(Paper Batik Montage,Title "Philemon, The Muse")
On the second day.......
M U S I N G
"Philemon....brought home to me the crucial insight that
there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which
produce themselves and have their own life. Philemon
represented a force which was not myself.....I observed
clearly that it was he who spoke, not I."
C G Jung
What do I call you? Your names
are as many as the aliases
of a chameleon. Philemon, the Paranormal
Phenomenon. Ern Malley, the myth greater
than its makers. Muse, she who is An
Other. These names are flower-less bouquets
and you are no topiary in a botanical
garden, you are the jungle spirit whose rain-forest
leaves cannot be trimmed by human
shears. Your epithet is a multipennate
title but it does not tell us
whether you are the "white swan
that lies santified upon my trembling
intuitive arm or the peacock perched
on the sole Arabian tree."*
You are before the first name and beyond
all names. To name you is to imprison
you in the far country of my vocabulary.
The only way to set you free
into the Kingdom-at-hand that you
baptised me into is not
to christen you for no name
can contain that which my uner-
standing cannot evengelise!
*phrases borrowed from Ern Malley's poems
36 comments:
The Muse...is she real? Wong Phui Nam, a Malaysian poet wrote about the Muse..."What they seem not to have heard of is the very real existence of the Muse and the belief attested to by true poets that on every occasion of the writing of a poem, the poet is in effect invoking her presence, which becomes manifest in the persona that inhabits her workings and speaks the poem.Keats experienced her workings, I think, as a "negative capability". Rimbaud wrote almost in awe, almost in terror, of that presence outside of the self in the famous letter to his teacher Izambard: "Je est un autre" (literally "I is an other")The Chinese poets knew of the "other" when they developed their poetics concerning the fusion of the self with the phenomenal world."
So very often I write a poem and reading it later, I asked myself, "Did I really write that? And how was I able to put it that way? This facility of langage, this imagery, this sounds as if Someone else is writing........" Do any of you feel that way??? Write and tell me, please,bless you and yours, agape, kianseng.
i love your post as always. the painting is gorgeous and the words intriguing.
ah, the muse... i often wonder.
see, i hardly ever use any language other than slovene in my everyday life. yet most of my creative work (haiku or tanka or even haibun) is created in english. i feel that my creative self has a mind of her own, and she speaks a language that is not my mother's tongue...
Absolutely!! She gets very angry and pouts when I try to get in the way too!! I love Ern Malley's words!!
Gorgeous pic!
Nice very nice...
Ok, first I screamed as the fantastic image of the irridescent/translucent butterfly (?)image appeared in front of me, them I read the text completely engaged... then, I read your commet and I cried.
Yes indeed, what am I possesed with, guided by, when 5-6:00PM comes around and all had since early morning is some coffee and, ALL I am able to do is be an instrument of creation?
It was an emotional visit Kianseng.
There IS a "spirit of creation".
Wonderful post!
Love and joy to you and yours.
I know why some of my "creations" seem "good" and why others seem "poor", I believe the first category are pieces created by the Muse and those in the second category are from the "own self", and therefore appears forced or contrived. Do any of you feel the same way too, Angeldust, the piece of art that I like and which you sold is in the first category, I believe you will regret selling that piece!!!!!
:-]
thank
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Great one, and Jung is a favorite of mine. If I ever go crazy, I wnat him as my shrink.
Thank-you for the kind words about my poems on Kuan's site!
Ohhhhhhh yes - on the other hand it is going to a great home.
There will be others.
I Have already been housing a lot of works (also from others)in boxes under beds!
It will live "forever" - it's out there...
------- *
I need to have all prep work done and start fresh in the AM.
You asked me once - and yes, most of the time I just let it be as pieces have an energy of their own. As yourself,it is best when I just "follow".
I "got a call" and I am presently (as a matter of fact I am waiting for paint to dry) working on (4) race horse related ones - not only I am learning about accepting "muse/guiding spirit"and watercolour but most importantly, a personally non-chosen topic... Very interesting experiene that is pleasantly surprising me.
