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Mailer 02
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Soul Songs
Spinning the fragments of
your world into wholeness & beauty through SoulCollage®
Issue #11 May 2006
Theme- Community | |
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Welcome!
Greetings, and welcome to Soul Songs, the official KaleidoSoul newsletter, and the only newsletter which features SoulCollage® ideas, resources, and artists.
Our intention is to fill each issue (and your life) with inspiration, challenge, and delight. Whether you are new to SoulCollage® or already immersed in the creation of your deck, Soul Songs is for you.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any friends or family members who will enjoy it.
If someone forwarded this issue of Soul Songs to you, please subscribe here.
May we continue to allow SoulCollage® to transform us from the inside out, so that we are able to sing the songs we were born to sing,
every day of our lives.
KaleidoSoul Cafe
Grab a cup of your favorite hot (or cold) drink and cozy up to the computer while you browse around the KaleidoSoul website.
Here's what's new and exciting in the world of SoulCollage®.
It's time to make those summer plans.... please join us in the Berkshire Mountains this August for our annual
KaleidoSoul SoulCollage Weekend Retreat:
Awaken, Connect, Create
featuring SoulCollage Facilitators: Anne Marie Bennett (MA), Karen Mann (Australia), and Jeanne Merkel (NY).
There are only 7 spaces left. Is one of them waiting for YOU?
You'll come away feeling rejuvenated and inspired. There'll be lots of SoulCollage card making, sessions on the Council suit and Companions suit, a blessings bonfire, delicious food, meeting new friends, time to explore some beautiful forest trails, and sacred movement & silly songs to awaken our bodies.
It's affordable, fun, and..... you deserve it!
You can even pay in 3 installments if you want!
For more information, click here.
91 page e-book 44 page e-book 71 minute audio $14.00 $12.00 $5.00
Wanted: a fun, colorful KaleidoSoul Logo for the website and everything else KaleidoSoul! If you're a graphic designer or know someone who is, or if you just like fooling around with words and art, please get in touch with Anne Marie by sending a reply to this email.
And last but not least, we think you'll like the brand new KaleidoSoul Blog, called Inner Surprises.
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Soul Singing With Anne Marie |
 Hi! I'm Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul, and a SoulCollage® facilitator in Massachusetts. If you're just starting to sing your song with SoulCollage®, then this column is especially for you!
Suggestions for Newcomers to SoulCollage:
Who Is Your Community?
In Seena Frost's book, SoulCollage, she talks about the "true nettedness of human experience." I love this expression because it expresses clearly how deeply we are all connected.
Seena goes on to say, "Human beings are vitally connected with each other, and with all other living beings. These connections need to be honored, enjoyed, and used." (page 23)
And what better way to honor those in our Community than by dedicating an entire suit in our SoulCollage decks to them?
With this in mind, here are some ideas for you to consider when creating Community cards for your own deck:
1. Choose background and other images to capture the essence of the person you are honoring.
2. Close your eyes and think of the person or pet you are honoring. If they were a color, what would they be? If they were a song, a sound, a taste, a smell, an animal, what would they be? Let whatever comes up for you be a guide for finding images for their card.
3. If you don't have a photograph of a person, you can still make a card for them. Notice in DJ's Prince Among Men card (to the right), she doesn't actually use a picture of her husband.
4. Don't forget to make Community cards to honor the pets in your life who have been (and are!) a part of your Community. Even though they cannot speak, they have much to say about you!
5. Use mementos as well as photos and magazine images to make your Community cards. For example, in the card that honors my father (see top of column to the right), I used a photocopy of a letter he once wrote me, and color copies of weavings that he did on his loom.
6. If the person is still alive, share their Community card with them when you are done. This is a lovely way to deepen a relationship. Words aren't always necessary when sharing a card like this with someone, but you might want to write out for them why you chose certain images to place on their card.
7. During May we celebrate Mother's Day. You might want to consider making a Community card to honor your mother, stepmother, grandmother, or someone who was/is like a mother to you. And you might want to share a copy of the card with that woman as a special Mother's Day gift. Even if this woman has passed on, it can be a tremendously healing thing to do for yourself, to honor that relationship in this way.
8. It's important to do the Community card interpretation the same way you do any other SoulCollage card interpretation. Ask the central image these questions: Who are you? What do you have to give me? What do you want from me?
Spend time with the card. When you draw the card in a reading, ask it what it has to say to you today, right now, at this time in your life. Don't assume that you already know what a Community card is going to "say" to you. Inner surprises await you in this suit as well!
9. Consider creating a card to honor a person who has touched your life through their: art, books, music, films, research, religion, activism or....? Remember, you don't have to know a person to include them in your Community.
Anne Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, self
taught artist and SoulCollage® facilitator. Her background is elementary education and computer software training. She lives, laughs, writes, and sings (and makes her own SoulCollage® cards!) in Beverly, MA. |
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Soul Symphonies With Karen |
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 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.
Community Cards-
Follow your Intuition and
Keep it Simple
Making Community Cards can sometimes seem more difficult than making cards for other suits. I think this is because you have to be pre-organized if you choose to include photos of the community member you are honoring, and also because they require more "left-brained" work than other cards, as you try to represent many aspects of the one person in a single card.
 My first Community Card was very busy, filed with lots of images (representing the multiple aspects of my friend), but over time my cards have become more simplified and less busy as I have learnt that I don't have to represent every aspect of that person pictorially in the card.
