Saturday, October 11, 2008

Community Suit: Autumn

I am one who brings mystery and magical moments. I am one who brings laughter and joy. I am comedian. I am imp. I am drama. I am fey. I am superhero . I am innocense. I am the present.

My gift to you is in the purity of the moment. At any given time I enjoy the now. My gift to you is acceptance and love where you are and how you are. My gift is in the smiles I bring.

I want you to strike a pose for the camera, be a chameleon and change depending upon what brings you pleasure. Be a superhero, a princess or a black-belt. The importance is the journey. It is not the broken board that is fulfilling - it is in the journey towards the breaking. Enjoy the journey.



Community Suit: Alyssa

I am the first born daughter of the first born daughter of the first born daughter of the first born daughter. I am the gift. I am one who changed you deep from within your soul. I am one who was unexpected but much needed. I am the interruptor, I took your life on a new course. I am the rays of sunshine that explodes through the dark clouds. I am one who loves you without question. I am one who yearns for your time.

My gift to you is in the simplest of forms. My gift is the warmth I give by a smile, a warmth that begins deep in your center and spreads throughout. I am a sassy toss of the head and the purety of all that is good. I bring a gentle breeze and soft touch. I bring the beauty of a dance and a radiant smile. My gift to you is in mirroring back the lessons you taught in mothering.
I want you to recognize the value you passed down from mother to mother and see the harvest which sprang from small seeds you planted. I want you to be freer in your choices and not hold back because of me. I want you to be spontaneous and dance across the room. I want you to hold sacred "family" and be the safety net.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Committee Suit: Nonna Grandmother

I am Nonna - Grandmother Energy. I am the one who peers into the spirit of the generations tht come after me. I am one who pours out love with open arms to the children of my children. I am one who loves color and revels in my differences. I am one who passes the acceptance of those differences down to the children. I have seen much and have learned from life. I live without rules and push the boundaries.

The gift I bring to you is in the freedom of fewer constraints. One does not always need to follow rules and be who society says one needs to be at any given age. I give you the gift of taking risks and exploring out of the box. I give you gifts of wisdom to know when to let go and enough pure love to give away.

I want you to pass on those spirit-ful and soul-ful important nuances that need to be passed to the generations to come. At times it is good to eat chocolate before dinner and talk to fairies after hours. There is a place for dancing with bare toes in the field grasses and for drumming around bonfires. I want you to sidestep the old constraints of what society says that age should bring. You decide what fits you at any age.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Committee Suit: The Masked Self

I am the one who protects you. I am the one with stilted face, showing a careful persona created for the world. I am one of many colors and shapes, the yin and the yang, both soft features and chiseled ones, the face of refinement and yet primal and raw. I am one of many masks, each one created with love and born of experience to shield the vulnerable you.

My gift to you is adaptability. When sudden changes take place, I help you to forge ahead and handle them. I give you the chameleon's gift, one that enables you to travel in many circles. I also give you protection when your wounded center is being attacked for with me draped around you, your attacker is confused and they only harm the outer shell.

I want you to build your strength while I protect you, but also view what is behind the mask. Delve deeply and understand the center and know the masks remain at your disposal when you next need them. but I want you to need them less often with each healing.

Transpersonal Card: The Watcher

I am one who sees all that transpires. I am one who sees you in all your moments of humanness. I witness with innocence. I witness with wisdom. I witness from a primal place. I watch with quiet stillness, never judging, never responding. I merely am a record of what is.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Council Suit: The Mirror

I am one who reflects all. Within me you see within you. I am one who either stands as truth, or I can be a mirage hinting at what is real. At times the reflection is merely a distortion influenced by the state of your spirit. At times I am the one who reflects the simplicity of black and white thinking. I can only reflect what you are willing to see.

My gift to you is the opportunity to explore within. I expose you to multiple choices and give you insight based on what you see internally. I reflect back to you what you present to the world and the truth that lies within. My gift is awareness.

I want you to delve within the many faces reflected back to you. I want you to see the distorted views and how they are connected to the self. I want you beware of the images others drape over you and uncover the false images to see the accuracy of your own truth within. I want you to have compassion for those who live with their own distorted images and know the mirror visits all.

Council Suit: Crone Celebration

I am one who celebrates the stepping over the threshold into cronehood to welcome aging. I am one who is rising and taking flight from the drowning state you were in. I am the one who ages with silent wisdom and who has seen more than I would have wished for. I look behind me and notice a sea of history and look ahead and see the time shortening. I move beyond the past longing into celebrating each day.

My gift for you is in honoring the aging process as well as the wisewoman within you. I bring the gift of losing the need to conform in order to fit in. I give you the strength to draw on your wisdom to pull yourself out of the flood and take flight. I give you the gift of retrospection and wisdom to live in the now.

I want you to have the freedom to bounce from black and grey to color. I want you to peel away restraints as you age and paint your toes red. I want you to embrace the mourning and sadness when there is need and then celebrate life and the strength that comes from the seasoning of experience. I want you to pass on the wisdom to the maidens that come after you, to share the gift of your insight that comes from experience. I want you to revel in your sageness as crone woman.

The process of SoulCollage®

When I first discovered the process of SoulCollage® , I was attending an annual women's retreat in Arizona. As a professional artist, the workshop description of a creative collage experience really piqued my interest, particularly as it was focused on exploring the self - something very familiar to me. I had never heard of SoulCollage® but within the few hours of the workshop, I knew it touched me deep within my soul and spoke to me in a way that was a natural, creative companion to my journaling, writing, and self-discovery work. Working with these small creations, I leave the behind the world of the rational mind, concrete logic and the need to strive for perfection and I step into imagination, poetry and imagery as the process takes wings.

SoulCollage® is a unique process developed by therapist Seena Frost over twenty-five years ago which takes symbols, images, spiritual practices and reflection on archetypes to create small artistic collages that illustrates one's story. Each card is very personal and represents portions of one's journey, yet is also creative and fun to do as a group with others. Quiet reflection combined with the intuitive process of creating these collages opens up yet another world of expression as one taps into an inner knowing and journal the words, prayers and inspiration that arise from this process.

With this process, a deck of artistic cards is created - small collages that represent your personal mythology and the many aspects of your very self, your soul, and all the guides and companions that walk your journey with you. Each "suit" represents one of the following facets of your life: a part of your personality, people who support you, an animal that has special significance to you or a mythical or religious figure which guides you. Anyone can make these cards and there is no artistic skill needed. By "paying attention" to your life, the images from various ordinary magazines and other published works will almost choose you.

This blog was created in order to share my collages with students, family and friends that are interested and eager in begining this collage and journalling process.


- Debbie Cannatella