In this episode, Charlie, a non-binary sci-fi fantasy writer, together with their husband Brian, discusses the concept of harvesting imagination and light in accordance with the Via Creativa. They delve into the cyclical nature of creativity, emphasizing the importance of practical spirituality, the interplay between light and darkness, and the necessity of sharing one's creative output. They also reflect on the profound role hope plays as an act of creative will, particularly in challenging times.
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Transcript:
Charlie- New: [00:00:00] On this first quarter moon after Lunesta, we turn our minds to the Via Creativa to the creative way. And start asking ourselves, how can we harvest imagination and light? What. Imagination Are we harvesting in the season?
intro
Hello everyone. My name is Charlie and I am a non-binary scifi fantasy writer. I'm joined by my wonderful husband, Brian.
Brian - New: Hello.
Charlie- New: Today we're going to be talking about harvesting imagination and light. Because we are at our first fruits festival Lunesta, we are. Focusing on this harvesting image, especially as we're here, harvesting those first fruits, those first little inklings. That are coming up [00:01:00] on the fields.
How can we bring that in? How can we have more of that in our life? I think a lot of us really need more imagination in our life . I used the word light. A lot.
I've always used light in terms of God, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. And the word was God. And the same was in the beginning with God and without him, nothing would have been made that was made. And in him was light. And the light was the life of humanity. . That beautiful prologue to the gospel of John and so light. And diety are forever joined in my brain. Even more than that right now, as it feels like we're going through such dark times with. The riots that are going on in Britain and the wars around the world. And. The economy and the weather and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and.
I think we need to be. Mindful about looking for those places where we can find a [00:02:00] light. Where we can find hope. Where we can find. Whatever it is that pierces the darkness. And brings us to the other side. For the new moon we talked about entering that darkness and harvesting peace. Today. As we're entering this. Time where we're focused on the Via Creativa, the creative way.
Answering that question for ourselves in our own lives. How do you find. imagination. How do you find light? And I do mean how not where, but how, because I think we need to be practical. We can be all mystical and metaphysical, and I can use all manner of metaphors here about where and all thats not going to help anyone. I. Have a very strong bias that mysticism. Spirituality needs to be practical. It needs to be. Rooted down in our bones in a very practical, honest, and straightforward way.
Let's start with a brief recap of the Via Creativa. [00:03:00] Because. There's a quality that it has that. Often gets missed in people. When Matthew Fox talks about the Via Creativa. He says that it is born from the union of path one and path two. Of that via positive, and via negativa in that. Cosmic hospitality. And that letting go and letting be, and that welcoming in and letting go. That it's in the union. Of these two that the Via Creativa the creative way. Comes forth.
I think it's really important for us. To hold that in our minds, when we're thinking about the creative way. Because. Creativity really is about welcoming in the ideas. I think we focus on that a lot. I'm waiting for inspiration. I am waiting for the muse to sing to me and to tell me the things that I should be making.
We don't want to think about the other side of that. That's the letting it go or we let the letting it go [00:04:00] terrify us. Well, I've written this thing. Why should I publish it? I've made the song. Why should I sing it in front of somebody else?
I've made this food. What if nobody else likes it? I made this. Knitwear crochet where thing. What will people say? If I wear it in public, maybe I'll just wear it around the house. We put these paralyzing. Roadblocks. Between us.
Really letting our imagination and our creativity flourish.
That's why. seeing creativity is arising from that hospitality, that davar, that divine word. Coming into us. . That willingness to let go and let be. You really have to do both things to be creative.
The via creativity. We're told that this is the place where we learn to give birth to God that we are. Where this is the place for goddess as much mother. As child.
Both of those images. Have that welcoming, gracious, Via Positiva energy to them. They [00:05:00] also have that letting go energy.
a, mother has to let their child go to go out into the world. A child has to let go of the family to go out into the world. And all of our creative endeavors do as well.
More than anything right now. In this time in this place, I think the greatest creativity that we're called to. Is hope.
Because hope really is a creative act.
Hope isn't. An emotion as much as people want it to be. Yeah. We can feel hopeful. It creates a sensation in us when we have it.
Brian - New: The emotion is more, the joy. That the hope brings. When you really break it down, In itself is not the emotion. It brings joy. It brings happiness.
Charlie- New: It really is born from the joy that's born, that we're feeling. We confuse it for an emotion. It's kind of like how we think compassion is an emotion. No, we feel loving kindness. We feel that loving [00:06:00] sensation within us, but compassion it's self is a mental act. It is an act of choice. If I can use the big words that I like to use, it's a volitional act. It's an act of our will.
