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who: Cape Breton Island writers
when: deadline March 15, 2008
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Apr
6
a Muse zine
April 6, 2007 |
[-photo essay-]
by Nancy S.M. Waldman
“Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths.” ~ Joseph Campbell
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If you had your own personal goddess to inspire you, what would she look like? How would she dress? Would she be young? Playful? Beautiful? Old? Wise? Wacky? What symbols or emblems might she carry with her? Or, would she even be a goddess? Might your Muse be a god instead?
Let’s create our own personal mythology, our private dreams, by manifesting our Muses.
Myths are legends that become beliefs. Stories that explain the why of something we wouldn’t otherwise understand. Imagine for a moment what our lives would be like if we had no personal or public stories or beliefs to explain what cannot be proven or easily understood.
Why are we here? What or who made us? How did the Earth come to be here? How did life begin? What happens to us after we die? These are the biggest questions human beings ever ask and our ability to answer these questions by use of science can only take us so far. As individuals we seek something that makes sense to us. A belief we can believe in.
Myths are important. And more important still, for The PCQ and its readers, is the fact that myth and creativity are inextricably intertwined. There could be no myths without creativity. Myths are born out of the imagination. They are spread through the art of storytelling and song. They are maintained through writing. They are illustrated, conveyed, made evident and inspirational through art - sculpture, painting, tapestry, music.
Muse, in the classical sense, refers to goddesses who were water nymphs. They were daughters of Zeus, lord of all Greek gods and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. We usually think of The Nine Muses, but predating these nine were an original three. Aiode, muse of song and voice, Melete, muse of practice or occasion and Mneme, the muse of memory.
The more familiar nine Muses, with their associated arts and sciences, and their traditional emblems or poses are :
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Euterpe - music
Her emblem is the flute and, as all you musicians out there will understand, she is known as “the Giver of Pleasure.”
Calliope - epic poetry (no image)
The eldest muse is crowned in gold, known as “the Fair-Voiced” and holds a writing tablet.
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Clio - history
She is called “the Proclaimer” and is usually seen with a scroll and a chest of books.
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Erato - lyric poetry
Erato, “the Lovely” wears a crown of roses and holds a lyre. When was the last time you thought about setting your poetry to music?
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Melpomene - tragedy
She is also known as “the Songstress,” but she must be singing the blues with her everpresent tragic mask. Her other emblems are a crown of cypress, a garland, a club and a sword. She is often seen wearing cothurnes, which are boots traditionally worn by tragic actors. Wouldn’t we all be more fabulous and creative if we only had cothurnes to wear?
Polyhymnia - sacred poetry(no image)
She of Many Hymns has no emblem but is always seen with a serious expression or with her face veiled. She’s also associated with geometry, mime, meditation and agriculture.
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Terpsichore - dancing
The “Whirler” is usually seen dancing, holding a lyre, and sometimes, a plectrum, which is an instrument used for plucking stringed instruments. By the river god Achelous, Terpsichore bore the Sirens. As a mom, she must have had her hands full.
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Thalia - comedy
She wears a crown of ivy and is known as the “Flourisher.” Her emblems are a comic mask and sometimes a crook. Flourish … now there’s a word we should resurrect!
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Urania - astronomy
Urania, “the Heavenly,” holds a staff pointing toward a celestial globe and foretells the future in the stars. Perhaps The PCQ should make Urania the official Muse of our next issue, since the theme is Space!
Here’s a soft doll I made as a manifestation of my muse. She’s meant to be elderly and therefore, wise, but still beautiful, vibrant and (very important) eccentric! A real Grande Dame.
It was fun to make and she’s a real presence in my studio. Try making your own.
You’ll want to see our Studio Muse Experiment article by Suze Corte.
Photo credits:
The muse signs at the beginning of the article were taken by Jaqi Pascoe (blue muse), a self-described, “real-life working muse.” You can see more of her photos and art at www.flickr.com/photos/illuminata [note: some adult content] and “luvmusekey” (coke and lego muse) at www.flickr.com/photos/luvmusekey. The photo of three muses was taken by P.J. Beck at the Hearst Castle in California. Her work/play is also at www.flicker.com/photos/freakydeak. Our Roman Muse photos were taken by Bill Jennings. Bill is a Latin teacher in San Francisco. He took these photos while attending a 2004 summer institute for Latin teachers sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He’s going back to Italy this summer; visit Postcards from Italy for his trip blog.
Research links:
The Muses from Greek Mythology - a website devoted to the Muses with lots of classic paintings (edit: 2007 web address out of date)
What is a myth? an article by Laurie Chandler (edit: 2007 web address out of date)
The Encyclopedia Mythica
The Wikipedia
Here’s a good link:
The Big Myth - a flash animation educational website about Creation Myths from all over the world
Originally published in the Practically Creative blog, February 2005 (slightly edited for re-publication)
also posted in: Photography , Creative Cross-pollination , Collaboration , Inspiration , The Original PCQ, 05-06 , Contributors , Essays - Nancy , Creations
tags: essay, fun, history, inspiration, inspire, legends, manifestation, muse, muses, myths, nancy, process, way, work, write, writing
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Results of our previous poll
What is your biggest creativity problem?too many projects at once can't get in the groove not enough time everything else takes priority self-doubts
other ['not enough talent']27% 20% 20% 15% 15%
5%
