Greetings, and welcome to Soul Songs, the official KaleidoSoul Newsletter, focusing on SoulCollage® ideas, resources and cards.
Our intention is to fill each issue (and your life) with inspiration, soul-solace and delight. Whether you are new to SoulCollage®, or already immersed in the creation of your deck, Soul Songs is for you!
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any friends, colleagues, or family members who will enjoy it.
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Hi! I'm Anne Marie, the creator of KaleidoSoul.com, and a SoulCollage® Facilitator in Massachusetts and worldwide online. This column is all about presenting ways to get your soul singing with the deep, wide, wonder-full process that is SoulCollage®. |
I “met” my Inner Homebody several years ago when I realized that every time I left home for a few days or a week, I was feeling incredibly anxious before I left and while I was away. I didn’t recognize this energy because in the past, I had really enjoyed traveling, leading large events in other states, and retreating far away.
One time when I was leading a SoulCollage® retreat, I noticed this anxious energy up for me and I sat down with my journal. I didn’t have the above card yet because I didn’t know what Neter was causing my distress. So I did some question-asking of this Neter to find out what it was thinking, feeling, and wanting.
And that is how I came in touch with my Inner Homebody! She told me that her name was Hannah, and she really, really missed being at home whenever we were away. She missed her cats and her own bed and the sacred living space that we had created over the years. She was worried that people back at home would forget to feed the birds, water the plants, and let the cats in and out. The bottom line was—she wanted to feel safe.
As I got to know her . . . as I listened to her in my journal, I was able to breathe deeply with her, and reassure her that I understood her feelings. I also was able to introduce her to a few other Neters in our Inner Family (Super Facilitator and Vacation Traveler). They were all willing to make space for one another, and Hannah Homebody got more comfortable with being away, which lightened her anxiety. (As you may have guessed, Hannah Homebody was delighted to not travel during the pandemic!)
I’ve noticed that the older I get, the more I enjoy being at home, and the more reluctant I am to leave. I am learning to let that be what it is. I did my share of traveling all over the country for my job when I was in my thirties, and now I’m in a place where I am working from home and enjoying it more and more!
After that journaling exercise several years ago, I gathered the images and made the card that you see above. Now, whenever I’m getting ready to go away—for one night or several—I make some time to reassure Hannah Homebody that I understand her and that I will be taking care of her (and things back at home) while we’re away.Once she knows she has my attention and compassion, she feels safe and ready to go.
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Putting It Into Practice
Do you have an Inner Homebody who sometimes gets in the way of your desire to travel (for work or for pleasure)? Consider having a chat with that Neter. Ask who it is, what it needs, how you can help it.
Ask it if it is aware of some of your other Neters who want to spend time away. See if you can facilitate a conversation among them. Create a card to honor your own Inner Homebody.
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Anne Marie Bennett is a SoulCollage® Facilitator / Trainer, published author, website goddess, and two-time cancer survivor who was mentored directly by Seena Frost. In 2005, she fell in love with SoulCollage® and was inspired to use her professional experience along with web technology as a means to serve the world by putting SoulCollage® "out there" in a really big way with KaleidoSoul. Anne Marie lives in eastern Massachusetts with her middle-aged husband, one adolescent feline, and a treasury of birds, squirrels and chipmunks who keep them hopping. Her other books about SoulCollage® are available here.
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90-minute SoulCollage® Zoom
with SoulCollage® Facilitator
Anne Boedecker from Massachusetts
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Date: Sunday, August 22, 2021
Time: 4 pm Eastern
Easily Accessible from Anywhere in the World!
Using SoulCollage®, along with Joanna Macy’s transformational process in her book, Active Hope, we’ll explore ways to activate hope within ourselves so that we might affect change—no matter how small—in our own corner of the world.
$10 for non-members
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Dear SoulCollage® Friends,
I’m Marti Beddoe from Illinois. I’m a SoulCollage® Facilitator, meditation teacher, spiritual guide, and writer. Early in this incarnation, the Neter of the Lonely Outsider sent me on a lifelong quest to find my Home and my Home People. Like many humans, finding my Place of Belonging has been essential. Thanks to the past 16 years of practicing SoulCollage® and many other healing modalities, this quest has resulted in a wonder-filled sense of belonging and a harmonious wholeness of soul and psyche. I wish for you the same healing sense of being at Home in the world.
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You are part of Life, not apart from Life.