I have discovered that when I draw a Community card in a reading, aspects of the person that are not represented can still speak to me! It's not important to symbolize every aspect separately in the one card!
In fact, I have found that making Community cards intuitively works best for me! By this I mean that the card is ready to be made when, through the process of collecting images, I find that some of them feel like they represent someone in my Community.
Once this Neter has made it's presence known, I start to more purposefully collect images that represent that Neter/person to me. It is at this stage, after my intuition has asked me to create a card for someone in particular, that I also start looking through photos to see if I'd like to include a representational image of this person.
Note: I don't always include a photo of the person in my cards- I just go with whatever feels right.
I believe that the Community Neters will "call to you" when they're ready to be made and that making cards for this suit does not have to be entirely premeditated.
Making Community Cards requires using a process that is a little different than the one used for the other suits; it is often a combination of intuition and planning, and maybe also a little patience, but the end results are definitely worth it!
Karen Mann is an artist, art teacher, Lifestyle Coach, yoga and meditation teacher, and SoulCollage® facilitator. Karen has been working with SoulCollage cards for more than two years and facilitates a variety of SoulCollage Groups. She also works with individuals. Karen is based in Melbourne, Australia. For more information, or to contact Karen, please visit her website,
Flying Colours Creativity. |
 Have you subscribed yet to
Soul Treasures,
the first and ONLY weekly newsletter about SoulCollage?
Go deeper with your
SoulCollage practice.
Dive into your own inner treasures.
Discover hidden jewels within.
It's KaleidoSoul's answer
to the Monday Morning Blahs!
Subscribe here.
It's one of the biggest benefits of the Kindred Spirits Membership,
only at KaleidoSoul!
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KaleidoSoul Creations |
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As promised, we are featuring four SoulCollage® cards from our readers in each issue. Please feel free to submit one of your cards for a future issue by sending a reply email to this newsletter.
In keeping with this month's theme, each card belongs to the Community Suit of its owner's SoulCollage deck..
Dad
Artist: Anne Marie
Location: Massachusetts
I am the one who loved to draw, to make music, to play the piano, to weave on my loom. I am the one who loved the ocean, and who adored being your father. I am the one who sacrificed everything for the miracle of a family. I am the perfectionist, the jokester, the one who loved to laugh. I give you your artistic ability and your love of taking pictures. I want you to have a good life, a life full of love and an absence of pain.
Prince Among Men
Artist: DJ
Location: Florida
I am the one who Loves you more than I love myself.
I am your Dear Husband.
I love you So Much, I do all I can to give you the World. I wear my heart on my sleeve for you and to all the World. I respect and honor you and I delight in all you are and do. I am your very Best Friend and I am your Anchor when you need one.
Sue
Artist: Gloria
Location: New York
I am the one who is your sister. I am the one who takes time to listen, a lot. I am the one who can sift through old passed-over stuff or abandoned momentos and transform them into works of art. I am the one who helps you stretch beyond your current state of awareness and see the exciting possibilities...
Sasha
Artist: Anne Marie
Location: Massachusetts
I am the one who has to be near you no matter what.
I am the one who taught you how to love cats. I am the one who teaches you about nurturing and mothering.
I am the one who seeks you out for comfort just as you seek me for the same.
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OOPS!
Our sincere apologies to Laurel Aston.
In last month's Soul Songs,
we incorrectly labeled
her SoulCollage card.
Here it is, as it should be.
Time-Shifting
Artist: Laurel
SparkingArt.com
Location: California
I am the one who adapts time and space to meet my creative needs. I am the one who uses time and routine for my soulful purpose. I am the one whose childlike wonder needs time to attend. I am the one who wants to get up with the sun, run in the grass, see a few dewdrops, and flit about chasing butterflies.
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KaleidoSoul Notes
Note-worthy sites & resources that are proven to be worthy of our readers!
Square Peg People- a great site, full of self-help and encouraging words for artists, dreamers and idealists.
Artwerx- Anyone with creative endeavors in mind needs to take a look at this site!
A capellaSoul- a new SoulCollage blog from our own Cheryl Goggins.
Secret Life of Bees- by Sue Monk Kidd. At the core of this beautiful novel is the idea that we create our own families beyond those of our flesh and blood. This book is nourishment to the soul journey of any woman who longs to make peace with her past. Also a deep, creative look into the Divine Feminine.
Soul Food Cafe- The tagline of this site is "Make Writing Your Daily Practice," but there is so much more here than that. Lots to discover and explore, and all of it really is nourishing "soul food."
(Editor's note: Soul Food Cafe is in the process of changing the spelling of both references to SoulCollage on their site.)
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Previews of
Coming Attractions...
Next month in Soul Songs,
the theme will be
IMAGINATION.
Discover the power of
creative visualization as you use
your imagination to add depth
to your SoulCollage practice.
Look for the next issue on June 1.
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SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena Frost.
For more information on Seena,
the origins of SoulCollage, or SoulCollage Facilitator Training, please visit her website www.SoulCollage.com.
All articles in Soul Songs are copyrighted by Anne Marie Bennett and Karen Mann, 2006, unless otherwise noted. Articles may be reprinted by permission only.
There's an awesome
SoulCollage Community
at Yahoo....
Click on the card below to join us!
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