SoulCollage, Sound Bath & Breath Meditation: All Very Pagan

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey held an event hosted by the Thrive Team titled “Joy and Connection.” I have this great SoulCollage card that I made there and great memories.

The program began with the Rev. Charles Loflin, an affiliated community minister, reading a poem to open up the event. Then we gathered for the sound bath. It was not typical but, due to space we had to sit up. Then following the sound bath we broke into three groups. The first group was titled, “The Power of Gratitude.” “ Finding the Joy Within” was the second and the third was “SoulCollage.”

After that group work, we broke up for bagels and coffee. Then we wrapped up the event with three breathing meditation exercises. These also are very relaxing. I didn’t expect someone to be burning sage and cleansing us all before we started, but I was pleasantly surprised. Then again, it’s a UU congregation, not sure why I didn’t. Always expect the unexpected. I wish we started with the cleansing, it would have helped my mind focus more so than it did.

The breathing exercises were meditative and fulfilling. Even though I only did the slow breathing ones I got a lot out of it. We were told to only do what we believed our bodies are capable of doing. It was not recommended for those with heart issues or asthma to do active breathing. I believe a friend of mine sat out on that part as well and continued with the slow breathing.

Art for the soul

Back to SoulCollage. For those of you who haven’t tried a SoulCollage yet or just heard of it, do it! And for those of you who seem a bit dumbfounded, visit the website soulcollage.com and learn about this craft. You don’t have to be an artist to glue paper clippings together. You just need a set of scissors, a glue stick and a 5×7 cardstock. The plastic sleeve is really nice but in a budget constraint not necessary. Now of course to actually call it a SoulCollage you need to train in the program.

Apparently, you can do these cards often and collect them. This part I did not know about until we had this session. You can pull different aspects of your life at random. Sometimes, they are not random, there is a focal point. Then pull them and do a reading. No, not a Tarot reading, though if you ask me there is a relation. The founder of SoulCollage Seena B. Frost (1932-2016) does not see a relationship. However, as a Pagan, I do. The cards speak to you, they tell you who you are at that moment.

The cards have four suits: Committee, Community, Companions and Council that give the image to many parts of our world. Additionally, there are three cards that are transpersonal: Source, Soul Essence and Witness. These cards help give an image to the one. This is a self-discovery process.

While we keep these cards and they become a deck, unlike Tarot, there is no set number of cards. Anyone can do these, however, we shouldn’t teach others unless we are trained. I am not teaching but briefly describing this process that took shape for me.

In the many magazine clippings we were given to choose from, I found a pic of my inner self, an otter. This happened to be a pic of a sea otter. The otters in either the sea or river are dear to me. My elders gave me that name, they said the otter represents me well. Boy, were they right. For starters I carry a stone on me at all times. Oh, and I love fish and the ocean or um water in general.

As the ambitious one that I am, I did both sides of the 5×7 cardstock that we were given. This was not my first SoulCollage. I always do both sides of the cardstock. I was never told not to, so why not? According to our instructor, we can only do one side. As I strongly believe, nothing is set in stone, rules can be broken. There is no legitimate reason other than the creator’s rule that we can’t do both sides. For me both sides make a great deal of sense. The reason: the paper that describes your creation goes in the back and you seal it.

I live a complex life, I work two unrelated jobs. for starters. I am both a Druid and a Unitarian Universalist. My family doesn’t even know that I am Pagan. They barely know that I am a UU, they think that I’m Catholic who attends the congregation. I serve on the Board of Trustees for the congregation. So both sides only make perfect sense to me. This is a matter of opinion, I don’t suggest we all do it this way. And with that, the front became my back for that matter.

So the meaning of both sides of my card might be very different or similar. Both sides had fish on the card, they both had a blue theme. The new front had a sea otter as its main focal point while the back had a shark. The back also had a ship which to me means I need to “travel.”

SoulCollage is a really good project, something I may have our CUUPs group, Sacred Wheel, do one day. Of course with an instructor, hopefully the one who led ours at UU Montclair.

Oh, and the cool thing is the person who led this SoulCollage workshop is a member of my congregation. She is starting a SoulCollage Covenant group at UU Montclair. Depending on the time and where it is, I am planning to attend.

So all these aspects are Pagan friendly and I encourage all to try. All of these help you grow on your journey, both mentally and spiritually.

So, go learn more about these and have fun doing so.