Hope is very much an act of will. It's not. A pie in the sky dream. I think too many people.
Allow hope. Too. Be that thing that's just out of reach. To be that thing that's just beyond us. I know it's probably not going to happen, but I have hope. That's a platitude. That's not really hopeless.
Brian - New: Once again, it's without works.
Charlie- New: Yeah.
Brian - New: When said. In that manner. It is said without the intention of doing anything, it's more of, this is an excuse. For the situation rather than. Normally when it's actual hope. When you say you have hoping you mean it. There is. Intention behind it.
Charlie- New: It's the one thing that we say a lot. We go back to this faith without works is dead. That [00:07:00] really is core to everything. , if you get nothing out of any of the other spiritual ideas that we put forward, if you can just latch onto that faith without works is dead idea.
We'll be so much better off. Then most people that are. Trying to find a spiritual path because that's really the core, the heart of all of it. As we discussed in the via negativa.
On the new moon. That harvesting piece is that active? Portion. That we're engaging it. In. That place of darkness.
In the Via Creativa in this creative path. There is this instinct, this urge to say that the action here is to create something. To make a sculpture, make a painting, write a poem, write a story. Tell a story. Cook a meal, bake some bread, there's this very. Literal understanding of being creative. I don't want to discourage that.
I don't want to discourage that in [00:08:00] any way. If that's where your heart is. If that's where you're feeling called and moved. Do that.
We need to expand our understanding of creativity. To other aspects. Of our lives, our creative projects in and of themselves. Maybe that creativity is I'm going to go walk in this other place that I normally don't walk. maybe that creativity is finding a new restaurant to go hang out at. Finding a new cafe. Finding a new way to find a new artist to listen to. Or a new book to read. Creativity comes in a lot of shapes and sizes. It's not just our creative output.
I think this content culture that has developed alongside influencer culture has gotten us to think of. Creativity as having a necessary output.
Brian - New: An exercise. I found very helpful. Getting a deeper understanding. Of the creative. Process. Especially in regard to imagination. Was when I thought [00:09:00] about. Cleaning a room. The simple act of cleaning, via Positiva, via negativa, we're in the actual act of cleaning the space. Adding pretty things and removing ugly things out or the detritus.
However you want to word it. it was adding and removing. It was enjoying the a And wonder of it. Then those two are married. The creative process. Actually came next. It is when I sat back. . alow. Others to experience that space. I had just been cleaned. I shared it. I observed, I watched how that space was used, how it was enjoyed or not enjoyed. I watched for the gratitude. It's always nice for someone to appreciate it, but there wasn't an expectation of that. There was no attachment to having to have someone say, oh, thank you for [00:10:00] cleaning this room. That was not there because that's not part of that creative imagination. What was part of that observation was watching to see the natural flow of the space.
How did everybody use the cleaned room? Then that carries over into the via transformative as we'll go into later in the month. In this exercise that then allowed me to re-imagine. Small aspects of that space to how is it better used? How are others using it?
How has it impacted? It was that creative imagination that allowed me to rethink. The entire room. Realizing sometimes I put artificial structures in, when I cleaned, sometimes I put a piece of furniture in a place that blocks the flow. Uh, some of those you get into when doing .
Charlie- New: feng shui
Brian - New: feng shui. In a space. It's sitting down and it, that is that creative [00:11:00] imagination. . And the creative process . On how is that space? Actually supposed to be because clean doesn't mean free of dirt. There may be. Flowers or plants that need to be added to give life to the space. It may be light needs to be added to brighten it. It may be too much light and maybe too many plans. You may need less, but it's just that. Taking that moment. To just be in the moment. Watch how it is. Interacted with and imagining. Which is pure creativity. Just imagining. How it could be better.
Charlie- New: I've often said that the first two paths, the Via Positiva and via. Negativa. are internal. They're looking at they're inviting in their internal work. For the most part they are. And this other two, the paths three and four, the Via Creativa and via transformativa, Our outward paths. Whereas. [00:12:00] In the Via Positiva, we are welcoming it. We're. Allowing that divine word to come into us. We're practicing cosmetic. Hospitality. And learning that hospitality is earthiness and bringing all of those good things in whether they're into our hearts, into our lives, into our homes. Whether it's doing the internal work on ourselves. That is done on that path. In the Via Creativa. This is the turning outward. This is the moving out.
I don't personally. Believe that creativity can happen within.
