​The Archetypal Artist: The Psychological, Spiritual, & Cultural
Dimensions of the Call to Create
​A New 9-Week Online Course!

The "Why" of the Creator's Path

Most creative instruction, whether in person or online, focuses on the technical aspects of specific art forms--the "how" of each craft. This course is about the "why" of creativity, along with the "why" of every artist's eternal call to create. This course will inspire every type of creator, from visual artists to writers, composers, dancers, new media artists and beyond. 

"The work of art is a medium, an agency for the transmission of forces and powers that are sacred, that are other. The function of art is to open for us the doors that lead to the other side of reality."
  -Octavio Paz

Together we'll encounter the mysteries of the creative process as expressed through history, myth, psychology, spiritual traditions and science. We'll also hear from wise creators themselves--both ancient and contemporary. Through good times and bad, through every peak and valley of the artist's path, the multi-dimensional wisdom that you'll experience in this course will keep you connected to the truest aspects of your calling. An "archetypal attitude" will strengthen and encourage you through fallow and trying times, while reminding you of your destiny as a creator during periods when you may feel that you've shifted into producing a product instead of art. 

"As an artist, you are a representative human being--you have to believe that in order to give your life over to that effort to create something of value."
                                                            -Stanley Kunitz

Here's a sampling of the themes that we'll engage:
  • Art's sacred origins: techne and revelation.
  • Are creators "born" or can they be "made"?
  • The call to create: hearing & responding at any time of life.
  • What is soul/psyche? The audacity of soul.
  • Ancestors of the artist: the shaman, mystic, prophet, healer & philosopher, priest and priestess.
  • Mythic dimensions of the artist/trickster/wounded healer as reflected in world mythology and story.
  • Alchemical traditions and today's creator
  • Driven by a daimon: how creators are guided.
  • Our inner theaters: dreams and the artist.
  • Myth, metaphor & meaning.
  • Making images/stories = making soul.
  • Psyche is image: an archetypal understanding of "images." 
  • Getting lucky: fate, free will, and the artist.
  • The artist in the middle: the gift economy vs. the market economy.
  • Creativity in the age of neuroscience: it's more than the brain.
  • Creativity and Depression/Melancholy/Longing
  • Hosting the Muses: be still and let be.​
And ultimately, What is your artistic destiny? What might you be called to do at this moment in time? 

Start Dates & More...

This course will be offered as part of the winter 2025-26 line-up at Kosmos Institute! Please see their website for full details and to register. ​For personal mentoring, check out the Soul-Centered Mentoring page.