If you agree with British occultist Dion Fortune that magic is “the art of changing consciousness at will” and if you think of writing as magic (I do), then it makes sense to focus on harnessing the energy flowing through us when we first pick up a pen or begin a writing workshop.
I like Steven Pressfield’s use of The Invocation to the Muse from T. E. Lawrence’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey. He reads it every time he writes because he believes his writing comes through him.
Long, but I thought you’d enjoy it.
O divine Poesy!
Goddess, daughter of Zeus,
Sustain for me this song of the various-minded man,
who, after he had plundered the innermost citadel
of hallowed Troy, was made to stray grievously
about the coasts of men,
the sport of their customs, good and bad,
while his heart, through all the seafaring,
ached with an agony to redeem himself
and bring his company safe home.
Vain hope! For them! For his fellows he strove in vain.
By their own witlessness, they were cast aside.
To destroy for meat the oxen of the most exalted Sun,
wherefore the sun god blotted out the day of their return.
Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse!
I think they used to do this with drawings too, very cool.
I like Steven Pressfield’s use of The Invocation to the Muse from T. E. Lawrence’s translation of Homer’s Odyssey. He reads it every time he writes because he believes his writing comes through him.
Long, but I thought you’d enjoy it.
O divine Poesy!
Goddess, daughter of Zeus,
Sustain for me this song of the various-minded man,
who, after he had plundered the innermost citadel
of hallowed Troy, was made to stray grievously
about the coasts of men,
the sport of their customs, good and bad,
while his heart, through all the seafaring,
ached with an agony to redeem himself
and bring his company safe home.
Vain hope! For them! For his fellows he strove in vain.
By their own witlessness, they were cast aside.
To destroy for meat the oxen of the most exalted Sun,
wherefore the sun god blotted out the day of their return.
Make this tale live for us in all its many bearings, O Muse!
You are correct! I love it. I may have an Artemis/spaceflight prompt for Monday.
Always love these prompts. They launch myriad of deep thoughts and near-forgotten memories but, alas, rarely the next load of laundry.