Move outside of what you know
and find the bliss of non-being
as you crash into fuller being
splashing colors on the past
and making a new future…
Shiloh Sophia in the Summer Course, ARTIFACT
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There is a 10th Muse writing prompt at the bottom of this letter, as well as the names of the other 9 Muses in Greek Mythology.
The 10th Muse
I am an Artist with a capital A.
I have risked greatly.
I have failed greatly.
I choose to see my life
as a great work of art.
In a painting there are many layers,
making it rich and complex.
There are shadows and lights,
mistakes to integrate into the whole,
new ideas that take over,
patterns, symbols, codes,
Remedies for healing,
spells to break and spells to create,
color palettes to explore and change.
So many marks to be made
and so many dots to pray
for the lost and lonely.
And oh so much blending.
Throw nothing out,
integrate all of it,
claim that it belongs here,
somewhere in the landscape of you.
Falling in and out of love,
over and over
and staying with it.
Then step back,
pretend that you
have never seen it before
and be in awe of your own great work.
Take a look and see
what else is being requested.
Listen with your animal ears
and see with the eyes of the heart.
Let the Mother Tongue of your painting
speak to you of the great mystery.
Let the mystery pull up a chair
at your easel and serve Her
chocolate and tea.
Even then,
If you are brave,
you will risk messing it all up,
covering it all up,
stirring compost
and starting over again.
You cannot be an artist
if you are not willing to face
the loss of your masterpiece.
Your attachment will keep you
too far inside of what you know.
Move outside of what you know
and find the bliss of non-being
as you crash into fuller being
splashing colors on the past
and making a new future.
The painting which has gone through
so many revolutions in emotion
in a dance of light and dark,
of birth and near annihilation and rebirth
carries the marks of the maker,
the scar stories
and the light that comes through
the wounds of all of it.
Sometimes it is like an addiction,
other times a creative high.
Always a place to go
where your own unacceptable parts
can pour through the portal
with your brush as the lightning rod.
Let yourself be struck with light
that is too great to bear.
Painting is the cure for craving
what you have lost and will never
be able to reclaim.
In that surrender
there is quantum healing
manifesting itself right
onto the canvas.
Beat your brush on the canvas
like a drum, this is your horse,
your bird, your dream in flight,
your hidden room, your golden key,
your anti-venom.
Belong to your art!
What if your art does not belong to you,
rather you belong to your art.
This is the throne of imagination,
the sovereignty of being,
where all of you is never too much.
“Oh please, guild my lily,
fill my crackling edges with gold
that alchemize the ghosts of longing.
Oh yes use too much magenta,
splash glitter with a wish for love and magic.
Add too much light and too much dark
and dance with me on the drawing room table.
Oh please do not stay so far away,
come closer….feel me feeling you.”
The voice of the 10th Muse
is threading her voice
throughout the cosmos
of my consciousness.
She will come to you too,
if you ask her.
In the end, who can say
if the safer path would have
yielded more beauty and peace?
If you have not known this
depth of chaos, you cannot know
the height of ecstasy.
I have dared
and will continue to dare
as long as I can.
As long as the 10th Muse
is my compaion I am sure
I will have something to write,
and to paint.
Become your own masterpiece.
Sign your name with flourish.
Belong to your art, Dear Ones,
this is a worthy affair,
and oh, so romantic…
Shiloh Sophia
“Being an artist is so romantic” Sue Hoya Sellars
Dedicated to my BELOVED Students in Intentional Creativity 2020
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Red Thread Letter #817
Where have you risked lately?
Dear Ones,
My letter today is a simple inquiry for you… Where have you risked lately?
I want to acknowledge that with this question also comes the understanding that many of us are just getting through the day right now. With kids home, distancing from those you love and feeling the uncertainty of our world, it’s an accomplishment just to keep going…
I believe that honoring and including it all – the dark with the light – the good with the bad – the magic and the messy – is what defines our own masterpiece. It has always been my gift to see the beauty in the hardest of times and to share it with others.
For me, the risk comes when I spend time at my canvas, trusting my brush to show me the way. Releasing all perceived assumptions and desired outcomes, to let the Muse do her magic in my body, heart and soul. This is indeed my personal medicine to get me through, along with my husband Jonathan who keeps me laughing and my heart full.
Whether you’re feeling risky or not, I invite you to choose one thing that will help you feel ALIVE within yourself and do that. It could be a warm bubble bath, some time at the canvas, or a walk in the woods. Perhaps you can DARE yourself to do something you really want to do, even if you’re shaking in your boots!
Wherever this finds you today, in whatever you’re going through, I am sending you a reminder to be compassionate and loving with yourself. Tend to your needs and creative desires.
I’m making the 10th Muse in my own image. You can make her in yours. Do you know the names of the 9 Muses? Do you ever wonder why there isn’t a Muse of painting or imagery? I do. Where is the 10th Muse? I wonder if she was the one doing the painting or the mosaic and she just forgot to include herself in the picture (see below)? After thousands of years of silence and non-representation, I think our community is doing a pretty good job of bringing the feminine Muse of image forward! I call her the 10th Muse. If you allow the 10th Muse to have her way with your pen to draw or write, I wonder what she might say or show you?
with love unending,
I love sharing these inquiries and insights with you – and I have a course coming in the future about the 9th or 10th Muse. Have a beautiful weekend dear ones!
“Hesiod reveals that they were called Muses or Mouses in Greek, as the Greek word “mosis” refers to the desire and wish. The word museum also comes from the Greek Muses.” 1. Clio: The Muse Clio discovered history and guitar. History was named Clio in the ancient years, because it refers to “kleos” the Greek word for the heroic acts. Clio was always represented with a clarion in the right arm and a book in the left hand. 2. Euterpe: Muse Euterpe discovered several musical instruments, courses and dialectic. She was always depicted holding a flute, while many instruments were always around her. 3. Thalia: Muse Thalia was the protector of comedy; she discovered comedy, geometry, architectural science and agriculture. She was also protector of Symposiums. She was always depicted holding a theatrical – comedy mask. 4. Melpomene: Opposite from Thalia, Muse Melpomene was the protector of Tragedy; she invented tragedy, rhetoric speech and Melos. She was depicted holding a tragedy mask and usually bearing a bat. 5. Terpsichore: Terpsichore was the protector of dance; she invented dances, the harp and education. She was called Terpsichore because she was enjoying and having fun with dancing ( “Terpo” in Greek refers to be amused). She was depicted wearing laurels on her head, holding a harp and dancing. 6. Erato: Muse Erato was the protector of Love and Love Poetry – as well as wedding. Her name comes from the Greek word “Eros” that refers to the feeling of falling in love. She was depicted holding a lyre and love arrows and bows. 7. Polymnia: Muse Polymnia was the protector of the divine hymns and mimic art; she invented geometry and grammar. She was depicted looking up to the Sky, holding a lyre. 8. Ourania: Muse Ourania was the protector of the celestial objects and stars; she invented astronomy. She was always depicted bearing stars, a celestial sphere and a bow compass. 9. Calliope: Muse Calliope was the superior Muse. She was accompanying kings and princes in order to impose justice and serenity. She was the protector of heroic poems and rhetoric art. According to the myth, Homer asks from Calliope to inspire him while writing Iliad and Odyssey, and, thus, Calliope is depicted holding laurels in one hand and the two Homeric poems in the other hand. The Nine Muses have been inspiring artists since the antiquity and there countless paintings, drawings, designs, poems and statues dedicated to them. All artists of the Renaissance acknowledged their importance in artistic creation, dedicating their works to the Muses. There are tons of good references – but I got this information from this one https://www.greekmyths-
