 In April's Newsletter I shared an image and journal page and doll about Changing Woman. In May I invite you to allow this chant/invocation to inspire you and create doll image or journal pages of your Changing Woman. She comes on mist, on wind, on breath-- She Who Knows, She Who Shifts. Bearer of the in-between, Walker of stars and wombs unseen. She whispers: You are not lost. You are becoming. You are not broken. You are blooming. Gather your pieces. Weave with your tears. Name your fears, and stitch them into wings. The river remembers. The moon bears witness. And you -- you are the spell you’ve been waiting for. If you take on the challenge and send to me at [email protected] and I will post it on my newsletter and Facebook pages. Also if you ordered a copy of my book and send me a photo of one of your healing dolls and story I will send you a set of the 12 Healing Dolls for free. Be sure to include your snail mail address.
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 From now on, I’ll be posting here in my newsletter before sharing on social media. I’m also seriously considering starting a Substack, as it feels like a safer, more spacious place to speak my truth. You can still find me on Facebook, but this newsletter will now be the first place I share my reflections and creative work. Below is a recent Facebook post that emerged from a 2024 journal entry about Changing Woman—a piece born through a deep and intuitive writing process.  She Who Knows Art Doll by Barb Kobe 2024 The Dance of Changing Woman
Long ago, a woman stood at the edge of a river, feeling lost, between who she had been and who she was meant to become. Fear and doubt clouded her heart — fear of failure, fear of the unknown. She could not move forward, for she did not yet know the depth of her own strength. As the sun dipped low, a figure emerged from the river — an elder with hair of sunlight and eyes deep as the night sky. "I am Changing Woman," she said. "You have arrived at the banks of your own becoming, to cross, you must remember the former selves you carry." She led the woman through a forest where seven great trees stood: each one a marker of her life’s journey: Being — where she first trusted life. Doing — where she explored and created. Thinking — where she began to wonder and solve. Power and Identity — where she claimed her name and her energy. Structure — where she learned freedom through boundaries. Connection, Separation and Desire — where she sought to love and stand alone. Elder Becoming — where she saw herself clearly and chose her path. "You have been changing all along," said Changing Woman. "You are not starting from nothing. You are weaving every thread you have ever lived into the new tapestry of your life." The woman wept — not from sorrow, but from recognition. She saw that her fears were part of her, but they no longer ruled her. She could think and feel at the same time. She could bless her past and shape her future and dance herself into the next stages of her life. And so, she gathered reeds, sticks, clay and moss by the river and began to make a doll to connect to herself, and as a talisman of for the next chapter of her story — held together by the wisdom and capacity of She Who Knows Her Truth. And from that day on, every intentional thought and step she took allowed her to reclaim her love, passion, and joy for her life, one of gathered wisdom, beauty. and trust in her body, mind and spirit. and this The Blessing of Changing Woman You have been growing and changing all along. Each day the next evolution, each cell living a life cycle of death and rebirth. The sun rises and falls. Be willing to trust the child who dared, the thinker who wondered, the seeker who rose up and dared to be fully alive. Bless the fears that guarded you, and the dreams that called you forward. You are not beginning — you are becoming. Gather your memories and stories, your scars and lovers. Weave them into a poem, an art doll, a creative, collaged map that will allow you to see this growing, renewing, and evolving self that is dancing her way into the next story of her being. Step into life’s waters’ currents, feel the seasonal winds, ground yourself in the truths of Mother Nature herself. Change is not the end. It is an invitation to dive deeper into your authentic selves that will carry you forward, just as the moon and the stars guide you toward coming home to your true self.  Winter Solstice created by Barb Kobe for a woman with Ovarian Cancer This from a March 2013 Blogger post, The Art of Healing Dolls.
As I embark on another creative adventure of teaching The Medicine Doll online class, one I have taught for 10 years, I thought why not blog about it. I am excited about this class because it has something it never had before, seven Medicine Doll masters and mentors. These are women who have been in the previous Medicine Doll classes and want to bring the knowledge and skills to people who lives they touch. I also have an international group of participants in the Medicine Doll process and I am honored and blessed by their presence at this time in the development of the class. Why make healing dolls? Dolls hold such wonderful and varied opportunities for image-making that can be explored by people of all backgrounds and levels of expertise. Feelings and concepts are easier to access through dollmaking. Pamela Hastings www.pamelahastings.com A doll can be a tool, works on the artist as the artist works on it. It instructs, contains the sacred, represents the deep desire of the body to recreate itself, expresses every emotion from anger to love, pain to joy. It embellishes space. A doll allows you to see who you are. - elinor peace bailey "We need this connection with three-dimensional, more or less human-like creations. I believe that the dollmaking allows us to create our own personal model of the world and surround ourselves with energies and images that we enjoy." adapted from Tatiana Baeva Linda Hansen, a participant in a Medicine Doll group said, "I came to a point of my life when I was going deeper into my emotional healing and was finding that the traditional healing channels were not touching me as an artist. I needed the whole of me healed, and my art is the major form of how I communicate. I believe art is a form of language, and I needed all of my communication.skills to heal the whole of me." We tend to see ourselves in the doll. It represents an aspect of the human condition. When one engages with the process of making a doll all kinds of possibilities come to the surface. Dollmaking is a way to free oneself of worries, struggles and emotions. Creating a doll, or any art, directly effects the automatic nervous system which controls body functions and the immune system. Happy New Year! Here is a casual conversation about art and The Healing Doll Way class. If you are asked password is HDWay25
 I will be talking about The Healing Doll Way on Zoom
Sunday, December 29, 2025 at 1:00 pm central time 2:00 pm Eastern time Hope you'll join me Here's the link Topic: 2025 Healing Doll Way Discussion Time: Dec 29, 2024 01:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) It will be recorded. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6857879391?pwd=9QwUVbDKPwQTltbxcas0l4ShpKKbg2.1&omn=83370504672 Meeting ID: 685 787 9391 Passcode: Dolls  I am excited to announce the 2025 The Healing Way Classes featuring some updates and additions! The Healing Doll Way 2025 This will be a seven-month journey, running from January 12 through July 31, with a break in August. The class includes weekly support in the form of Open Studios. Throughout the year, there may be additional offerings to support this wonderful community as we move through 2025. I require that you fill out a Pre-class Interview before you register, even if you have taken the class before. Details here. How to Make Your Own Healing Dolls is a Foundational Self Study class (recordings) required before The Healing Doll Way if you haven't made art dolls before. In this class series, you'll acquire a diverse set of skills and techniques that you can draw upon as you delve deeper into the inner work of making art dolls in The Healing Doll Way. The focus is on mastering techniques and understanding the language of healing art dolls, enhancing your creative journey. You can sign up for the How to Make class and The Healing Doll Way at the same time. If you do, the fee for the How to Make ($195) is deducted from the Healing Doll Way. Click here for details. Please do not hesitate to email me is you are serious about doing the work and the cost is a challenge. September 1st, I will offer a four-month-long class called Healing Fields: Story Mapping. This class is a creative process that incorporates the dolls and art you have created in previous sessions. Your dolls will become the characters who play and interact within your Story Map. Prerequisite: To enroll Healing Fields, you must have completed The Healing Doll Way and created at least one doll for each archetype covered in that class. More details to come. Email if you are interested and I will put you on the list. [email protected] |
Barb KobeThe Healing Doll Way Archives
May 2025
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