I was given the inspiration to make soul boxes when I was in the middle of processing a tremendous amount of grief associated with my stepfather’s stroke and the rather unexpected end of my job as a nonprofit leader. One day I literally heard a voice in my head: “Make grief boxes.” I wasn’t sure whether this was the Voice of God (hearing such divine voices is pretty rare for me!) or an internal demand of psychological necessity, or both. And I had no earthly idea what a grief box might be.
I sat with that invitation and the question of what it might mean. And eventually, it became clear. I was to make a sacred container that could help process big emotions through the power of ritual and incarnated physical objects. While the original inspiration was around grief, eventually I discerned that this container could and should hold not only grief, but also gratitude, joy, prayers, and intentions. Hence the name “grief box” evolved into “soul box.”
A soul box holds two stacks of 3 x 5 index cards. With whatever ritual process makes sense to you, you open the box, take a blank card from one stack, write on this card the grief or regret that is weighing on your heart, or the joy or gratitude you’d like to celebrate, or a particular prayer or intention. Put it in the other stack and close the box. It can be that simple. Whether you ever look at the card again, or whether you eventually destroy the cards, is entirely up to you (and perhaps your spiritual director and/or therapist). A soul box can contain only your own cards, or you can open the process up to a family or group. The point is not to lock powerful feelings away, but to express them, recognize their power, and hold them safe in a sacred container.
Shortly after completing a prototype, I brought the soul box with me on a three-day silent retreat and added several cards to it. Naming and articulating my griefs on these cards, adding a prayer for healing and transformation, then putting the cards in a beautiful sacred container that will them safe, has felt powerfully and profoundly healing for me in ways I don’t pretend to understand but that I trust to be real. If you are working to process feelings large or small, personal or collective, past or present – and who isn’t? – I hope that honoring them with a soul box may offer you some hope and healing, and it has me.
Since I’m an artist rather than a factory, all production runs are limited and the design of these boxes varies over time. The constants are simplicity, a clear contrast of dark and light woods (almost all are locally harvested), and exquisite attention to the craftsmanship and quality of each box. I’ll keep the website updated with options – and I can also make boxes to your specifications. This is an object made with a love that knows grief, gratitude, pain, joy, and hope. It is made to last your lifetime and then be passed down.
