| Soul Singing with Anne Marie |
Hi!
I'm Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a
SoulCollage® facilitator in Massachusetts. If you're
just starting to sing your song with SoulCollage®, this column is
especially for you.
A God Who Looks Like Me
I have been debating about what to write in my column this
month. I do not consider myself an expert on the theme of Goddess
or on feminine spirituality. I don't even have any cards (that I
know of!) representing Goddess in my Deck. So I've decided to share
my own sweet journey towards the Divine Feminine.
I grew up in the 50's and 60's and our family was Roman Catholic.
We went to church weekly until my Confirmation at age 13. By then,
my two older brothers were grown and on their own, and my parents
had various reasons for no longer attending. However, I went by
myself! I was drawn to the liturgy, the ceremony, the music, the
prayers, and to God.
As I grew up, and even into my 40's, my concept of God was
male-oriented. Patriarchal. Whatever you'd like to call it, that's
what it was. I am glad of it, though, and here is why:
My father was a warm, loving, living example of
unconditional love. My mother, although she tried her best, was
not. I had 2 big brothers, no sisters. I had positive and
powerful relationships with male priests along my journey:
Father Alagna, who sat with me several times in college as I
wrestled with the tension between Catholic dogma and my own deeply
personal journey with Jesus. Reverend Dunn (well, okay, he was only
five years older than me, so I called him Donald!), whose passion
for bringing Christ out into the world was contagious. Father Randy
(I didn't call him Father, either!) who acted as my spiritual
director for several years.
I am so grateful for all of this positive male influence in my life
because it fed and nurtured my soul in ways that were perfect for
what I needed at the time.
 It wasn't until 1995 that I realized there was another way of
looking at and experiencing God. That year, I came across the book,
A God Who Looks Like Me, by Patricia Lynn Reilly. The subtitle
was Discovering a Woman-Affirming Spirituality. My whole
inner world changed, with the reading of this one book!
The following year,
Dance of the Dissident Daughter found its way into my hands and
my spiritual journey took another turn. This book was written by
Sue Monk Kidd, and I had previously read (and loved!) several of
her books on Christian spirituality. This book, however, told of
her "Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine." I
devoured each page as I discovered that her words, her research and
her personal story, was quenching a thirst that I hadn't even known
was a part of me.
One sentence in particular rang truth throughout my whole body,
mind and spirit:
To embrace Goddess is simply to discover the Divine in yourself
as powerfully and vividly feminine.
I have been re-reading these books as I prepared to write this
column, and I am touched all over again by the balance that these
truths continue to bring to my own life and journey. It's not like
I discovered the feminine side of God and suddenly discarded the
masculine. I still feel close to Father God, and now I hold
the energy of the Divine Mother as well. I still sometimes converse
with Jesus in my inner meditations and I have delightful
conversations with various feminine energies as well. I honor male
priests/ministers and female priests/ministers. For me, the
real revelation is not that Goddess replaces God, but rather
that they complement and balance one another.
Other Recommended Reading:
The Mother's Songs: Images of God the Mother, by Meinrad
Craighead
The Litany of the Great River, by Meinrad Craighead
Anne Marie Bennett is a writer, self-taught artist, website goddess, cancer survivor, and SoulCollage® Facilitator / Trainer who was mentored directly by Seena Frost. In 2005, she fell in love with SoulCollage® and was inspired to use her professional experience along with Internet technology as a means to serve the world by putting SoulCollage® "out there" in a really big way with KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie is also the author of Bright Side of the Road . She lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, two elderly cats and one very youthful dog who keeps all of them young. You can read more about her on her website annemariebennett.com or on her blogs Inner Surprises, and Standing Still.
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All New Online Workshop!
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Discovering Your Soul Mission:
Using Astrology & SoulCollage®
May 4 – June 15, 2011
Facilitated
by Judith Goldberg, Professional Astrologer & SoulCollage®
Facilitator
Curious
about how SoulCollage® and Astrology Work Together?
Visit this
page now!
This All-New Online Course Includes:
- 50 page E-book with a new
module each week
- 10 page Appendix (E-book)
containing all the astrological information you will need to
complete the assignments, as well as a bibliography of suggested
reading and related webpage links
- 10 page (E-book) to guide
you through the card making process if you are new to SoulCollage®
(written by Karen Mann)
- One 2-hour tele-call or
webinar each week for seven weeks
- Access to audio
recordings of all calls (in case you can't attend
"live")
- Self-paced instructional
materials that will be useful over and over again long after the
course is completed
- Expert feedback from a
certified professional Astrologer
- Opportunities for
community sharing & inspiration
NOTE: Kindred Spirit
Members - Save $50
Use your special Coupon Code on the checkout screen. For more
information about this course, please visit this
KaleidoSoul page.
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| Soul Symphonies with Karen |
My name is Karen Mann and I'm a SoulCollage® facilitator from
Melbourne, Australia. This column is for those of you who have
already made some cards & are ready to discover the symphony of
voices inside of you and around you.
Oonagh Finds
Me!
When I trust
the process, I know that the message from my SoulCollage® cards
will find me exactly when I need to hear it. This is what happened
for me when Oonagh made herself and her message known to me. I had
made a SoulCollage® card intuitively, meaning that when I stuck
these images together I didn't have any conscious understanding of
what this card was about. I felt "called" to use the images that
became my Oonagh card, but initially I didn't know her name; I just
knew that the card felt "right."
 One day, as I
was reading the book
Archangels and Ascended Masters , by Doreen
Virtue, I came across the description of Oonagh, an Irish Goddess.
