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Inner Surprises Blog

SoulCollage® Suits

By Anne Marie Bennett

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SoulCollage® Suits

Elizabeth Berg- Community Suit

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ScelizabethI made this SoulCollageĀ® card a few years ago to honor my very favorite fiction writer, Elizabeth Berg.  This is a great example of a Community card honoring someone that I don’t personally know.  Here is what Elizabeth says to me:

Who are you? I am the one who writes beautiful fiction that is real and true to womens’ hearts.  I am the famous author.  I am the one who tells/weaves beautiful stories, who gives birth to every story given to me.  I am the one who believes that every story given to me is a gift from the One who gives birth to all. What do you have to give me? I give you a reminder that fiction is a blessing in your life, that Story has lessons and beauty and order and peace and truth to impart, ALWAYS.  I give you a precious reminder of your own inner Writer. What do you want from me? I want you to read fiction often, to lose and find yourself in the art of Story, to remember that you too are a creator of Stories.

Negative Nancy- Committee Suit

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Scnegative

 This is a very powerful card, and working with it brought me MUCH inner growth and awareness.  Here is a poem that I wrote about this once very loud inner voice. Born of ancient wounds, that voice inside of me who says no to living a big, wide, joyful, gorgeous, artful, authentic life.

Born of ancient tears and hiding, That voice within says No you canā€™t lose weight You will never lose the weight If you lose the weight you wonā€™t be connected to your mother anymore If you lose the weight you will be giving yourself The biggest gift of joy you can give

And that just isnā€™t done.

Born of earliest lies and fear of pain, That voice within tells me I am not worthy Of joy, Of a big beautiful easy life, Of abundance Of having whatever it is that I want.

I speak to this voice. I scoot my chair close to her and listen to what she says I tell this voice that I understand her, I really get what she is saying to me, Because I do.

She looks me in the eye and some of her sadness is laid to rest.

We discuss her thoughts and ideas. She tells me how she came to be, That she is tired of holding her arms out, so, And blocking this important doorway

She asks me if I really want to cross the threshold that she is
standing in And I say a resounding YES.

She smiles briefly, lowers her arms, sits on the floor.

I could step around her now if I wanted to But I do not. I sit still with her and continue to listen For she has much wisdom to impart.

She is the voice of NO that lives inside of me Her positive intent is to assist me in drawing boundaries, To point out the places Where a NO could really mean YES to my soul To show me there is no shame in a NO That makes me feel good inside.

Her negative potential blocks me from entering the doorway of Joyful life Her negative potential is slowly draining away now The more I listen to her The more she trusts me

Her negative potential is ebbing back to sea And foaming at my naked feet now Are the sparkling waves of

Joy

Wholeness

Presence

YES.

Brown Bear- Companion Animals Suit

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Scbear_3
Brown Bear is my 1st chakra Animal Companion.Ā  I hadn’t done any work with the chakras when I created this card a few years ago.Ā  I hadn’t done much work with Bear either, but this card just seemed to flow together and almost made itself.Ā  It has remained pretty much a mystery to me until a few months ago when I did some research on the Chakras for a class I was teaching.

Who are you? I am the one who is standing with all four paws flat on the ground. I am the one who is grounded.Ā  I am the one who provides shelter and light for myself and my family. I am the one who loves the night and also the light of day.Ā  I am the one who enables a good balance of strength and power (day/solar energy) along with intuition (night/lunar energy).

What do you have to give to me? I give you the medicine of dreamtime. I give you shelter, sustenance and a home that embraces you with color and light. I give you healing for all your wounds.

What do you want from me? I want you to sit awhile with me and rest in the shelter of my sturdy body.Ā  I want you to know the perfect balance of power and intuition.

Angel of Sorrow- Council Suit

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ScsorrowThis is one of the first cards I made, and it really surprised me, because I love color so much, and this one is in shades of black and white.  I also was surprised when I started to interpret this card because I thought it was about the part of me who grieves and feels deep sadness over loss.  BUT… as soon as the card began to “speak” to me, I discovered it really was a spirit guide of sorts.  Listen…

Who are you? I am the one who grieves with you when you hear bad news or when you suffer in any way.  I am the one who feels your losses as pain and grief.  I am the one who honors your loss, who holds your loss, who allows you to grieve.  I am the one who sits with you in the shadows of your pain and vulnerability.  I am the one who breathes new life into you when your grieving is done.  I am the one who walks hand in hand with Sorrow.  I am the one who helps you to bear the pain of your loss.

What do you have to give me? I give you acceptance and hope.  I give you a shoulder to lean on and a Knowing that you are not alone.   I give you new directions, new life.

What do you want from me? I want you to feel the pain of your grieving.  I want you to fully enter it, and to hold my hand while you are in that space of loss.  I want you to know that Sorrow has its own gifts, and you cannot receive them until you enter that particular darkness.  I want you to know that the darkness of grief is safe when you invite me to join you in that darkness.

Karen Mann- Community Suit

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I made this card to honor my Sckarenm_3
dear friend Karen Mann, who lives and facilitates SoulCollageĀ® in Melbourne, Australia! Karen and I corresponded via email and phone for over a year before I met her last summer at our KaleidoSoul Retreat at the Spirit Fire Retreat Center in Massachusetts.Ā  It is always amazing to me, miraculous even, how the internet can build and forge such bright and beautiful friendships.

Who are you? I am the one who dances the dance of
soul and art with women around the world through SoulCollage.Ā  I am the
one who leads and follows (in the dance that is SoulCollage) at the
same time.Ā  I am the one who is building a colorful, imaginative bridge
between many parts of the world with my SoulCollageĀ® work.

What do you have to give me? I give you color and imagination and
a partner for your own SoulCollageĀ® dance.Ā  I give you a full, bright
rainbow of hope that also is a bridge between our worlds.Ā  I give you
encouragement and support and friendship and strength for your journey.

And if that wasn’t enough… I drew this card in one of my Daily Readings only a few days after I created it!Ā  Here is what the card said to me then:

I am the one who is your friend and even though I live far away, on the other side of the world, I am always close to you in your heart.Ā  It is the imaginative, intuitive world of SoulCollageĀ® that connects us.