SCDC - Week 8 - Universal Connections

Over the past several weeks, we have been working on creating a SoulCollage® deck as a deep and beautiful form of personal exploration and soul tending. Starting with our inner Committee and then moving on to our Community and Chakra Allies, we've looked at the many beings within and without who shape and guide our lives. This week, we turn to the fourth suit in the SoulCollage® deck, the Council Suit, to discover the archetypal dimension of our selves.

Reading Overview

Chapter 8 of Seena Frost's book, SoulCollage: An Intuitive Collage Process for Individuals and Groups, describes the Council Suit of the SoulCollage® deck, which is comprised of the various archetypes that guide our lives.  Like the Companion Suit, the Council Suit unites our personal stories with the larger, Universal Story.  Although the SoulCollage® process is unique and individual, it becomes difficult to truly discover our own stories without stepping back to see the universal archetypal patterns and symbols whose energy influences our lives.  

The term archetype was coined by Carl Jung, who defined the concept as  "the existence of definite forms in the psyche which seem to be present always and everywhere [in] our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature... as well as in a collective, universal, impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals." Archetypes are ancient metaphors; universal visual symbols and individual energetic imprints that have tremendous power in guiding our lives.  By exploring the archetypes that are present in your life, you can learn to read your personal mythology and strengthen the bond between your conscious self and your spiritual center.

Learn and Reflect

What archetypes are present in your being?  Keeping in mind that we only have  limited control over the guidance of archetypes and that they choose us, think about the recurring patterns and images in your life. According to Caroline Myss, author of Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential  "you have been encoded with a set of 12 primary archetypes. Four of these are universal archetypes related to survival: the Child, Victim, Prostitute, and Saboteur. We all have these because they are vital to our growth and functioning as adults. The other eight are drawn from the vast storehouse of archetypes dating back to the dawn of human history." 

You may want to learn more about archetypes before you start to look for images to create your Council Suit cards.  Chapter 8 of Seena Frost's book, SoulCollage: An Intuitive Collage Process for Individuals and Groups provides a list and descriptions of various archetypes.  The links below will also help you to learn more about the various kinds of archetypes and how to discover which play a role in your own life.

• Caroline Myss - Archetypes - a series of articles about archetypes including a detailed description of over 70 archetypes and exercises to help you discover your own. 

• Janet Boyer - Introduction to Archetypes - a good overview of archetypes and links to a wealth of related articles. 

• Listology - archetypes list 

Process

Because archetypes are both universal and personal, there are a variety of ways in which you can discover those that "belong" to you.  I've listed just a few suggestions to get you started.

• Create the space you need to allow your intuition room to expand and be free.  This could mean setting up a physical area in your home where you will create your cards as well as setting the environment that puts you in a receptive, creative place.  You will know what works best for you!

• Spend a few minutes meditating on your intention to allow your intuition to guide you.  Tell your Inner Censor to be still as you begin the important work of discovering and naming your Archetypes. Silently go through magazines and other image sources and select images that call to you. When you've finished gathering images, see if any of them represent one of your archetypes.

• You may want to use relaxation techniques to achieve a trance-like state of deep relaxation.  Once in this state, allow your imagination to travel freely, noticing how you feel about the beings, places and objects that you see. You may want to journal your experience when you "return" and use that to guide your card-making.

• Another way to discover your archetypes is through dream work.  Before going to sleep each night, ask an archetype to appear.  Be prepared to engage whatever archetype appears in some kind of communication. You may even ask it how it has shaped your life thus far and what role it might play in helping you attend to unfinished business.

• If you are having difficulty with the visualization or dream process, you might want to try simply observing what you already know about yourself. Are there particular myths or fairly tales to which you've always been drawn? Are there certain kinds of people who make you feel either weak or strong?  What words do you use to describe your identity in relation to your role in society, your relationships, your work and even yourself ?  

• FInally, look at what you already have.  Are any of your Committee, Community or Companion Neters also an archetype?  Often, the Neters in the other suits have an archetypal aspect to them.  You can certainly make a Council card to honor the archetype that comes trhough in your other cards..
  

Whichever method you choose to discover your Council, it is always helpful to journal the experiences.  The more you learn about your Council, the more meaningful the card creation process will be. 

Share

• Are there any images or cards you would like to share?
• What did you discover in this weeks process? 

When you're ready to share, post your static link below, and don't forget to leave a comment as well! 

Looking Ahead

Let us take the next few weeks to continue our SoulCollage® discovery process in whatever ways call to us.  This means engaging in the  process in any way that feels right: gathering images, creating cards for any suit, creating cards that don't seem to fit anywhere, journaling and so on. Starting June 7, I will post a monthly theme that you can use as guidance and inspiration for your SoulCollage practice. I will provide a space each week for you to share your links, thoughts and questions.

Have a beautiful and creative week!

Namaste,

Comments

[isay]

here's wishing you a wonderful week carla. by the way, do you think its a good idea for me to laminate my cards?

[carla]

Thank you, Marissa! I wish you the same:) You can laminate your cards to protect them from all the handling. You can also buy clear bags with self-adhesive flaps from clearbags.com I like the bags because they don't bubble when you put them on, although laminating would have the same smoothness.

[wildeve]

Hi Carla, I have finally gotten some cards made and I'm posting them ever so slowly on my new blog, wildeve's art pages, which I created mainly for this purpose. I know I will be involved in this process for a long time, and my pace is very slow. Maybe I need a snail card for one of my animal helpers!

[wildeve]

i was trying to figure out how to post my link- I'll try just pasting it here: i have satrted a blog for my Soulcollage cards and other art work.