Let the Crayons Out of the Box: Lesson #7 SoulCollage Welcome to Week 7 of Let the Crayons Out of the Box and a brief introduction to SoulCollage. Do you have a big pile of images you have saved in the closet or under the bed that you have been waiting to figure out what to do with? Do you love making vision boards and other types of collage? Then you will love SoulCollage : a process which begins as simple creative fun, but which suddenly may surprise and awaken you! Learn how to access your intuition and create an incredible deck of cards with deep personal meaning that will help you with life s questions. From the first moment I learned about SoulCollage, I knew I was hooked - it combines everything that I love in one magical process. Art, creativity, self-awareness, journaling, meditation and personal growth are all part of working with your SoulCollage deck. I have dozens of decks of cards that I play with on a regular basis - angel cards, fairy cards, goddess cards, animal cards. I now focus on using my personal SoulCollage deck. There is something so powerful about SoulCollage and creating a deck of cards to give voice to all the different aspects present and working in my life. At a time in my life when I am focused on creativity, self-expression and self-acceptance, SoulCollage has been a blessing! Creating a visual smorgasbord of all the different part of me has allowed me to honor and accept them including the aspects that cause me stress or that I don t like, like the image below of women stuffing their face: been there done that. Today s introduction is going to be very brief but I will tell you how you can learn more a bit later on.
Images have a way of bypassing the chatter of our logical minds and nudging our deep soul wisdom where intuitive answers can be found and spoken. - Seena Frost, founder of SoulCollage. According to the founder and creator of SoulCollage, Seena Frost, "SoulCollage is a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards - each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the collage cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in selfdiscovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between your personality parts, you and your family/community/world, and you and your dreams, symbols, and Spirit." excerpt from SoulCollage.com SoulCollage is not only fun, creative play for me, it has also been a very powerful addition to my spiritual practice, my daily journaling practice and my ability to see, acknowledge and accept all the different aspects of my personality as guides and teachers on my path. I also use SoulCollage in my private coaching practice with clients. It's a great way to visualize where you are you stuck, what you need to celebrate and whom you want to honor in your life. Here s what you need to get started: 5 pieces of Mat board cut into 5x7 pieces (ask your local craft store to cut them for you and if they have scraps available.) If you cannot get mat board, cardstock or large index cards could be used. I love creating recycled art, so cereal boxes or other thin cardboard could work as well. Magazines, printed images and photographs Scissors (small scissors are great for creating SoulCollage cards.) Glue sticks I am not going to go into too much detail in this brief introduction but know that a deck of SoulCollage cards has 4 suits, very similar to a deck of playing cards. Those 4 suits are called: Committee Suit Community Suit Council Suit Companion Suit
For the purpose of today s lesson, we will focus on the Committee Suit and you will create a set of 5 cards to represent different aspects of your personal character or life experiences. The Committee Suit represents the psychological dimension in our deck of cards. You will make cards to honor the inner parts of your personality by identifying, naming and finding images to represent the various voices or ego states of yourself. Another name for this suit could be the Inner Family. Note: each card should only represent one aspect of your self. For example, if you decide to make a card to honor your inner child, you would not create a card with an angry child and a happy child on the same card these are two different energies. Below is an example of two cards of mine that represent different energies from my childhood. Step one: Collect all of your supplies Step two: Decide which cards you would like to create. Below is a list of ideas for creating Committee cards. I encourage you to create both a negative and a positive card(s). Part of healing is to acknowledge, honor and accept all aspects of our selves.
Committee Characters Usually Seen as Negative or Bothersome The Critic (of self) we all have this one to some degree The Judge (of others) we also all have this one The Wounded Child The Rebellious Child The Perfectionist The Nag The Bitch The Bully The Procrastinator The Whiner The Blamer Etc. Committee Characters Usually Seen as Positive The Happy Child (make a card for this one as it is in there somewhere.) The Grateful One The Curious Kid The Lover The Loyal Friend The Writer, Poet, Storyteller, Artist, Chef, Dancer, etc. The Volunteer The Generous One The Comedian The Mother The Daughter The Wife The Business Woman Etc.
Step three: Grab your magazines and start looking for images that capture the essence of these different aspects of yourself. Step four: Carefully cut out the images, cutting them away from their backgrounds and placing them on your cards. You can see in the sample cards throughout this handout how I have layered images on new backgrounds. Step five: Once you have completed your set of cards or even one card, grab a pen and journal or some paper and answer the following questions. In the SoulCollage process, we always allow the card to speak. It s a type of role playing where we allow the energy of the card to speak to us and share it s wisdom using the statement, I am the one who... It takes some practice but you will get the hang of it! Journaling questions. Begin the answer to each question with I am the one who Who are you? What do you have to give me? What do you want from me? How will I remember? What is your shadow side? What is core meaning of this card, it s essence? These questions using the I am the one who model may seem a bit odd at first, but will become more comfortable if you choose to continue working with SoulCollage and creating your personal deck of cards. Resources for learning more about the origins and process of SoulCollage: SoulCollage Evolving by Seena Frost www.soulcollage.com Private classes via Skype with Dr. Minette Riordan. Email for more information: Minette@minetteriordan.com