SoulCollage� has been an important part of my life since I discovered it in 2011, so it was natural to use the card making process prior to and throughout the journey of my pregnancy. Before I became pregnant, I made several cards about wanting to conceive and being frustrated that my husband wasn't ready, cards with titles such as "Let's Do This," "Let It Flow," and "Union."
 

I had been charting my cycle for months and found it was closely aligned with the cycle of the moon, so when I read about the traditional notion that a pregnancy is ten moons duration, I was quite taken. Once we conceived, I decided to make a card for each of these ten moons.

It was surprising how revealing and raw these cards were. They became a necessary routine, not only to mark the passage of time and growth, but to process the huge emotional shifts I was undergoing. I would often sit with the cards and wonder at the subconscious changes I had been through each month that were apparent in the colors, images, and shapes.

Of course I already knew that SoulCollage� was a powerful process that often reveals feelings that are under the surface, but I was shocked at how much was under the surface in pregnancy. The cards revealed my anger at being invaded, at losing physical and mental space. Fresh memories and connections to my family of origin and childhood resurfaced, feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness. Making and consulting my cards helped me remember the sacredness of pregnancy--which is easy to forget in the nine long months of aches and complaints and feeling so physically overwhelmed.

Reflecting now, two years after the journey began, I see what an amazing cycle pregnancy is. It loops you back to where you started, to the threshold. But you are transformed, like returning from a labyrinth or spiraling around an orbit that is constantly moving forward.

I often pull these cards in my readings and they still hold so much, more layers of meaning for this new parenting cycle we are in. For instance, the second moon card, "Implantation," often shows up to remind me to surrender to the inevitable in parenting: to be soft and expansive in the face of relentless demands and fatigue, to remember that usually all that is needed is time and space, and to hold the memory of being the infant who was mothered with love as I now take my turn mothering with love.

Whether the journey is rocky or smooth, SoulCollage� is always a wonderful source of wisdom and solace. It helps me to know that the community of SoulCollagers� around the world are feeling and holding and processing along with me.

Our daughter Astrid Grace was born in March 2014 in the early hours of the morning just before the full moon. It was a gentle physiological birth at home. The final moon card, "Holding," taught me about being the container for our family of three, how my role as mother is to be the open heart that holds and allows change and growth. I see that this set of ten cards also holds and contains us: the visual history of our story, our transition to parenthood, and the shape of our love for each other.
   

 
Emily Morter, M.Ost works as an osteopath and doula. Her passion for hands-on healing informs her specialty, the health of pregnant mums, babies and children. She has had beautiful experiences with collage for birthing and being support person at four births. A mother herself now, Emily is experiencing all her learning from a personal perspective. Visit her at www.emilymorter.com.au.