Sacred Contracts

Chart of Origin created according to the method given in Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential by Caroline Myss (the title links to amazon.co.uk see amazon.com for the same book in the US).

All the images used here are ones created with creative commons licenses that allow remixing. Their attributions will be given with bigger versions of the cards as I describe them.

I forget all the different things that were signaling me to get this book - but I listened and ordered it. CM says that we only have 12 archetypes so rather than mix these cards in with all my other SoulCollage® "archetypes" (currently about 60 in my pack!) I've made a special suit for them. A suit of Guardians.

CM sees everyone as having the following four archetypes, whether you want them or not:

• Child - there are a variety to choose from: Orphan, Wounded, Magical/Innocent, Nature, Divine, Eternal Boy/Girl - the Child is your Guardian of Innocence
• Victim - the Guardian of Self-Esteem
• Prostitute - the Guardian of Faith
• Saboteur - the Guardian of Choice

My other eight primary archetypes, the ones I chose for myself, are:

1. Goddess
2. Artist
3. Seer
4. Liberator
5. Wounded Healer
6. Pioneer
7. 21st Century Shaman
8. Well-Wisher

CM has for some reason associated each of these 12 with a 12 house model that is used in astrology - not something I know much about. She suggests that to find one's "chart of origin" one puts the names of the 12 onto pieces of paper in one pile and the numbers 1-12 on 12 more pieces in another pile then with due ceremony (see the book for details) pull a number and an archetype from each pile. So this process has less to do with astrology and more to do with synchronicity which is something I love!

I used both the archetype and its house to inspire the making of my twelve guardian cards.

House 1 - Ego and Personality

(Remix of: Mary, Queen of the World by Sighthound, The Brimstone by dippybiscuit, Brimstone Side by Strange Ones)
I was surprised to find that my Goddess energy ended up in the house of my Ego. But it really is a good way to help me understand some of the clashes of personality that I've had...

One of my reasons for choosing it as one of my twelve was that when my mother named me she called me "Caroline Diana Felicity" with the Diana part being specifically after the Goddess Diana. So perhaps in this respect I did already identify with a certain Goddess energy.

It has made me warier than ever about things which are likely to over build my ego - I'm on an introspective path (hence the reflection I put in here) but the idea of that is to know oneself better, not to be egotistical.

House 2 - Life Values

(Remix of copying Monet (West Wing) by robin.elaine and A rainbow of dyes , Pots of colour , and Coloured dyes all by Dey)

I was delighted that Artist came up here!

One of the things CM says about this house is it indicates what one most needs to feel grounded. And I already knew that making art is one of those things.

It is also the house that is meant to show one's appreciation for the physical nature of life - and looking at things with an artist's eye certainly does that for me.

And aren't those tins and bags of pigment yummy!

House 3 - Self-Expression and Siblings

(Remix of Rusty Plumb-Bob by apes_abroad , run, caroline, run by magullo, reflective balls by goandgo, microphone by Leo Reynolds )

This is where Seer turned up.

I see my Seer energy as being that which guides me even when I don't really understand why I'm going the way that I am.

It does make the expression difficult though... when I did maths, finding the answer was always much easier than explaining the reasoning... mathematicians are notorious for saying "clearly so and so" which means that they know the answer is right but it'll take the whole lecture to prove that step if you question it!

I don't know yet how to relate this to my siblings. Maybe not directly.

House 4 - Home

(he haunts me ... by k-girl , Sydän (Heart) by mwri, Annie's Corset by spaceninja, {dpad} is heart obsessed by {dpade1337}, lock and key by Zoe52 - tiny green blob is Relaxation Teacher)

In the fourth house, the house of home the first of the compulsory four came up - Saboteur - the guardian of choice.

Certainly early on in my life I was aware all too often of the truism that we hurt those we love the most. And in my past relationships with partners (prior to Jim) I certainly backed myself into corners with no way out... except the drastic one of leaving which of course in the end I did...

I've put Relaxation Teacher into this card as the place I most need to learn to relax in, as its the one I spend most time in, is my home. Also the place, again as I'm here more than elsewhere, that I'm most likely to sabotage myself...

House 5 - Creativity and Good Fortune


(Remix of Nagahama Hachimangu well by MShades and four leaf clover by Greencolander)

Here is where Liberator appeared. I see Liberator in terms of one day becoming enlightened (whatever that means) and helping others to become so too.