Creativity. Requires some form of external action. Whether that's just practicing body prayer. That you were praying internally. Just holding it all inside and now you're adding gestures and ritualizing your prayer in that way. Whether that's learning to seam with your own voice for dance. In the moment. [00:13:00] Or all of the other creative acts that come out. The Via Creativa. Is an outpouring. We've welcomed everything in the Via Positiva, We've learned what we need to let go and let be in the via negativa and now we're allowing it to flow through us. We are becoming a channel, a conduit. We are part of that flow. Now.
There is that. need to share. That can be as simple as telling another person about a thing. You don't have to publish your work to the whole wide world. Don't ever think that's what I'm saying. When I say. Share your stories or share your music or what have you. You don't have to start a bakery to share your baked goods. It is good to share them. That could be as simple as if you live in a very rural place.
Maybe. Bake something special for your dog. There are a lot of really nifty dog foods that you can make that require a lot of creativity. And I say that to somebody, like I grew up very rural. Remember when it was [00:14:00] just me and my dog. Right around right. I didn't have any friends that lived close by.
That was always an event when you would go. And actually visit other people because they live so far away.
If that's your case. Share with the birds. Go outside and tell the birds your stories. Tell the birds. Tell them to the wind, tell them to the trees. To me, that's just as valid. Whether or not you experienced the spirit of that tree, the spirit of those birds. Community with you or not. You're still sharing.
You're still taking that step. To speak to something outside yourself to. Cher. With things outside of yourself. And that is just vitally important. This is a place where we're getting in touch with our creativity, with our imagination. With that light. That ever shines within us.
a while back. I did a piece where I talked to you about the idea that we live. In the Zelle [00:15:00] Shaddai we live in the shadow of the almighty. And what that means. This image of all creation is God dancing before God. The shadow that's cast into the void in between. Is what makes our world. That we are all living in the shadow of the almighty.
how are you casting your shadow? How are you sharing your light? That's what the Via Creativa is about, is learning to. Interact with that play between light and shadow. To bring it in and let it flow through you.
Jesus used a lot of light analogies for us. We are to be the shining city on a hill that. Who should let the light of our eyes shine out that we shouldn't put our light under a bushel. ? He used these light images a lot. That's because light. Like creativity. Can't be contained. Hope like creativity. Can not be contained. It has to be free. It can be [00:16:00] blocked. That's a very different thing than containing it.
Brian - New: Even then light gets creative. Have it just travels in one direction. And then once it's blocked, it gets creative and goes in another direction. , there's the simple trick has hold a mirror up and you can see the beam of light somewhere else because it reflects, and it doesn't just reflect off the first time it gets blocked and reflects. Sometimes it can even amplify. Slightly as it reflects because it starts reflecting off multiple places.
Charlie- New: Why is the sky blue?
Brian - New: That's reflecting off the ocean.
Charlie- New: No, actually, it's the refracting light.
Brian - New: Oh, yeah.
Charlie- New: The way the light hits the atmosphere, it bends and shakes, and the blue light scatters. It just scatters. So much that we see it.
And the other light makes it down to us.
The light that feeds our plants is actually red light.
The plants are green because there's too much green light. They need to reflect that light back so they don't get burned.
So they're green because they're reflecting that green [00:17:00] light. So they don't get burned by it. But the green light. Isn't what nourishes them. If you've ever worked with grow lights, if you've done any you'll notice that they're very red. And the reason for that is not because, oh, didn't that? Cool. It's just that those are the wavelengths of light.
The plant actually needs. There's no point in generating wasting the energy to generate green light. Which is there in the white light, all along.
Because the plant will just reflect that back. It doesn't need it. It doesn't want it. It's too much of it.
And that right there. If you think about it. Is what we're talking about, hearing that Via Creativa Via Positiva, via negativa balance. It's letting in. Inviting in that path one. The red light. Letting go of reflecting via negativa path to the green light. So that it can Via Creativa path three, grow. And make all of those beautiful leaves and flowers. And everything else. That's why we have such [00:18:00] a variety in plants. When you see a plant that has kind of reddish leaves.
Oh, It's wanting that red light. It doesn't want that red light anymore.
It's reflecting that back.
That's powerful idea. It's one that's so subtle. We don't think about it. Cause it's all around us. You look up the window. And you see. Green grass. Or a tree leaf. Or something and you see that green and you just it's great.
There's so much. In the meaning of that green leaf.
That's the power of the via creative and taking this time. That we do. To meditate on it, whether it's just on the first quarter moon. I tend to focus on the Via Creativa in the time period between the main moon phases. So between now and the full moon.