While Doreen described Oonagh as being portrayed as having golden
hair long enough to reach the ground (which obviously is not how my
goddess looks), she also said that she was the goddess of love
relationships, aesthetics, magic and that she was a fairy
queen who loved to dance with the fairies in nature. When I read
this description I just "knew" I had a SoulCollage® card that
matched this description. I went to my deck and looked at this
card, and even though her hair was short, she definitely felt like
a modern-day Oonagh.
When I went back to read this passage about Oonagh in Doreen
Virtue's book today, I read with great interest the part where
Doreen Virtue recorded a little of the "conversation" she had with
Oonagh. Oonagh said:
"It is I who
inspires ballet and other lovely dance... Use movement to make your
heart swell with excitement and gratitude…Call on me for the
motivation to exercise, and I shall visit you at twilight, and
again just before dawn. I shall sprinkle over you my magical and
potent fairy dust to get you moving upon awakening. I shall act as
a physical therapist and dance coach to encourage you to stretch,
sway, dance to rhythms in nature and music, and enjoy the beauty
and grace of your heavenly body."
Pages 146-147,
Archangels and Ascended Masters
This message from Oonagh
seems to fit with a goal I have recently set to enjoy doing more
physical activity in my day. I have found that Zumba classes and
other dance classes help me stay inspired and encourage me to move!
I have recently also been attending a "boot camp" class, but have
started to realize that this isn't really working for me, and that
a more gentle type of movement fills both my heart and my body with
joy.
Usually I would not look in another book to connect to the energy
of one of my SoulCollage® cards. But in this case, by trusting my
intuition, I feel the message I have just received (as part of my
research for this column) is absolutely perfect.
I then sat down and did some journaling with my SoulCollage® card,
using the I Am The One Who... process, to explore this
energy deeper. My Oonagh said:
I am the one who loves to dance. I am the one who needs to move
in a way that brings me joy, and does not have to "push through"
the pain barrier. I am gentle in my energy, gentle in my life and
should honour this by being gentle in my exercise. I am the one who
will quit boot camp and enjoy dancing or listening to good music as
I exercise at my own pace. I am the one who will exercise in the
fresh morning air as I love the quiet and the peacefulness of
exercising before work.
I am now feeling more inspired to exercise by myself, or in a group
to music, and I will enjoy getting up early, to get my exercise
done before the day starts, enjoying the quiet time before everyone
wakes up. When I sat down to write this article I had no intention
in sharing about my exercise routine, but by trusting the process,
I have received the message I needed to hear! Any way, I'm off to
go dancing now...
Karen Mann is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle
Coach, FasterEFT Practitioner and SoulCollage® Facilitator and
Trainer. Karen has been working with SoulCollage® since 2004. Karen
offers regular workshops in Melbourne and Geelong, Australia and
also runs SoulCollage® Facilitator Training weekends. Karen's
passion is using SoulCollage® combined with FasterEFT to help
others to gently remove unconscious blockages around food, weight
and dieting. For more information, or to contact Karen, please
visit her website, Flying
Colours Creativity or her blog Stop Weighting, Start
Living.
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Upcoming SoulCollage® Retreats
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MASSACHUSETTS
Turning Towards Peace: 3 Night Retreat for Women -
4 spaces
left!
Rolling Ridge Retreat Center, Andover
MA
June 15 - 18, 2011
Facilitators: Anne Marie Bennett, Anne Boedecker
There will be LOTS of time for card making, sharing our
SoulCollage® cards and card making ideas, as well as doing readings
with our Decks. The card making tables will be set up round the
clock all three days, so you can make SoulCollage® cards while
breakout sessions are going on, in the middle of the night, and in
your jammies by the light of the moon if you want! The focus of our
breakout sessions during this retreat will be using our cards to
deepen our own sense of inner peace via journaling, movement, and
readings. We'll be building relationships with our cards as we work
with them in various ways: writing, movement, and readings. $799-
all inclusive.
Visit this
KaleidoSoul page now.
NEW
MEXICO
SoulCollage® at Ghost Ranch
Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New
Mexico
October 2-8, 2011
Facilitator: Kat Kirby
Immerse yourself in the soul-satisfying process of SoulCollage® for
a wonderful week in the beautiful landscape of northern New Mexico.
This is Georgia O'Keeffe country, where she lived and painted.
Discover your soul's true voice as you enter the beautiful world of
imagery and intuition. You will learn how you can consult your
cards for self-exploration and understanding. The SoulCollage®
process recognizes the One-ness of our existence as well as the
Many parts of ourselves. This workshop is perfect for beginners and
for those who have already started their SoulCollage® journey. Kat
Kirby, Registered Art Therapist, SoulCollage® Facilitator and
Trainer, and workshop leader from San Diego, will be your guide.
$360 plus housing.
Registration Info Here
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Soul Songs
Back Issues - Read back issues of Soul Songs on
this
KaleidoSoul page.
Just look for whatever SoulCollage® topic you are interested
in,
and read to your heart's content!
SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by
Seena B. Frost.
For more information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage®,
please visit her
website.
SoulCollage® cards are made either from one's own art or
from images found in materials which have been bought by or given
to the SoulCollage® card maker. These collaged cards are used only
for the cardmaker's own inner exploration. SoulCollage® cards are
not sold, traded, bartered, or copied (except as a back-up for the
cardmakers own use) as is stated in the "Principles
of SoulCollage®." Where SoulCollage® cards are available to
be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of demonstrating
the SoulCollage® process or of sharing the cardmakers' inner
process in the context of community. SoulCollage® is grateful to
the artists and photographers who make this deep awakening process
possible and in all ways SoulCollage® seeks to be respectful of
their rights.
All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted
2011,
by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen
Mann.
Articles may be reprinted by permission
only.
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SoulSongs
