Becoming a certified SoulCollage® Facilitator in Italy

My SoulCollage® journey started in the summer of 2018 when I discovered the book by Seena B. Frost, and began creating my own deck. Little did I know that a year later I would call myself a certified SoulCollage® Facilitator!

I was fascinated and delighted by the way my collage art was turning more and more into a spiritual practice (see my blog post about discovering SoulCollage®). However, at that point in my life I put all my energy into the creation of my “Inner Compass Oracle” deck, which I would publish and start selling successfully on Etsy later that year. It took me a while to come back to making SoulCollage® cards and focus again on my own healing and transformation journey as I started to face a lot of questions and inner changes inside myself.

Then, at the beginning of 2019 I was regularly talking to my friend Veronica Schauder from New York, who was a SoulCollage® Facilitator. I started to get deeper into the practice of SoulCollage® and developed the dream of becoming a facilitator myself since this wonderful method is a combination of everything I love: Intuitive collage, Creativity, Archetypal Psychology and Spirituality. And since it creates a beautiful sense of community and connection, too, I was convinced that it would enhance my own work with women around creativity, self-exploration and  transformation. By the time I invited Veronica to come to Hamburg to teach a SoulCollage® workshop in July of this year, I had already – with the help of an amazing friend and a scholarship – registered for the training in Italy. The workshop with Veronica was a success (blog post coming soon) and I could not wait to get to Italy a month later for a week of training….

Arriving sick in Italy…

When I arrived in Italy on August 17th, I was very sick, suffering from a bronchitis and a very painful throat infection. It was 33 degrees, which felt more like 39 degrees, and I had to muster all my mental and physical strength to make it through the days ahead of me. Because nothing in the world could have stopped me from taking the training at the magical Etruscan village of Tuscania, near Rome, with its historical and archaeological heritage and meeting the legendary head trainer, Mariabruna Sirabella…

At the airport in Rome, I met Aless, the first of a number of soul sisters that I would encounter among the other participants.  On our car ride to Tuscania we bonded and discovered many similarities and also spent the last day together to explore some of the Etruscan churches, lakes and archaeological sites in the area.

Within the medieval walls and in a quiet part of the labyrinth of little alleys, I was staying at a sweet little apartment B&B with an enchanting garden. I later learned that the well-known German painter Rudolf Kortokraks used to live here…

And so the magic begins…

On our first full day of training, which took place in a beautiful medieval Palazzo, our trainer guided us through a chakra meditation to meet our animal companion. I was filled with bliss and grateful that during the mediation for each of the seven energy centers in my body a different animal showed up to claim its home there in order to bring me wisdom and guidance. When we got to make a collage of one of the animal companions, I chose to focus on my throat chakra since I was hoping for insight into the painful throat infection that just wouldn’t go away. The animal that showed up in the mediation for my throat chakra was a green lizard, a gecko, and he made it very clear to me, that he wanted to be my friend and had things to share with me. Here is the card I made:

I immediately felt comforted and let the card speak, let the Lizard speak and journaled a lot of wisdom from it.

However, the lizard would show up in yet another way later that day. He made himself known in a way that I could not have imagined…

Since I had this beautiful garden that came with the little place I was renting, I invited some of the girls from the training group to spend the evening there, connecting and sharing over some lovely Italian food.

As the evening progressed and night fell there came a moment when I turned around and on the wall, right underneath the lantern, was sitting a green lizard, looking exactly like the one in my collage.

For the first time since getting sick 3 weeks earlier, I was able to break into tears and allow the beginning of my healing process.

It was one of those unique moments where I felt so deeply connected and loved by the Universe. And how lucky was I, to have all those beautiful soul sisters with me to witness this moment and hold my hand.

 

The rest of the training days passed so quickly. We had the opportunity to create a few more cards and do readings with them – all of which  brought immensely meaningful insight and joy to me. Nonetheless, we mostly learned how to ethically and creatively facilitate SoulCollage® workshops for groups. In the evenings we had the opportunity to go bathing in a peaceful lake or the natural Roman hot thermal baths in the area underneath a sky full of stars, to cleanse and rejuvenate.

And so the journey comes full circle…

On the last morning, after our wonderful trainer handed each participant their certificate, she created a drumming ceremony for our closing circle so we could all, individually and as  a group, give thanks and complete this special journey. Many tears, smiles and embraces accompanied this closure before we all headed for a last delicious lunch together. I’m grateful to everyone who shared this journey with me!

 

And the magic continues…

To finish this blogpost, I am sharing the other cards I made during the training week and some little story about the last card. ..

The rainbow and the font on the first card showed up in a beautiful outward manifestation on the last day in Tuscania. As Aless and I spent the last day together to visit some of the churches and archaeological sites, we entered the first church that we came across, which was the Basilica the Santa Maria Maggiore from the 9th century. There I saw a font which reminded me straight away of the font/fountain in my SoulCollage® card. Later that day, as we were driving back home after visiting the archaeological site of Vulci and another enchanting lake, we saw a small rainbow appear next to the sun three times. It lead us to a field of what must have been a field of a hundred swallows flying low over our heads. We stood there for a while, taking in all that magic.

 

More information about SoulCollage®

SoulCollage®.com Website

SoulCollage.de German site

SoulCollage® Evolving Book

Of course I felt inspired and motivated to create my first official SoulCollage® workshops in Hamburg to share the magic of SoulCollage® during the coming Fall/Winter season.

TO REGISTER FOR A SOULCOLLAGE® WORKSHOP NOW VISIT THE WORKSHOP PAGE

 

With Love & Gratitude for my trainer Mariabruna and all the special participants of this group.

Heather