Metaphorical cards “My monsters and wonders”

Number of postcards: 20
Author: Victoria Gashinskaya
Artist: Natalya Aminova

Dear friends and colleagues, here is a set of metaphorical fairy-tale postcards “My monsters and wonders”. It contains 20 cards with images and texts, as well as general and specific questions for working with them.
When creating this set, we started from the ancient etymological depth that is related to the words “monster”, “monster”, “miracle”, “weird”, “eccentric” and “miracles”.
In other words, we are talking here about something big, pristine, natural, unknown and unusual, which can attract and frighten, but, when approached, examined, touched, attention and an honest look into the depths of oneself, becomes a source of nourishing power and the power within a person.

Monsters are mysterious and varied: romantic and beautiful, cozy and strange, scary and light, dark and alluring, magical and cute, either good or evil… Existing in reality or woven by imagination, they can represent parts of our inner world to which we are free to turn for advice, guidance, to engage them in conversation about what is important, exploring, learning and healing ourselves.
Monsters can tease fantasy and curiosity, share power and knowledge, touch our fears and act in the roles of guides and magical assistants in a variety of requests.

Monsters are also associated with dragons. With dragons as symbols of the primordial power of Mother Earth, which can be destructive or creative depending on how wisely we handle this power within ourselves. Dragons symbolize all four elements, because fire and water dragons, earth and flying dragons are known. Our set of postcards represents all these types of monsters.

It is also curious that in different cultures dragons embody both the feminine principle and the masculine principle. They point the way to mystery, to treasures, the path to wholeness and unity. This makes the image of the monster very multifaceted and offering many options for contact, from entertaining to profound.

The image on each postcard contains a monster and a female or male figure, which unfolds a kind of dynamic story in front of the viewer’s mind’s eye, inviting him to see the plot of what is happening , character interaction and its meanings. The presence of both male and female images on postcards and in the texts of fairy tales makes the set universal and allows it to be used with both female and male audiences.

Postcards “My Monsters and Wonders” are suitable for both lovers of metaphorical images and fairy tales just for oneself, pleasure, discussion in a friendly circle, and for professional psychologists, art therapists, fairytale therapists, coaches, presenters of transformational games and a variety of helping specialists in their work.

Fairy tales and images are not linear, but metaphorical and addressed to an audience who loves the multi-layered play of meanings, associations, symbols and images, fantasy and poetic beauty.

To work with postcards independently, you can pull out the card in open or closed, reflecting on the questions:

What is happening on the postcard? How do you feel about each character? How do you feel when looking at the image? What is this about for you in your life?

You can also build dialogues between characters.

By writing a fairy tale based on an image, we create a deep story about ourselves now and about our meanings and values in general.< br>
In addition, the monsters on postcards can also be used as magical helpers. Then questions to monsters may look like this:
Who are you? What is your name?
What is your help for me?
What is your strength?
What do you want to tell me?
What important things should I pay attention to?
What do you advise me to do?
What do you advise me not to do?

Postcards can be used by professionals, for example, to work with requests about states, self-realization, self-worth, relationships, to work with fears, with psychosomatic and bodily requests, on the topics of birth, death, freedom, meaning and knowledge.

We hope that you too treat your inner monsters with care and interest, and we wish you an inspiring metaphorical journey!