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March 6, 2009
 
Fundamentals of the Creative Process

A friend recently emailed me about the creation process for a temple for Burning Man. The following is my email response.

Simplicity is the key. Start with the number 2. That is, start with dualities. Fundamental dualities are a good places to start. Let the symbolism evolve from there as it may.

Below is a list of dualities, but first here's some advice to keep in mind, the best advice I've found in my life so far:

"Moderation in moderation." The Temple of Apollo at Delphi carried four statements on its frieze. One of these was "Nothing in Excess." My version of this takes it a step further to say that even finding the middle ground should have a middle ground (but doesn't really).

The Innovation Exercise: Take a line and divide it into two. Pick a half and divide it into two. Pick a quarter within the half and divide it into two. Pick an eighth within that quarter and divide it into two. Pick a sixteenth within that eighth and divide it into two. Do this ad infinitum until the bounding lines of your chosen segment are indistinguishable from each other. You will find yourself right about one-third or two-thirds of the distance across the original line. This can be done with thirds to make fourths, fourths to make fifths, and so on, even 100ths to make 111ths.

(Note: another interpretation of "Nothing in Excess" can be that the meaning of life is nothing, in excess. This goes in relation with Landmark Education's final stinger, "Life is empty and meaningless and it's empty and meaningless that it's empty and meaningless." Essentially this is the idea of non-attachment to a meaning of life.)

"Just dance." This was the result of a the first entheogenic vision I ever had. It was without the assistance of any substances whatsoever and instead was facilitated by electronic music with didjeridoo. In the vision, I kept coming to a woman/goddess at the head of a Native American bonfire where many people were dancing (including myself). At some points, I would go up to the woman and state the fundamental question, "What's my purpose? Why am I here?" She simply replied with a stern face, "Just dance," every time I approached her. I didn't get it for a while, but eventually it dawned on me.

Just dance is the idea that one should simply dance with the kaos/kosmos. It doesn't mean we can't ask questions, but it does mean we shouldn't necessarily expect answers or at least not definitive ones. Just dance is that state of Brahman, the sound of "aum," or that true peace and oneness with the universe, regardless of the ebb and flow of dualities swirling around, through, and within us.

"E." The representation of E, again from the frieze of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, signifies to me constant flux and adapation. Based on my interpretation of Plutarch's interpretation of E, I see this character as a character whose meaning has changed over the centuries to reflect evolutionary cultural needs of utilitarian and other purposes. It is similar to the word aum, which can represent anything. The mystery surrounding it is as representative of the Divine Feminine's taxonomic evasion (lack of a consistent name) as it is representative of the Divine Masculine's desire to name and classify all things.

"Know thyself." This phrase is very well known in our culture and others and is also found on the frieze of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Yet people still have difficulty in its application. Knowing thyself includes learning to know how to get to know thyself and how not to get bogged down in excessive distractions and escapism, especially ones that pose themselves as supposedly gnostigenic or entheogenic.

(Note: There is another statement on the frieze of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: "Make a pledge and mischief is nigh." This one is essentially akin to non-attachment [as well as mindfulness/awareness], an exceptionally good trait at Burning Man.)

"Teach us to be warriors without need for enemies." This phrase is taken from a South American traditional calling to the directions, specifically Otorongo (Great Jaguar) to the West. I love the phrase, because a true warrior has no need for enemies. A true warrior makes allies and follows a good personal code of conduct. This makes the warrior so well allied and so well tempered an individual in his/her collective reality that no challenges to his/her person/status are offered.

Useful archetypes/dualities:

Gender - Feminine / Masculine
Divinity - Transcendent-Spiritual / Immanent-Physical
State - Passive / Active
Mind - Consciousness / the Unconscious
Life - Humanity-Technology / Nature-Environment
Being - Individual / Collective
Tense - Present / Past-Future
Hamlet - To be / Not to be
Knowledge - Gnosis-Intuition-Emotion / Science-Intellect
Pattern - Evolutionary-Complexity / Primal-Simplicity
Universal - Kaos / Kosmos

With regards to physical representations of the dualities above, it might behoove artists to consider the Innovation Exercise in the indented paragraph above. Through the implementation of these dualities coinciding with the exercise, more complex multiplicitous geometries emerge.