SoulCollage® as Symphony:
Honoring Inner Harmonies
A "Playing With a Full Deck" Retreat Adventure
March 3-5, 2023
Santa Sabina Center - San Rafael, California
Honoring Inner Harmonies
A "Playing With a Full Deck" Retreat Adventure
March 3-5, 2023
Santa Sabina Center - San Rafael, California
Explore, engage and expand your deck. Rediscover and restore your authentic self.
Join Michele for this adventure in her home territory of beautiful Marin County. Experience the history and warmth of the Santa Sabina Center, home of many memorable SoulCollage® gatherings with Seena Frost and others.
This special weekend will be guided by metaphors of wholeness: symphony and harmony. With varied activities, you will explore the many ways that your vast and varied "parts" come together to form the unique and sacred one-of-a-kind being that is you. Our personal symphonic themes and structures will reveal the role of archetypal energies within ourselves and in each of the SoulCollage® Four Suits. We'll explore the tempos of our personal stories, identifying harmonies, repeating elements and distinct-but-connected "movements" that continue to shape us and our well-being. We will end with a new composition - consulting with a quartet of SoulCollage® cards to guide us in an upcoming endeavor. Throughout the weekend, intriguing short-forms of prose and poetry will capture the essence of our discoveries and new-found harmonies.
Since 2009, SoulCollage® Facilitator Michele Manos has been creating and sharing meaningful ways to explore your SoulCollage® deck as a whole - honoring and integrating your ever-evolving aspects. These "Card Games" explorations offer an understanding of the cards’ intricate relationships, and a chance to take inventory of your deck and yourself. Ideas for new cards come forth, as do new perspectives on old ones. A retreat is the perfect setting to get the most of your deck, make new cards (from thousands of images!), and exchange ideas with others who practice or facilitate the magic of SoulCollage®. You'll come away with a deeper connection to your personal practice, and if you're a SoulCollage® Facilitator, gain ideas for your own workshops.
Santa Sabina Center offers hospitality and serenity adjacent to the campus of Dominican University. It's centrally located in central Marin County, just 15 miles north of San Francisco. Private and shared rooms are available. Common bathrooms are down the hall. Most beds are single size. Space for several commuters, too. Coming to the area by plane? Conveniently reach San Rafael from SFO with the Marin Airporter bus; from Santa Rosa Airport, take the SMART train. Then it's a quick taxi/Uber ride to the Center.
Check in at 3 pm Friday, session starts at 4 pm.
Conclude after lunch on Sunday, departing no later than 2pm.
Join Michele for this adventure in her home territory of beautiful Marin County. Experience the history and warmth of the Santa Sabina Center, home of many memorable SoulCollage® gatherings with Seena Frost and others.
This special weekend will be guided by metaphors of wholeness: symphony and harmony. With varied activities, you will explore the many ways that your vast and varied "parts" come together to form the unique and sacred one-of-a-kind being that is you. Our personal symphonic themes and structures will reveal the role of archetypal energies within ourselves and in each of the SoulCollage® Four Suits. We'll explore the tempos of our personal stories, identifying harmonies, repeating elements and distinct-but-connected "movements" that continue to shape us and our well-being. We will end with a new composition - consulting with a quartet of SoulCollage® cards to guide us in an upcoming endeavor. Throughout the weekend, intriguing short-forms of prose and poetry will capture the essence of our discoveries and new-found harmonies.
Since 2009, SoulCollage® Facilitator Michele Manos has been creating and sharing meaningful ways to explore your SoulCollage® deck as a whole - honoring and integrating your ever-evolving aspects. These "Card Games" explorations offer an understanding of the cards’ intricate relationships, and a chance to take inventory of your deck and yourself. Ideas for new cards come forth, as do new perspectives on old ones. A retreat is the perfect setting to get the most of your deck, make new cards (from thousands of images!), and exchange ideas with others who practice or facilitate the magic of SoulCollage®. You'll come away with a deeper connection to your personal practice, and if you're a SoulCollage® Facilitator, gain ideas for your own workshops.
Santa Sabina Center offers hospitality and serenity adjacent to the campus of Dominican University. It's centrally located in central Marin County, just 15 miles north of San Francisco. Private and shared rooms are available. Common bathrooms are down the hall. Most beds are single size. Space for several commuters, too. Coming to the area by plane? Conveniently reach San Rafael from SFO with the Marin Airporter bus; from Santa Rosa Airport, take the SMART train. Then it's a quick taxi/Uber ride to the Center.
