by Andrea Thüler

For 20 years, I have worked with a small group of women once a month; together we explore all the issues in our lives. For the last few years we have also spent some nice time with SoulCollage®. Yet, despite my repeated attempts at explaining, they have questioned the meaning and the power of the four Suits over and over again. Regardless of how I explained the Suits, they still didn't seem to grasp the concept. So I was really challenged to find other metaphors to make the Suits visible for them.



Recently, this  metaphor just happened to fly into my mind as I watched a trapeze artist:



Imagine a beautiful, colorful circus tent, big enough for all your SoulCollage® Neters.

Mask of the Mask, Committee Suit by Andrea Thüler I Am One Who sees the mask of the mask. I Am One Who knows when it is appropriate to wear a mask and when it is time to take it off.

Behind the curtain are the Performers - all the various roles we play in life, our inner voices, behaviors, talents, shadowed and light Neters, and so on. These comprise our Committee Suit, the Psychological  Dimension. The show they present, at any given moment when we consult them, is determined by our particular situation, our current phase of life, our overall life purpose or destiny, our conditioning, and our challenges. The Performers who are right for any particular show step into the circus ring and play their parts: clowns, ring card girls, directors, animal tamers, acrobats, jugglers, knife-throwers, magicians, musicians, dancers, elephant riders, and many more. The workers in charge of all the materials and objects the artists need are part of the Committee Suit as well.



Around the circus ring is the Audience, the sentient individuals who form

	Performing Couple, Community Suit by Andrea Thüler  We step into the limelight with charming poetry and jolly music. We have so much fun and flirt happily with our audience.

our Community Suit - friends, family, and others in our social surround, including companion animals, particular places that are special to us, and individuals we do not know personally, such as public figures whose being influences our world - the Social Dimension. These individuals react to who we are and what we do; they applaud and support us, inspire, mirror, and teach us; they may criticize us, walk away, or love us. Sometimes they are invited to step into the ring. Their reactions to us shape who we understand ourselves to be. When all goes well, they encourage us to be who we are.

Heart Chakra, Companion Suit by Andrea Thüler I Am the Leopard of your Heart Chakra, One Who is connected with all beings -- small and big, young and old -- with love, respect and curiosity.

The Energetic Dimension, the (Chakra) Animals, travel with the circus and greatly influence our schedules behind the scenes, because they need to be fed and trained, cared for, and loved. Sometimes they step out into the ring, come to light and are seen and heard. They are our dear Companions Suit Neters, representing the instinctual energies that keep us alive. Although, in the circus animals are trained to do mostly what humans dictate, our Chakra Companions often guide us wisely to a whole, well-rounded life.





It is the Council Suit, comprised of particular archetypes (universal patterns in human experience), that speaks to each Soulcollager most strongly and is represented by the top of the tent itself, where the ropes and cables come together in a circle, providing the framework for the tent and secretly connecting the circus with All That Is. There are the flags that show the archetypal image representing the enterprise, the lights that illuminate the show within, and the spotlights that guide visitors to the site and make us visible. These behind-the-scenes structures are what make the circus possible.

	SoulCollage®, Council Suit   by Andrea Thüler I Am SoulCollage® with my four Suits, a brilliant star in Indra's Net, holding all these creative colorful threads weaving around the world.

This metaphor helped my group to understand the Suits more clearly, and their Neters immediately began to tell them in which Suit they belonged! It was fun to discover who plays what role in the circus of one's life. Strong and deep discussions followed about the roles and the invisible archetypal cords leading, guiding, and challenging us. One of the ladies held her SoulCollage® Deck in her hands and said, "This is the circus of my life!"



I offer this story to encourage you to find your own metaphor that helps you understand in which Suits your cards belong.









Andrea Thüler is an artist, a licensed art therapist (blending SoulCollage®, Aura Soma® and Emotional Freedom Technique), a SoulCollage® Facilitator since 2011, and a SoulCollage® Trainer since 2015. Since 1994, she has guided sacred wilderness journeys, teaching people to read and speak the language and art of mother nature, whose messages are hidden in daily life. Visit Andrea online here or here.

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Introduction to the Fundamentals of SoulCollage® with Mariabruna Sirabella