That's the. Monthly cycle of the Via Creativa for me, I take that time to meditate on the third path.
To think about all of those. I guess you could call them hidden messages. That are out there. That aren't really hidden. They're just, and again, a repeated theme that we keep going to, we just don't notice [00:19:00] them.
Brian - New: Yeah. There's subtle. Very, still small whispered voice. And they allowed room. Full of conversation.
Charlie- New: Because we need hope right now. We need creativity right now. We need. To live. Right now.
It's so hard in this late stage capitalist world that we live in. To find those moments of joy. And peace. And lightness, not just light, but lightness. We feel so burdened so heavy.
And yeah, I could use as a platitude, right. That wonderful quote from Jesus. Come to me all who are weary and heavy Laden and take my burden upon you.
For a disliked. Yeah. I remember as a child seen that wonderful him cast your cares upon Jesus. Right? I remember seeing that when I was a kid. And it sounds. So simple.
But it is one of the hardest things to do. One, it requires us to. Use our creative mind. [00:20:00] To understand what we need to hold onto and what we need to let go of. This is where creative, the via creativa or the third path. It looks back at the two that came before it. . also looks forward, what things need changing. That's what we're going to be talking about. When the full moon comes about.
What are we changing? What needs change? what needs transformation and celebration brought to it?
So here we are. What creative things can we do? Do we need to do, or are we not seeing. How have we gotten locked into a certain mode? And a certain habitual action.
Brian - New: That's why I liked that exercise. Of the simple act of cleaning. It is. A simple thing. Most of us think of it as a chore it's treasury that we just do because it needs doing. some of us are fortunate enough to find a lot of joy in it. With the power of imagination. And the creative path. One Ken. Simply shift that [00:21:00] perspective. Can go, I'm going to clean this space. It is going to be an act of compassion. Given to everyone. That enters that space, including yourself. And as an act of compassion, it's done without thought of reward. But knowing. With that hope and faith,
good things will come out of it. And then with that power of creation, power of the creative imagination. Making that shift and then doing the cleaning. It is now a gift. Not one that you have to have a thank you for it. It's just a gift. That you can enjoy. That any everybody else entering this space can enjoy. That you can then also further contemplate. Meditate upon. How it can be transformed. For the next time you do it. So that then you can. Make it even better gift.
Charlie- New: That's why as we're going about our days.
We're even if it's just right now, while you're hearing the sounds of our voices.
Just take a. [00:22:00] Moment. A little breath. And ask yourself. Where's that light. Whereas that lightness. Where's that. Creativity. Where is my imagination right now. Where are you finding those things? Where are you practicing those things? Where are those things calling to you?
They may not be in the most obvious places. Maybe you need to be creative about the path you take to work. Maybe you need to be creative about how you do your sleep schedule. Or the routine that you have to get up in the morning. Maybe you need to have some creativity. And how you pray. Or meditate.
Maybe you need to have some creativity in your meal planning. Have you gotten into a rut?
Anytime anything starts feeling routine. I think it's important for us. To ask ourselves that question. Is this routine because I want it to be, because this is what I have chosen. Or because I just got into a pattern and it became a [00:23:00] habit.
So much of what we're trying to do in the creative life and the spiritual life. It's learning to see those habitual patterns. And which ones need to be broken free from.
it's very easy for us to just get into a pattern. That's really the power of. The third path.
It shows us where we need to bring that imagination. That creativity and that light. So that we can change. That's what the path four is all about. But before. Little baby. Jesus can walk. We have to give birth to him. We do that. When we learn to trust the divine imagination living within us. And to be co-creators with God. In this amazing and wonderful cosmos.
Thank you so much for listening. I hope you have enjoyed today's episode. If you have. Please. Like us or whatever you can do wherever you're listening. If you're at a place where you can leave a review that helps us out. Immensely.
Don't [00:24:00] forget to share. If you think that somebody, you know, would benefit from hearing this. That helps us out more than, you know, And if you. Have a few pennies, you can throw our way. If you head over to https://www.creationspaths.com/, you can join our sub stack over there and get the classes as they start coming out. Or. You can go over to my https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett or patreon.com/cedorsett. I'm see Dorsett on both. And that helps with everything that I do, including the stories, the music and everything else. Thank you so much for spending this time with us and may the blessings of the first quarter moon be upon you.
Bye.
Brian - New: Bye.
Harvesting Imagination and Light (First Quarter Moon)