The Wisdom Found in Imagery: The Power of Collaging

I have always had a passion for making collage art. The way that images can be cut out and reconfigured to create a completely new picture and meaning, is quite alluring. I started collaging in my 20s, and the playful and creative freedom of putting together a collage has remained one of my most enduring art forms of choice.

While in my 30s, I came across a psychologist named Seena Frost, who was adding a whole new dimension to collaging. She would have her clients choose compelling images and create collages with them, and found that these created cards helped them access their innate intuitive wisdom. Seena helped her clients retrieve these insights by having them utilize an imaginative process of "stepping into" their collages and letting them "speak back" to them. They would simply start by saying, "I am the one who..." and let the characters in the cards finish the sentence. I tried this process with some of my own collages and was impressed and moved by the messages I received. 

How did this work? Seena explained in her wonderful book SoulCollage Evolving, that "the part of the brain that accesses our subconscious and intuition, responds and communicates through imagery (unlike the brain region that deals with words and logical thinking)". Therefore by letting ourselves play and create using found images that call out to us, we are in direct connection to this important part of ourselves, our deepest intuitive knowing, which is often over shadowed by our practical, logical way of thinking.

Here's an example of one of my favourite cards (Seena calls them SoulCollage® cards) and the message I garnered from it. I had no idea while I was creating this card what it would eventually come to mean. Here's what its message was: I am the storm protectress. I am the one who reminds you that you are stronger than you know. You can weather the storms of life.

I have since made over 100 SoulCollage® cards and use them for personal readings, especially when I am struggling or feeling uncertain. The guidance and wisdom that I garner from this wonderful process, has been invaluable and grounding to me. A deep source of self reflection.

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