| 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.
Happy Holidays!
I'm taking a break from column-writing this month as I prepare for the
holidays.
Imelda's column, below, has some wonderful wisdom on the topic of compassion,
and I hope you'll spend some quality time with it.
 Also, this CD by Jennifer Berezan has an amazing (22
minutes) track of a beautiful chant (in English) called She Who Hears the Cries
of the World, which is a tribute to Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion. I
highly recommend this for any inner work you are doing with compassion on any
level.
Happy Holidays, everyone!
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 lives in eastern Massachusetts with her
middle-aged husband, an elderly cat and one youthful dog who keeps them all
young. You can read more about how SoulCollage® assisted her on her cancer
journey on her website SOS
Cancer Journeys.
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| Guest Columnist: Imelda Maguire
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Hello! I'm Imelda Maguire, SoulCollage® facilitator from Donegal, Ireland. Also
a counselor and poet, my joy is in working with others in healing and
creativity. 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.
Compassion: There is Love
When I was growing up, a saying I often heard was, "There, but for the grace of
God, go I." It spoke of the recognition that, however debased or reduced in
circumstances a person was, it was mere chance and good fortune that put them in
that place, and us in ours. Whatever they might have done, those same
circumstances might have led me to do the same. This recognition is to me the
root of compassion. Whenever my grandmother said those words, it was always with
a softness that wasn't very usual in her speech.
 It has been ten years now since my first encounter with SoulCollage®. This
amazing journey has, more than anything else, led me to experience in a deeper
and more understanding way, compassion for myself and for others. It seems to
me, in fact, that if we engage with SoulCollage® for any length of time, the
inevitable result will be a stronger sense of compassion.
As we create the image of any of our Neters, as we listen when it speaks, we
meet this real and untarnished part of our humanity. And when we meet our common
humanity with any person, compassion is born. When we meet the common experience
of being part of this earth, part of all, part of the One and of the Many,
compassion is also born.
I began to make cards for my Committee members, and to encounter those aspects
of myself that normally brought up in me a critical or judgmental response. This
was the experience of listening to the voice of my Angry self or my Shy self, or
of having a dialogue in which I heard what these Neters' gifts are to me, and
especially what they wanted from me.
This experience caused a shift in the relationships within me, as well as in the
relationships I have with other people. It somehow became easier for me to
recognize what those gifts might be in other people too. As I found my
compassion for my own "negative" or shadow aspects, so I could begin to find it
for others also.
It is not always an easy thing to be compassionate with ourselves. Sometimes, it
is harder to forgive ourselves for a failing we might accept in others. In my
professional life, counseling young people, my clinical supervisor practices
"compassionate supervision", and it is always surprising to me how resistant I
can be when invited to look compassionately at myself and my actions when I talk
about having done something "wrong."
Blame and shame come more easily than acceptance, forgiveness, compassion. When
I am withholding compassion, there is a tightness in my body. When I yield, when
I begin to feel compassion, always there is a softening, warmth in the belly.
If you have been making SoulCollage® cards, and especially if you have been
listening to their voices speaking the "I Am One Who...", and have not yet felt
a shift in your sense of compassion, maybe it would be useful at times to add
the words "With compassion, I tell you...." or "From your compassionate self, I
say...."
The card I share today is not my "Compassion" card, for the truth is, I don't
have a card that represents my compassionate self (yet!). This is my heart
chakra Lion Companion card. When I experience a sense of compassion for myself
or for others, another way to say it is, "There is Love."
Imelda Maguire is a SoulCollage® facilitator from Donegal,
Ireland. A counsellor, poet, Bach Flower Remedy practitioner, and
creative-writing facilitator, her joy is in working with others, in witnessing
a-ha moments and experiences of healing. She has been sharing SoulCollage® with
groups since 2003, when she first discovered the process, and delights in
others' excitement on meeting their Neters for the first time.
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|
NEW ONLINE WORKSHOP |
3 Week Online Class Series
Easily to participate by telephone and email.
All sessions recorded so you don't have to attend "live."
Starts January 18, 2014
This online workshop is for you if:
* you have ever been diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness
* you love someone who is going through surgeries or treatments for a
serious illness
* ever wonder how you can deal more creatively with the myriad of
difficult feelings that accompany an unexpected journey such as cancer, MS, Alzheimers, heart disease or other illness
* would you like to get out some scissors, glue and magazine pictures and
give image to this Unexpected Journey that has claimed you
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DREAM PACKAGES |
We've bundled up some of our fabulous KaleidoSoul
offerings into some nifty little packages designed
just to save you money!
Visit this page for more info now.
Available for a limited time only
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JOIN THE ONLINE COMMUNITY
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Upcoming SoulCollage® Retreatss
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PENNSYLVANIA
Sacred Visioning: The Art of Exploring the Mythic
Self
Bangor, PA
May 1-4, 2014
Facilitators: Cat Caracelo MA and Catherine Anderson
Step into a transformative 'art & life' journey with Cat and Catherine!
On Beltaine and May Day, a potent time of welcoming a new season of
growth, gather with us for a powerful four-day journey where you will
explore your deep mythic rivers, stories of your life and connecting to
your mythic self; surrounded by the energies, symbols and sacred
landscape of the Celtic traditions, we will journey with labyrinth,
tarn, stones and circles. This is an all-inclusive retreat, with single
or shared on-site accommodations and all meals. You will explore and
create with individual and group process, experiential creative and
instructional breakout sessions, exploration using SoulCollage®, mixed
media, photography and more. Early Bird Pricing & Easy Pay Plan
Visit this
page for registration information.
PORTUGAL
A SoulCollage® Retreat: Springtime in Portugal
Algarve, Portugal
May 22-28, 2014
Facilitators: Kat Kirby, Linda Woolfson
Join us in beautiful Portugal for a week of SoulCollage®! Enjoy Monte
Rosa, a peaceful retreat center set on 10 acres of colorful gardens and
natural beauty overlooking the Portuguese countryside in the Algarve. We
will have the entire retreat center to ourselves for the week, and we'll
be able to enjoy the beautiful swimming pool and sun terrace, as well as
gardens and pathways. In addition to making SoulCollage® cards, doing
readings, and learning new journaling techniques, we will enjoy
delicious meals together, visit one of the most beautiful beaches in the
area, and spend some time in a local pottery village absorbing a
time-honored tradition of Portuguese culture.
Contact Kat Kirby or Linda Woolfson for more information:
Kat4clay@gmail.com
linda@collageyourlife.co.uk
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Soul Songs Back Issues -
Read back issues of Soul Songs on
.
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 websitee
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 2013,,
by Anne Marie Bennett and
Cat Caracelo, Imelda Maguire,
Kat Kirby, or Catherine Anderson.
Articles may be reprinted by permission only.
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Soul Songs
KaleidoSoul Notes
