SoulCollage® Community Update
November 2019
SoulCollage® Evolving Book Study
Chapter 15: Individual Work With SoulCollage® Cards  
 By Lisa Handley
  
In Chapter 15 of SoulCollage® Evolving: An Intuitive Collage Process for Self-Discovery & Community, Seena Frost encourages us to continue individual SoulCollage® work with an ongoing practice of gathering images, adding new cards to our decks, and drawing "Neters-of-the-Day" to consult (p.130). To maximize our cards' potential to be powerful tools of personal reflection, discovery, and guidance, it is essential to "Make Time To Create Cards," as Seena's Chapter 15 subtitle advises. Equal in importance to making cards is taking time to explore and contemplate our Neters' meanings and messages.

Cancer Survivor
(Committee Suit)

by Lisa Handley

I Am One Whose cancer journey has been a catalyst for unforeseen gifts. I Am One Who has a greater awareness for the precious gift of life itself.

I first discovered SoulCollage® in the Healing Art Retreat program at my local hospital while receiving treatment for a rare form of blood cancer. Collage has always been my favorite medium, but the realization that my collage work could have a profound impact on my emotional and physical well-being didn't emerge until my cancer experience and introduction to SoulCollage®. Due to my anxiety in medical situations, my blood pressure often escalated when I first arrived at the Cancer Center for an infusion. I brought art supplies with me, and once I began collaging a card, the nurses were surprised at how quickly my blood pressure returned to a normal level. Expressive art and SoulCollage® became sources of strength, solace, and healing during a scary and unsettling time in my life.
 
I continued to collect images, make more cards, and draw Neters for guidance as Seena advised. As I delved more deeply into my personal practice, I was amazed by how perfectly SoulCollage® aligned with my longtime love for collage, and pursuit of mindful living. I became so passionate about the process that I trained as a Facilitator in order to personally and professionally share this passion -- and inspire a similar passion for SoulCollage® in others!

Our ongoing individual work can contribute to personal wellbeing and ripple outward to the wellbeing of our communities and our world. We can think of it as the One process and its Many beneficial possibilities! When we continue to expand and work with our Neters, they can offer us an unlimited supply of inspiration, motivation, encouragement, support, self-awareness, personal growth and transformation, guidance, stress relief, healing, profound insight, perspective, and sometimes just simply enjoyment. I am grateful for experiencing all of these benefits in my individual work with SoulCollage®.


Incubator: Inner Healer
(Council Suit)

by Lisa Handley

I Am One Who protects the womb of well-being. I Am the incubator's vigilant caretaker, tending the birthing spot of healing and growth.

Making a Card for the Inner Healer
(p. 133-134)


Seena recommends that everyone create a Council card for the Inner Healer archetype who can assist us in our own self-care and achievement of "better physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health" (p. 133-134).

My Council card for the Inner Healer archetype was made intuitively and was initially mysterious and vague in its expression. Mysterious Neters may require a greater amount of attention and coaxing to divulge their wisdom. My understanding of The Incubator gradually unfolded over two years, as I began to sense its healing nature when drawing this card in different readings. The defining moment of confirming this card's true primary energy as the Inner Healer archetype was an "aha" revelation that occurred as I was considering which cards to share with this very article!
 

Working with Health Issues
(p. 134-136)


Each of the four suits can include Neters with the capability either to support or to sabotage our health. By making Committee cards for our illnesses or health challenges, and giving voice to our hurting, suffering parts, we can explore their stories, struggles and needs. "We can learn to call on the energy of certain Neters in our deck to lead us back towards a healthy balance" (p. 134).

My Cancer Survivor Neter has helped me acknowledge and accept this reality as one of my Committee parts. This card provides me with a sense of strength and empowerment, and its background gives me a visualization of healthy red blood cells.

Meanwhile, there are many Neters in all four suits of my deck that support me in maintaining a healthy outlook. For example, The Nectar Collector, a Companion card (my root chakra's Zebra companion), reminds me to collect and cherish life's healing "nectar" for safety, stability, and a strong inner ground.

Nectar Collector (Companion Suit, Root Chakra Zebra) by Lisa Handley

I Am One Who collects, savors, and shares each drop of nectar for body, mind, and spirit. I Am One Who provides sustenance for your soul's foundation.

 
Finding Themes and Patterns in Clusters of Cards (p. 142-143)

The practice of periodically laying out all of our cards and reviewing them for themes, patterns, and connections can be fascinating and revealing. We may learn "something about [our] unique SoulEssence" (p. 142). Seena suggests reviewing one's entire deck on a birthday or on New Year's Day. I have found each seasonal Solstice or Equinox to be another occasion conducive to this practice.

With my tendency to be detail-oriented, I am constantly searching for connections among my cards. After a four-card reading, I typically take a second look at all the Neters together and jot down in my journal any common themes or patterns. I often find synchronicity among all four cards, such as a dominant color or shape, the same object (moon, for example), or animals that share features such as wings or the sea as their habitat. I also review my journal writing and underline or highlight connections among the different Neters' responses to my question. These techniques enable me to uncover another layer of wisdom, or to distill the main message of the reading into an easy-to-remember short phrase or mantra.

