Foundation: What is Soul Craft?
There is a Shaker village not far from where I live. It is not a working village but a museum now, as there are only a few Shakers left and they live in a village to the north. I have spent many an afternoon at our Shaker museum, soaking up the wisdom in their simple way of life. Contrary to popular belief, they did not shun progress, and in fact were the first people in the area to have electricity which they powered themselves. They even held a patent for a washing machine! The Shakers were inventive and hard working; fine craftspeople who felt that the work of their hands was meant to honor God. That which was utilitarian was, to them, a thing of beauty:  a perfect chair, a perfect broom. A perfect peg to hang the chair on when the chair was not needed (more room to dance, perhaps?)

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The Shakers understood that the work of their hands invoked soul, just as their ecstatic dancing celebrated it. No doubt this is why I am so drawn to their work and their legacy.  I’ve always had a crazy romantic obsession with the Ingalls churning their own butter and setting their meat to dry in smokehouses to store for the winter in the Little House books. Somewhere within I sensed that hard work could reap results that run far deeper than the work itself.

Have you ever felt deep satisfaction after scrubbing a dirty floor? Wanted to shout from the rooftops when you successfully completed a paper that took you a long time to write? Felt the urge to do something from scratch that almost no one does these days -- such as making your own cheese? A meal you cooked up from scratch becomes a more soulful experience than grabbing takeout. A lamp you wired yourself from an old bottle will bring you more joy than one from Wal-Mart. Refinishing a barn with new wood floors that have stars inlaid where the knots used to be? The ultimate in deep soul-satisfaction. Gardeners know this feeling. Quilters know this feeling.

That is the meaning of soul craft. To engage your hand in work that increases your sense of satisfaction, to choose the more soulful way rather than the “easy way” at every opportunity. Of course you won’t churn your own butter and you’ll still order takeout sometimes. But consider knitting your next pair of gloves instead of buying them, and spend some time in your kitchen. Make a date with your dirty floor or the grout in your bathroom. Prepare to feel renewed.

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    “A mountain keeps an echo deep inside. That's how I hold your voice.”  ~Rumi


Imagine yourself at the entrance of a great cave. It is deep, warm and cozy. There is just enough light and just enough darkness. When you enter it, you feel embraced. You feel safe. You feel as though you have entered a cocoon, blanketed in a love you have not felt since your mother’s womb.

This is the soul-cave. You catch a glimpse of this place each time you get a flash of intuition or a deep sense of knowing something that can’t be known. Although the pains and struggles of our lives may wound up deeply and then seemingly spit us out, it is usually in the soft arms of grace that we find ourselves, and those arms can carry you to the soul-cave.

Close your eyes and imagine this place for yourself, using your senses. How do the walls feel underneath your fingertips? Are they dry or moist? What does it feel like to sit on the floor? Is there a smell, an earthiness perhaps? An aroma of comfort food coming from a cookfire within? What do you hear? Somewhere in the depth of the cave do you hear a mimic of your heartbeat? Does your breathing slow down to connect with the source of the sound? Are there words or paintings etched on the cave walls?

Does one of your senses come forward as being stronger than another? In visualization, it is perfect acceptable not to actually “see” images. For some the experience will be more of a feeling.

Now that we know this place -- anything imagined is real to our soul-mind -- we can consciously evoke its memory whenever we want to do soul-work. We will explore all the senses: taste, touch, smell, sight and sound, as well as an additional one: language. Language could be tied with sound but words have their own resonance that is not limited to sight or sound. (We played with language a bit yesterday when imagining a magical incantation as the Key to the Door). When it comes to communicating with our souls, there is no language it will NOT use to communicate with us. But often it will speak loudest in the voice we are more adept at hearing -- using the sense we are most comfortable experiencing.

Prompt
What is the primary language of your soul? Listen over the next days and weeks and see if one sense, one voice,  gets engaged over and over again -- word, image, sound, scent, or perhaps a collision of multiple senses. When you experience your intuition, is it a sense of knowing, a flash of images, or do you hear the words in your head?

You can return to your Soul Cave at any time. It exists in the portal between your waking reality and your Door.

Soul Craft
Your soul craft over the next week or so is to observe all the opportunities you have to do something “the long way” or “the hard way” and to choose that way more often. This can be something as simple as driving a different way to work (shaking up your routine is an invitation for soul). Next time you go to email someone, ask yourself if it’s time sensitive. If not, consider writing a letter or postcard instead. If you typically send short emails to your mother,  consider writing a longer one, telling her the details of your day, or sharing a story from your life she might appreciate. Next time you cook dinner, make twice as much and either invite your neighbors over to share it with you, or bring the extra to a friend who is short on time and might appreciate a homecooked meal. The possibilities are endless and I have it on good authority that the Universe is about to provide you with some really fun ones.

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