Creativity ~ Part VIII: Magic

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Part III ~ Shape-Shifting

Part IV ~ Forbearance

Part V ~ Maiden/Mother/Crone

Part VI ~ The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

Part VII ~ Synchronicity

Magic is the art of reaching into a deeper reality and bringing gifts from it into the ordinary realm.

We have the power to remake our world—not just in a small and intimate sense, but the world-at-large as well. But it's up to us to take our passion and direct it into creative projects. When writing a story and becoming completely immersed in the project, the very laws of time and space are changed. That is the power of creation, the power of each human being to hone something from nothing. It's magic.

What's your calling? Whatever it is, everything that isn't a part of it must fall away. To fulfill one's life work, there must be focus and follow-through in creating an environment for it to thrive. Everything must be aligned around this foundation—100% devotion is required; half measures won't work. As the inner life becomes more complex, the outer life becomes simpler.

"...our job is to make choices that create the right conditions for [our calling] to flourish. The Gift is indestructible. It is a seed. We are not required to be God. We are not required to create the seed. Only to plant it wisely and well." ~ Stephen Cope

Magic is any mysterious power that produces extraordinary results. Each one of us possesses that power. How will you add magic to the world?

"...we each...have feminine spiritual superpowers, such as touching, knowing, feeling, relating, expressing our true voice(s), visioning, healing..." ~ Sera Beak

Works Cited

Beak, Sera. Red Hot & Holy: A Heretic's Love Story. Sounds True, Inc., 2013.

Beck, Martha. Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life you Want. Free Press, 2012.

Cope, Stephen. The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling. Bantam Books, 2012.

Moss, Robert. The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence & Imagination. New World Library, 2007.

Wrap Up

Thank you for traversing the wilds of creativity with me these past four months. I hope something here ignited a spark for you—of knowing, of inspiration, of simply having a way to express a longing that won't let you go.

Now, go forth and perform your work. The world needs it, and only you can do it.

Creativity ~ Part VII: Synchronicity

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Part III ~ Shape-Shifting

Part IV ~ Forbearance

Part V ~ Maiden/Mother/Crone

Part VI ~ The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

Image copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Synchronicity is a meaningful convergence of inner and outer experiences. Carl Jung coined the word synchronicity to describe the profound significance of coincidence in our lives. Author Sera Beak describes them as 'Divine winks'. Poets and mystics speak of it when they say, "As above, so below." The world is a playground in which to bring forth ideas from the other, known by many names—heaven, inspiration, God, inner self. Creative flow is unlocked when we navigate the world via coincidence.

 

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The world is alive around you, responding to your thoughts and intentions, with none other than synchronicity. In creative endeavors, this can lead to the right path if you can trust in the process. I've experienced this in my fiction writing. The sooner I can focus my story, the better, because then pertinent information seems to flow toward me from all directions. The key, of course, is to be open to the method. Sometimes, the material isn't what I thought it should be. In resisting, I often come up frustrated and empty-handed.

 

Photo copyright 2014 Hannah McCaffrey

I encountered synchronicity while writing this series on creativity. (Along with a fair number of bird feathers appearing at every turn, a sign I took to mean I was on the right path and the muses were happy with me.) At first, I had an ambitious idea to write about the creative process. I had no idea where to start. I've read so many wonderful books relating to this, but how was I going to compress this into something usable and short? The first step was to take a leap of faith.

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

And to practice that faith again, and again, and again. I didn't know all the answers, but as I moved forward with intention, the material came to me, either sprouting directly into my mind (the whispers of angels, as some would say) or through a book I came across, or a conversation with someone, or a link I found on social media. The key is to begin moving. Remaining still slows the process. The avenues for synchronicity are endless. And to those who say they don't happen to them—you're simply not paying attention. They happen everywhere, and everywhen.

Be open. Compartmentalizing life can cut the flow of symbolic relations from finding you. Learning can happen at any time, not when you deem it time.

Works Cited

Beak, Sera. Red Hot & Holy: A Heretic's Love Story. Sounds True, Inc., 2013.

Moss, Robert. The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence & Imagination. New World Library, 2007.

