Invoking your muse

The Muse is your inspiration; in Greek mythology, the muses were the goddesses of the fine and performing arts. The word derives from the Latin word musa, which translates to ‘thinking in silence.’ The Greeks saw their muse as embodied spirit goddesses, and that’s how my Muse is for me too. She comes to me as divine spirit and nudges me, inspires me, gets me to ‘think in silence’ about words and pictures, images and ideas that come to fruition through my hands.

I am grateful for my Muse and her steady inspiration, which comes in the most unlikely forms – paint card arrangements at Home Depot, magnolia blossoms on the ground, ombred rainbows of dried paint on my daughter’s fingers. Sometimes she appears to me in dreamstate, waking me to go blend potions at midnight after a long day. I never decline her invitations. When the Muse comes, if you’re serious, you must go with her.

And let her take you far.

Have you experienced your Muse? For those I work with who have not, yet, I wrote this invocation. Light an orange candle, smudge a bit with rose and lavender or thyme, and say the following blissful words out loud:

“I call to you, Muse, wise goddess of the creative force
and ask you to breathe your breath of life through my spirit,
bringing your blessings of vision and imagination.
Move my hand, enchant my soul, delight my senses
with your divine charms. Show me the gifts
that only my spirit possesses, unique offerings
that only I am meant to bring to life.
And when my spirit is low, Muse, remind me
that I have the skills, the abilities, and the wisdom
to manifest my gifts for the good of all.
I promise to follow your lead, Muse,
day and night as we partner to create
what is now only a dream, a vision, a whisper.
So it shall be and so it is.”

Then begin to tinker, try, and test. Play with your supplies, suspend your judgment and expectation, and when the wind moves around you and the breeze blows through your trees, be still. Your Muse is there.

Bright blessings, creative spirits.