Archaic Creative Knowledge

“Along with this recollection there came to me, for the first time, the conviction that there are archaic psychic components which have entered the individual psyche without any direct line of tradition… the creative impulse being one.” Carl G. Jung

We all share some kind of link to the people that have walked this earth before our time. There is some ruminate of their lives that hangs around in this one. The way we feel we “know” things that we have no reason for knowing is a perfect example of this connection. Here, in Greece, I have felt that I somehow know the stories of the Gods before I read them, that there is some archaic knowledge that I have inside me, some connection to the past. The monomyth is the only was for me to understand this shared knowledge.

The idea that there is an archetype that all stories fall into is so present here. Each myth has some part that has transcended years of history and magnitudes of cultural tradition to reach each of us in its own way. The stories of the Greek Gods are mirrored in many Christian stories written, sometimes, thousands of years apart. The story of Noah and the great flood directly follows the story of Zeus’ wrathful decision to have Poseidon flood the earth. In the story of Zeus, he keeps two humans alive in a wooden chest that floats the sea for many days until he feel pity for them and tells Poseidon to make the waters recede. The Greek pantheon of Gods also mirrors many Hindu Gods. In each the Gods take many shapes, each having a multitude of avatars. Both share the sometimes confusing nature of changing names and powers. The Goddess’ Kali and Athena both change names and powers with their moods and circumstances, changing from Gods of creation to Gods of destruction.

The creative impulse to tell myths is one every culture around the world shares. Each myth mirrors another, back and forth throughout all of time. With this kind of knowledge being shared through story it is no wonder we all share more than just what lies right in front of us, we share ideas, we share each of our own stories through the greater collective mind. There is an archaic knowledge we tap into every time we use our creative minds. Through story, sculpture, painting, music and all art forms, we share a piece of ourselves with the future and the past connection all times and culture through one net of creation.