SoulCollage� Community Update
March 2016    
Romancing the SoulCollage�
by Anne Marie Bennett


It is the relationship with the card that counts, not how good the art is.

~ Kylea Taylor
 
Inner Romantic
by Anne Marie Bennett

I always tell the people in my classes that the whole point of SoulCollage� is not to be creating beautiful works of art, although I like to quote Will Rogers when I say I never met a SoulCollage� card I didn't like. I truly believe that every SoulCollage� card ever made, is being made right now, or ever will be made in years to come, is beautiful, simply because it reflects a bit of a person's soul.

Maybe now you're wondering what the point of making the cards really is, if it's not to be creating beautiful art. Well, my friend, I will tell you. We make SoulCollage� cards in order to create deep relationship with ourselves. And in the process, we sometimes also create deeper relationships with others and with Spirit.

In the long run, we are making meaning, not making art. We are creating relationships, not just collages.

A new SoulCollager recently stood in front of my deck, reverently running her fingers over the many cards contained in the beautiful box. I watched her for a while. Now and then, she would pull one of my cards out and hold it in her hands, gazing at it with a smile on her face. Sometimes her brow would crease into a frown. After she had flipped through both stacks of my cards, she turned to me and said, "You have so many cards. How can you possibly remember which one is which?" I smiled then, because I remember wondering the exact same thing when I first saw a huge SoulCollage� deck, with no words on the back of any of the cards to delineate their meanings.

I replied, "I do remember each and every card, because each one is an integral part of me, even if I don't know what it means yet. I usually can remember when I made it. If not the exact year, then I remember what was happening in my life around the time that I made it."

Anne Marie Bennett's SoulCollage Deck

She was still puzzled until I added, "As I create each card and then work with it, I'm developing a relationship with it. That's what the I Am the One Who ... process is all about. When we journal with a card, we are beginning and then continuing a relationship with it. It's just like when you meet someone new, a potential romantic partner or friend. You ask the person questions to begin to get to know them, and then the relationship continues. There is give and take. You learn something new about them every time. It's like this with our cards, too. We are giving image to parts of our inner and outer worlds, and then we're developing relationships with them."

Unlike a flesh and blood intimate relationship, you don't have to romance your cards by bringing them pretty bouquets of flowers. You don't have to take them on romantic trips to B&B's by the ocean or even buy them expensive jewelry. You just have to be there for them when they need to say something. You just have to ask them how they're feeling, what they need, and how you can care for them.

Time for Reflection
If you have a large deck, spend some time this week with your cards. Take a quick glance at each one. Do you have a relationship with each of your own cards? Can you remember what was happening in your life when you made most of them?

If the "romance" between you and your cards seems a bit lacking, spend some real time in the next few weeks starting to develop a relationship with one of your cards. Try sitting down with the cards and your journal, and doing the I Am the One Who ... exercise with each of them.

SoulCollage� Resource:
Please visit here for more information about journaling with one card at a time.

This essay was reprinted with permission by Anne Marie Bennett from her new book, Through the Eyes of SoulCollage�.

Anne Marie Bennett is a writer, self-taught artist, 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 serve the world by putting SoulCollage� "out there" with her website, KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, an elderly dog and two adolescent felines who keep them all young.
Doing Readings with SoulCollage� & The Transpersonal Cards CD
Doing Readings with Your SoulCollage� Deck, an essential part of the SoulCollage� process, is the joy of tapping into one's intuition to answer current life questions. The visual images that we have glued onto cards and named as our guides, allies, and challengers, will now help us access deep knowings in ourselves. Using the signature "I Am One Who..." SoulCollage� exercise, people are often surprised at the synchronicity of the cards they draw, and by the wisdom of their answers.
Watch this video for inspiration!
Watch this video for inspiration!