Check in at 3 pm Friday, session starts at 4 pm.
Conclude after lunch on Sunday, departing no later than 2pm.
Cost -
(includes supplies, instruction, access to the Center, 2 nights lodging and 6 meals) Private Room $659 Shared Room* $609 Commuter (6 meals)^ $559 * Shared room guaranteed when two register as designated roommates. ^ Commuter spaces are limited, so register early. If you have questions about special requirements or concerns with lodging, please contact Michele. |
WANT TO RETREAT AT SANTA SABINA?
1. Complete the registration form HERE. 2. Since we're just a month away, you may Contact Michele to pay in full. (Or make a deposit below and she'll contact you.) ![]() |
PAYMENT AND REFUND POLICY:
Balance of workshop fees are due no later than January 15, 2023.
Cancellations by January 15: refunds available minus a $75 admin fee
After January 15, no refunds are guaranteed. Partial refunds may be provided if the space is filled by someone on the waitlist.
Retreat fees (minus a small administration fee) will be refunded if the retreat is cancelled due to public health directives.
Balance of workshop fees are due no later than January 15, 2023.
Cancellations by January 15: refunds available minus a $75 admin fee
After January 15, no refunds are guaranteed. Partial refunds may be provided if the space is filled by someone on the waitlist.
Retreat fees (minus a small administration fee) will be refunded if the retreat is cancelled due to public health directives.
Our likely schedule:
FRIDAY
3 PM - Check-in, settle in
4:00 - Opening activity, introductions, creation of a group altar
6:00 - Dinner
7 - 9 - Archetypal energies and the inherent structure of your deck
With its strong connections to Jungian concepts, the SoulCollage® process is infused with the power of archetypal energies. Together with the structure of the Four Suits, archetypes provide a robust scaffold for the unique symphony that we and our SoulCollage® decks are becoming. Michele will give examples from her own deck and guide you to begin exploring your deck with archetypal themes in mind, perhaps creating new cards.
SATURDAY
8 AM - Breakfast
9:00 - Morning musings
9:30 - Further explorations of your symphonic themes
As you further peruse your deck, discover how your chosen, dominant archetypal influences manifest within you, in your Community members, and even among your animal helpers. Surprising connections are certain, as are ideas for new cards. An appreciation for dualities will be sown. We'll capture our new understandings with a "short form" writing adventure.
12:00 PM - Lunch
1:30 - Tempos and Interludes
You'll focus on two different phases of your life, remembering various influences and impacts, including those that are thematic, archetypal or recurring. Building on your prior explorations, opportunities will arise to identify meaningful parts of you or Community members that are not yet included in your deck. Most importantly, you can consider how to reengage, restore or repurpose some of your past or abandoned pieces to bring balance and wholeness to you now. You may find yourself compelled to create some new cards, as well!
5:00 - Break
6:00 - Dinner
7- 9 - "Card Game" playtime and open studio
Our game will be a version of Michele's "Archetype Alley" during which we'll play with our Council cards and the relationships between archetypal energies. You may work as late as you wish making new cards or perusing your deck.
SUNDAY
8 AM - Breakfast
9:00 - Wisdom Circle Each person will share a meaningful observation or realization from our weekend.
9:45 - Gallery walk and welcoming of new Neters
10:30 - Guided "Quartet" card consultation - Orchestrating the Future
In groups, you will enjoy a card reading that welcomes wisdom from each of the Four Suits. With a question of importance to you and some guided dialogue, you'll receive counsel from Neters that choose to come forth to help you in that moment.
11:45 - Closing ritual
12:15 PM Lunch
1:15 - Pack up and departures
FRIDAY
3 PM - Check-in, settle in
4:00 - Opening activity, introductions, creation of a group altar
6:00 - Dinner
7 - 9 - Archetypal energies and the inherent structure of your deck
With its strong connections to Jungian concepts, the SoulCollage® process is infused with the power of archetypal energies. Together with the structure of the Four Suits, archetypes provide a robust scaffold for the unique symphony that we and our SoulCollage® decks are becoming. Michele will give examples from her own deck and guide you to begin exploring your deck with archetypal themes in mind, perhaps creating new cards.
