Art is like therapy; what comes up is what comes up.
It may be dark, but that’s what comes up.
You may want to keep some of it in a drawer. . .
but never judge it.
~ Nick Bantock

This is one of the things I most love about SoulCollage®. It’s a process full of unfoldments and surprises.

One moment you’re flipping through a magazine looking for images, and the next moment you turn a page and there’s an image staring at you which is whispering to you of your own self-hatred, or your dismissal of a major dream, or how you judged your stepchildren too harshly when they were teenagers.

You may not like what the image is whispering to you. You may feel frozen inside with a battered recognition of one of your darker inner parts.  You might even choose to close the magazine and throw it in the recycle box. And that’s okay too.

The freedom comes from your willingness to begin the process.

The inner joy comes from your determination to meet whatever comes up with a gentle respect.

The clarity and wholeness comes when you listen to what the more shadowy images are saying to you, and when you make the SoulCollage® cards to honor them, in spite of your hesitation, fear, and dislike of them.

This is my archetypal Council suit Lightbearer card. It came together intuitively many years ago and I recently had a chance to work with it again.

Who are you?

I am the one who is the light.
I am light.
My light comes from a Larger Light
and I light my own flame
      from that Larger Light.

The Larger Light is the one light that never goes out.

I am the one who is intent on the Lighting.
I am the one who keeps the Light going.
I am the one who stands in the Light.
I am the one who reflects the Light.

If my lantern goes out,
I know where to go for more Light.

Here are some questions for you to journal with, if this Neter and its wisdom resonates with you:

Where do you see the Light in your own life?

What does the Light represent for you? Past? Present? Future?

What brings you Light?

For whom or for what are you carrying this Light?

 

I drew this card recently in an every-other-daily reading. It’s a fairly new card that I had only worked with once before. No surprise… it had much pertinent, relevant wisdom for me!

Who are you?

I am the one whose eyes are closed. I am the one who is solemn and mindful.

I am the one who is contemplating. 

I am the one who is facing away from the grave stones.

I am the one with a bright light in my heart.

I am the one who knows there are fireworks lighting up the sky behind me.

I am the one who is dressed all in black.

What do you have to say to me today?

My message for you today is this: you have been through two huge transitions this past year and I want you to know that you are STILL in the transition. You might be in the in-between phase a while longer.

Find time each day to be still like a I am. In your stillness, allow the rushing-ness of the lat several months begin to cease their rushing.

The key to ending the overwhelm and busy-ness of the “Big Moves” is to find pockets of stillness in your days, times of Doing Nothing, even for just ten minutes at a time.

The old is behind you now- the old house/home, the old ways of doing things. But they live in your mind and heart and spirit, just as beloved people and pets do when they die.

I drew this SoulCollage® card in a reading recently. It was a time in my life when I was really feeling my aging body.  Sometimes when I draw this card, the younger woman is speaking. This time the older woman seems to be speaking to my younger self.

Who are you?

I am the one who is looking back on my younger days and wishing I could go back to when I felt clearer, younger, stronger.

I am the one who looks back and remembers what good health felt like.

My message for you today is this:

Please notice that I am smiling as I look back. You have been looking back with regret and longing. I want you to look back with peace. There is no going back. There is only going forward. Trust in yourself. You know the way.

Note: When I did this reading, I was deep in grief for the loss of our beloved dog, Suzy. If these questions call to you, I suggest substituting “this darkness” for whatever difficult, dark time you are in the middle of right now.

How do I endure this darkness?

Neter: Bodacious Bod
Committee Suit

I am the one who loves my body and moves my body and feels good in my body.
I am the one who isn’t self-conscious about my body, no matter what I weigh.

You can endure the darkness of your grief by staying deeply connected to your body,
by practicing pleasurable eating, by slowing down and paying attention
to what your female Animal needs and desires.

 

 

What is the potential here?

Neter: Negative Nancy
Committee Suit

I am the one who runs the old tapes from your childhood, tapes where you learned negative thinking and fear and worry and scarcity. I am the one who always sees the negative aspect of anything that happens to you.

The potential here, in the darkness of your grief, is that you will stay in the grief, that you will resist any tool that will help you out of the darkness, that you will feed on my negative energy and get stuck in the grief and the darkness that accompanies it.

 

What is the light that is coming?

Neter I Have a Choice
Committee Suit

I am the one who is being pulled in one direction by a lady wearing black. I am the one who can choose. I am the one who doesn’t want to go with her. I am the one who is turning around and being called in a different direction.

The light that is coming will only come when you make a choice to hear a voice that is the opposite of your grief.

Me: What is the opposite of my grief?

The opposite of your grief is always the love that inspired it in the first place. So in this case, focus your listening ear and your watchful eye on the love that you held and still hold for Suzy. The love, it is always the love, that brings the balance and the light.

 

How can I help the light grow?

Neter: Road Less Traveled
Council Suit

I am the one who chooses the lesser-worn path. I am the one who made a choice to not journey the way that most people journey. I am the one who prefers the lesser-worn path.

You can help the light grow by moving toward it. By heightening your senses and taking one step at a time toward the light, toward YOUR light. And the light in this case is the love that you had for Suzy. So how can you grow that love? How can you move toward it?