The Ancients Are My Daemons
Creativity – is it internal or external? Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love gives an interesting humorous discourse about creativity. Ancient Greeks and Romans believed something outside of themselves called daemons were the source of their creative process. Latter day thinking focused on creativity coming from within. It is a viewpoint that the human is the centre of the universe versus the existence of some greater unseen force in the universe. Gilbert thinks this belief puts a greater strain and suffering on creators - anyone lacking can only blame his or herself.
A year ago, a very spontaneous, profound, acute and lengthy vocalizing of the Languages of the Self happened to me for 2-2 ½ hours, when at least 20 different dialects/languages/voices of the Ancients came out of me. It was an experience like no other I’ve ever had and opened me up to some new understandings of what I had been speaking since 2012.
Since then, I have felt the presence of the Ancients as I allow them more and more to cross the threshold of my voice in my daily life. I believe they are the ‘source’ of the desire to create a platform for them to reach others and to start something of this nature after almost 7 years of withdrawal from public interaction (brought on by family trauma after leaving Singapore).
Gilbert’s talk made me think about my own creativity pertaining to how to reach people for the Languages of the Self. It now becomes obvious that have been speaking and feeling the nudges of confirmation or the rejection of an idea of ‘no, not that’ from the Ancients while putting this website and all its exploratory social tentacles into the world such as my Facebook/Meta page. It’s not just me. In Gilbert’s words… they and I are showing up for the work.
I have often struggled with the reasons of how and why I speak these Languages of the Self and the existence of the Ancients. I’m sure many would believe that I should be medicated, or I have the capacity for uttering complete nonsensical sounds – a fantastical vocal imagination. I’m comforted that Gilbert prefers believing in her own daemons and mystical creative muses.
Perhaps believing in this way opens us up more to experience moments of transcendence when there is something that breaks through and lights us up and those who are witnessing what we do. As Gilbert concludes, we need the stubborn persistence to show up after that moment has passed to continue our work and pat ourselves on the back for doing so, while patiently waiting for the next whispers and nudges of our daemons.