) almost 1000 trained Facilitators who live in or are doing SoulCollage® workshops in 20 countries: Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, England, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, South Africa, and the United States.]

Anne Marie: Seena, what is your personal practice with your own SoulCollage® cards?

Seena: Every morning I draw two cards from my deck of over 100 cards. I have the cards backed by suits and I always draw one Community card and one from another suit. These become my Neters of the day and I put them up on my altar next to the 3 Transpersonal cards which are always there. The rest of my cards are in a pile in the center. I record which cards I have drawn in my daily journal, and sometimes I will email or phone a person who is my Neter and just let them know– if they are alive and I know them personally. I don’t read from these two cards. I just have them up as special Neters to remember.

Other practices, not daily, are sitting and tearing out images for my Facilitator Trainings, and also meeting with a peer group to do readings. We try to do this at least once a month or more if possible. (I have other practices like daily meditation and yoga and walking which are not so directly oriented to SoulCollage®.)

Anne Marie: How has your personal practice changed you over the years?

Seena: This of course varies greatly with everyone who does some sort of a daily practice, and it is hard for me to separate out the results of my daily practice from my current life work which is so involved with SoulCollage®. This process surely has changed my life because I’m thinking about it probably thirty percent of my time. Unlike most people!

But just in terms of my own evolving Soul, I believe that the images on many of my cards have taken on a vivid life of their own, and continually remind me of energies I have available to me. I think I use more of myself because of this, use more of my potential, and I balance my energies better because of this consciousness.

I also have a real sense of the marvelous aliveness of the world around me, of the archetypes that inhabit our invisible world, and who are calling on me and all of us constantly. They guide us and nudge us. The synchronicities of the cards help me know this. I do not feel alone or separate in the universe and have no fear of shedding this body and going on without it into other realms.

Anne Marie: What role is SoulCollage® playing in the healing of our planet?

Seena: I think it has potential to do quite a bit if it continues to grow. The more people heal their own inner wars, the better they will be at healing the wars in families and communities and nations. However that is only the beginning of what I think is possible. If enough people gather, using their images to find consciousness, they can become one more of the imaginal cells forming and joining up in our chaotic world to envision the butterfly that we could become.

SoulCollagers can gather and show that cooperation is better than competition, that partnership is better than hierarchy or patriarchy, that knowing the one and the many is far, far better than insisting on one way or the other. Perhaps there can be a creative inclusiveness in SoulCollage® that will be catching.

Anne Marie: Powerful answers, Seena. Now tell us what we are all longing to hear. Where can we find your new book, SoulCollage® Evolving?

Seena: Just go to this page on Amazon and you’ll find it right there!

Anne Marie: Thank you again for spending time with us today.

Seena: Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure.

Authenticity Rides Again

July 18, 2020September 8, 2010 by Anne Marie Bennett

Here is a perfect example of how a card can change its meaning and message, over time. When I first made this card, she seemed to be all about Authenticity. You can read my original writing about her here.

Today I drew her in my daily card reading, and as soon as I saw her, I said to myself “Ahh… Authenticity!” But then I reminded myself not to label her. And I let her speak to me, right now, today, in this moment. Here is what she said:

I am the one who is standing strong and golden against the backdrop of the setting sun. The last time you saw me, the sun was rising, but right now it is a sunset you are seeing. Soon darkness will cover the earth and we will survive the darkness because we will remember this blessed golden light.

I am the one who presides over endings and beginnings.

My message for you today is this: pay attention to what is ending in your life. Pay attention to that which is beginning.

This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear today! And it so comforted and warmed me, to see this familiar face in my reading this morning, and to hear her speak to me in this moment, instead of continuing to repeat what she has told me before.

The Little Demo Card That Could

October 5, 2010August 9, 2010 by Anne Marie Bennett

I am sooooo excited about this card, not only because… just look at it… it is breathtaking (to me, anyway!). Not only that, but mainly because of the way I created it.

I was leading a workshop on Saturday and three of the participants were new to SoulCollage. So I needed to do a little card making demo for them so they could see how a card came together. I realized this a little late, like about 5 minutes before I was going to have to do it, so I hurried to the table of images and grabbed the first large image that caught my eye… the background of the monks on the floor with the heavy curtains and the light coming through the windows.

Then I looked for an image to go with it and grabbed the baby in the flower because the colors looked right.

And when I was laying that out under the frame so they could see how to do a layout, I realized I needed another image because it didn’t look complete (also part of the demo I was doing… letting them know it’s okay to add and take away images as they create).

