Beating Drums in the Caves of the Underworld
The Creative Process as a Journey into the Spiritual World
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.287Keywords:
creative process, creativity, mythology, monomyth, sumerian mythology, chtonic gods, writing, writer's journey, Gardner, Campbell, daemonic inspiration, shamanic journeyAbstract
Writing a story is on the surface only a matter of discipline, but I argue that inherent in the creative process is a battle between order and chaos documented in the earliest myths of civilization. I examine several myths about the journey to the underworld to suggest that these stories are metaphors for the biology and psychology that empower the creative process.
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