Labyrxth SoulCollage® Demo
Opening the Circle
Whenever I facilitate SoulCollage®, I invite my cards to tell me about what's important to remember and to include. Later, we'll talk about ways of consulting your cards, but for now, Welcome! Here's where my cards invited me to direct my intentions and attention. It's a huge resource to have a deck to consult in this way... Soon, if you don't already, you, too, will have such a trusted set of advisors :)
The SoulCollage® Map
Darshan: Seeing and Being Seen
SoulCollage® stems in part from some really old, fundamental magic that says, Images have the power to hold qualities that we wish to be reminded of at times of distress and disorientation, The gaze of a beloved / sacred image can remind us of our wholeness, even when we are feeling broken, or the world is telling us that we are worthless.
An image can remind us and reorient us, when we are lost. An image can hold space for us to explore the edges of the known, with a lifeline back to safety.
Many religious traditions carry some version of this belief. In Hindu practice, it's called darshan (Sanskrit, an opportunity or occasion of seeing a holy person or the image of a deity.)
An image can remind us and reorient us, when we are lost. An image can hold space for us to explore the edges of the known, with a lifeline back to safety.
Many religious traditions carry some version of this belief. In Hindu practice, it's called darshan (Sanskrit, an opportunity or occasion of seeing a holy person or the image of a deity.)
I Am One Who...
One of the first steps towards working this image-magic is to practice letting images speak. In SoulCollage®, we often use the starting prompts,
I am one who... or
I am the one who...
...I need
...I bring
...as invitations to shift out of everyday, making-a-webpage mode of consciousness, into an empathic, expanded state of awareness that allows knowing and curiosity.
At the intersection of my awareness and the image above, here's what that expanded awareness sounds like:
I am the one who is plump from good springtime eating. I am the one whose little hands brush aside river silt to find what I am looking for. I am the one who can swim beneath the surface and who can walk on land. I am the one who migrates and is vulnerable. I am the one who needs protected waters and deep forests to live. I am the one who brings wild sweet depth to life.
Before, I may have thought, Oh, that's a nice picture. Now I have some deeper sense of what this image might mean from a soul-perspective.
You might say I've received salamander-darshan.
I am one who... or
I am the one who...
...I need
...I bring
...as invitations to shift out of everyday, making-a-webpage mode of consciousness, into an empathic, expanded state of awareness that allows knowing and curiosity.
At the intersection of my awareness and the image above, here's what that expanded awareness sounds like:
I am the one who is plump from good springtime eating. I am the one whose little hands brush aside river silt to find what I am looking for. I am the one who can swim beneath the surface and who can walk on land. I am the one who migrates and is vulnerable. I am the one who needs protected waters and deep forests to live. I am the one who brings wild sweet depth to life.
Before, I may have thought, Oh, that's a nice picture. Now I have some deeper sense of what this image might mean from a soul-perspective.
You might say I've received salamander-darshan.
The Three Transpersonal Cards
Every SoulCollage® deck is different and eventually every deck includes some version of the above three Transpersonal cards.
These serve the important function of holding space for all the others.
Tonight we'll take the opportunity to play around with making one or more of these cards.
Some additional hints:
These serve the important function of holding space for all the others.
Tonight we'll take the opportunity to play around with making one or more of these cards.
Some additional hints:
- Often people's Source cards are very simple - one image to hold them all
- SoulEssence carries the quality of "in this life, I showed up in the world to..."
- Witness has a clear-seeing, nonjudgmental quality
Getting Started with Making Cards
STEP ONE
Lay out a supply of printed images without text. Let your hands, eyes, intuition rove among them. Which ones are you called to? Pull them aside.
Your choices don't need to make any kind of intellectual sense.
STEP TWO
Begin to think about which ones feel more like worlds/backgrounds, and which ones feel more like inhabitants of worlds. As a card starts to come together, discern which world you are drawn to make, and who lives there. Try to keep things somewhat simple - no more than 4-5 elements to a card. Why? Because otherwise it's possible to futz around so much that the initial, clear message of the card gets obscured.
STEP THREE
Use a SoulCollage® frame (totally optional, but can be handy) or simply trace around your card, so that you can cut your background/world image(s) down to size. Cut around your inhabitant image(s) and play around with where you want them.
STEP FOUR
It's good to cover the whole card in some way. Why? Because then you are looking into a complete world.
It's also good not to go beyond the edges of the card. Why? Because eventually you'll be doing readings, and it's good for all the cards to be neutral from the back. Also, the boundary of the card's edge helps keep contents contained.
STEP FIVE
Use your glue stick to tack down the layers and parts of your card.
STEP SIX
if you're using plastic sleeves, slide your new card in. Amazing!
Traditionally, the three Transpersonal Cards don't speak because they are Too Big. Maybe that's so for yours, and maybe not. For all other cards, you would move on directly to
STEP SEVEN
Invite this card's Neter (a word from ancient Egyptian spirituality that means "god," or a part of the whole soul) to introduce themself, using
I am one who... or
I am the one who...
...I need
...I bring
Write down the responses you receive.
Some people keep theses writings in the plastic sleeves with their cards. Some people keep indexed notebooks for this.
Lay out a supply of printed images without text. Let your hands, eyes, intuition rove among them. Which ones are you called to? Pull them aside.
Your choices don't need to make any kind of intellectual sense.
STEP TWO
Begin to think about which ones feel more like worlds/backgrounds, and which ones feel more like inhabitants of worlds. As a card starts to come together, discern which world you are drawn to make, and who lives there. Try to keep things somewhat simple - no more than 4-5 elements to a card. Why? Because otherwise it's possible to futz around so much that the initial, clear message of the card gets obscured.
STEP THREE
Use a SoulCollage® frame (totally optional, but can be handy) or simply trace around your card, so that you can cut your background/world image(s) down to size. Cut around your inhabitant image(s) and play around with where you want them.
STEP FOUR
It's good to cover the whole card in some way. Why? Because then you are looking into a complete world.
It's also good not to go beyond the edges of the card. Why? Because eventually you'll be doing readings, and it's good for all the cards to be neutral from the back. Also, the boundary of the card's edge helps keep contents contained.
STEP FIVE
Use your glue stick to tack down the layers and parts of your card.
STEP SIX
if you're using plastic sleeves, slide your new card in. Amazing!
Traditionally, the three Transpersonal Cards don't speak because they are Too Big. Maybe that's so for yours, and maybe not. For all other cards, you would move on directly to
STEP SEVEN
Invite this card's Neter (a word from ancient Egyptian spirituality that means "god," or a part of the whole soul) to introduce themself, using
I am one who... or
I am the one who...
...I need
...I bring
Write down the responses you receive.
Some people keep theses writings in the plastic sleeves with their cards. Some people keep indexed notebooks for this.
Next Steps
Honestly, the best Next Step is to keep making cards! If you make one a day for the rest of your time with Labyrxth, you'll be well on your way to having a deck. You don't have to know which Suit / why / anything at all. Just: keep making cards and letting them talk to you.