Typically SoulCollage cards are made on matte board to make them sturdier. They are 8 inches by 5 inches. If this is a format you like, fine. If not, choose your own format. Nothing about this process is set in stone. You make what you want to make of it. What ever works for you, go for it! If you like the sturdiness of the matte board but have a hard time working at that size, make the collages larger. Then make color copies of your collages shrunk down to the size of the card. Or, maybe you like the size of ATCs. These seem to me to be too small for most images I would want to use, but they may be perfect for you.
SoulCollages are very simple. They are basic collages with images with no extra adornments, no special techniques. They are basically gluebook pages (if you are familiar with that term) on matte board. They are not intended to be final, polished pieces of art. Depending on the topic, they may not be pretty. They may not be well composed. The are just a collection of images that represent a part of you or your world.
Seena Frost created four suits or categories to use for SoulCollage cards. She says that some people don't use all four suits, others have created more suits to use. Again, go by what feels right for you.
Here are Seena's four suits:
The Committee Suit
The cards in this suit represent your own inner qualities or parts of your personality. They may be positive, negative, or neutral. Some examples of cards in this suit are cards that represent Perfectionism, Artist, Fear, Worry Wart, Critic, Self Care, etc. To think of some cards that may be appropriate for you to make that belong in this suit, think about the traits you are most proud of. Then think about traits or behaviors that get in your way. These are all traits that deserve a card.
Here's an one of my Committe cards. I call it Curious One. I am curious about many things. This card shows just a few things I'd like to learn more about. Because curiosity is a major part of my personality, I made a card to represent it.
The Community Suit
These cards contain images of real people and pets in your community. They can be friends, family members, heros, people you admire, mentors, teachers, and even pets. The people/animals you include can be living or dead. They can be people you know or people you have never met. One card could represent a group of people -- like a support group, an organization, your friends from high school, etc. The only type of person you should not include in this suit is someone who is toxic for you. When you make these cards, choose images that will capture a person's/animal's spirit, energy, essense, or will remind you of what you honor in this person.
This is one of my Community cards. I created it in honor of my brother, Stan. I didn't include a photo of him on this card because I don't have a good photo of him. He loved taking pictures, but he hated having his picture taken. He loved science, especially astronomy, and science fiction.
The Council Suit
This suit represents more abstract figures/ideas that have a lesson for you. They represent archetypes that appear throughout literature in many cultures. These are ideas/traits/themes that are bigger than yourself, that are beyond your sphere of personality traits. For example, you may have a Mother card in your Committee suit that represents your role as a mother and your mothering traits. You may have a completely different Mother card in your Council suit that represents the larger image of worldly mother. Other types of cards you may have in this suit are ones that represent Death, Birth, Healer, Crone, Fool, Creator, etc. Use images from spiritual stories, mythology, or fables that speak to you on a deeper level. This suit of cards represent the spiritual realm and the collective unconscious.
I often seek the wisdom of Mother Nature, so I made a council card for her.
The Companion Suit
This suit is limited to 7 cards -- one for each of the 7 chakras or energy centers in your body. These cards you will likely make in an intentional way. You can meditate on one of the chakras and watch for images to come to you. Then look for these specific images when making your card. You may have an animal come to you for each of these cards. A good summary of the chakras and their meanings can be found at Meaning Of Life.
I made this Companion or Chakra card for my throat or voice chakra. Dogs have been my companion for many years. They, in my opinion, are excellent communicators. They are persistant. They will not stop bugging you about what they want until they get it. They are who they are. There are never any masks or attitudes to see beyond with dogs.
You'll also notice a peacock in this collage. An important part of my voice is self expression through art. A peacock was how I chose to represent this since they express themselves in such a colorful way.
Other Suits
Soul Collage cards can be used in whatever way is helpful to you. If another way of sorting these would be more helpful, go for it. If you want more suits, here are some that other people have used and found helpful: Dreams, Spirit Guides, Values, Passions, Life Journey.
I haven't made enough cards to know if another suit would be helpful to me. But I have a feeling as I create more cards, something else will surface that I'd like a special suit for.
This is the basics. It's really all you need to know to make SoulCollage cards. There are no rules when it comes to expressing yourself. Do what feels good to you and you'll create an amazing deck of cards that represents all the amazing facets of you!
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 11
Love. RiTa
Peace,joy,
Anne marie
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seerseeker/