Very fortunate also to be able to have this exchanges with you as these are exiting times for me in this area.
Thank you Kianseng
All my best to you, Sylvia and family
PS.: This work IS MY favorite - thus far
beautiful.. I love it... just dropping in to say hey... hey!
okay good-bye now
-kora
And yes to answer your above blog i do feel that way. but sometimes i am critizing myself for writing such work that needs to be edited and revised. love you.
-kora
When I read your poem…I was I drifited to a different level…Than as I clicked the comment and got the chance to read your comment yet again I drifted in another height ….Let me say how much I appreciate your writing, its uniquely you…
Well giving a thought to what you said, How true, when you click the buttons to write, you disconnect who you are, a different soul inhibits that moment of writing…the level of thinking…the imagery where you are the place is erased…you travel in different time…yet your body may seem present but yes you are really long gone to a place and moment at time unknown to you also…
Even the connection of the emotion, you tend to be so connected with your writing. I recall when I wrote my 2nd book on women with cancer, I have witness a phenomena that its even hard to put in writing now. I literally was going through the episode of being a cancer patient
Another beautiful piece, and another beautiful post. Thank you for the flow of this blessed place and for sharing as you do. Just lovely.
Peaceful blessings of joy and Love be with you.
Kora, I thought you had gone to another planet! And I cannot find Aurora, do you people know there is an Aurora Fan club out there in cyberspce...no, I am not joking, there is a lady (Matt) who is a charter member....well if Elvis can have fan clubs why not AA!
Dear wonder Dr. Ng, this is a wonderful piece of art and a wonderful poem. In fact, this is my very favourite post of yours on this blog.
Regarding Matt and my "fan club" - he is not a lady. That photo is one of myself taken over a year ago.:)
Now onto serious matters: I have been asked to write an article about good and bad blogs. May I have permission to use your blog as an example of one of the "good" ones? Please let me know either via the comments section in this thread, or via email.
As always, I love your work.
Beautiful!! loved reading the flow!! and a lovely painting as always!! :)
Aurora, please go ahead, it is a great honour...I posted Paula's work in my comments but there was a problem somewhere and it was not published...please check it out at Wingtips, here's what Paula wrote,"Have you ever been someone else?/If you have not, do not wonder why/ you cannot hear the burst/ of a blooming flower that shouts/ its red in steel silence."Any thoughts about what she said?
Hello. I'm glad I found you. I write as well. I would encourage you to check out Flowers & Vortexes: www.promiseoflight.org
thankx.
~ James
I know that force, that visitor of creative minds that appears with an arm full of gifts for our choosing. Sometimes we are given too much. Sometimes we hurt while a few others might envy that which blesses us. I would have it no other way.
I love your art piece! And your words?....Devine.
Thank you.
How do you create your pieces, Kianseng? They are marvellous, delicate and colorful and layered. And also enjoyed your musing with the muse:-)
hi plus,
one of your best! profound, yet enjoyable. it may be a state of mind, but then how do you explain that "did-i-really-wrote-this?" works?.
I, is an other...hmmm...
To me, the muse and 'own self', they are one...only the muse is the part of 'own self' that does not believe in 'editing', it's not confined, doesn't believe in borderlines...the muse shows it's true colours without shame...and though true colours are not always beautiful, they are real and impactful....and that's why, it's still 'good'...and that's why good/great works are never forced...and great works usually comes straight from the most 'truthful' part of 'own self', if we allow it...conciously or unconsiously...
K, hope you found my answer to your request about the picture. It's yes, of course, whatever image you choose.