Don’t miss Part VIII in the Creativity series: Magic

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part VI: The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Part III ~ Shape-Shifting

Part IV ~ Forbearance

Part V ~ Maiden/Mother/Crone

Both of these archetypes create strong images and strong aversions. We all like the virgin, despite the implication of her naïveté. The prostitute? That couldn't possibly apply to us, right? And why include sacred before it? Isn't that a huge misappropriation of the underlying meaning of the word?

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The virgin is best described as pregnant with possibilities. This is a self-contained energy, harboring all that's needed for creation to bloom forth. Virginity was revered because the energies of the body, the mind, and the spirit remain clean, untouched. Within this state, ideas can be nurtured without taint and corruption, much like a virgin forest contains all it requires to sustain itself. The dark side is the condemnation of the sensual side of life via a prudish disgust. To repress this energy is to stop the flow of creativity altogether. Celibate monks and nuns learn to channel their sexual energy rather than repress it.

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

The sacred prostitute is a form of psychic energy, related to eros. It's an avenue of generating strong passion, which certainly applies to a sexual nature, but encompasses a broader context, a passion for creative endeavors. This archetype is related to ancient love goddesses such as Aphrodite, Isis, and Ishtar. This is not to be confused with the darker aspects of prostitution—sexual abuse, sexual addictions, rape, or any type of manipulation using sexual energy. The practice of sacred prostitution—the sharing of erotic energy to heal on physical, mental, and spiritual realms—brings transcendence. Many art-forms attempt to achieve this state.

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Every woman has an aspect of the sacred prostitute within. For the artist, when truly embodying her work, allows herself to be a conduit from the world of matter to the world of spirit, sharing herself with one and all. Her work lights the way for others.

According to Carolyn Myss, the prostitute archetype "engages lessons in integrity and the sale or negotiation of one's integrity or spirit due to fears of physical and financial survival or for financial gain." This universal archetype is related to selling one's talents and ideas, and in selling-out can trigger a downward spiral of self-esteem and self-respect. Anytime you consider shifting your faith from the Divine in the world to a physical satisfaction, the prostitute can be your greatest ally, keeping you on the path of highest enlightenment.

 

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Works Cited

Beak, Sera. Red Hot & Holy: A Heretic's Love Story. Sounds True, Inc., 2013.

Myss, Carolyn. Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential. Harmony Books, 2001.

Don’t miss Part VII in the Creativity series: Synchronicity

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part V: Maiden/Mother/Crone

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Part III ~ Shape-Shifting

Part IV ~ Forbearance

The Maiden-Mother-Crone cycle, while an obvious physical manifestation in a woman's lifetime, is also a recurring sequence within the psyche. If the maiden is innocence personified, then it is the good mothering aspect that forces her into the world and into the wild, to toughen and breed stamina. And it is the crone who not only imparts higher wisdom, showing a broader and more spiritual picture, but also a state that the psyche must reach for maturation.

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

This cycle is reflected in creativity—the blossoming forth of fresh and untried ideas (maiden), the acquiring of discipline to bring forth the concept into the material plane (mother), and the wisdom to place the work in its proper context (crone).

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

In the maiden state, women frequently make a most terrible bargain—we settle. We choose a path that promises riches and fulfillment, only to find that we sacrificed our deepest knowing in the process. We suppress our wilder selves to appease our parents, our teachers, our religion and society at large. We don't make the art that calls to us because it's too crazy, too edgy, too sexual, too anything that offends those that have also made the same bargain, and resent that you would dare step outside these boundaries. Art done in this way is flat, unshaped, and lacking in vitality and life.

Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light. ~ Author Madeleine L'Engle

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To right this wrong, it is necessary to activate the mother. In its positive form, a mother is the protector of life. It becomes necessary for a woman to nurture her intuitive self, to listen to herself above all others, to love oneself when it's so much easier to condemn. For most women, their own physical mother fills this space within their psyche, and if the mother had a preponderance of positive attributes then this isn't as much a problem than if she displayed shadow aspects. If those are present—the devouring mother, who consumes her children psychologically and emotionally, or the abusive mother, who violates natural law by harming her offspring—then every effort must be made to excise this influence. A woman must learn to mother herself, and in so doing, excavate the terrain of the soul and bring forth the most pressing gifts and talents. Through this loving guidance can instincts and intuition be re-activated.

Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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The crone is a symbol of endurance, of survivorship. To move through the other two stages is to have lost an innocence—more often than not, a painful initiation—but it's also a sign, at least in the inner life, that one never gave up. Amongst those also in the know, this is revered. At this point, the creative life is given the credit it deserves, as necessary to life as air and water. The crone doesn't squander her time, doesn't play in the shallow areas frequented by those who've given away their dreams. She creates, letting that which has always resided deep in her bones bubble up and out. And it screams of authenticity. It is art that pulsates with life, that triggers the same in others, that speaks directly to the heart and makes it sing.

Image copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Works Cited

Estés, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run With The Wolves. Ballantine Books, 1992.

Myss, Carolyn. Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential. Harmony Books, 2001.

Photo copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Don’t miss Part VI in the Creativity series: The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part IV: Forbearance

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Part III ~ Shape-Shifting

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Forbearance is the act of patience, restraint, and tolerance. To forbear is to endure. Another interpretation is to refrain from a harsh judgment. In the Old Testament, one translation of forbear is ‘to keep silent or to be still’.

How does this relate to creativity?

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Creation can’t be rushed. It must unfold in its own time. It’s the difference between ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’. When a creative endeavor has been given the proper time to percolate, a depth and authenticity will emerge that will be undeniable. If rushed, the project will only be a toe-dip in the soul-creating cauldron. The result will be a pale façade, a shallow rendering, and one that is easily consumed and digested, leaving no lasting fullness.

How long is long enough? Only you can know this. However, understanding the need for forbearance can ease the stress of thinking I must get this done NOW. For the painter, the writer, or the filmmaker, this time should be spent learning the fundamentals. Then, when the BIG story comes, or the BIG canvas, the skills will be in place to filter the highest quality of work.

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

In today’s world, there’s a need to rush. We’re all guilty of it. We release a work, an idea, before it’s reached fruition. Learning forbearance is a crucial skill if we hope to fully develop our talents, and even more importantly, to understand the way our process unfolds, for this is as individual as the person.

Don’t miss Part V in the Creativity series: Maiden/Mother/Crone

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part III: Shape-Shifting

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

Part II ~ Domestication vs. Wildness

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

While shape-shifting is often associated with evil and deception, it can be thought of most easily as a way to incorporate the qualities and sensory perceptions of a particular animal. Shape-shifting allows the navigation through different levels of consciousness, both awake and dreaming, and along the astral plane.

In the iconic King Arthur story "The Sword in the Stone" by T. H. White, the wizard Merlin transforms young Arthur into many different animals to aid the boy in learning how to be king. When Arthur finally pulls the sword from the stone, the animal kingdom relays many mystical messages, giving him strength and courage to grow into the man he needs to be.

In shamanic realms, one must master energy to become a shape-shifter, and thereby learn to shift situations.

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Shape-shifting goes hand-in-hand with totem animals. In many cultures, association with an animal is a means of navigating the world—Coyote energy is mischievous, Raven energy is cunning and otherworldly, Rabbit energy is quick and alert. If one has an affinity for a certain creature, why not imagine what it would be like to be that animal? What might this teach you?

Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit. ~ Author Edward Abbey

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Each animal has its own gifts, which are accessible to us. Bear teaches us to set clear boundaries and balance activities with periods of rest. Butterfly embodies transformation from one state to the next. Whale calls to deep creativity and the ability to sing your intention into the landscape.

Shifting focus has long been an avenue to unlock creativity. While running along the terrain as a bobcat, what wondrous things will you see?

Lots of people talk to animals. Not very many listen, though. That's the problem. ~ Benjamin Hoff

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Works Cited

Billington, Penny. The Path of Druidry: Walking the Ancient Green Way. Llwellyn Publications, 2011.

Carson, David. Find Your Spirit Animals. Watkins Publishing, 2011.

Farmer Ph.D, Steven D. Animal Spirit Guides. Hay House, Inc., 2006.

Myss, Carolyn. Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential. Harmony Books, 2001.

Don’t miss Part IV in the Creativity series: Forbearance

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part II: Domestication vs. Wildness

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

Don't miss:

Part I ~ Imagination

There are beautiful and wild forces within us. ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Assisi, Italy
Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

When I was very young, I had a powerful dream. Young women dressed in white—clearly some type of initiates—filed forward to be approved by a Head Mother. One, a scraggly and unkempt girl, didn’t fit. Two guards forcibly dragged her along in line.

