Invoking the Muse
Invocation
State your intentions, Muse. I know you're there.
Dead bards who pined for you have said
You're bright as flame, but fickle as the air.
My pen and I, submerged in a liquid shade,
Much dark can spread, on days and over reams
But without you, no radiance can shed.
Why rustle in the dark, when fledged with fire?
Craze the night with flails of light. Reave
Your turbid shroud. Bestow what I require.
But you're not in the dark. I do believe
I swim, like squid, in clouds of my own make,
To you, offensive. To us both, opaque.
What's constituted so, only a pen
Can penetrate. I have one here; let's go.
--Neal Stephenson (from the book Quicksilver)
******
This poem was the first thing I read when I cracked open Neal Stephenson's 900+ novel (and it's just part 1 of a series!). I was sitting on an airplane from New York to San Francisco, ready to lose myself in someone else's world for a few hours. I was absolutely blown away by the poem and read it over and over, sitting there on the plane thinking "YES". Rarely does this ever happen to me with a poem. (Although, strangely enough, I find that plane flights can put me into a particularly thoughtful, creative space, which is probably why I should take my laptop on trips with me, despite the hassle of lugging and watching after it. Perhaps my Muse, like a guardian angel, is fond of heights and easier to reach when flying?) I particularly like the lines "I do believe/I swim, like squid, in clouds of my own make/To you, offensive". 'Cause yeah, I've been there. Shit, I am there right now. Where I panic and rush around squirting my scaredy-squid ink all over, hiding from the clarity and light that could be mine if only I would calm down and *stop*. And let Her come to me.
I've written poems (and rants, and whines, and invocations) to the Muse (a Muse? My Muse?) before. I have a great one I wrote back in college that I still remember--someday I'll find that notebook again and whip that poem out. :) I find immense satisfaction (and possibly comfort) in the personification of the creative force. It's just like writing poems (or rants) about God--a way to wrap the wee human brain around a concept which is so big and beautiful and terrible and mysterious that we need a metaphor to hold on to when we think of it. I think that the force I like to playfully call the Muse *is* God, and vice versa. All that creative juice/fire/flow/energy/inspiration comes through from the same source, in other words. There are certainly those moments when, through my painting, or writing, or other creative activity, I become a conduit for the Divine Creator (also known as the Muse) and the power flows through me. Those moments are why I keep going, and why I really do believe. And when that power won't come, or more likely when I block myself off from it with that squid ink, it hurts. (So I guess I really do sympathize with Maeve there.) We all crave connection with the Divine, we all want to be uplifted into a higher realm of understanding and have our lives make some sort of sense to us, even if for a tiny brief moment. Why else are we so obsessed with storytelling in its myriad forms? Art is an effort to share truth and understanding; a huge powerful insight filtered through the medium of a small, imperfect (but unique) person.
So. What am I saying? True, honest creative work comes from inspiration granted by the Muse, who is an aspect of/a face for God. And that means the act of writing (or painting, or music, or whatever) should be approached as a potential way to connect to God.
Yikes. Think I'll go pray now.
I work as an Intuitive Guide & Energetic Healing Practitioner in the San Francisco Bay Area. My business and my "title" is Muse. I channel inspiration, guidance, creative flow from a higher source for those I work with - most of whom are creative artists in all venues. Here is what I believe about The Muse:
Muse - reverie, trance, awareness/unawareness, dream/daydream, rumination, contemplation, (state of) meditation
"A true muse infuses art and creation. She awakens your soul's desire while she illuminates it. Her grace reveals realms beyond those you know in your tangible world. Her truest whisperings will nourish your imagination. She has a gift for prophecy so you should listen when she visits you with her guidance. Do not fear or idolize her but respect her and she will light your way out of darkness like the moon in a night without stars."
Euterpe, The Muse of lyric poetry has her origin in water. The ancients believed that water talked as it flowed, so this goddess is endowed with the gift of prophecy. A prophet is also a poet and can inspire others to unlock the secret desires of their heart.