SATURDAY
8 AM - Breakfast
9:00 - Morning musings
9:30 - Further explorations of your symphonic themes
As you further peruse your deck, discover how your chosen, dominant archetypal influences manifest within you, in your Community members, and even among your animal helpers. Surprising connections are certain, as are ideas for new cards. An appreciation for dualities will be sown. We'll capture our new understandings with a "short form" writing adventure.
12:00 PM - Lunch
1:30 - Tempos and Interludes
You'll focus on two different phases of your life, remembering various influences and impacts, including those that are thematic, archetypal or recurring. Building on your prior explorations, opportunities will arise to identify meaningful parts of you or Community members that are not yet included in your deck. Most importantly, you can consider how to reengage, restore or repurpose some of your past or abandoned pieces to bring balance and wholeness to you now. You may find yourself compelled to create some new cards, as well!
5:00 - Break
6:00 - Dinner
7- 9 - "Card Game" playtime and open studio
Our game will be a version of Michele's "Archetype Alley" during which we'll play with our Council cards and the relationships between archetypal energies. You may work as late as you wish making new cards or perusing your deck.
SUNDAY
8 AM - Breakfast
9:00 - Wisdom Circle Each person will share a meaningful observation or realization from our weekend.
9:45 - Gallery walk and welcoming of new Neters
10:30 - Guided "Quartet" card consultation - Orchestrating the Future
In groups, you will enjoy a card reading that welcomes wisdom from each of the Four Suits. With a question of importance to you and some guided dialogue, you'll receive counsel from Neters that choose to come forth to help you in that moment.
11:45 - Closing ritual
12:15 PM Lunch
1:15 - Pack up and departures
Comments about Michele's retreats:
“Michele is innovative, insightful, and an excellent retreat leader.”
"The planning and execution was top notch!"
“Saw how important suits are.... game changer!"
"Already thinking about how to incorporate these activities into my own workshops."
"Every activity we did brought brand new awareness."
"I loved the activities that encouraged me to notice the relationships between cards."
"I developed a new appreciation of connecting with my cards ......I love them even more!"
"I can't believe how many cards I made. Plus a list of even more for later!"
"Everything was mapped out and organized so well for us."
“This is really like an advanced Facilitator Training, a graduate course in SoulCollage®.”
“Michele is innovative, insightful, and an excellent retreat leader.”
"The planning and execution was top notch!"
“Saw how important suits are.... game changer!"
"Already thinking about how to incorporate these activities into my own workshops."
"Every activity we did brought brand new awareness."
"I loved the activities that encouraged me to notice the relationships between cards."
"I developed a new appreciation of connecting with my cards ......I love them even more!"
"I can't believe how many cards I made. Plus a list of even more for later!"
"Everything was mapped out and organized so well for us."
“This is really like an advanced Facilitator Training, a graduate course in SoulCollage®.”

Dr. Michele Manos has almost 50-years of experience as an instructor for groups ranging from elementary school children (creative drama) to medical residents (as a Professor) to new and seasoned SoulCollagers. She trained as a SoulCollage® Facilitator in 2008, with Seena Frost, and has been taking her workshops and retreats to new and deeper levels since then. She has created and co-created an array of SoulCollage® offerings, including the 2009 Facilitators' Retreat in Kenyon Ranch, Arizona. In response to pandemic isolation, she began SoulCollage® Together Tuesday virtual gatherings for which she has produced over 30 uniquely crafted 90-minute workshops. Michele loves sharing her ideas with and learning from other enthusiastic SoulCollagers.
Facilitator MJ Abell, who has assisted Michele at many of her retreats, will be coming form Colunbus, Ohio to help host this special weekend.
Facilitator MJ Abell, who has assisted Michele at many of her retreats, will be coming form Colunbus, Ohio to help host this special weekend.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS: This retreat will be managed to minimize the risks of disease transmission, particularly the respiratory infections that are prevalent this winter. Details will be provided after registration. The Center requires proof of up-to-date Covid vaccination and booster. A negative rapid Covid test result (or PCR test result) will be required on March 3, to enter the retreat space. Rapid testing will also be conducted on March 5. The meeting room we have is spacious and well ventilated. Well-fitting masks are welcome and encouraged for your own protection, especially when distancing isn't possible. The retreat facility offers lots of outdoor space. Your retreat leader is a public health professional who is both an epidemiologist and virologist. Things will continue to evolve with Covid, influenza viruses, and RSV during the winter of 2023, and we want to take simple steps to keep us all well. If you have questions or concerns, contact Michele.