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

The dream was simple and vivid. It was my wild nature fighting against domestication. And often, that domestication is governed by you, not an outside force such as parents, teachers, or a religious institution. We often suppress our wild nature because in its wake comes chaos—or so we think. In truth, wildness opens avenues. In wildness lies curiosity, compassion, and a connection to the rhythms of life. All life. The trees, the plants, the animals, the Earth. Without this connection something in us will die.

But the good news is that no matter how long the wild nature has been abandoned, it can always be brought back to life.

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In Women Who Run With The Wolves, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés states, “Once [women] have regained [wild woman], they will fight and fight hard to keep her, for with her their creative lives blossom; their relationships gain meaning and depth and health; their cycles of sexuality, creativity, work, and play are re-established; they are no longer marks for the predations of others; they are entitled equally under the laws of nature to grow and to thrive. Now their end-of-the-day fatigue comes from satisfying work and endeavors, not from being shut up in too small a mind-set, job, or relationship. They know instinctively when things must die and when things must live; they know how to walk away, they know how to stay.”

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Kali is a goddess of destruction and creation who predates Hinduism. Sometimes known as the 'forbidden thing', she shines a light on the dark places that keep us from total liberation, shadows that encompass our authentic sexuality, our rage, our killer instincts, our animalistic natures. These are often suppressed, but they wield power by allowing our fears and anxieties to flourish. Kali represents the Divine Feminine, and she doesn't do well with domestication. By confronting the terror that Kali illuminates, we slowly become unfrozen. We are able to speak, live, and create in a divinely natural way, following the rhythms that course through each of us. We become wild in the truest sense, deeply connected to our soul-selves, following the path we're meant to pursue.

How might we recover our wildness? One age-old way is through stories.

It’s been my experience that when I tell others that I write romance novels, 1) women giggle with delight and quietly share with me how much they love such books, and 2) women tell me how they long to write and hope one day to share a story with the world. (I will also add that men are generally supportive, but there is also that small minority who have no interest. When done with respect, there is no harm in this.)

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Why do I write romances? Because in a majority of these stories, whether they be historical, contemporary, futuristic or paranormal, the heroines are women in search of the core of their wildness. By the end of a story, they will become brave enough to not only face the villain and love the hero, but they will also find a strength that is soul-deep, soul-knowing, and a piece of themselves they can’t live without.

This is why women giggle when they learn my profession, because despite the stigma associated with reading frivolous romances, they’re drawn to the myth and power woven into these tales. Stories transform the teller and the listener. Stories light the way on the darkened path into the hearts of women (and men), illuminating the pitfalls but also the guideposts along the way.

There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories. ~ Author Ursula K. LeGuin

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

I’ve always enjoyed the game of finding which female character in Greek mythology most draws you. Is it Athena, filled with wisdom, or Artemis, who runs among the animals in the woods? What about Aphrodite, the seductress, or Persephone, the innocent who succumbs to Hades and takes springtime with her? (There are versions in which Persephone willingly binds herself to the god of the underworld. A simple shift in intention can change everything.)

What stories resonate with you? Those that do are engaging directly with your wild self. Don’t ignore the connection, but instead actively explore what bubbles forth from inside you.

We have an archetypal need to be spoken to through stories because they bring us into contact with our inner being. ~ Carolyn Myss, medical intuitive and author

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Works Cited

Beak, Sera. Red Hot & Holy: A Heretic's Love Story. Sounds True, Inc., 2013.

Estés, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola. Women Who Run With The Wolves. Ballantine Books, 1992.

Don’t miss Part III in the Creativity series: Shape-Shifting

Until next time…

Creativity ~ Part I: Imagination

Creativity: An 8-Part Series

By Kristy McCaffrey

When I was in the final stages of completing my third book, The Sparrow, I had a strong sense of cultivation, as if I were gardening. As I strove to refine the story and add more details that would, hopefully, enliven the tale more deeply, I could literally feel the soft, sweet, moist earth fall through my fingers as I scooped it up and packed it into the world I'd created. In moments like these, the creative life fully connects with ordinary reality. It's why painters paint, sculptors sculpt, and writers write. It's why we, as humans, create. We want to bring meaning to our lives, and art—in any form—presents an outlet for us to express this yearning.

