Because Who DOESN’T Seek a Patron Saint of Sanity Right Now?
All collages here and on our Summit cover done by Susannah Crolius
Is it comfort you need?
A reminder to not take yourself so seriously?
Are you grieving?
Do you seek a word of wisdom?
Do you seek a reminder of your Belovedness?
Traditionally, Religious icons were paintings of Christian saints or depictions of scenes from sacred texts.
Patron saints were those you could call on for a particular need.
Throughout history, icons and patron saints have been used as portals into the divine and tools to focus on in contemplative practice to experience Presence.
Icons in the Middle Ages were ornate, created with rich, saturated pigments as well as gold. Your icon or patron saint can be as classical or as wild as your imagination invites you into. Yes, you can include gold in yours (or how about lime green or pink?) and yes, yours will be a wise friend, ready to watch over you, console you, make you laugh, guide you, whatever your heart or soul are needing right now. They are meant to be engaged with long after this workshop ends.
Each icon will be formed from remnants of eclectic, user-friendly art materials, which will be provided. You do not need to be “arty” or “creative” to thoroughly enjoy this playful yet meaningful time of reflection.
Your Facilitator: Susannah Crolius, M. Div
All collages here and on our Summit cover page done by Susannah Crolius.
When I was eight years old, I loved the ocean and wanted to be an oceanographer.
When I was a teenager I loved doing ballet and was sure I would be a dancer.
In college I studied to become a veterinarian because of my love for animals.
In young adulthood, I was deeply curious and seeking spiritual community. This path led me to Unitarian Universalism, exploring grief and dying, and twenty-five years as an ordained pastor in churches in the United Church of Christ denomination.
I got even more curious so following those twenty-five years, I stepped out of the bounds of institutional ministry and denomination into a fourteen-year exploration of spirituality and creative process I called art + soul. It was during this time I returned to and reclaimed my creative life, which, it turns out, is kindred to my spiritual life.
Here, now, I am an artist, writer, workshop and retreat facilitator, spiritual companion, grief tender, ritual shaper. I create, accompany, teach and tend. These are the ways I belong to this world and it to me.
Susannah Crolius, M.Div. (she/her/hers)
nurturing the bones and seeds of spiritual imagination
Web: www.artandsoulwm.org
IG: @art.andsoul