O sweet September, thy first breezes bring
The dry leaf's rustle and the squirrel's laughter,
The cool fresh air whence health and vigor spring
And promise of exceeding joy hereafter.
To many ancient people, the waning of the light signaled death…in Welsh mythology, <the equinox> is the day of the year when the God of Darkness defeats the God of Light and takes his place as King of the world. To this day in Japan, the equinox is celebrated by visits to the graves of family members, at which time offerings of flowers and food are made and incense is burned. The three days preceding and following the equinox are called "higan", or the "Other side of the River of Death".
-September Folklore
Fall SoulStudio Schedule
SoulStudio takes a break in September. When we resume in October, we’ll be meeting the second Saturday of each month, same time: 9am-noon, same place: Sara’s home studio, 604 Barbera Place in Davis. SoulStudio helps participants build their SoulCollage ™ deck by focusing on special themes that evoke archetypes, personality parts, friends, family or heroes or companion animals. SoulStudio themes are seasonally based, allowing us to respond to changes in earth energy as the year progresses. Group size is limited to seven. As always, everyone is welcome…no previous SoulCollage ™ or art experience necessary. Here’s what we’ll be looking at this fall:
October 8 9am-noon: Cards For The Day Of the Dead: Death and the Continuity of Life Whether you feel called to create an counsel card for Death, a committee card to mark the ways you deal with loss and change or community cards to honor your beloved dead this workshop will offer you the opportunity to explore death in the context of your own life’s experiences.
November 12 9am-noon: Nourishment - Hexagram 27 in the I Ching, Corners Of the Mouth, instructs us to pay attention our sources of nourishment. Preparing food or breaking bread with others has powerful mythical and ritual roots. Sharing food is among the simplest of all acts, yet it has strong emotional and cultural resonance. This workshop considers the harvest and preparation of food both literally and metaphorically as providing nourishment.
December 10 9am-noon: The Lightbearer Light in the midst of darkness draws us—a fire, a candle flame, a light in the window, a flashlight in the woods, a search light. The one who lights the fire or leads the way in darkness is the lightbearer. This archetype takes many forms. As we anticipate the return of light to our hemisphere at the winter solstice, we’ll explore various archetypal roles of the lightbearer.
SoulStudio sessions are $40. each taken separately or $105. for all three. From time to time partial or full scholarships are available. If you would like to apply for or fund a scholarship, please contact Sara sara.post@gmail.com
SoulCircle: New Group Forming
There has been a continuing conversation among SoulCollage artists about card reading and writing. Many of us would like an opportunity to share card readings and writing from cards with a small group. SoulCircle will meet for three hours once a month at Sara’s home studio. Investment is $105. for three sessions. We’ll decide dates, time slot based on the needs of the group. There will be a limit of five participants. For information, contact Sara sara.post@gmail.com
SoulCollage™ at the Davis Art Center
October 4, 11, 18, 24 7-9pm Exploring SoulCollage® at the Davis Art Center: Every Tuesday evening in the month of October we’ll meet for an in depth look at the SoulCollage™ deck including card making, card reading and writing from card images. If you have attended SoulStudio workshops and would like to know more, this is an excellent opportunity to learn about the structure and uses of SoulCollage™. Books will be available for purchase. Investment is $120. for Art Center members, $130. for non members. For registration, contact the Davis Art Center www.davisartcenter.com
September 24 9am-noon at the Davis Art Center - Creating Balance: The Chinese symbol for "busy" combines symbols for heart and knife. Our constant busyness can, indeed, be a knife in our hearts. Hannah Hunter, artist and art therapist, will lead this art centered class in creating balance in our busy lives and easing our relationship to work and obligations. Sara will co-facilitate. This is a project of Hand and Spirit, which seeks to connect art with the reality of our lives. Balance classes are $40. for Art Center members, $50. for non members. To register, contact The Davis Art Center www.davisartcenter.com
Retreat! Retreat!
Jo Hatcher, Davis therapist and SoulCollage™ facilitator is presenting a Soul Collage/Yoga Women’s Weekend Retreat Oct 21-23 at Shambala Ranch near Mendocino, CA. Jo promises a wonderful relaxing weekend with SoulCollage™, yoga, hiking, hot tubbing, journal writing, dancing and delicious food. For more information, see Jo’s website, www.johatcher.com or contact her at (530)759-0477. Earlybird discount for registration by mid September.