Luck is an energy that I've become aware of over the last few years - Jim and I have an equal number of premium bonds but very, very different track records with our wins. I'm not sure how to improve one's luck consistently - but I'm working on it!

Having made this card the encased four-leaf clover looks a lot like a slice of lime being added to a drink!

House 6 - Occupation and Health

(Remix of: when's the last time you played THIS? by nats, Lynn's Star Circle by Fort Photo , Pole Star by daita)

Now this is where I started to sit up and pay attention.

I'd already had to come to terms with CM's description of what a Wounded Healer is - something I'd always refused to even read about before because I disliked the name so much! - but I got into Health Kinesiology and other subsequent therapies because I was ill and I slowly became aware that the only way to get myself better was to treat myself.

The biggest problem, from the point of view of this house system, is that the training I've had requires me to get "energy permission" to work on others - and currently I'm not getting that in the standard context of 1-1 - I do get it for distance work in general though not very everyone (that's one of the reasons for checking in the first place - not everyone is ready to accept healing even if they have asked for it).

These images of stars that I've put in are to show life paths... and how following several is beginning to show me where the still point in the middle might lie.

House 7 - Marriage and Relationships

(Trailblazer by AlbinoFlea www.flickr.com/photos/albinoflea/. Also the Eagle Nebula by NASA. The very small image in the upper right is my Council-As-One card.)

Now this one I really don't understand - this is Pioneer and its come up under Marriage and Relationships...

The best I can do is to refer to the test of one's political leanings that Andrea posted yesterday - I came out as the Dalai Lama and Jim came out as Nelson Mandela - clearly a marriage made in heaven!

On the image I was searching for images that had something to do with pioneers and when I saw this footprint it felt exactly right - I've no idea why yet.


House 8 - Other People's Resources

(Remix of rosita by schaaflicht, Empathy by Lastexit, double-helix-coin-060422 by rabinal, TWO POUNDS by Leo Reynolds, Heart with Flowers Pendant by Bob.Fornal )

Here is another of the standard four - the Victim - guardian of self-esteem.

"Other People's resources" are explicitly defined to include one's genetic heritage and any other form of inheritance (or not) that one might have.

I see one of the values of victim in this house as a way to have empathy with others.


House 9 - Spirituality


(Remix of Hand prints by Xipe Totec39 and berlin bar by julkastro)

And here in the house associated with spirituality is my 21st Century Shaman - hurray!

I see the 21st Century Shaman as a newly emerging archetype that consciously draws on all the energies of shaman throughout the ages and world-wide - finding a way to make these spirituality experiences available and relevant to the 21st century.

A good placement!



House 10 - Highest Potential

(Remix of Wishes to Buddha by Suviko and Chorten and Ama Dablam by Sam Judson)

This is my Well-Wisher - one who inspires distance healing. And this has come out as my highest potential!

Well-Wisher is not a standard archetype. I put it in because long ago I got a strong message that one of the things I would one day be able to do is wish for others. So far this has been translating into doing some distance healing. And just like wishes in fairy tales it has to be very specific - not just sending good thoughts but well identified energies.

I think all those coins that have missed the fountain show just how many goes its taking to get it right.



House 11 - Relationship to the World

(Remix of Pieces of Tibet by lecercle, Our World by MarkyBon, Leap by amortize, Astronomical Clock by simpologist. The bottom of the small images on the right is a mini-mix of these two:Say what... by djking, Bald Man Graffiti, Edinburgh by treefell also the topmost small image on the right is The Healer)

My Child turns up here - I'd decided that my most frequent child personality is the magical child though, naturally, I have other forms too.

The child is the guardian of Innocence and where does one need that more than in relation to the world as a whole!

Incidentally I love this dancer image - someone who is dancing to remove all the negativity!


House 12 - The Unconscious

(Remix of Street art | Tea ceremony (Sado, 茶道) by tochis and squared circle: compass rose by thomwatson)

And here is the last of the four "compulsory" archetypes - the Prostitute - Guardian of Faith.

I really do not like the name, Prostitute. And when I need to represent something whose name I don't like I look for a way to make it more beautiful so that I won't reject it.

I decided that the most beautiful form of prostitute image is that of geisha who are not as much prostitutes as all that (though selling one's virginity to the highest bidder and living off men does seem to me to put them in that category) but at least geisha have many talents that are related more to their role as entertainers and hostess than to pure sellers of sex.

Strangely though I do have a great deal of faith in my not conscious self... so this one fits too.

I've not done the "I am One's" for these cards yet. I'll add them to this blog whenever they do come up.