soul collage

By Anne Marie Bennett

Daily SoulCollage Reading- 090811

Today I am feeling a bit lonely and separatedĀ  from my SoulCollage Facilitator community. Today is the first day of the 4th International SoulCollage Facilitators’ Conference in Baltimore, MD, and I am not able to be there because of the health issues I’ve had this summer.

I am especially feeling lots of strong emotion right now because I worked for almost 2 years as co-chair of the Planning Circle team to bring this Conference to life, and today is the day that everyone is gathering for lots of SoulCollage workshops, ceremonies, learning, fun, joy, camaraderie and blessings of community.

So I drew two cards from my deck this morning to see what they had to share with me.Ā  As usual, I got just what I needed!

 

Person huddled in orange blanket, fire, white/clear vases in background

Untitled SoulCollage Card

I am the one who is warm, who is basking in the glow of the fire and flames in front of me. I am the one who is wrapped in the fiery color of orange, the color of heat and life and joy.Ā  I am the one who is standing in front of vases and containers made of milk glass and clear glass.Ā  I am the one whose back is turned to the fragile glass containers.Ā  I am the one who is focusing on the heat, on the light, on the fire.

My message to you today is this: Even though you are alone, you are wrapped in the soft blanket of community warmth and spirit.Ā  The fire you are focusing on is the same fire that those at the Conference are focusing on: the fire of passion for this process (SoulCollage) and this community.

Keep your back to that which is fragile and self-contained and will easily shatter.Ā  Keep yourself wrapped in this blanket of joyful community and warm fire. You are not alone, never alone. Just keep the focus where it should be.

 

Crow Woman


Crow Woman

I am the one who is surrounded by crows- one is on top of the Book of All Knowing.Ā  Many are flying in heart formation beside me. And I have warrior painted crows on my face and neck and chest.Ā  I am the one who is adorned with, surrounded by and infused with Crow Medicine, Crow Energy.Ā 

My message for you today is this: Crow is your Animal Medicine of the heart chakra.Ā  Take some time today with sit with Crow as you meditate. Invite Crow into your imagery this afternoon.Ā  Listen to what Crow tells you. Listen to what your Heart tells you.Ā 

I know that you are feeling lonely today because you are not at the conference with everyone else. The secret to lifting this feeling of loneliness is to acknowledge it, welcome it into your heart. Crow symbolizes community and in your heart, know that you are connected to this SoulCollage community in the deepest, most visceral of ways.Ā  You are not alone, dear one, you are part of Crow Tribe also.

Daily Reading- 8/30/11

Divine Child

 

As some of you know, I have had an emotionally and physically tumultuous summer (and that’s putting it mildly).Ā  At the end of August I finally started doing my Every-Other-Daily readings again and here are theĀ  two cards that showed up for me.

Very comforting and enlightening!

 

Divine Child:

I am the one who is full of simplicity and joy.Ā  I am the one who is held by the Mother.Ā  I am the one who brings gifts.Ā  I am the one who is comfortable in my nakedness.

My message for you today is this: Smile. Notice what gifts you are carrying in your arms.Ā  Allow yourself to be held by Great Mother.Ā  Rest. Go to the ocean and sit. Smile again.

Journeyer

Journeyer

I am the one who moves forward, no matter the weather.Ā  I am the one who sometimes sits and rests and thinks about the Journey.Ā  I am the one who makes my own trail.Ā 

My message for you today is this: Journey is not always about movement. Sometimes you need to pause and rest and give yourself time and space before moving on.

 

Time in a Bottle

I am the one who is running out of time. I am the one who knows that I don’t have all the time in the world.Ā  I am the one who is afraid that I can’t get everything done in time.

I am the one who has so much to do and to share with the world and not enough time to do it. I am the one who tries to capture time and save it, hoard it, hang on to it because I think I can control it better this way.

My message for you today is this: Pay attention to your relationship with time. You are hurting yourself with your attitude towards time. Time keeps ticking on, even if you hoard all of the clocks in the world into locked jars and cabinets.

 

This card is one that I made several years ago and it accurately reflects exactly how I feel about the passing of time.Ā  Sometimes I look at it and think that the large image of the woman in the top right corner might be the Keeper of Time, but whenever I read from it, I tap into the energy of the sadness of time passing. So here it came to me again, last week, in one of my daily readings, and after I had just gone on at length in my journal about how there is so much to get done, and how am I going to get it all done..etc. You know the drill!

I find great comfort in this card, even though it seems to remind me of my powerlessness in the face of Time.Ā  It helps me to remember that time is just a mental construct, and that as long as I keep myself in THIS moment, right now, that is all that matters.

And when I CAN do this… stay in the present moment…. then I find deep peace, and my worries and fears about getting everything done (or not done!) simply fade away.

Balancing Light and Dark

I love it when a card comes together like this… a balance of one energy with another. I really had no idea what it was while I was making it…. and it’s taken me several months to actually sit down with it and see what it has to say.

In a card like this one, I found it helpful to do “I Am The One Who…” from the points of view of all three of the beings on this card.

I am the one who is looking forward and up, who is reflecting light back. I am the one who is outlined in light. I am the one who is opening my arms as if to embrace whatever it is that I am seeing. I am the one who is emerging into the light from a white wrapped and tied package. I have been covered, wrapped and tied and hidden away and now I am escaping into the open.

I am also the one who is walking into a new open door, going from the bright light into the darkness.

And I am the one (lower left corner) who offers this to you as a gift: it is a lovely balance, this work that you are doing- going from darkness into the light and from the light into the darkness. It is all necessary and it is all good. And the light is with you in all places.

Lately, I have been identifying more and more with the archetype of Persephone, and because of this I am more comfortable now with the concept of going into those darker places.Ā  It’s all a matter of balance!

Hestia- Goddess of the Hearth

I madeĀ  this card years ago and always thought of it as my “sacred space” card, but then I listened to Kathryn Antyr’s KaleidoSoul tele-class this month and learned quite a bit about the many Goddess archetypes.

I took the Goddess Quiz on the site that she recommended, and discovered that my own top three personal goddess archetypes, expressing themselves in my life right now are: Persephone, Artemis, and Hestia.

After reading more about Hestia on the recommended site, I suddenly realized that I already have a SoulCollageĀ® card for her, and this is it!

I am thinking that I MIGHT have one for Artemis as well, but I have to sit with that a while longer before sharing because I’m not entirely sure.

NOTE: If you are a Kindred Spirit Member, you can listen to Kathryn’s tele-class in the Members Only Audio Library.Ā  If you’re not a Member yet, what are you waiting for? Visit this page for more info.