The Divine Creative Wound

Ancient Greek myths tell us that the creative process is not a simple act. The engagement with the art of creation points to an inevitable relationship with the unconscious for purpose, but this often is marked by consequence or wound. Myths, which show women creating demonstrate those who make sacrifices for the more literal interpretation of making art.

This sacrifice is the conscious perspective for the more vague spaces of unconscious answering. The journey of shuttling to and from the unconscious in the name of the productive act is shrouded in gamble. Arachne, Penelope, Medea, and even Cassandra all through their productive act reveal not simply sacrifice but the wounds of the process. This begs the question, does the creative act ask as payment an inevitable wound?

Through Jung’s own confrontation with the unconscious he counsels: “ …temptation will become the wellspring of your best work, indeed the work of salvation” (RB, 278) Jung’ s framing here was to stress the importance of understanding one’s ancestral creative inheritance, one’s lineage, in order to understand how to use it and midwife it into context. And those who do not understand the origin of their creative acts will perhaps become caught in either consequence or burdened to carry a wound for their creative acts.