I Am Art/Artist
In AboveTheDoor August Newsletter, Linda Kolker of Embodiment Art posed this question:
If I AM art, what is happening with that energy when I am doing anything—How am I art when I’m at the vet with my kitty, looking at ultrasound images of her belly? How am I art when I am anxiously writing a report that well beet the client’s needs and win their approval? How am I art when I am weeping? When I am watching a grasshopper take flight and reveal wings with scarlet undersides? When I am angry with my husband? I ask this because I don’t spend as much time as I would like with graphite, oil pastel or paintbrush <or, scissors and images> in hand. Yet, if I am art, the actual making of marks on paper is only part of that expression.
Here are two responses:
Being art (artist) isn't as much about what you do as who/how you are. It's the way you think, the way you see, your creative vision/energy. It's your bright-eyed deep understanding that everything involves miracles. As Picasso said, "It's a miracle we don't melt in our baths!". Our willingness to embrace everyday miracles often takes the form of what we notice and how we let it operate in our lives. (We work on it; it works on us.) Talent or competence is lovely, but doesn't presuppose the presence of art/artist. The medium is just that--a vehicle for expressing what we notice. So when we take our beloved cat to the vet or chat with friends or fight with our husband/lover or just any old thing we do, you/we are/can be art--to the degree that we're awake, alive and willing to engage with whatever shows up. Don't get me wrong, the medium is important. It's the way we communicate our awareness and we owe it our best, but the "being" of art is what informs and animates those marks or musical notes or scraps of language so that our work can show/say to others and to ourselves, "Look!"
as i am running out to my garden in the heat i am filled with at
least part of my response.
I Am art to me means accepting me, where i am, where i was
and where ever i am going; it is about expressing me without
judgment, as i relate to others, as i draw, as i garden, cook,
coach, speak in public, parent, etc, etc.
as i accept, i grow and evolve, i move...i express more as i let
more out. i also love me and everyone else more as i let more of
me out without judgment.
i am now off to my garden again.
Do you have a response you would like to share? Please send it to sara.post@gmail.com.
The Warrior : A Workshop, A Blog
SoulStudio came together in July to examine the archetype ot the warrior. This was a particularly powerful experience for all of us as we evolked warrior energy on all levels from deeply personal contexts to the wider cultural manifestations. My own card called forth the warrior spirit of solidiers and families currently involved in the war in Iraq. A fellow SoulCollage™ facilitator, Sharry Teague of Ashland, Oregon has chosen to include it on her SoulCollage™ blog with commentary. I offer this card as a way of remembering and acknowledging a reality that at times seems remote or disconnected from the lives of those of us who have no friends or relatives involved in the conflict. Sharry wrote this about the workshop:
I feel this card (and your warrior card making in general) is so supportive of our need to relate to this archetype rather than try to ignore it or wish it away. I would like many people to see it and consider the practice your group shared.
If you would like to see this card, here is Sharry’s blog: www.soulcollage.blogspot.com
Closing September 11!!! Tibet: Treasures From The Roof Of The World is currently at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Tibetan art in this exhibit includes sculptures, paintings, textiles and Buddhist ritual artifacts. This exhibit offers a first hand experience of the spiritual wisdom and extraordinary artistic expression of this isolated land. This is the exhibition’s final U.S. venue. For more information: www.asianart.org
San Francisco Opera production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic
presents the creation of the atomic bomb and the moral crisis surrounding as operatic drama. Art has the power to construe events in ways that reach us directly, on a deeply personal and emotional level. Adams’ music is contemporary, befitting the socio-political themes he chooses to address.
Performances are in September and October. For information: www.sfopera.org
Thoughts On Water
This summer many of us enjoyed The Water Bearer, an exhibit of SoulCollage™ works made around the theme of water. This exhibit celebrated water as life source and as a planetary element vital to our existence on earth. Now we are confronted with the shadow side of water as destroyer in the form of storm and flood. Emergence of this shadow is painful, the source of much sorrow and suffering. The water shadow has also revealed other shadows—those of poverty, racism and neglect.. As we begin to acknowledge the revelations of these shadows, I hope that we will also find ways to initiate healing—through art making and creative work, through contributions and support, through action for social justice, through meditation and prayer so that the cycle of destruction will turn to constructive purpose for those who have suffered and for our country as a whole.