~ Swami Pranananda
What is Home to you? A place, a space, an abode? The homeland of your ancestors? A feeling? Another person or a group of people?
"The Oneness of the Many" by Marti Beddoe
Recently I attended the memorial service for Ruth M., the 102-year-old matriarch of my son-in-law Doug’s family. She was mother of 9, grandmother of 24, great grandmother of 29, and great-great grandmother of 2! Clearly, from the many stories told, Grandmother Ruth and her tiny country home served as the happy abode, the welcoming hearth, and the heart and soul of this huge family.
Doug wondered what the future would hold without his grandmother Ruth who was “the glue” of the family. It was clear to me that her legacy was alive and well, as evidenced by the many generations who came to honor her. Ruth’s genes were reflected in the similar twinkling blue eyes, distinguished noses, infectious laughter, and shared memories of her spirited personality. The Home that was Ruth will live on in her Home People, her descendants.
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. ~ Maya Angelou
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The pandemic’s isolation forced me into a reluctant solitude in which I worked with my SoulCollage® deck more often and more earnestly. In the unwelcome solitude, I discovered a new intimacy with my soul and a brand-new understanding of Home and Belonging.
Transpersonal SoulEssence, Marti Beddoe
Then one day, meditating on my SoulEssence card, Grace struck. The old, constrictive, and false sense of separation dissolved! In that moment, my SoulEssence card, though silent, revealed a truth that had been hidden for most of my seven decades:
When I am able to attune to my SoulEssence, that unique spark of the Divine assigned to my soul, I am Home at last! I belong at last! Just like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, I know there is no place like the Home of my soul. I see my Home People with the eyes of Grace.
Attuning to SoulEssence, I know that Home is within me, not outside of me. I know that notions of separateness and not belonging are illusions. I know my place of Oneness among the Many. I know that while I feel at Home with my Home People, I do not need to rely on them for belonging. I know why and what I came here to do.
I know that I am part of Life, not apart from Life. I know that my lifelong quest for Home is complete. I belong to myself and that is enough.
I Am One Who is her own Home.
Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey. ~ Tad Williams
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Putting It Into Practice
Bring out your journal, a pen and sort through your deck.
- What do your cards reveal about Home and Home People?
- What does your SoulEssence card reveal about Home?
- What do your cards tell you about where you feel most at home?
- What is the Essence of Home for you?
- Did the forced isolation and solitude of the pandemic shift your relationship to Home and your Home People?
- Are there cards that you’d like to make to honor Home and your Home People?
Here are some resources to expand your awareness about Home and Belonging:
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Since 2007, Marti Beddoe has been a SoulCollage® Facilitator and meditation teacher in the Kriya Yoga lineage. She is Founder of Designs for Peace, a service offering practices to support lives of Meaning, Joy, and Beauty. Her "The Beauty Way of…" essays, consider the mysterious Beauty of various Neters. You may Subscribe here at the bottom of this page. You'll receive a fr*ee Harmony Self-Assessment.
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Here are some of our readers' cards on the theme of HOME. |
Home
Community Suit
Dot
Pennsylvania
I am one who sheltered you and Kay for more than a decade of your life together. I am one who provided a comfortable space where Kay could be safely cared for while she lived with dementia. I am one who was surrounded with beautiful plants and green space, creating a sense of being in the woods though part of a town and metropolitan area. I am one who required more resources than you could manage after Kay transitioned into Spirit, causing you to downsize significantly. I am one who still holds a sense of “home” in your heart.
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Home
Committee Suit
Constance
Virginia
I am the one who has created my own solace, a cozy balance between faith and logic.
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Goddess of the Hearth/Home
Council Suit
Jo
Australia
I am one who holds a sacred space full of hope that ALL may have a safe, warm, comfortable home. I am one who holds your dream for a new home in the near future, one that includes the creative space and proximity to Nature you yearn for. I am one who reminds you to keep enjoying where you are in the present and remember the things you love about it.
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Homeplace
Committee Suit
Jann
Iowa
I am one who nurtured and shaped your father. I am one who now exists only in memories and stories but is imprinted on your heart.
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Home State
Community Suit
Dot
Pennsylvania
I am one who is a Pennsylvanian through and through, who has lived here for all but 3 of my 70 years. I am one who has lived in six Pennsylvania towns. I am one who grew up learning about my state’s history and visiting many of the places shown on this map. I am one who claims and names Pennsylvania as my home.