Keep your SoulCollage� cards with you when you store and back up your deck on your iPhone or iPad. Do readings anytime, anywhere. This is a powerful program designed to facilitate your personal practice of SoulCollage�.
From the SoulCollage� Blog:
Read Seena's article about the four Suits in SoulCollage�
SoulCollage� Zippered Tote

A well-designed, perfectly-sized tote to safely carry what you really need. It beautifully identifies you as a proud SoulCollager.  Perfect for use as a go-bag for work, babies, pets, or the beach. Great for short SoulCollage� trips to groups or workshops. Get a few!
From the SCU Archives:
Read Sandra Nelson's article from the April, 2014 SCU issue:
The Language of the Soul
Purchase and Download a recorded video course
To start your SoulCollage� deck or to prepare for the Facilitator's Training, see this class on the Fundamentals of SoulCollage� with Kat Kirby.
 
You will receive an overview of SoulCollage�: the Suits, Transpersonal Cards, history of the process, and examples and discussions.  A 16-page handout to be used for your own SoulCollage� practice is included as well as two videos and two audio files of the interactive course. The Fundamentals of SoulCollage� course is a pre-requisite for the SoulCollage� Training.


UNITED STATES


March 31-April 3, 2016 - Mariabruna Sirabella, M.S., LMFT  & Sue Gelber  
California (Los Gatos/Santa Cruz area). CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

March 31-April 3, 2016 - Catherine Anderson  
North Carolina (Charlotte) - Catherine Anderson Studio. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

April 14-17, 2016 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC 
Massachusetts (Westfield)  

May 20-22, 2016 - Audrey Chowdhury, M.S., ATR-BC 
Illinois (Springfield)

June 9-12, 2016 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC  
California (Lake Elsinore) Pine Manor 2KatStudios

June 23-26, 2016 - Roberta Rook, LCPC 
Maryland (Marriottsville) Retreat and Conference Center at Bon Secours 

July 1-3, 2016 - Diane Karen Born  
Oregon (Portland) Garden Room - EMAIL TO REGISTER

August 4-7, 2016 - Catherine Anderson
North Carolina (Charlotte) - Catherine Anderson Studio - CLICK HERE FOR INFO  

August 12-14, 2016 - Diane Karen Born
Ohio (near Columbus) Deer Creek State Park - EMAIL TO REGISTER

 
INTERNATIONAL

March 17-20, 2016
- Andrea Thler, Art-Therapist FMH
SWITZERLAND Bern (Atelier Indigo) - In German - EMAIL TO REGISTER

April 21-24, 2016
- Linda Woolfson , M.A., Ph.D.
UNITED KINGDOM Stroud (Hawkwood College)

April 23-26, 2016 - Lucy Schaaphok 
GERMANY (Horn-Bad Meinberg) Hanover - In German - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER 

April 28-May 1, 2016 - Mariabruna Sirabella, M.S., LMFT
BRAZIL Recife - In Portuguese and English - EMAIL to register

May 7-10, 2016 - Lucy Schaaphok
The Netherlands Groesbeek  - In Dutch - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

ITALY Orvieto (Terni) - In Italian - Contatta 

FRANCE Bornel (Picardie/Paris) - In French and English - EMAIL TO REGISTER

GERMANY Bayern (Allg�useminarhaus N�he Isny) - In German - EMAIL TO REGISTER 
  
October 13-16, 2016 -   Catherine Anderson    
SOUTH AFRICA Ixopo(KwaZulu-Natal) Buddhist Retreat Center

October 20-23, 2016 - Linda Woolfson,  M.A., Ph.D.    
PORTUGAL Cascais (Hotel Baia) In English with Portuguese translation - EMAIL TO REGISTER

October 21-23, 2016 -
Mariabruna Sirabella, M.S., LMFT  
CANADA Ontario (Guelph) - In English - EMAIL TO REGISTER
   
 

*No degrees or certificates are required to attend the SoulCollage� Training. The purpose of the Training is to prepare people to share SoulCollage� with others.  The pre-requisites for  the SoulCollage� Facilitator Training are your own active practice of SoulCollage� and your enthusiasm for sharing it with others, as well as reading SoulCollage� Evolving by Seena B. Frost and listening to her CDs: Introduction to SoulCollage� and Facilitating SoulCollage� in Groups.

Before attending a Training, we want you also to have a SoulCollage� workshop experience with a trained SoulCollage� Facilitator or listen to a recorded class Fundamentals of SoulCollage�, make some cards, do the exercise, "I Am One Who...", with your cards and do some SoulCollage� Readings, letting your cards answer at least one of your questions.