We all create, whether you label yourself an artist or not. Decorating your home, landscaping your yard, crafting long letters to friends and family—all are forms of self-expression, a deeply-rooted desire present in all of us.

Artmaking is making the invisible, visible. ~ Marcel Duchamp

Studies have shown that activities such as writing, drawing and even knitting reduce stress and increase serotonin levels. A UCLA study found that when young people engaged in artistic pursuits from a young age, they outperformed their peers in categories ranging from academics to life skills.

Cross-cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien states that in many traditional cultures, a healer will ask an ill person four questions: When did you stop singing? When did you stop dancing? When did you stop telling your story? When did you stop sitting in silence?

We need our creativity to survive. And we need to move through our creativity ourselves.

 

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Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. ~ Oscar Wilde

In this series on Creativity, I'll be discussing the following, each in a separate post:

I.      Imagination

II.    Domestication vs. Wildness

III.   Shape-Shifting

IV.   Forbearance

V.    Maiden/Mother/Crone

VI.   The Virgin and the Sacred Prostitute

VII.  Synchronicity

VIII. Magic

Let's get started.

I. Imagination

Imagination is when you step outside of time. I've often thought that imagination is less something we create and more something we tap into. As a fiction writer, I most definitely conjure ideas and make-believe people to fill the pages of my stories. Or do I?

I wrote my very first novel, The Wren, based on an idea that came to me when I was 15 years old. It was at that time I first became acquainted with my heroine, Molly Hart. Years later, as I drove cross-country with my mother and sister—a leaving-the-nest move from Phoenix to Pittsburgh—we pulled off at a rest stop outside of Amarillo. It was a desolate place, with wide-open sky and the endless flat expanse of the Texas Panhandle. And that's when I felt her, standing in the tall grass, watching me. It was Molly.

I was about 22 years old at the time. I didn't write Molly's story until I was 33, but in that moment it was as if she breathed her spirit into mine. For a while, I tried setting her story in Arizona, but it didn’t come together until I moved the tale back to Texas. It's been said that stories chase the right person to tell them. On that day, Molly most definitely pursued me, conveying in no uncertain terms that’s where she belonged. It was my job to pay attention. So, perhaps imagination is less an activity of making something up and more a sense of remembering.

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

How might you trigger this remembering?

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Playing. Children know it, and animals do as well. When children play, they follow their innate talents. It simply doesn’t occur for them not to. Playing is any activity that disengages the rational mind—for some it may be sports, or sewing, or playing a musical instrument. As adults, we often encapsulate play into vacations, but it should really be present each day. How can you add more play to your day? Think about it, and then let go and just have fun.

A Labrador retriever plays through its lifetime and dies a child. ~ Dr. Stuart Brown

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

Dreams. Whatever your personal beliefs about dreams, and why we have them, there is nothing better at shining a spotlight into your life than your dreams. The key is learning to work with the imagery. Renowned dream archaeologist Robert Moss suggests keeping a dream journal to begin understanding the messages relayed. Working with dreams isn’t a passive endeavor. Everything around us is alive with meaning; all you have to do is pay attention. For further guidance, read Moss's Active Dreaming—Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom (New World Library, 2011). If you’re still not certain that there’s something to be gained from this dreaming thing, check out his book The Secret History of Dreaming (New World Library, 2009) in which he elaborates on the dream lives of Joan of Arc, Mark Twain, and Winston Churchill.

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

In dreams begin responsibilities. ~ William Butler Yeats

      Solitude. Numerous studies tout the benefits of meditation, but even if you can’t quiet your mind enough for a deep practice, time alone can trigger a rush of ideas, from planning dinner parties to writing a book. Immersing yourself in the words of others can offer additional stimulus. Perhaps you’re inspired by perusing the latest fictional tale, or devouring Deepak Chopra, or quietly absorbing passages from the Bible. Or perhaps soothing music does the trick, or a hot bath and candles. A practice of daily solitude will fine-tune your access to imagination.

Copyright 2014 Kristy McCaffrey

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work. ~ Mary Oliver

Imagination is the act of creating new ideas. The key is learning to open the floodgates within the mind that can hold it back. Playing, dreams, and solitude are three ways to allow the remembering to enter your life.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. ~ Albert Einstein

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Don’t miss Part II in the Creativity series: Domestication vs. Wildness

Until next time…