Constance and dsnake1, thanks for the feedback...we need to create art from our 'unconscious', the concious is that which we know, experienced and is therefore finite but the 'unconsious' is the infinite.Jung said of the 'unconcious',"There is something in me which can say things I do not know and do not intend, things which may be directed against me..." Is this the Muse, the paranormal? You may want to read also M Scott Peck who wrote about the "Miracle of the Unconcious" in "The road less travelled", he related a story about the Singapore Cricket Club....he had never seen it but when asked by his wife what the building was answered correctly. Jung calls this the collective unconcious, in which we inherit the wisdom of the experience of our ancestors without ourselves having the personal experience.Some say that it is the God who indwell us that is the unconcious, Christians say it is the Holy Spirit and therefore the Charismatic gifts of "Word on knowledge, wisdom". Whatever or whoever the Muse is, "We are like Jaguars who believe we are Mini-Minors. Artists are beings who, in some strange and unintended way, can unleash the immense power that lies coiled inside them."Colin Wilson in the article entitled "Ern Malley". Fascinating isnt it....dsnake, take your poems, read them and you will realise they are some that are really "inspired" and sometimes do you not get the feeling, "Hey, thats really excellent, did I really write this?" Constance, take your painting of the Geisha or Japanese Lady, do you not see something that is special and sets it apart from the rest and do you not say, " I believe it is the Holy Sprit's work and I am just the instrument!" Fascinating, this Muse that can set us Musing, read my poem, last paragraph....blessings and may the joy of creation always be yours!!!
Your artwork is energetic and cheerful, living on its own in its refreshing beauty.
I found this post most interesting in the intellectual probing you have throughly contemplated and posed to us.
As an artist in a variety of media like many of us out in the blog world (for me: writing, painting, collage, photography, jewelry design, dance),I unequivocably feel that I'm beyond myself or outside of myself, transformed to another world when my creativity reaches heights worthy of satisfaction or even a bit of awe that "I did that." Please don't misinterpret. I'm not vain and do not feel I'm incredibly talented.
I'm saying that even a small phrase or two in poetry or a portion of a painting can fill me with wonder (and pride) that I "let myself go" and this is the result!. I think that "letting go" is what has often been referred to as the muse.
The freer I feel or allow myself to just flow with it, the more I'm pleased with my creative journey. I've a long way to go, revel in the passage and oh yes, that result is often a surprise. When it occurs, it flows like tumbling waterfalls, with an energy and force that seems beyond my control.
Dear Sivermoon, I am glad that the comments window is getting to be even more interesting (and more worthy of reading) than my posting. Feedback like yours really quickens my heart, you are really a serious artist and I have no doubt when I meet up with you, my heart will be "strangely warmed"! Yes I echo your words, "When it occurs, it flows like tumbling waterfalls, with a energy and a force that seems beyond my control" and surely you dont want and dont have the power to control that force, may that Force always be be with you and may you always know that there is always more beyond what we can see or think, plus ultra...creatively yours, kianseng.
I liked your post as well as the comments. I am glad to be here.
Enough has been said so I have nothing more to add.
Dr.
Smashing!
You are before the first name and beyond
all names. To name you is to imprison
you in the far country of my vocabulary.
What a beautiful image in my mind...
and yet, another beautiful piece of art. It reminds me of a butterfly.
Thank you!
Kianseng,
it seemed a surprise to read words of Ern Malley incorporated into your poem (as I've only heard of him by the repute of the hoax associated with this name). Your quotation seems unironic; which made me wonder if you were aware of that haox phenomenon. But now matter. (But btw, do note misspelling of the word "understanding" at end of your poem.)
Thanks also for your note on my website. Sure, feel free to link if so disposed.
cheers,
d.i.
Hello David, my new friend, yes I do know the Ern Malley was a "hoax" and that he was invented by two poets, James McAuley and Harold Stewart more than fifty years ago in Australia...and I have read "The Darkening Ecliptic" again and again over the last 10 years and I find it is really excellent poetry and I believe Max Harris was not the one who was "hoaxed"...rather interesting, isnt it? Oh dear you spotted my spelling error, thanks so much, I need to be more careful....
Feel free to add my link.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Bravo. Your words and your art are such an inspiration to those of us who are so blessed to come to this oasis of beauty.
Peace, joy and Love flowing to you.
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