So I grabbed the image of the clasped hands, again, because the colors were “right.” In my mind, I was still making a demo card and only a demo card. I wasn’t making a card for my own deck, or so I thought!

So I glued it all down and showed them that part of the process, then flipped the card over to let it dry and pretty much forgot about it. Near the end, I was getting ready to demo the I Am The One Who… interpretation process and I needed a card to do it with, and I remembered this one, so I trimmed off the edges and when I turned it over and saw what I’d made, WITHOUT EVEN TRYING, I was blown away.

A new card for my deck and I wasn’t even trying to make a new card for my deck!

Even the “bit of sky” between the two clasped hands is an integral part of the meaning of this card, and I didn’t leave that bit of blue sky there intentionally either. I just didn’t want to take the time to find the tiny scissors and snip it out because, after all, I was only creating a “demo” card for my workshop participants! Ha!

Who are you?
I am the one who is sound asleep in this little flower.
I am the one who rests peacefully knowing that the world is safe.
I am the one who is present with these monks even though they are not aware of me.
I am the one who rides in on the Light of God’s grace.
I am the newborn, the one who is just beginning.
I am the one who represents the powerful, peaceful presence of these monks at prayer.

What do you have to give me?
I give you a sense of safety, that all is well.
I give you a knowing of the presence of God’s grace.
I give you the certainty that you are surrounded by God’s grace and blessing, no matter what.
What do you want from me?
I want you to rest in the awareness of God’s grace.
I want you to know that God is present in all parts of the world, in all religions, places, times, cultures, and to all people. All people.
I want you to remember that the Unseen is sometimes the most powerful of all.

Is there any other message you have for me today?
You are safe. We are here, guarding you, protecting you.
There are many unseen beings surrounding you today and always. We may not be seen with human eyes, but our presence touches you like the sky touches the whole earth.

Mysterious Connections

October 31, 2011July 29, 2010 by Anne Marie Bennett

Several months ago I made this SoulCollage® card and it really intrigued me. When I let the women on the card speak, this is what they said to me:

We are the ones who want to sail away on these beautiful colored boats. We are the ones who are masked and robed and can’t get into the boats. We are the ones who are hiding ourselves behind these masks and robes. We are the colorful, creative ones, but we are tied to this place and time. We are waiting for you to set us free. Please come and help us reveal our true selves so that we can sail onward to our destiny. We are tired of being covered up. We want the world to see us now! Are you ready to set us free?

And then… as so often happens with SoulCollage®, I was looking through my deck a few weeks ago for a certain card. And I came across THIS card, which I’d made about 3 years ago and had NEVER really gotten a grasp on what it was about, even though I’d journaled with it several times.

I gasped when I saw this card, because they looked and felt like the same women!

The first card I’ve shared here (above) had really been on my mind, and I’d set it out on my desk so it could accompany me on my daily inner journey. I even had it in my mind that I was looking for some images of women in those same bright colors of clothing so that I could make a new card of these women who had been masked, but were now set free.

So it feels to me like THIS card, made three years before the other one, is kindof like a prequel to that one. Listen to what they are saying:

We are the ones who are robed and covered. We are the ones who hold offerings in our hands. We are the ones dressed in bright rainbow colors. We are the ones who are staring across the water at the Temple, and at the brilliant Solar Eclipse. We are the ones who are not allowed across the water. We are the ones who are present and accounted for, but we are held back by the waters of fear and doubt. There are no sail boats here. We do not know that possibility of freedom yet. Amazing things are happening “over there,” but we are not allowed to go over there.

I still get goosebumps, when I think that I created that first card, above, having totally forgotten about this other card I’d made three years earlier!

In honor of these inner parts of me, held back by fear and lack of power… this week I created a new card that represents, for me, the Setting Free of these women, these inner parts of me who are no longer held back, who no longer want to be covered up and hidden. I found modern women dressed in the same jewel tone colors and glued them against the same background as the boats.

We are the ones who have come into our own fullness and beauty. We are the ones who have taken off our masks and robes and blossomed into strong, powerful, joyful women. We are the ones who love life and aren’t ashamed of owning our own power. We are the ones who aren’t afraid to sail away to new inner and outer destinations.

We give you power and strength, vivid color and vibrant life. We give you joy and pleasure in the present moment. We give you creativity and passion.

We are the ones who were in hiding but are now free.

My New Cards!

June 18, 2010June 18, 2010 by Anne Marie Bennett

Here are the cards I made at our 5th Annual KaleidoSoul Retreat last weekend. I am planning to post each one here over the next few weeks and share my “inner surprises” on each one with you!