‘The noble womb in which boiled the basis of all poetic knowledge.’

I believe that a creative life is not for the elusive few, we are all naturally creative. We are all made from the evident and yet mysterious force of creation itself on this planet—from nature. This same creative juice flows through each one of us. Being in nature helps us to feel well because it cloaks us with its creative lifeforce. As within, so without, nature mirrors back to us the evident and yet mysterious pulse that’s within us. Our body is the ‘noble womb’—the vessel connecting us to nature and our creativity.

‘For the origin of poetry and knowledge is in everyone physically, but in every second one it does not shine forth. In another it does.’

This quote from the 8th century warns that many creative lives remain unlived, a reality we still see today. We have distanced ourselves from nature and the ‘primitive’ teachings of our ancestors, cutting off our creative potential. We are creatively unwell. 93% of people feel creativity is important to their wellbeing (1), yet 75% feel it is underutilised (2). In Ireland, 90% of creatives feel that Irish culture and our environment enhance the quality of their creativity (3). This ‘quality’ is due to two (unconscious) ingredients: a cultural psyche that holds the skeletal remnants of our Creative Ancestors, and nature.

‘My fine cauldron… has given me from out of the mysterious elements, noble decision that magnifies the womb which pours forth the oral language of poetry [poiesis].’

Before our soul enters our body and we are birthed into this world, a rare magical gem is buried inside us that only we can gift to the world in our unique way. In Western mysticism, the Greeks called the art of bringing this inner treasure into being, poiesis, the progenitor of the word ‘poetry.’ It means ‘to make,’ ‘to bring forth’ that which is within us. The soul loves to create because our creativity guides us towards our life’s calling.