Chapter 15 also covers many other possibilities for using SoulCollage® in individual work including prayer and meditation, psychotherapy, addiction, nonverbal communication, poetry, and the ritual of laying out all our cards and "singing over the bones" (p. 144). I recently started transforming some of my journal writing into poetry, and "singing over the bones" is on my list of personal goals. The possibilities for enjoying the evolution of our SoulCollage® practices are endless!


Lisa Handley trained as a SoulCollage® Facilitator in March 2014 and offers workshops on the Monterey Peninsula in California. She is also a collage artist and instructor for both children and adults, and she handcrafts her own line of Plumeria Papercraft designs. Lisa facilitates and teaches at Pacific Grove Art Center, The Carmel Foundation, Papillon Center for Loss and Transition, The Lyceum of Monterey County, and Community Partnership for Youth.



It's so convenient to have your cards at the ready and on your phone or iPad. No matter where you are, you can pull cards, do readings and save your readings with notes for future reference.



Author: Ann H. Hughes

Discover how to catch, with grace, whatever Life throws your way and turn it into personal treasure. In this book, the author offers to let you catch her sense of curiosity and adventure and shares how we can use SoulCollage® to make energy magic, heal our pasts, get our lives unstuck, flow with change, all the while on a journey of deep inner exploration.




Comes as a set of 3 bright, beautiful, and useful SoulCollage® conversation starters!  



Your SoulCollage® Cards: Keys to Transformations

SoulCollage® Facilitator Trainer and Art Therapist, Audrey Chowdhury, M.S., ATR-BC, takes your SoulCollage® experience to another level in clearly and convincingly explaining the importance of adding structure to your SoulCollage® deck through founder Seena Frost's recommendation of discovering each card's Suit.

Watch this video!
From the SCU Archives
Read Self Care in Difficult Times by Jeri Bodemar in the October 2018 SoulCollage® Community Update Newsletter 
Want to take the Facilitator Training?
Purchase and download this recorded video course  - - Fundamentals of SoulCollage® with Kat Kirby - - to start your SoulCollage® deck or to prepare for the Facilitator's Training.

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.
if a Training is listed as " FULL", please connect with the Trainer to  be put on  
the waiting list for a particular Training or a mailing list for future Trainings.
  
November 6-10, 2019 - Anne Marie Bennett
USA Massachusetts (Westfield) Genesis Spiritual Life Center in English  - INFO & REGISTRATION  THIS TRAINING IS FULL.  WAITING LIST IS AVAILABLE.
November 7-10, 2019 - Bronwyn Shaunessy
AUSTRALIA NSW (Patterson)  in English   - INFO & REGISTRATION 
November 13-17, 2019 - Mariabruna Sirabella, MFT
USA California (San Juan Bautista-St. Francis) in English  - INFO & REGISTRATION  
November 14-17, 2019 - Mirabai Kolari
USA California (Burlingame-Mercy CenterWe)  in English  - INFO & REGISTRATION 
December 5-8, 2019 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC
USA Arizona  (Carefree) in English - 2KatStudios - INFO & REGISTRATION  
December 9-13, 2019 - Anne Marie Bennett
USA Massachusetts (Westfield) Genesis Spiritual Life Center in English  - INFO & REGISTRATION 
February 27 - March 2, 2020   Colleen Haggerty
USA  Washington (Bellingham) in English  -  INFO & REGISTRATION
March 6-10, 2020   Marcia Chadly
USA   Colorado  (Westminster) Creative Life Center  in English  -  INFO & REGISTRATION 
March 18-22, 2020 - Linda Woolfson
UNITED KINGDOM Surrey (Lingfield) in English - INFO & REGISTRATION
April 19-23, 2020 - Kat Kirby, M.Ed., ATR-BC
USA California (Los Angeles) Hilton LAX (dates tenative) in English - EMAIL for INFO  
May 9-12, 2020 -  Lucy Schaaphok 
THE NETHERLANDS ( Groesbeek ) in Dutch - INFO & REGISTRATION
May 27-31, 2020 - Jennifer Boire
CANADA Ontario, Arnprior  (Galilee Center)  in English  INFO & REGISTRATION  
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*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 taking at least one introductory SoulCollage® course, reading SoulCollage® Evolving by Seena B. Frost and listening to her CDs: Introduction to SoulCollage® and  Facilitating SoulCollage® in Groups.

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INFORMATION FOR THERAPISTS

CEs (up to 24) may be available
 for the SoulCollage® Facilitator Training 

Information on SoulCollage® as a therapeutic method:


Some SoulCollage® Facilitator Training events may be able to award CEs to LMFTs, MSWs, LPCs, nurses and psychologists  in many states (but if so, only by pre-arrangement with your SoulCollage® Trainer.) Please inquire about the availability of CEs for a particular Training or a particular license or a particular state by writing to your Trainer. Most Trainings offer them, but not all.
Before attending a Training, we want you to read SoulCollage® Evolving by Seena B. Frost, to have a SoulCollage® basic 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.
© 2006-2019 by SoulCollage Inc.

SoulCollage Inc., PO Box 8051, Santa Cruz, CA 95045
Editor-in-Chief: LeAnne Nesbitt
Executive Editor: Gina Maguire
Associate Editor: Katherine L. Ziegler


The opinions expressed in the SoulCollage® Community Update are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent SoulCollage Inc. Authors retain the copyright to their individual articles. Please send feedback and questions to info@soulcollage.com.