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The Homemaker
Committee Suit
Kimberly
California
I am one who uses loving hands and a soft touch to create a warm, accepting sanctuary for my family.
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Please feel free to submit one of your cards for a future issue by sending a reply email to this newsletter.
Future themes include:
September: Trust
October: Martyr
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Noteworthy resources for anyone interested in SoulCollage®
KaleidoSoul - Spinning the fragments of your world into wholeness and beauty through SoulCollage®.
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KaleidoSoul
Kindred Spirits
Accessible * Affordable
Relevant * Inclusive
180+ SoulCollage-Focused
Audios/Videos
Only $34 for a full year
right now
with coupon code
AUGUST
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ONLINE SOULCOLLAGE® ZOOM SERIES with ANNE MARIE
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September 11 – October 16, 2021
During this series of four 2-hour Zoom workshops, we’ll use SoulCollage® and a variety of other processes to explore our relationships with our bodies. We’ll explore this topic through discussion, card making, journaling and card readings as well as looking at and working with some of our Inner Committee voices.
We’ll be meeting up with an Animal Companion and listening to their wisdom for us. We’ll dive deeply into our chakra energies as well.
And all along the way, we’ll be changing the way we talk and feel about our bodies so that we’re embracing ourselves with constant kindness and compassion.
All Zooms recorded so you don’t have to participate “live.”
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OTHER ONLINE CLASSES YOU MIGHT ENJOY |
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Writing and Recording Guided Imagery Meditations
with Facilitator Glenda Cedarleaf from North Carolina
Work at Your Own Pace - This is a 10-Day Audio Course with Glenda Cedarleaf, MSW, CHt SoulCollage® Facilitator. The course helps you tap into your own inspiration and explore any blocks you may have, so that you can activate this wonderful, impactful, creative process for insight and healing. You will learn about the types of guided imagery, how to set up a home recording studio, and much more. This audio series is offered on Insight Timer. The first class is fr*ee, after that it’s 19.99 for all 10 lessons!
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What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?
with Facilitator Susan Nutting from New Hampshire
September 5, 2021 Coincidence? Wise Advice? Bad instruction? Everyone loves cracking open their fortune cookie at the end of a meal. In Amy Tan’s 1989 novel, The Joy Luck Club, two Chinese immigrants find themselves stuffing fortunes into cookies and discovering the fortunes are not so much wise as “bad instruction.” What do you think? What will you find inside your fortune cookie? Join us in a 2-hour Open SoulCollage® Studio as we open a fortune cookie and create a card to explore the message inside! Your $15.00 participation fee is gratefully appreciated. Visit this page for more information.
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Suit Your Self: The SoulCollage® Quartet of Inner Wisdom with Facilitator Michele Manos from California
Starts September 19 - Seena Frost designed SoulCollage® to include four Suits, whose voices guide us with distinct perspectives to reflect our wholeness. This series will help you discover how to get the most from your own deck. You’ll learn various approaches to organize your Neters into helpful, cooperative categories. You’ll also develop new perspectives and enthusiasm for the Suit structure, and find fresh ways to create, interpret and listen to your cards. This journey is perfect for any new or experienced SoulCollager who seeks to further incorporate the Suits in their practice. Facilitators will build new foundations to share the magic of the Suits with others. Kindred Spirits save $10 – Use your special coupon code. Visit this page for more information.
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Just look for whatever SoulCollage® topic you are interested in,
and read to your heart's content!
SoulCollage® is a trademarked process created by Seena B. Frost.
For more information about Seena and the origins of SoulCollage®,
SoulCollage® cards are made either from one's own art or from images found in materials which have been bought by or given to the SoulCollage® card maker. These collaged cards are used only for the cardmaker's own inner exploration. SoulCollage® cards are not sold, traded, bartered, or copied (except as a back-up for the cardmakers own use) as is stated in the "Principles of SoulCollage®."
Where SoulCollage® cards are available to be seen by others, it is for the purposes either of demonstrating the SoulCollage® process or of sharing the cardmakers' inner process in the context of community. SoulCollage® is grateful to the artists and photographers who make this deep awakening process possible and in all ways SoulCollage® seeks to be respectful of their rights.
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All articles in SOUL SONGS are copyrighted 2021,
by Anne Marie Bennett, Cat Caracelo, Linda Woolfson,
Marti Beddoe, or Michele Manos.
Articles may be reprinted by permission only.
Image of singing birds Copyright: Kudryashka from Deposit Photos.
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